Pacific Grove Triathlon is one of the great, long-standing triathlons in California. It is put on by TriCalifornia events and they do an awesome job, taking great care of their athletes and providing a great race experience. This was my third time racing PG and my second racing it in the draft legal format. Things were a little different this year because the field was fairly small and with windy conditions the field was bound to get spread out a lot.
At the start of the swim we all barreled into the water and I was with the lead group until we started hitting the kelp and a group of four got a gap almost immediately. I knew that it was probably Tommy, John and Dustin because of how strong they all are in the water. There was no one else to do the chasing so I gritted my teeth and pushed as hard as I could. I could see from time to time that there was some separation amongst their group so I figured that we might be able to get it back together on the bike. The swim was really tough with lots of kelp and with the women's race starting just as we were getting started on the second lap. I had forgotten how tough it was to swim through the kelp!
Exiting the water there was one other guy just behind me and I couldn't see anyone else that was close so I thought we weren't in that bad of position. We were quick through transition and I got started setting tempo right away in hopes that at least one of the guys up the road was close enough to bring back and work with. At the first turn-around Dustin and Tommy were working hard together up front with John chasing less than a minute back and the other guy I didn't know half a minute behind him. We were another minute behind so after the turn around I really started to push the pace. After a lap and a half my companion found the pace to hard and said he was going to drop back. I put my head down and drilled the middle two laps but Tommy and Dustin were working really well together and John had gotten together with the guy chasing him and they were pushing too. At this point I was just trying to minimize my losses. I also noticed that Nick Thompson was inside of two minutes behind me and he is a really strong runner so I was trying to consolidate my lead on him as well.
I had a really quick second transition, the first mile of the run is flat and down wind so I was able to open up a really quick pace which felt great! The guys up front were already spreading out and I knew that a couple of minutes was doable if someone really cracked up so I kept my foot on the gas. Nick was making up time on me and I was making up time on the guys up front but not enough to catch by the end. I had a strong run but nick eventually caught me, which I expected, so I ended up sixth overall.
I was happy to be able to race hard and feel comfortable pushing the pace. I had told myself that if I felt good and raced well that I would take on one or two more events in the hopes of getting one good result before the year is out so there may be more to come still!
9/3 - 9/9/2012
This week I was trying to keep things loose and tuned to race Pacific Grove on Saturday. I had been struggling with some sort of stomach bug at the end of last week so I was not feeling all that well. It was a bit of a struggle to get the things done that I needed this week but I skipped all the busy work and just made sure that I got the key workout done. By race day I finally felt rested and was able to race hard in some tough conditions.
The fall weather has begun to peek it's head out lately and it has been beautiful out.
The second in a series of adds for Magellan GPS that I modeled for also came out this week so that was cool as well.
The fall weather has begun to peek it's head out lately and it has been beautiful out.
The second in a series of adds for Magellan GPS that I modeled for also came out this week so that was cool as well.
Swim 11,000 yds
Bike 7 hrs
Run 21 mi
8/20 - 8/26/2012
This week I was back at the task of developing some speed. I feel like my fitness has been good this year but my speed and power work has been lacking so I have been cutting down the volume a bit and focusing on quality in every workout. I also planned to have one full day off this week as something to look forward to and as a way to make sure I am not carrying too much breakdown from week to week. I got some good workouts in and I am looking forward to getting the chance to cut my speed loose and see what I can do. Pacific Grove is in two weeks and with the draft legal format and the strength of the field I am focusing on the run and swim in hopes that I can stay with those guys and try to hold on durring the run.
Swim 13,400 yds
Bike 7.5 hrs
Run 32.5 mi
Swim 13,400 yds
Bike 7.5 hrs
Run 32.5 mi
8/6 - 8/12/2012 Santa Cruz Sprint & International
This week started off rough as I had to work a lot and it was BUSY!!!! Mélisande and I were also fighting off something most of the week so I was feeling run down and tired for most of the week but I stuck to the plan and got some good recovery in thursday and friday.
