2011 Long Beach Triathlon Race Report

Long Beach Triathlon – Sep 18th 2011 

Long Beach, CA
Race Totals: 1:01:40
Swim: 11:58
Bike: 30:00 ( 22 mph avg) 
Run: 18:00 ( 6:00 per mile avg) 

Pre-Race: 

This was the race that started it all for me. 2 years ago to the day I had lined up at the start of my first triathlon next to MACCA, the current world champion. I ended up finishing with a 1:11:27 which was good enough for a 7th place AG finish, and a 91st OA. I couldn't believe I did so well after buying my first road bike just 2 months prior & having swam less than a dozen times in the past decade. It was so much fun, I was hooked.

Fast forward 2 years and 13 triathlons later. After countless hours of training, a new bike, masters swimming classes, a healthy gluten free diet, the support of long beach tri club and trisports.com, and coming off my first podium at a big event, I had decided to set pretty lofty goal for myself.  Cut 10 minutes off my time, and finish with a 1:01:30. Which depending on the competition could put my anywhere in the top 10 Overall, and Top 3 in my AG.  However this is the first sprint I have done in over a year and last time I did one I had huge cramping issues … so anything could happen.

A little info about myself: I’m 30 years old, weigh 150 lbs, my FTPw = 225watts, and my VO2max = 69.2 (320 watts)*. My pre-race goals were 12 min swim, 27:30 bike, and 18 min run.  

* Power & VO2 Testing done May 2011

4:00AM I ate 2 instant oatmeal packs, a single serving package of almond butter, ½ banana, a some Locally Roasted True Beans Coffee ( yes I’m a coffee snob ).  ( 550 cal )

5:30AM Arrived at transition

6:45AM Honey Stinger Gel chased w/ water. ( 120 cal )

7:03AM Race Start ( Wave 2 )

Swim (0.5mi):
I’m not a strong swimmer so usually I just try and survive the swim and try not to fall too far behind. But I also feel like I have never really given it my all on the swim before. So since this race was just for fun, I decided to see what happens. My strategy was to not let the lead guys get out of my sight. This was harder since I was in wave 2 but I could see the 3-4 guys ahead of me in my wave the whole time, so I was happy. I also popped out of the water next to my friend Russell who swam competitively in college at UCSB and was doing his first triathlon, so I was feeling good.

Swim Total: 11:58 (5^th 30-34AG, 27^thOA)

T1: 0:55 ( boom, quick T1 !!! )

Bike (11mi):
Since this was a sprint, there wasn’t much strategy involved other than i basically biked as fast as I could the whole time. Looking at my data I was averaging 24+ mph the whole time outside of the turns & hills, so if I want to get a better bike split next year I’ll need to learn to carry my speed through the turns better, or you know increase my FTPw. I also seemed to get passed by everyone over the 2 speed bumps each lap, so maybe practice that a little. For the data junkies, I averaged 237 watts during this race.

Bike Nutrition:

·       0-30min: Watered down PowerBar Perform ( 50 cal )

Bike Nutrition Totals (+/-):

·       Calories: 50* (100 per hour)

*For reference, raced at ~150LBS (Hourly Caloric Intake (Bike):  0.66 calories /LB) 

Bike Total: 30:00 (2^nd 30-34AG, 12^th OA)

T2: 0:48 ( putting on socks always kills my T2 )

Run (3.0mi):
Goal for the run was 6 min pace for the first 2 miles, and then use everything I got to sprint the last mile. My heel had been hurting coming into this race, and during my bike dismount I landed on it funny, so I had shooting shin splints this whole race. Fun. Despite the pain, the first two miles went great, but for the last mile I felt like I didn’t have any energy left. I should have eaten something on the bike. I didn’t want to get a cramp so I decided to go all liquids this race. I don’t think this was the best idea. I also wasn’t sure what place I was in my wave during the run. I guess that’s the advantage of racing in the first wave. I don’t think I could have caught the guy in front of me but I really wasn’t sure where I was in the field other than one of the first 10 running by the announcer. Maybe I had more left in me? 

