Ali may have you believe that I looked a bit like this guy too.
Ohhh, it wasn’t that bad. I mean, this happened:
See, I have proof, guys.
The weekend
It was actually any awesome weekend. Down in hot and sunny Morgan Hill, the SVIT is a comfortable reservoir and surrounding farm/vineyard area. Virgilio, Vince, Ali and I stayed at a hotel on Saturday, where Ali got to watch Vince and I show off our utterly impressive butterfly strokes in the pool, while Virgilio did handstands in his Euro speedo.
I woke up just feeling…off. Shook it off, ate breakfast and off to the races.
Vince, Virgilio and I got a solid warm-up in. After feeling rushed at Oceanside, a nice jaunt, drills and strides were money.
Swim
Remember Hang-Ten pizza circa 5 sentences ago? So I was…occupied…shortly after warming up until about 5 min before the race started. By the time I got down to the shore, it was 3 min ’til race start – which was 200 yards off shore. Which meant I was going to have to essential swim race pace to the start line and then start the race. What could be viewed as a nice warm up was just mentally unsettling, rushing to the start line.
As you’d guess, I started to tire out pretty early in the swim. I took a moment to mentally gather myself and charged on, settling into a pretty solid groove.
Here’s the interesting thing:
Last year, 27 min
This year, 21:37
This was HUGE! Maybe the biggest moment of my season yet. Stoked about that improvement! The dividends of the work in the pool continue to be self evident.
The Bike
Nothing special, nothing awful. I wanted to be on top of the watts, but I was just a hair shy of where I wanted to be. When Dan Ross passed me, I made a mental note that I was going to press to keep pace instead of being the runner who “let’s them go to get them later.” Yeah, that didn’t work and as a result, may have burnt a match here going outside of myself. Nice riding, Dan.
T2 Blunder
When I race, I don’t wear contacts because of open water concerns and my sunglasses aren’t prescription. So sometimes I can’t see very well (freaked out yet?). As I came into T2, I thought I was about to miss the dismount line.
Non-triathlon people: The mount and dismount lines are where you must get on and get off your bike, before and after the bike portion. If you mount before or dismount after, you get a time penalty.
Jonny Brownlee got a dismount penalty in the Olympics and it likely cost him Silver. Since I had as much to lose as Jonny, I obviously hopped off my bike at a high speed and gracefully slammed my right heel into the blacktop. Ouch. I knew that wasn’t good.
Anyways, I just ignored it, and proceeded to have a slow T2. Vince rolled in and as I headed out on the run, he wasn’t 10 seconds behind me.
The Run
Vince caught up to me in the first 200 meters. We’d talked a lot about how we were going to attack this run. It was exciting that we were going to get to do it together. Each of us could tell that we were in the zone and now it was time to put that plan to work.
So we did.
Cruising step for step against the pace plan. Rocky and Apollo, in that order.
I could feel my heel, but just tried to ignore it, while being in tune with any “oh, that’s really not good,” sensations. Luckily, none of those materialized.
Go time…not
When we hit the turn around, it was go time. At least, that’s what we’d planned. We worked the uphill on the way back and now it was time to cash in on the rollers and downhill with some high turnover on the way back.
We hit the first roller and I said something to Vince about not blowing it out, to which he rightfully responded, “Come on, MV. It’s GO TIME!”
Godspeed, Vinny!
The combination of waking up feeling tired/off, the “episode” before the swim, the heel in T2…there just was no more go for me. I was maxing out. I knew Vince was gunning for this race and just ready to lay the smack down so I fell off.
The last couple of miles were just sheer pain. Normally this is my wheelhouse, where I open it up and just curbstomp the finish. Not today, friends. Virgilio said the difference of Vince and I coming the opposite way were marked – I was in damage control mode.
Still turned in a 34:43, but this is almost the exact same time as I put down a year prior. Was really thinking 33 and change was where I was at this year.
Not your “game face” finisher’s photo…
But…
Even through all of that, Vince and I went 2 and 3 in our AG respectively. Big hats off to Vince – he was gunning for this race and put down the most complete race of his short tri career. Phenom Yoni Doron-Peters beasted and won the whole race (including elites), on top of winning our age group. Nice work, Yoni – never cease to impress!
