Race Report of the Yellow Creek Sprint Triathlon. Penn Run, Pa. (6/13)

I was excited to go back to where it all started three years ago and race the Yellow Creek Sprint once again.  After getting 7th place three years ago in what was my first triathlon, I was disappointed to only move up to 5th place last year.  If the same people showed up this year, I knew that going for the win would be difficult, but I was optimistic.

Another cause for excitement was that I was racing with my good friend, Steph for the first time in our two years or so of acquaintance.  Since the race is also in Mappleton's back yard, we all went together, although he was not racing because of an inflamed IT band.

The drive would have been uneventful save for the usual PCC-inspired shenanigans, but as we drew closer and closer to the race site, Mapple decided to stop at Sheetz for a Shmonster.  Apparently, a shmonster is like an egg Mcmuffin, but twice as big and twice as yummy.  To top it off, you can order it with either bacon, sausage or ham.  Mapple goes for the bacon, only to find out a few minutes later in the car that they actually gave

 him much reviled sausage patties.  He's obviously a picky eater, I mean, it's not like they come from the same animal or something.  More on the Shmonster later.

Registration and transition setup went well and were free of stress thanks to getting there in plenty of time.  After everything was set up, I zipped up my wetsuit and waded into the lake so I could pee...I mean warm up.  After the national anthem and a brief prayer, the gun went off.

The swim went pretty well.  I felt strong throughout and was happy to have a lot of room to work with.  I came out of the water fifth and was confident that my biking would bring me further up the standings.  The only problem was that the guy who came out of the water first used to swim for Pitt.  In other words, he was taking about 20 seconds per 100m out of me throughout the roughly 1k swim.  Doing the math, you figure he came out with about three and a half minutes on me.  That would be tough to pull bac

k on a course that was only giving me a 9.5 mile bike and a 3.5 mile run to work with.  He was obviously a gifted athlete to be that good of a swimmer so it would stand to reason that he would at least be a competent biker and runner.

The bike started and I knew that I couldn't hold back on such a short course.  If I felt like I was going to vomit out all of my internal organs, I was probably on the right track.  I passed #4 after about three miles and quickly put space between us.  However, I was more than irritated when I looked up the road and could see #2 and #3 blatantly drafting.  Cheater alert.  I hope you feel good about yourselves.  

So at the turn around, #2 accelerated enough that #3 couldn't get back on his wheel so it was fair game again.  I was still mad and praying for father Karma to send this guy a flat tire.  Just as I was thinking that, I saw him pull off

 to the side of the road!  Seriously, you can't make this stuff up.  As it turned out, the problem was a dropped chain and not a flat, but I'll gladly accept whatever was coming to him.  This put me #3 on the road.

At this point, the course was pretty windy and rolling so it was hard to get a stretch of road long enough to see #2, though I knew that he could not have been that far in front so I kept pushing to the end of the bike leg.

As soon as I started the run, I saw that he had maybe fifty yards or so on me.  During the first half of the run towards the turn around, I practiced the tactic of running normally for 30 steps and then going hard for ten.  This whittled his lead down to less than half of what it was by the turn around.  The expression I saw on his face when he saw me coming the other way was one that told me he knew he couldn't h

old on.

Not long after, I was right on his hip.  I stayed there for a minute, catching my breath and weighing my options.  I could go for it and hope to hold him off, or I could take him to the end and leave it to a sprint.  This whole process was an exercise in patience.  After a few short rises in the road, I was confident that I could out run him to the finish from where we were.  It was maybe three quarters of a mile to the finish.  I came past him and pressed hard to break his spirit.  I could hear his breathing slowly fading away, but I didn't want to look back.  I was definitely running like I stole something.

At the park entrance, about a quarter mile from the finish line, there was a right hand turn that gave me a chance to glance over to see where he was.  It looked like I had him for sure if I kept at it.  Nearing the line I took another glance or two just to make certain and finished strong.  The gap was maybe 15 or 20 seconds by

 the finish.

First place finished about two and a half minutes in front, which told me that my bike and run were faster.  If only it was an OD course, I might have been able to get him.  Damn swimmers.

If the result wasn't enough of  a bright light after last week's disappointment, I also beat my time of last year by almost three and half minutes!  Impressive considering how short the course was.