Mile 1: 6:14

Mile 2: 6:06

Mile 3: 5:40

Run Nutrition:

Misc: Drank ½ cup of water at every aid station

Run Total: 18:00 (2^nd 30-34AG, 7^th OA)

Race Total: 1:01:40
2nd M30-34
6th OA

Lessons Learned. This was a great race. I got to see how far I have progressed over the last 2 years in the sport of triathlon. I got to get on the podium at my local race. I got to witness another friend get bit by the triathlon bug as he completed his first triathlon. I got to cheer on and get cheered on by dozens of lb tri club members.  Thanks to Pacific Sports LLC for putting on a great race. Thanks to trisports.com and thanks to all my friends that did it with me. Lessons learned for this race … learn how to keep my speed better on the turns on the bike & try and eat something on the bike during a sprint triathlon so I have more energy on the run. Next stop Newport Beach Triathlon.

2011 SF Triathlon At Alcatraz Race Report

SF Triathlon @ Alcatraz – Aug 21st 2011 

San Francisco, CA
Race Totals: 3:04:54
Swim: 47:22
Bike: 1:16:25 (20.44 mph avg) 
Run: 51:49 (7:24 per mile avg) 

Pre-Race: 

This was my first race after Vineman 70.3, and it was nice to get back to into my comfort zone of doing shorter courses. This race is very unique in that it is a 1.2 mile boat start swim from Alcatraz to SF in freezing cold shark invested waters, followed by a super hilly 26 mile bike, and a twisty, turny, hilly 7 mile run which includes running in deep sand & climbing the infamous 400 step sand ladder.

A little info about myself: I’m 30 years old, weigh 150 lbs, my FTPw = 225watts, and my VO2max = 69.2 (320 watts)*. My pre-race goals were 40 min swim, 1:10 bike, and 49 min run.  Was hoping for a top 5 AG finish, and a top 50 OA finish.

* Power & VO2 Testing done May 2011

4:00AM I ate 2 instant oatmeal packs, a single serving package of almond butter, ½ banana, a some Ritual Coffee ( yes I’m a coffee snob ).  ( 550 cal )

4:30AM Arrived at transition

5:00AM On the bus to the boat

6:00AM On the boat

6:45AM Honey Stinger Gel on the boat chased w/ water. ( 120 cal )

7:00AM Race Start

Swim (1.2mi):
I’m not a strong swimmer so usually I just try and survive the swim and try not to fall too far behind. I had been working on my swimming A LOT so I was hoping to do a little better than I normally do compared to my peers, but this was a tough swim. The water was choppy, the sky was foggy, it was hard to sight, and during some parts the ocean felt like a giant treadmill. I popped out of the water with 51:05 on the clock, a full 11 minutes behind my goal (although in reality it was 7.5 minutes since I wasn’t the first off the boat.) Definitely not good enough to place well. Oh well guess I still suck at swimming, time to go kill it on the bike & run.

Swim Total: 47:22 (9^th 30-34AG, 107^thOA)

T1: 8:12 ( there was a long run here, don’t judge me )

Bike (26mi):
This is a pretty unique race with a lot of steep up hill and down hills. The advice that most people give for this course is to charge the hills with all you got and rest on the downhill’s. This goes along with the age old saying on how to use your power most effectively. “Go fast when the race is slow”.  The advice worked really well, because I ended up passing a bunch of people, but I got some pretty intense power readings ( > my V02max power ) on some of the hills. At the end of the bike, I checked my time and it was about 6 minutes slower than I wanted which sucked because I felt like I gave it my all. I also checked my average power and it was 220w. Holy Shi*t that’s way too high, I wasn’t expecting that. Hope I have something left for the run.

Bike Nutrition:

·       0-20min: H2O only

·       20min: 2 Cliff Shot Blocks(66 cal) + water

·       40min: 2 Cliff Shot Blocks(66 cal) + water

·       60min: 2 Cliff Shot Blocks(66 cal) + water

Bike Nutrition Totals (+/-):

·       Calories: 200* (160 per hour)

*For reference, raced at ~150LBS (Hourly Caloric Intake (Bike):  1.1 calories /LB) 

Bike Total: 1:16:25 (3^rd 30-34AG, 38^th OA)

T2: 1:06

Run (7.0mi):
I was pretty down on myself at this point in the race. I thought I was 10 minutes off on my swim time, and 6 minutes off on my bike time, but as I rolled my bike into T2 there were less than a dozen bikes there. Huh? All of a sudden I got SUPER motivated. Time to go ALL OUT !!!