Full extension was so good, had to post again.
Key Takeaways
The Swim – VERY happy with the YoY improvement. Even after a rough start, I was able to real it in.
The Bike – Sure Olympic isn’t the focus this year, but I have to be able to produce those top end watts.
The Run – Just didn’t have it. I think the work I’m doing is putting me in the right place, so I won’t read too much into this one.
Other – The T2 blunder was a big deal. That HURT – so much so that I got an x-ray a couple days later. Thankfully, nothing was broken, but it did knock me out of a few workouts for the week. If I’d spent more time surveying the transition areas before the race, that would have prevented the confusion. I also need to be more calm and calculated (certainly not slower) in transition.
Thank yous
As always, my family and friends. The M2 Revolution community. GU for providing the best pre, during and post race nutrition. Ali, Virgilio and Vince for a really fun weekend, salty baby faces aside. Bravo, Vince!
Racing, beaching, grilling, beering with friends in Oceanside, CA… Throw overall, swim and run PRs along with an age group podium in there and you would start whistling wooo too!
Executive Summary
Oceanside was my second year of the race and my first 70.3 event. A follow up to Escape from Alcatraz, this race promised to be just as competitive.
I PR’d at the half iron distance with a 4:24:10, PR’d the swim at 28:03 (bigger milestone, 11th out of water in AG) and PR’d the run at 1:17:46 (3rd overall AGers).
My second age group podium (4th AG) in as many races this year affirm the hard work we’ve been putting in.
Even while performing well, this race was rich with learning experiences, tallying up to 2 easy minutes left on the table and a missed competitive opportunity.
SAN via SFO
On the quick Southwest flight, Vince and I could barely contain our excitement. He slept the whole way and I geeked out over the gear issue of Triathlete Magazine. Wainy picked us up and we were on our way to the headquarters for the weekend – a house for 10 dudes 2 blocks from the beach finish. The house was great, big props to Kahn for booking this great house again.
Why, yes. Yes we were sitting next to each other tweeting at the airport.
Tuning up
We scratched La Jolla cove to do our swim off the shore by the finish. Not a bad decision, huh? It’s amazing how much more enjoyable this is when your brain isn’t screaming at you because of the cold. The swimming was good and we even had a chance to frolic. Yes, frolic.
Between strides, swim and riding some of the run course, we had an 1:45 of light activity. Part of me did wonder if all of it together was overkill.
My Friday night consisted of eating bland, white carbohydrates, shaving my legs, massaging with a rolly stick and going to bed before 10:00. How rock and roll are we?
My jam for the day
The Smashing Pumpkins filled the headphones all week and Siva was in my head from when I woke up. That moment at 3:36…”I just want to get there faster” (cue the blow torch guitar)…was a much more fun way to think on the bike, “I, in fact, just want to get there faster.”
Race morning
I woke up feeling nice and relaxed, which is the single most important thing on race morning. I watched this awesome video my brother shared, which certainly reinforced the feeling.
Transition set up to race start seemed a bit rushed. I probably could have benefited from some strides or something to get the body a bit more revved.
Wainy, Vince, Aaron and I taking a cute moment before the race.
The Swim
I’m currently working with Mohammed of the Embarcadero YMCA Masters program to graduate form a good bad swimmer to a bad good swimmer (credit Tim Smith). The point he drove home was “Slow and steady wins the race. But we don’t need the slow. Stay steady.” I really appreciated this frame of mind.
So when the gun went off, this is what I did. Certainly, a hastened start to stay with some slice of a group would be necessary, but I had the most even-keeled mental state of my life. Form. Reach. 1,2,3. 1,2,3. I felt really good, comfortable as I kept pace with a group. By the time we started making some turns, I even felt as if I was able to gradually turn the dial.
As we came into the last stretch, and the groups really started to pile up, I found one other blue cap that was matching me stroke for stroke and we came in together. I felt like I had a good swim and when I heard Faith, a strong swimming triathlete herself, yell, “Great swim Mike,” from the sidelines, I knew I was in a good position getting onto the bike.
PR swim time and AG rank
Split Name
Distance
Split Time
Race Time
Pace
Div. Rank
Overall Rank
Gender Rank
Total
1.2 mi
28:03
28:03
1:27/100m
11
224
186
Transition 1
After cramping 2 pedal strokes into EFA, I knew to suck down a GU immediately. No cramping today!