So back to the Shmonster.  I ate it after it had been sitting in the car for three and a half hours.  It was still good.  MMMMM!

Race Report of the Deer Creek State Park Olympic Triathlon. Mt. Sterling, Oh. (6/7)

Well, you know when only two people, including the 15 registered elite athletes, break 2:10 for an Olympic race, it probably wasn't the fastest course ever.  I was pretty excited going into the day because I had heard that it was a pretty fast course and I was anxious to put up a good time.  Instead I settled for putting up my worst time in an OD race.  Ever.  Maybe I can take that fact with a grain of salt though, because looking through the results from last year to this year told me that everyone's times were several minutes slower this year.  So what happened?

To save a little cash, it was my plan going into the race weekend to make the three and a half hour drive to Mt. Sterling the morning of the race instead of getting a hotel.  That would mean getting out of bed at two and being on the road by three.  It's early, but doable if getting to bed early enough the previous night.  To complicate matters, the Penguins were playing game five of the stanley cup finals Saturday night.  There was no way I was going to miss the game, especially since I actually had a night off of work to watch it.  It seems as though I've had to work nearly every playoff game this year.

So my plan was to go to bed when Kayla went to work at four and get up for the game at eight.  After the game, I would go back to bed for a few hours until it was time to get ready for the race.

Phase one of the plan happened seamlessly.  I got some good sleep before the game and unfortunately witnessed a complete thrashing of the Pens.  It got so bad that I turned it half way through the second period to watch Independence Day.

Commence phase two.  I said, commence phase two.  Not responding.  I'll try again.  Commence phase two.  Basically I rolled around in bed for about two hours doing everything but sleeping.  If I reached the shallowest of depths of sleep, it went unnoticed thanks to my alarm.  I wasn't tired, probably from sleeping earlier in the day, but it sure wasn't a good way to start the day.

There was  little pre-race drama thanks to the uber-huge registration lines.  I had to rush a round a little bit to get everything in order before the start, but it was really no big deal.  The pushed back the start of the race by fifteen minutes so that helped a little bit.

The swim was a bit of a melee.  I don't know if it was just the nature of the swim course, but there never really seemed to be too much room to maneuver.  I didn't seem to be going too badly, but it was hard to tell.  What I could tell was that on the home stretch of both of the two laps, the sun made it really hard to see the buoys.  The zig-zagging off course probably did more than anything to relegate my swim to a not-so-hot 23:51.  Disappointing.  Again, comparing last year to this year, maybe the swim was slightly long.  Times averaged well over a minute faster last year.

It took some time to get my legs under me on the bike, but a few miles into it, I felt fine despite feeling like I was going to vomit at the beginning.  The first five or six miles seemed to be tilted ever so slightly uphill.  Just enough to keep speeds between 22 and 23 miles per hour.  The back half of the course picked up nicely until two short climbs punctuated the run into transition for the start of lap two.  I'm not sure what happened, but the winds had apparently picked up quite a bit from the first to second laps.  I was passed by more people than I'm used to getting passed by on the bike, but I didn't feel too bad.  I was shocked to discover that my time was 1:07.  In last year's results, bike splits didn't start to get consistently over 1:10 until about 50 people deep.  This year, it only took about 35.  Maybe there was more wind this year or something.

I started the run feeling okay, but not too pleased to discover that the first mile was almost entirely on grass.  That mean the last mile would be almost entirely on grass.  Great.  Regardless, mile one went by in 6:20.  I didn't feel like I was pushing too hard so I had faith that I would hold that pace.  After two miles, the pace dropped to a 6:30 average and at the 5k mark, I was almost at 21:00.

I don't know if it was just me, but it felt like the run was uphill both ways.  All I could think about getting to the turn around was, "well, hopefully I can get a negative split because I'll be able to run downhill."  But after turning around and starting the run back, the road seemed to be tilted up even more.  To make matters worse, I was fighting cramps from about mile two that would last all the way to the finish.

The pace picked up for mile four, felt like it picked up for mile five as well, but actually slowed and sucked even more for mile 6.  I ended in over 44 minutes.  I'm sure it didn't help that I haven't been able to run normally since the beginning of May.  I realize how disenchanted I am about the race as I sit here writing this.