As it turned out there was a HUGE current this year that ruined everyone’s swim times, and the wind on the bike course also slowed everyone bike times down from last year.

I did most of the run by myself, but ended up catching a couple of the pro women around the sand ladder, and actually ran miles 6 & 7 stride for stride with Courtenay Brown from team trakkers.  Somehow my splits got mixed up, but below are my approximately my splits.

Mile 1: 6:48

Mile 2: 6:48

Mile 3: 8:26

Mile 4: 6:56

Mile 5: 9:17

Mile 6: 6:40

Mile 7: 6:24

Run Nutrition:

Misc: Drank ½ cup of water at every aid station

Run Total: 51:49 (3^rd 30-34AG, 33^rd OA)

Race Total: 3:04:54
3rd M30-34
15 OA (amateurs)

Lessons Learned. This was my first AG Podium at a big event, so I was super stoked with the race. Seems like a lot of the hardwork I put in this year is paying off. This is a very unique venue and I would highly recommend it anyone who is considering it. Thanks to Tri Cal who always puts on great events. Thanks to Trisports.com, Long Beach Tri Club and thanks to all my friends that did it with me. Not Many lessons learned here except I need to learn how to swim. Oh and I also need to learn how to run downhill, for some reason all these people would pass me on the downhill running then I would catch up to them, and then they would get ahead of me again on the next downhill. Next stop my local long beach sprint triathlon.

2011 Vineman 70.3 Race Report

Ironman Vineman 70.3 – July 17th 2011 

Sonoma, CA
Race Totals: 4:41:41
Swim: 31:21
Bike: 2:31:01 (22.25mph avg) 
Run: 1:34:47 (7:14 per mile avg) 

Pre-Race: 

This is my second “season” doing triathlons, and my first 70.3. It’s also really only my second year swimming and biking but what can I say, I’m hooked. I used to run, occasionally, but up until 3-4 years ago I was carrying around an extra 40-50 lbs, so I wouldn’t really consider it running, more like jogging.

A little info about myself: I’m 30 years old, weigh 150 lbs, my FTPw = 225watts, and my VO2max = 69.2 (320 watts). My pre-race goals were 33 min swim, 2:30-2:33 bike, and I really wasn’t sure what my run pace would be. 6:10 pace for olympic distance, so I was guessing somewhere between 6:40 & 7:20 pace for the run.

4:15AM I ate 2 instant oatmeal packs, a single serving package of almond butter, ½ banana, a starbucks double-shot.  ( 550 cal )

7:15AM Honey Stinger Chocolate Gel in transition chased w/ water. ( 120 cal )

7:42AM Race Start

Swim (1.2mi):
I’m not a strong swimmer so usually I just try and survive the swim and try not to fall too far behind. This time was no different. I finished top 25% of my age-group.

Swim Total: 31:21 (48^th 30-34AG, 285^thOA)

T1: 2:31

Bike (56mi):
First race w/ a power meter. I know its bad form to race on new equipment, but I was feeling slightly uncomfortable with my bike pacing coming up to the event and decided to reward myself with a powertap just 7 days before the event. Everything I have read on the Internet says that you should race a HIM at 80-85% of your FTPw.   However after my V02Max / Blood Lactate test, Coach said I should be racing the whole bike in low Zone 4 ie 86 – 90 % FTPw. So the whole race I was trying to keep my 30 sec avg power ~ 195-200 watts on the flats, 175-185 watts on the downhill’s, and under 300 watts on the hills. Almost every time I checked my computer during the race it seemed like I was pumping out too many watts, and at the half way point I checked my average and it was 205 watts. Time to slow things down a bit. The second half I kept my pacing under control and came in at 199 watts average for the whole race. The weird thing is I actually had a faster split on the second half, go figure. 1^st split = 1:16:53, 2cnd split = 1:14:08.