However, n00b moment, the ole’ chip on the outside of the wetsuit. I actually had to take a knee to get the suit over the chip. Lesson #1 of the day! You’re not above remembering the little stuff.
The Bike
As mentioned in the EFA race report, I had worked with Brett and M2 to recenter my riding focus. I headed into this race with new target numbers and I’d be remiss if I didn’t say I was a bit apprehensive about execution. Of course, M2 reemphasized, the most important thing is to register how you’re feeling on that day and put in the relative effort. I was feeling on target out of the water so off I went, working through the field.
Thing is, after the first couple upticks in grade, my legs started to feel…a little like garbage. Did I not refuel as well as I’d thought out of the water? No, felt more like lactic acid, not cramping. Did I in fact “tune up” too much yesterday? I really can’t think that’s the case, effort was very non-intense. Was I too aggressive in my sharpening sessions during the week? I don’t think so. In retrospect, the thing that stands out the most is potentially not executing the rest, rolling and stretching necessary to digest some harder efforts in the previous week. I’ll cue that up as Lesson #2.
But in due time, I settled in. Pretty boring riding here – through the base, pass, don’t get drafting penalties, etc. 23 miles, in the books.
But then, no more boring! Holly from my team at Fitbit and her family, cheering wildly, signs in hand, greeted me at the turn onto the first climb. What a great shot in the arm – their excitement was contagious. Thanks, Holly and boys!
After topping out, 5 miles of rolling grassy hills ensued. I was a main driver in the group that had formed around me, but I did notice that I need to work on the fluidity cresting rollers so as not to have such peaks and valleys of energy (Lesson #3).
The first big climb, 300 feet in half a mile. I passed the whole group I was riding with on this climb and hit the exact wattage sweet spot. After the climb there was still some cat and mouse going on during the ensuing rollers. I used the next climb to put more separation into the group. During the final 10 miles, I was in perfect rhythm. Steady, steady. The same thoughts as the swim.
Lesson #4 was a big one and, what I believe, cost me at least a minute and the
Better use those unclipped feet to run your butt off into transition, wise-guy!
opportunity for a true dog fight for 3rd in my age group. I thought we were rolling into transition and I took my feet out of my shoes, placed them on top and continued to ride in. “We still have half a mile,” a voice said as it passed me. My slowing allowed the 5 guys I was leading in to pass me heading into a no pass zone.So I rode the last mile essentailly powerless, sans shoes.
The voice was ultimately the 3rd place finisher in my age group. He was into transition and out and on his way to running a minute faster than me before I got into T2. Had I remained in my shoes, ridden meaningful watts for the last mile and led the group in, he would have caught me on the run, I would have looked over and we would have thrown down for 3rd place. RAATTT FARRRTTTSSS!!!
Lesson #4 is know the course! The difference between AG 4th and 3rd isn’t the biggest deal. What digs me the most is the opportunity to have competed at a high level and not racing my best (mentally).
Split Name
Distance
Split Time
Race Time
Pace
Div. Rank
Overall Rank
Gender Rank
11.6 mi
11.6 mi
31:02
1:02:21
22.43 mi/h
26.4 mi
14.8 mi
37:52
1:40:13
23.45 mi/h
56 mi
29.6 mi
1:24:53
3:05:06
20.92 mi/h
Total
56 mi
2:33:47
3:05:06
21.85 mi/h
5
114
10
The Run
The positive about the shoe flub up was have a bit of a fire under me out of T2. As I headed out, I felt good, smooth. In runs past, I have broken up mileage into different focus areas, mainly with a pace build plan. Leading up to the race, I decided I was going to keep the mantra – Steady. Steady. – and run 6:00s until I was ready to open up.
The first mile clocked in at 5:54, but I felt good. Second mile, 5:53. Felt good. It would go on like that across the flat beachside paths, but even the rolling neighborhood streets. In between miles 3 and 4 I saw Virgilio coming the other way. He’d started 3 minutes before me and, as expected, hammered the crap out of the bike. Ehhh, not sure I was going to be able to make up that difference. Was going to be tough.