Saturday was the Sprint Triathlon and I felt good waking up early and enjoying my coffee while catching up on the olympics. Transition is less than a mile away so I wasn't in any hurry. I cruised down to the race through the sleepy downtown streets and as soon as I got there I started seeing familiar faces. This is the reason why local races are the best! I knew so many people racing and working the race that it makes it so much fun. I jogged around a little to check out some of the course changes and the fog line. I decided against swimming before the start because the buoys were not set and I wasn't sure about the start time. The race start was really mellow because of the small field and so we all got off clean and quick to the water. In the first straight of the swim Dylan McNeice moved up on my left and Tommy Zeffares on my right as we approached the first turn. Being with those guys at the first turn was great because they usually put so much time into me in the swim. The two of them started stretching out a gap to the far turn buoy and just after I made that turn Barrett Brandon passed me and I just tried to sit on him.
I exited the swim and began the long run back to transition with Barrett in sight and with the other two around a minute ahead. I was feeling a little disoriented as I have not done a hard transition in a while and when I dropped my goggles I just turned around and went back to pick them up. While doing so the two women leading the race passed me and at that moment I remembered that I was supposed to be racing...oops! I overtook the women in transition and with Barrett still in sight put my head down to begin the chase.
Near the turn-around I figured Tommy was a little over a minute up and Dylan was only forty five seconds up. Barrett was leading me by about two hundred meters and as I was setting up for the left on Swanton I realized that he was going to miss the turn so I started yelling "TURN" and so id the volunteers but he didn't hear and continued on. At this point I was in third and he was going to loose a minute at least so I figured I would chase on the bike and then reassess the gap. At the second turnaround the gap was about the same and I knew that was not coking back on the run so I settled back into tempo to save my lungs.
Out on the run with the gaps in front of me and behind me too big to worry about I just tried to keep my leg-speed up and after the turn around shut the pace down to conserve energy for Sunday. I really like the opportunity to do the sprint first and make sure the kinks are all worked out before the olympic distance on sunday. Several of my friends had awesome races and one of them actually beat me on time and it was so fun to be out there pushing it with all of them and encouraging each other.
I went home, got some good food in my belly and did some stretching and massage work to keep my muscles loose for sunday morning.
Sunday morning there was a bit of a change because John Dahlz was in the field and he is super strong! Everything went smoothly geting set up for the race and I felt good once my coffee kicked in :) The swim lead out the same with Tommy, Dylan and John slowly pulling away in the swim and Barrett and I working together to keep the gap from stretching out too much. I felt good in the water and I am glad that I got in to swim beforehand. There was some jockeying because it was a two lap swim and a quick beach run in between but that was nice because it was easier to keep track of the gaps.
My best estimate was that we were just over a minute down exiting the water and I knew we had some hard work to do. We smoked through T1 and Barrett set a screaming pace for the the first lap of the bike when he eased up I came through and put my head down to set the pace. My legs felt good and I was pushing a big gear. At the second turn around I realized that we were bringing them back and that feeling spurred me on through the bike. I gritted my teeth, got low and grabbed a deeper gear whenever I felt like I could. Barrett fell off the pace but by the last section of the bike I could see the guys up the road.
I caught Tommy and Dylan in the last mile of the bike and because of a course snafu John came in right behind us. We all exited T2 within 15 seconds of each other and I kept calm knowing that they would go out hard but my best chance would be to run my own race and hope that one of them cracked. I put myself on the limit for the first three miles and the gap to Dylan then John then Tommy slowly expanded and with barrett a good ways back I eased up for the second half of the run to conserve my place. Expecting one of those guys to crack is a little unrealistic but it was fun to finally be in the race. I am still making good improvements and I am feeling good about focusing on some specifics to dial in for the rest of the season.