Bike Nutrition:

·       0-20min: H2O

·       20min: Honey Stinger Waffle (160 cal)

·       40min: 2 Cliff Shot Blocks(66 cal)

·       60min: 2 Cliff Shot Blocks(66 cal)

·       1hr20min: 2 Cliff Shot Blocks( 66 cal)

·       1hr40min: 2 Cliff Shot Blocks( 66 cal)

·       2hrs: 2 Cliff Shot Blocks( 66 cal)

I drank 3x 22 oz bottles of water during the bike but I think this turned out to be too much water for the 63-67 degree weather because the last 1/3 of the bike course I really had to pee to the point where I was literally dreaming of the bathroom in the transition area, and every bump I went over on the bike was killing me.

Bike Nutrition Totals (+/-):

·       Calories: 490* (196 per hour)

*For reference, raced at ~150LBS (Hourly Caloric Intake (Bike):  1.3 calories /LB) 

Bike Total: 2:31:01 (22^nd 30-34AG, 115^th OA)

T2: 2:01

Run (13.1mi):
Now here comes the interesting part of the race. I really wasn’t sure what to expect. My original pacing plan was to run the first 2 miles @ 7:20 pace (zone 2), then the rest at a nice 6:40 pace (zone 3). However, if I met my goal of a 2:30 bike split, I told myself I would go for broke on the run. This was probably a bad idea. I ended up missing the bathroom in the transition area, so my first goal was to get to mile marker 1 as fast as possible so that I could go to the bathroom. After what seemed like 2 full minutes in the bathroom, I got back on the course and hit the lap timer. 6:49 for my first mile (including the bathroom break). I felt great. Mile 2, 6:35. Perfect. Maybe I can get through the rest of the race at 6:40? Nope. Right after mile 2 I got a horrible stomach cramp, my usual sign of going out too hard. I dialed down my pace to around 7:10 miles hoping it would go away, and then I could get back to my 6:40 pace. About 6 miles into the run I started seeing all my friends on the course and fellow trisports athlets, took my first gel, and things started getting better. The cramp went away, but for the life of me I couldn’t get back down to sub 7. I then kept telling myself at mile 8 I would pick it up again, mile 9 maybe? Mile 10? Pace kept dropping. Mile 11 was the worst. Ran into a friend from the M25-29 wave, chatted for a minute tried to convince him to run in with me, he decided to pass on the offer so I had to bring it home by myself with everything I got left.

Mile 1: 6:49 ( 6:22 pace + bathroom )

Mile 2: 6:36

Mile 3: 7:10

Mile 4: 6:58

Mile 5: 7:10

Mile 6: 7:08

Mile 7: 7:22

Mile 8: 7:15

Mile 9: 7:22

Mile 10: 7:18

Mile 11: 7:39

Mile 12: 7:33

Mile 13: 7:29

Mile 13.1 6:00

First half 46:43 (7:04/mi), back in 48:04 (7:23/mi)

Run Nutrition:

·       Mille 6: ½ Gel (~50 cal)  

·       Mile 10: ½ Gel (~50 cal) 

Misc: Drank ½ cup of water at every aid station & poured ½ cup of water on my head.

Run Nutrition Totals (+/-):

·       Calories: 100* (66 per hour)

*Hourly Caloric Intake (Run): 0.44 calories /LB

 Run Total: 1:34:47 (15^nd 30-34AG, 107^th OA)

Race Total: 4:41:41
15th M30-34
107 o'all (pros/amateurs)

Lessons Learned. Overall it was a great first 70.3. thanks to Trisports.com, Long Beach Tri Club and thanks to all my friends that did it with me. Congrats to my buddy Mark Tripp who got third place in our AG and qualified for the World Championships. To further improve i think i needed to eat a little more, either on the bike or earlier in the run. i definitely had the feeling that my legs could go faster but i just didn't have the energy. I also feel like i went out too fast on the run. It looks like i got some things to try for next time which is always good. As always I will also try and work on using my watts more efficiently on the bike, and increasing my FTPw. next stop SF Triathlon @ Alcatraz.