I’m not a shoe nerd,I just crush alot.
The first lap was in the books at sub 6 pace. I’d added the Saucony Fastwitch 6 to my arsenal before EFA and I was really liking the ability to groove at a quick turnover, with the extra bit of stabilization for my suboptimal collapse.
Pain smile for Whitney, heading back for more on lap 2
Almost like clockwork, after the first lap was completed, I turned in a 6:07. Shyte! And after pouring a bunch of water over my head, the blisters (4 to be exact) started raging and all I could think of was “Knives Out” by Radiohead. It was going to be that kind of run, huh? Alright, first gutty moment of the race…for the next 7 miles. But 6:07, not good. Make up for it on the next mile, at least half the difference, run a 6:00. Good, nailed it. The turnaround for lap 2 caused some additional slowing. I think that 6:07 was due to the twisty-turny run on the pier, aid stations, congestion, etc.
They got a photo of me freaking out about getting my pace back down.
I knew that it was going to be tough getting back down to 5:50s at mile 9 as I climbed up the grade into the neighborhood, so I held low 6:00s until the turnaround mile, where I was able to go back sub. Alright, mile 12, continue the sub-6! Wasn’t meant to be. Rollers swallowed me up and 6:05 it was. With 1.1 miles left, there was no more time to put off the burn, time to go.
I ticked up the pace back to low 5:50s and hit the downhill before the beach which would be the venue for the final 0.75 miles. “Breathe easy, it’s just three quarters. You’re at the track with Virgilio and Vince, you’ve done the whole workout and now you just have to nail the last three quarters.” I “led” each of the last quarters on the way in, turning the dial up for each one. I hit the chute with music blaring, people cheering and, up on the toes I went to close strong. Race clock read 4:40; I’d started 16 minutes after the Pros; 4:24, new PR. Boom goes the dynamite.
Aside: Seeing Virgilio, Vince, Brett, Kahn, John, Dan and others out on the course was something special. The M2 guys had trained together since Jan 1 – we knew each other inside and out. So encouraging each other along the way was extra meaningful, because we all believed in one another.
Run PR, 3rd run overall AG
Split Name
Distance
Split Time
Race Time
Pace
Div. Rank
Overall Rank
Gender Rank
0.8 mi
0.8 mi
4:22
3:10:46
5:35/mi
4.1 mi
3.3 mi
19:04
3:29:50
5:46/mi
7.4 mi
3.3 mi
19:28
3:49:18
5:52/mi
10.7 mi
3.3 mi
19:27
4:08:45
5:53/mi
13.1 mi
2.4 mi
15:25
4:24:10
6:23/mi
Total
13.1 mi
1:17:46
4:24:10
5:56/mi
4
63
56
The sexy Italian and his 3rd place trophy, the triathlon Disney Dad and his 4th place trophy
Post race fun:
Grill, beers(s,s) and Tom Foolery with the guys. I also spent the afternoon/evening with my awesome friend Jenny who I hadn’t seen in a couple years, but lives in SD. Doesn’t get much better than that!
John leading Vince in the bread eating contest. #refuel
Key Takeaways
Swim: Continue putting in the yards and effort with Mohammad, it’s paying off.
Bike: On rides, focus on accelerating, cresting and exceeding rollers. Lost too much time to improper pacing on rollers. Oh, and know the course.
Run: Even pacing worked better than “breaking up the race.” Very positive to bring it back after the pace slip. Have a feeling this run split will only get better with the right kind of work.
Other: Be more mindful of rest and rolling before race.
Thanks
As always, thanks to my family and friends that are always so supportive. Ali, wish you were there – if for no other reason than for the Stone Brewing bar that was across the street from us. Thanks to M2 Revolution for getting me ready to roll and for being such a great group to enjoy a race with. Thanks to GU for the nutrition before, during and after the race – truly great stuff. And to the city of Oceanside and all the volunteers! Till next time!
“That hurt, but we’re smiling. Everyone’s smiling here, folks.”
Crap. It’s 2013 and in November I sat there and told grandiose tales of a new me that was going to blog more frequently… Well, we’ll go back and close out 2012 and give a preview of 2013 but for now, let’s talk Escape!
