The Columbia Triathlon

May 19th marked the 30th anniversary of the Columbia Triathlon- the oldest in the mid- atlantic region. I had looked to race this event last year, but was injured.  I was excited to race this year as I heard the course was a hilly bike and run.

Going into the race, I did not want to taper too much as I have U23 Nationals in Dallas the first weekend in June.  Tapering too often will just lead to multiple poor performances.  It's a catch- 22 because you never want to perform below standards, but you also cannot always be at the top of your game.

The race was pretty stacked with the likes of Cam Dye, Andrew Yoder, Bevan Docherty, Brett McMahn, and many of the guys who were top 5 in Knoxville.  I was happy to get a really hard race in two weeks out from Dallas.

I am not gawking at Olympic medalist, I am just excited to race

The swim was non- wetsuit for the pros (wetsuit for AG'ers) and I got a chance to try wearing a swim skin. Seemed to work pretty well except for the overwhelming compression on the "family jewels." Anyway, the swim went out pretty hard from the gun as a new pro with a killer swim gapped the field.  I found myself behind the lead pack of 8 or so with only one person on my feet.  As the lead pack moved forward, I could not get up to them.  The rest of the swim was just me on my own with Chris Foster on my hip.  Got out in 19:28 about 80 seconds back of Cam Dye, etc. Not a bad swim- much better than Knoxville, but still have a ways to go.

The bike was the best part of this race for me.  While I still have not been able to swap my crank for a standard 53 tooth, I was limited heavily on downhills by my 50 in the front.  I averaged 23.5 mph for the race- a good bit faster than Knoxville on an arguably easier course. I made every effort to not immediately let Chris Foster get away or Kalb VanOrt when he came past I stuck with him in sight for as long as possible. The only other person I saw was Jason Pederson, who dropped his chain twice while he would pass me- then chain drop. That was unfortunate but we eventually finished the bike leg together. 1:04:20 for 25.2 miles

The run was okay.  I immediately got a side stitch that was not enjoying the downhills.  The stitch was a killer until about mile 4, when I finally dropped feeling sorry for myself and caught Hunter (who had a monster swim) and closed in on, but didn't catch James Seear. 35:20 was not a good split, but many of the other runners in the field had off run days too on such a hilly course.

Overall it was an okay day.  In such a stacked field, I was happy to be 13th at age 22, but I need to continue improving. I loved the course and will certainly be back next year.
Lastly, my "home stay" was really my family! I got to visit my Uncle and his wife and two kids, which was an awesome way to stay. My Mom and girlfriend came too, which made me feel pretty comfortable before the race, regardless of the outcome.

Finis Fulcrum Paddles

A few weeks ago, I was presented with the opportunity to wear test something from the Aqua Gear Swim Shop (http://www.aquagear.com).  The company has a great website with a feature that asks if you need help right upon logging on. You can choose to live chat with a representative, or just click no. There are many educated people that can help you choose the correct paddles, bouys, or any other accessories.

The accessory I needed was paddles.  I choose the Finis Fulcrum paddles, which have 5- sizes based on body stature.  I have the large, white paddles.

My initial impression of the paddles was that they allowed you to control their motion better than paddles with no cut out at the bottom. The problem with many paddles is that they allow swimmers to navigate with poor form leading to shoulder injuries. When using paddles, it's very important to get an early catch in the first quadrant of your stroke.  These help promote this "early vertical catch" and do not allow you to drop your elbow.  The early vertical catch became widely publicized in the late 90's when the Aussies started swimming very fast, and the "EVC" has stood the test of time.  I, personally, have always had a wide catch that is a big stroke flaw.  No paddles will "fix" your stroke, but these really allow you to feel if your catch is too wide.  This attribute has been a huge help to me.

Another aspect I love about the paddles is that they are good for all strokes. When swim coaches are having a bad morning, and they assign a butterfly set with some paddle work (or IM), I do not mind using these paddles for any stroke. Using other style paddles has made my shoulders scream in agony! Being a triathlete, I never truly enjoy a butterfly set, but when paddles are added, I think the lifeguards become on edge.

One other note about Aqua Gear is the awesome customer service they provide.  As internet shopping becomes more popular, internet- customer service will become paramount.  I cannot express how easy and helpful they made the process.

The "Very Average" Race

Last weekend, I tried my hand at an Olympic distance, non draft race down in Knoxville, TN.  REV 3 Knoxville has been a very competitive race the last couple of years, and I was eager to get to race a REV 3 event. I had only heard positive things about the race company, and I can add that I had a great experience at the race (before and after) despite the cold temps (I hate cold, 58 degree water), and rain. They did a great job to make everybody have a world class experience.