Swim 13,000 yds
Bike 6.5 hrs
Run 22 mi
Saturday was the Sprint Triathlon and I felt good waking up early and enjoying my coffee while catching up on the olympics. Transition is less than a mile away so I wasn't in any hurry. I cruised down to the race through the sleepy downtown streets and as soon as I got there I started seeing familiar faces. This is the reason why local races are the best! I knew so many people racing and working the race that it makes it so much fun. I jogged around a little to check out some of the course changes and the fog line. I decided against swimming before the start because the buoys were not set and I wasn't sure about the start time. The race start was really mellow because of the small field and so we all got off clean and quick to the water. In the first straight of the swim Dylan McNeice moved up on my left and Tommy Zeffares on my right as we approached the first turn. Being with those guys at the first turn was great because they usually put so much time into me in the swim. The two of them started stretching out a gap to the far turn buoy and just after I made that turn Barrett Brandon passed me and I just tried to sit on him.
I exited the swim and began the long run back to transition with Barrett in sight and with the other two around a minute ahead. I was feeling a little disoriented as I have not done a hard transition in a while and when I dropped my goggles I just turned around and went back to pick them up. While doing so the two women leading the race passed me and at that moment I remembered that I was supposed to be racing...oops! I overtook the women in transition and with Barrett still in sight put my head down to begin the chase.
Near the turn-around I figured Tommy was a little over a minute up and Dylan was only forty five seconds up. Barrett was leading me by about two hundred meters and as I was setting up for the left on Swanton I realized that he was going to miss the turn so I started yelling "TURN" and so id the volunteers but he didn't hear and continued on. At this point I was in third and he was going to loose a minute at least so I figured I would chase on the bike and then reassess the gap. At the second turnaround the gap was about the same and I knew that was not coking back on the run so I settled back into tempo to save my lungs.
Out on the run with the gaps in front of me and behind me too big to worry about I just tried to keep my leg-speed up and after the turn around shut the pace down to conserve energy for Sunday. I really like the opportunity to do the sprint first and make sure the kinks are all worked out before the olympic distance on sunday. Several of my friends had awesome races and one of them actually beat me on time and it was so fun to be out there pushing it with all of them and encouraging each other.
I went home, got some good food in my belly and did some stretching and massage work to keep my muscles loose for sunday morning.
Sunday morning there was a bit of a change because John Dahlz was in the field and he is super strong! Everything went smoothly geting set up for the race and I felt good once my coffee kicked in :) The swim lead out the same with Tommy, Dylan and John slowly pulling away in the swim and Barrett and I working together to keep the gap from stretching out too much. I felt good in the water and I am glad that I got in to swim beforehand. There was some jockeying because it was a two lap swim and a quick beach run in between but that was nice because it was easier to keep track of the gaps.
My best estimate was that we were just over a minute down exiting the water and I knew we had some hard work to do. We smoked through T1 and Barrett set a screaming pace for the the first lap of the bike when he eased up I came through and put my head down to set the pace. My legs felt good and I was pushing a big gear. At the second turn around I realized that we were bringing them back and that feeling spurred me on through the bike. I gritted my teeth, got low and grabbed a deeper gear whenever I felt like I could. Barrett fell off the pace but by the last section of the bike I could see the guys up the road.
I caught Tommy and Dylan in the last mile of the bike and because of a course snafu John came in right behind us. We all exited T2 within 15 seconds of each other and I kept calm knowing that they would go out hard but my best chance would be to run my own race and hope that one of them cracked. I put myself on the limit for the first three miles and the gap to Dylan then John then Tommy slowly expanded and with barrett a good ways back I eased up for the second half of the run to conserve my place. Expecting one of those guys to crack is a little unrealistic but it was fun to finally be in the race. I am still making good improvements and I am feeling good about focusing on some specifics to dial in for the rest of the season.
Swim 13,000 yds
Bike 6.5 hrs
Run 22 mi
7/30 - 8/5/2012
This week I was trying to get a good number of workouts in but keeping them short and quality focused. I did a lot of speed-work which is a big departure from what I have been doing most of the year so it was a little challenging. I may have been fighting something off too because thursday I was completely wiped out ofter not going all that hard on wednesday. Nothing major to report but there are some fun local events coming up so I am excited for that :)
Swim 12,200 yds
Bike 6.25 hrs
Run 24 mi
Swim 12,200 yds
Bike 6.25 hrs
Run 24 mi
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