The first race on a packed 2013 calendar was none other than the famous/infamous Escape From Alcatraz. With its face-numbingly cold swim, very technical bike and murderous run (looking at you, sand ladder), EFA would have been a challenge during its regularly scheduled time, early June. But because of America’s Cup, it was rescheduled to March 3. To say I was concerned about the conditions and how my slight frame would handle the cold (read: I’m a cold wimp) is an understatement.
EFA Song
Here’s a track that I was listened to a bit as I trained for EFA. Click that play button and jam along while you read.
Exec Summary
Escape From Alcatraz is cold, tough and competitive. It’s also top tier in its production, competition and venue. Fun!
In my first race of the year, I placed 3rd in my age group, 10th amateur and had the second fastest amateur run and sand ladder splits.
This is a great springboard to Iron Man 70.3 Oceanside on March 30th.
Getting Ready
After taking the offseason pretty seriously, come Jan 1, I was ready to get rolling again. Gearing up for EFA was certainly the priority, but in light of Oceanside 70.3 at the end of March, the focus had to be grander in scale. Solid sessions in the studio, big weekends with big yards and big miles – the squad and I were gettin’ after it. One thing loomed over me however. Just how was I going to handle swimming in the San Francisco Bay on March 3 and perform effectively thereafter?
To that end, the M2 group was awesome. A few swims in Aquatic Park (in February!) followed by runs helped me get a feel of…just how little I would be able to feel.
Kahn, BC Mike, V., Kari and I take to AP like some seals
I also took advantage of having the course in my back yard and ran the run course a handful of times. This may or may not have proven to be beneficial…
Objectives
“Oh, it’s early in the season…”
“It’s cold…”
“This course doesn’t suit my strengths…”
Well, that was the case for everyone. I knew where my fitness was at and the single objective that I had was race how I knew I could and let the cards fall as they may. There are so many strong athletes at EFA and the course has so many wild cards, that anything else seemed unreasonable.
A secondary, and perhaps just as important, objective was a fitness gauge for Oceanside.
Race Morning
4:00 a.m., the alarm goes off! Sweet! I checked my Fitbit One – not much sleep, but the quality was there, muy bien. My mom came into SF for the race and she’s always so good with race weekend (she’s so good all the time), but at 4:02 I heard the water boiling and walked out to coffee being made and the breakfast items we set out the night before ready to go. Over breakfast I read my traditional pre-race email from Ali which, per usual, provided motivation and perspective.
Threw my bag on my back, put the bike lights on, kissed my mom goodbye and coasted down to transition which was abuzz by 4:45 a.m. The process of setting up transition, putting on the wetsuit (bottom) 2.5 hrs before the swim start, getting on a shuttle to the boat, sitting on the boat for over an hour…suboptimal.
Once I was on the boat though, I found company in my friend Kate Farmer. As we made it out onto the water, I positioned myself by the door of the boat. I was told, “Get in front on the boat” to avoid the massive pile up that happens on the EFA course, so that’s what I did.
The Swim
Note: My condolences to the family and friends of the man who died in the swim. A very sad result for a guy who was excited to do what he loved and a somber reminder of how serious the swim leg of triathlon is.
The doors opened and all of the sudden the warmth of the boat escaped out the door to be replaced by unobstructed bay wind, while the daunting view of the rough waters and the city skyline brought to reality what was about to happen. Shortly after the national anthem and after the pros started, there was some confusion between the age groupers over whether we were starting or not. Before I knew it I was running with the first ten folks off the boat and jumping into the icy waters.
First thought: SWIM!
Duh, but as 2,000 racers leave the double decker boat in 6 minutes, you have to redline to make sure someone doesn’t jump on you. I kept this pace up, partly because of flight response but also because it was GO time! I felt energized and didn’t even notice the cold. I was right in the mix. Plenty of caps with the right colors on around me. I felt strong and in the flow of the race.
It would have been nice if this would have lasted. As the swim went on, I began to take on water during breaths. This worried me because if it happened too much and I would risk getting sick on the bike. Secondly, I really started to second guess my line. The caps became fewer and fewer around me. Had I not effectively “crossed the river?”