I got into Knoxville a few days before the race and the race site was right below my hotel, which is such a great convenience.  I met up with some of the REV 3 staff, and thanked them for having me race their pro race.  The day before the race, I tested out the water and it was undeniably cold.  Yes, my body warmed up well in my XTERRA wetsuit, but my head was frozen. It would prove to be difficult conditions for the race.

One example of how REV 3 is pushing the sport forward is this PRO transition area.

On race morning, I woke up at 5 am to shake out. It was not raining yet, but by the end of my run, I felt drops coming.  For the 8 am pro start, the rain was coming down steadily and it was pretty cold on the ground.  We jumped in and "warmed up" a bit before the cannon.  Immediately, my goggles fogged up. I was wearing older sweedish ones I had that felt like the straps were more snug than my main sweeds that broke the day before. It may have been that combined with the frigid temps that made my vision limited.  I could not sight ahead of me with this, so I sighted to a green cap in my wave.  Knowing that the different colored caps were given to past winners and/or world champs, I figured I was safe.  I exited next to that green cap, who happened to be Conrad Stoltz (5 time XTERRA World Champ, and 2- time Olympian).  Problem with this situation was, he could bike about 5 minutes or more into me.  I swam slower than many people that I can usually swim with, and this was completely my fault for poor sighting and being comfortable sighting off somebody else and not leaders.

I am running up the boat ramp right behind Conrad and Dan McIntosh.

After a quick T1, exiting before both those that I came out of the water with (advantage of ITU racing is quick transitions), I was quickly and unceremoniously passed by Conrad. I tried to match him but was pretty anaerobic and couldn't maintain his pace and power.  My legs just did not have much power to them. I also did not get to ride the course the day before, so I was pretty cautious on the downhills, which cost a bit of time.  I did pass 2 cars on descents, so that was a mixture of cool and scary. I was about 2- minutes down to the main pack at the only turn around on the course, and about 1:30 up on another pack. I was riding solo, and gave up some more time the second half to both groups. James Burns and a few guys from US Pro Tri team caught me 2- miles from transition and we rode in together (legally).

My feet were frozen. More frozen than the Del Valley duathlon a few weeks ago. My second toe was curled up under my foot when I got off my bike and was slowly returning to its normal position.  Getting running shoes on was tough, but I took off with James Burns. We dropped a few guys early and were running well through 2.7 miles together. It was fun running with him as we raced a conference 10K track final a few years ago together in the CAA conference.  We both are victims of teams being cut.  Muscularly, I had nothing left when he made a move on me, so I just did as much as I could to limit the damage.  34:20 was my 10K split, which was okay. Again, just an average day. I am glad I finished, but know I can do a lot better than this.

After the race, I showered (and thawed out) and got going home. I have two weeks until another non draft race in Columbia, MD and then two more until the Dallas Continental Cup, which is my big goal race to run well in during the first half of the season as the U23 winner gets a bid to World champs.

Bridgetown Continental Cup

This weekend, I traveled down to Barbados for a continental cup. I got down to Barbados two days before the race on Sunday, April 22nd. Training leading up to the race was tough with the very sketchy riding on small roads with lots of cars, but it was fun being in a different country.

The swim was nice to train for since I could walk from my hotel room to the ocean and get in great swimming right in front of me!

The morning of the race featured what a lot of Barbados people called "liquid sunshine" or rain.  The country gets very little rain until the summer, so the roads were covered in oil and became very slick. I was slightly excited about this as I felt comfortable handling my bike on slick rainy roads. With two 180 degree turns, this would be paramount.

I got on the pontoon next to two guys who I have biked with in past races, so I figured I was in a good spot.  I started the swim well and was swimming next to Andrew Bysice and Jason Wilson (the eventual winner) the whole time.  I felt comfortable exiting the water in 9:50 with the leader only 10 seconds up on me.  I was stoked to be that far up and thought if I was in that group, I could win or get top 3.  That was, until T1 when I failed to buckle my helmet for a good 20 seconds and watched that group ride away. That was frustrating, and then a crash caused a lead group of 5 guys to get ahead on the bike and we never caught them.

The bike was chaotic as there were so many crashes, and guys were putting their feet on the ground to make the 180- degree turns. I never had to do that and even made a small break with Eric Lagerstrom after a 180 turn when people took it very slowly.  The break did not materialize, but it was good to keep the pressure up. After riding fairly comfortably, I was confident in my run.

I got out of T2 hard in pursuit.  Alex Hinton got a small gap on me early, and we caught some of the early leaders.  I moved from 8th to 7th in the last 1/2 mile and was pretty happy, but not satisfied.  If I had not had the hiccup in T1, I could have contended, but with variable change, there is really no telling of what would have happened.   

Next race up is REV3 Knoxville in two weeks time. Time to get on the TT bike.

Delaware Valley Duathlon and Philly Pro Team

Last weekend, I decided to get a tune up race in before heading to Barbados for a continental cup later in April.  I traveled to the Delaware Valley Duathlon with the knowledge there were a few other fast guys that would make for a good race. I had raced Dave Slavinski and Holden Comeau before and knew they were both very good multisport athletes. They are both training for longer course races, so this would probably be an advantage to me for this particular race. The distances were 5k run/ 25k bike/ 5k run.

Pre Race:
Woke up at 6 AM to do a 15' run with some drills. Was COLD! 30 degrees with winds 20 mph from the northwest. I was immediately scared about biking with no booty covers! My feet were going to be in for a cold morning. After coffee and some PowerBar energy chews (cola flavored), got to the race site to set up and do a long warm up.

1st 5K: Went out solid but very controlled. Dave was right behind me for 0.5 miles and then he said he would see me on the bike (after joking about my goofy running form, which I completely agree is odd). I felt pretty comfortable the whole first 5k and had garnered about a 30 second lead with a 15:47 first 5k.

The Bike: Was Cold! http://app.strava.com/activities/47532495 is the strava file from the race. It's visible as to how hilly the ride is. You are almost never riding flat, so it was either uphill or screaming down (where the feet really started to get numb). First race since Philly Tri last year on a TT bike, so my goal was to just maintain my lead. I was expecting to see either Dave or Holden come by me during the ride as I was unsure of how far ahead I was.  At the first turn around, I had 40" to Dave and I believe one minute to Holden.  The second turn around (about 2-3 miles from the finish) I still had 40 seconds, but on Holden this time.

The 2nd run: Felt a little cramping on the run and the end of the bike so I tried to drink. Mostly calf pain and I didn't want to repeat duathlon worlds last year.  The 32 degree weather probably didn't help my muscles stay warm either.  I started out the run very gingerly as my calves were objecting a bit, but as my legs warmed up, I was able to speed up.  Didn't have to push the second run much and ran a conservative 17:10 for the win

 

Dave, myself, and Holden L to R

Had a very nice talk with Holden after the race about developing as a triathlete, especially during the swim. Just another example of the great community in triathlon.

I also won a pair of Scott running shoes. These shoes are awesome, the T2 EVO are really awesome. I wore them the day after the race for a 15 mile long run and they were awesome.  I am looking forward to trying more Scott shoes as it's a company I've never tried before.

Also, I will be working with the Philly Pro Triathlon Team starting immediately.  They are a great group of guys racing together and an awesome organization trying to professionalize triathlon even more. I am excited to begin working with them.

Only about 11 days until the Bridgetown, Barbados continental cup. Starting to rest up and get ready for another big race.

Florida double to start 2013

Hey all!

Been a few weeks since my last update as I've been busy training, working at the motor control/biomechanics lab at Univ of Delaware, and TA'ing a few undergraduate classes! It's been a busy time, but I was excited to go down to Clermont and Sarasota, Fl to start the 2013 race season. I flew down Thursday, March 7th before Clermont continental cup.  I had a fantastic "home stay" at the AAA triathlon camp run by John and Jodi Hoovis. This place located just 20 minutes from the national training center in Clermont is a triathlon haven! They have all the facilities you could wish for as a triathlete, and a bunch of us were staying there between the races. After Clermont, I went to a home stay for one night, then stayed in a very shady $40/night hotel for one night as I went back to Delaware to speak at the Salesianum Sports Banquet. That was a really fun experience, and they flew me home for one day to speak there; what an honor! After that, I flew back down to Florida on Wednesday, stayed at the AAA tri camp that night, then down to Sarasota on Thursday. This trip was quite the whirlwind.

I also must say I've met some great friends over this trip. Others with me at the AAA tri camp were Connor Murphy, Lawrence Fanous, Andrew McCartney, Jonathan Rodriguez, and Graham Leitch, as well as the Portuguese National Team, and a few others for a day or two. So many nationalities staying under one roof made for a really fun time. 