If you are not aware of just how much attention needs to be paid while sighting in the swim from Alcatraz to Crissy Field:
I powered through the waves. Every stroke eventually felt like the last 50 of a masters workout. I was getting more worried that I was off course, popping up to make sure I was OK. I eventually made it to the Yacht Club and drove in towards the beach.
When I got out of the water, I looked around me. Crap. Not exactly the guys I left the boat with… I had some work to do.
Transition 1
The transition from Swim to Bike is 0.5 miles long. I had a bag with shoes and arm warmers ready to help with the run and to warm up. But on the boat I decided that I was going to blow by the wetsuit strippers and my bag and run in my wetsuit, barefoot to my bike. This ended up being warmer and faster. Everyone wins.
Shout out to Vince for verbally hustling me through T1.
The Bike
As I mounted my bike, I began to pedal. GRAAAHHGGGHHHH!!! (That was the actual noise that I made).
Crappy Bike Moment #1
My inner right thigh was cramping mightily. Like: can’t-pedal-my-bike-holy-son-of-a-stingray, cramping. This happened at some Olympic races last year, but man this was the worst. I slammed a Roctane GU that I was saving for later, washed it down with the Roctane in my bottle. I put my head down and rode gingerly into the stiff headwind.
Not being able to move quickly was really not making warming up easy. “Ok, increase cadence 5rpm. Can you do that? Good, another 5.” I held my breath, but it seemed to have passed.
I knew I had to start immediately making up time on the bike, so I started to hammer. Flats were pushed and climbs were controlled, but driven.
Crappy Bike Moment #2
Something I feared before the race was starting to play out – my bottle was trying to eject at every inconstancy in the pavement. And if you’ve ridden here, you know there are many. This caused me to be very timid at times, distracted at others. Both of which can be very dangerous.
Something has to work to keep this bottle in the cage…
Crappy Bike Moment #3
The descent through the golf course out of the Legion of Honor is a fast one and I knew I needed to take it seriously. However, as my bottle tried to eject, I tried to save it in instead of breaking.
My race almost ended at mile 5 of the bike.
As I tried to make up for loss breaking time, my back wheel skidded out and did the tri-bike wobble. I went down into the groove of the curb and was inches away from crashing before making the save by the skin of my teeth.
What I thought I looked like making the save:
What I probably looked like making the save:
I gathered myself and pressed on, helped by cheers at Lake St. and El Camino (thanks, Woody & fam!). Once I hit The Great Highway and Golden Gate Park, I grooved along pretty well and set a new tone for the bike leg. All was good, except the bleepin’ bottle.
I’d recently worked with M2 and Brett to find a new focus for my biking. It showed today as I was in a frame of mind to attack in a disciplined way, consistent with the plan we set up. I worked the climbs in control and attacked the downs/flats, coming into transition with nothing on my mind but freakin’ run my butt off.
Transition 2
Missed rack fail. Half way out T2 without watch fail. BLEEP. Ok, early season rust was shaking off all day.
The Run
I’m really stoked about having the second fastest amateur run split. I probably would not have guessed coming out of T2 that this would have been the case. The headwind was still stiff and I was cruising a little slower than expected. I knew I had to pass as many people as possible before the stairs up to the bridge, so I upped the pace.
I had a HUGE rush as I went through the SFTri aid station and got a – seriously – roaring personal cheer. Seeing the familiar faces and hearing the positive words, it was exactly what I needed. This spurred me on to attack the stairs leading up to the bridge.
SFTri Aid Station Rock Stars – bottom of the hill
SFTri Aid Station Rock Stars – top of the hill
I topped out the stairs (thanks for the cheer, Gary!) and continued the 275 ft. climb with the focus to just get to the single track Coastal Trail in front of as many people as possible before it was congested. As I attacked the up, I started to see the leaders come the other way. Side note – it was quite inspiring to see a field with so many champions running the opposite way.
As I made it past the second SFTri aid station (W00t!) I settled into a draft right behind a kid with a Stanford kit on in a no pass zone. This was a perfect recovery from the hard uphill. Once we got into the descent and I started to attack, I saw M2 standing as he usually does, casually, coffee in hand. He told me I looked strong, which was good for confidence, because I knew he wouldn’t have if I didn’t. I wanted to see if the Stanford guy was a threat so I really pushed the down.
Is he following? Is he following…?
The Switch
This was the moment where the switch flipped. It happens in (almost) every race. Sometimes it happens in the first 200 meters, sometimes in happens in the last 2 miles. But there’s a point on every run leg where a mental switch flips for me and I go into a state of mind that’s so intensely focused on the task at hand and ruthless to anyone in front of me, that it would likely scare folks who know me. Or make them laugh. Ali would probably laugh.
Fresh off the knowledge that I’d made my first meaningful pass, I took to the trail onto Baker Beach like a bat out of hell. I immediately found hard sand and plodded along. I made the turn and assessed what was behind me. All good, focus onward. I continued to pass and did not break stride onto the sand ladder.
And up we go
Having practiced the sand ladder enough times, I put myself into the same place mentally, “Go on the outside for more consistent footing, pretending you’re on a bike and spin the hill.”
Great positioning by Brett for support and photos. Now, for the other half of the climb…
The thing about the Sand Ladder is that it’s only half of the climb. Blow yourself out here and you have a long trek home. I continued to dig into the climb and hurt. I knew there was reprieve by way of a favorable downhill to get my legs back under me before hitting the final 2 flat miles.
I passed M2 and he assured me I could pick off more folks before the finish line. After topping out, I started the descent by going through the SFTri aid station agains, this time, much more tunnel visioned. As I bombed through tunnels, down single tracks, down stairs, I was fully recovering from the uphill and readying for the final push: 2 miles of flat, grooveable fire trail and blacktop along the water.
I hit the flat with tons of confidence, even though I was hurting. This confidence was rooted in how good I felt and how familiar this stretch was – almost every run from my front door includes this stretch. One workout in particular, however, really made a difference: an interval workout on Crissy Field with Vince and Virgilio. At the end of that workout, Vince and I could not have wanted to quit any more. It sucked. But we worked through it, quite quickly, I might add. I sourced from those same sensations and visions to really push the last 2 miles.
As I hit the asphalt, I knew I had 100 meters before the last half mile. I wanted to start my kick at a quarter mile, but as I came up on a guy (ultimately the 2nd place finisher in my age group), he wasn’t letting me pass. So a half a mile out, I started my kick. I felt him no further than 10-15 meters behind me for the majority of the kick. This feeling was foreign. As we made the turn to head down the long chute, he took off. For the first time in my tri life, I was out kicked. I kept the focus and drove to the end however, finishing hard and in control.
AMERICA. (Thanks for the great pic, Michael Rycroft!)
As it would turn out, his run was actually more than 3 minutes slower than mine, so the kick did not lose me 2nd place (which I would have had a hard time getting over). He started far enough behind me on the massive boat that the time worked out for a comfortable finish in 2nd for him.
Results
A welcome early season age group podium. Props to Yoni on another stellar race.
My broken out results – happy with run and sand ladder
What to take away
Swim – Working hard to stop being such a pool noodle. Can’t help but be a little bothered by having the slowest swim time on the front results page. That said, not many swims like that…poor benchmark. Keep up yards/masters and see how tamer Oceanside swim plays out.
Bike – Get post-swim nutrition down to prevent cramps – Roctane to the face. Happy with effort, continued progress against new approach should play out to better bike splits.
Run – Very happy with where I’m at early this season. Continue speedwork, losing a kick is not fun.
Gear – Gotta find a cage that holds my bottle! Or a bottle that stays in my cage… Regardless, that was brutal and actually was an issue in Vegas as well.
What’s next
Oceanside! San Diego, M2’s gotta a treat for you. So many of us will be down there racing, it’s going to be a blast. My focus is 100% on this race as of the posting of this blog.
Who to thank
My mom for flying to SF and supporting during the race – so thankful for a great visit. Ali for being so supportive – SF resident in 6 days! The M2 and SFTri Club communities for support and motivation. Vince and John for making sure I was adequately fueled with GUness when I stopped by the tent. Fitbit for being such a supportive group to work for and for making products that helped me prepare. Eric Gilsenan and the Escape From Alcatraz crew for putting on a top tier, global race! All of the volunteers – without you, the races don’t happen. And of course, everyone at the race and all my friends and family who were so supportive on Facebook, in emails, through texts, etc.
MVTri 