Clermont:

I landed feeling fairly sick and honestly lacking the competitive edge to race my best. I had a headache and just felt drained in the two days leading up to the race. Once the gun went off for the swim, I was immediately behind Sam Holmes, who had a great start.  I tried to keep composure and swim my heart out! This year, the swim was an actual swim and felt on the long side (as if the swim legs aren't already long enough!). I exited the swim in okay position, but it was only my third swim in a wetsuit in the previous 9 months, so I was not as prepared as I should have been (my fault!).
10:20 was my official split and I was a few seconds down to the chase pack, but still ahead of the third pack.
The bike went well. My group caught Andrew Starkowytz and I was certainly hoping being an uber biker, he could TT us up to the front. He was not feeling well, so we were eventually caught by the third pack.  I can say there was some shady riding by one person in our pack who almost caused a crash, but thankfully the rubber stayed down!

The run was very "meh." I was happy to finish the slightly long 5.3k in 17:13 (or about 5:14 pace). I was just happy to have the first race out of the way.  A few people that I know I am better than beat me, but I can only use it as motivation for the future.

After a few days, I flew home to speak at my high school (Salesianum) for their senior sports banquet.  I was super honored they wanted to hear my story and it was great to be home for one night.

I wore a different kind of "suit" for this! No lycra.

The next day, I was back in Florida and rejuvenated and ready to race Sarasota.

Sarasota:
The swim was a pontoon start with some fast swimmers including my fellow home stayer Andrew McCartney, Tommy Z, Joe Maloy, and Lucas F.  In essence, they broke off the front, a solid pack of swimmers was about 20 seconds behind them, and then about 40 seconds back to a pack of runners.  I came out of the water just in front of Nicholas S and Kaleb VanOrt, who I knew were strong cyclists and good runners as well.  I figured we could work together nicely

We had begun to suck packs up in front of us and we were really flying. We caught three or four small packs and eventually became the main chase pack about 1:45 down on the leaders! Looking at my garmin, we were averaging over 26 mph for the first 15 miles.

I am the one with the green lid in second position.  I found I was able to hit the tangents really well and keep my speed up, which definitely made others hurt a bit if they tapped the breaks coming into the turns as they needed to sprint to get out. Thanks to my mom for getting the vid!

Then disaster struck, as I was coming through transition, just past the wheel station, I pinch flatted my rear tire. After not causing a crash, I had to figure out what to do. 2 laps to go, and I figured I'd ride as hard as I could go. Riding a clincher with 19mm tires that are flat doesn't work well.  All the hard work and awesome positioning I had done came to nothing.  It's super frustrating for something like this to happen, but it is part of this sport, and I can take a few things away from it.  I am biking strong, and I was right in the mix to put together a top 15 finish.  I definitely could have secured a spot for U23 worlds but I was not able to run after a long 10K with no air in the tires. I should have done a few things in retrospect such as putting caffelatex in the tires or putting training wheels in the wheel stop (although I had passed it and would still have ridden 5k before being able to access it).

Onward and upward! After this dissapointment, I want to show that I am in shape and am a world class athlete.  I head to Barbados next month for the Bridgetown continental cup to make up for lost chances here- and I will remember this to fuel the fire.  That's all for now!

Kiwami

Today I will be giving a review of the Kiwami Amphibian 008 triathlon suit.  Kiwami was nice enough to partner with me for the 2012 season, and hopefully beyond.  I wore the Amphibian 008 with ITU customization on there.  Above is the uniform I wore in the Clermont Continental Cup.  Some of the features of the Amphibian 008 include:
           Being the lightest speedsuit on the markey (weighing about 100 grams).
           Having a flat zipper and cord that are easy to pull down if it is warm, but will not come off in the combative ITU style open water swim.
          It just FEELS FAST.

I have worn suits by other companies when I began dabbling in triathlon, and I have always preferred a one piece suit.   The Amphibian is the fastest feeling suit i have worn, and it has never felt too hot when racing in the hot conditions such as Texas or Florida.

There are other suits by Kiwami if you are not looking for a back-zip single piece suit.

The Kiaman is a front zipper suit that still provides all the comfort and speedy feel of the amphibian, but also a pad for longer races.

Also, the Prima Top and Bottom combination provide a great two piece suit to keep cool in a long course style event.

Lastly, here is a shot of the suit I wore for the majority of the 2012 season including the 2012 USAT Elite Nationals in Buffalo, NY.