So what happened?  What happened to my 20-minute swims of last year?  What happened to my bike leg that I thought was my strength?  I've had stomach cramps in the past and if I am able to start running normally again, I don't think there is a problem there.  Yeah there might have been differences in the conditions and course compared to last year as the results suggest, but the fact is that was not a good race.  I ended in 2:18.  19th overall and 2nd in the age group.

Meh. 

OD Races and the Wonder of the Open Country.

First OD race in a week in Ohio.  It's the first race of the Wheelie Fun Series put on by HFP.  As the name implies, the series is super fun and incredibly well-run.  I definitely get out for HFP races whenever they can fit into my schedule.  They're very professional and if you register early, it's only $55 for an Olympic race.  You can't beat that, especially when you consider that the Olympic race here in Pittsburgh is over $100 and I'm not sure why.

The series consists of six races in Ohio throughout the year.  Points are awarded after each race based on your placing within the age group.  Only your top five races will count towards the point total, allowing you to have a bad race if you show up to do all six.  At least four races must be completed and one of them must be the series championship in September which is worth double points.  The strange thing is, since points are awarded based on your finish within the age group, the series winner could potentially not be the one who finishes most consistently overall.  For instance the series winner could be a guy in the 60-64 age group who wins his age group in every race, even though a guy in the 25-29 age group finishes considerably higher in the overall in every race, but not first in his age group.

It appears as though I'll only be able to show up for four of the races because two of them are all the way on the other side of Ohio.  But who knows; if after the first two races, I find myself really high up in the points standings, maybe I'll make the sacrifice to get to one of the two that are far away to keep the possibility of winning alive.  As of now, the four that I'm scheduled to do are:  Deer Creek State Park, June 7th; Maumee Bay State Park, June 21st; Vermilion Harbour, August 16th; Portage Lakes State Park, September 13th.

Anyway, I'm pretty excited for the race.  I didn't do this one last year because I really wasn't aware of it or the series.  HFP races always have some really good people show up, so it seems as though if I have a good race, I can probably hope for a top five finish.

Last weekend was Memorial Day weekend so I got to go home for a few days.  Day one was spent almost completely on the road.  Driving from Pittsburgh to home, home to New York for a Yankees game (to celebrate Dad's fiftieth) and from New York back to home.  

Day two was one that I was really looking forward to because I was planning on riding a century before heading over to Dad's for more birthday bash fun.  The road at home are a dream.  Well-paved country routes with the bare minimum of traffic.  To top it off, pretty much everyone there is really nice too.  It is the middle of Pennsylvania so there is still a fair share of people in pick-up trucks that look at you like you have three heads if you wear spandex, but it sure beats the rude, city hicks of Pittsburgh who try to run you over with their pick-ups just because you're wearing spandex.  Is it just me or does anyone else find it ironic that football players also wear spandex, yet if one of these gun-toting rednecks saw Roethlisberger on the road they would stop, push out their wife from the passenger seat and offer him a ride?  Who knows.  Don't try to confuse my with all your fancy book-learnin',  son.

Wow, who got off track there for a second?

Well seeing as how I didn't get to Mom's house until after midnight and didn't get to bed until about one, my hopes of getting out the door for my ride at 8 were dashed.  I settled for getting up at 8 and getting out at 9:30.  I started out with an out-and-back that totaled about 43 miles so I could stop back at home and refill my water bottles.  I went out for another hour and a half and arrived at Dad's at the predetermined time of one o' clock with 71 miles under my belt.  Had a great lunch and some Q time with the family before heading out to finish up the century.  When I got to Dad's, I didn't know how much I felt like putting in another hour and a half in the saddle, but I was feeling recharged and ready to go after some great food.

I started back towards Mom's house and passed it at about 75 miles.  Perfect, I thought.  I'll head out for about 12 miles or so and come back and that should put me at 100.  Well, I only got a few miles and and the wind started to howl like crazy.  It was probably a steady 30 mph and gusting even harder.  The sky clouded over and got dark.  A storm was definitely coming.  I wasn't deterred though. I hadn't been riding all day to not finish what I started.  I held this mindset until I saw a couple bolts of lightning in the distance that signaled it was time to pack it in and live to fight another day.  About two miles from home, the skies opened up and I got drenched.  I finally arrived home after 87 miles and got a shower just in time for the skies to clear up again.  Oh well, it was a good day.

Monday I put in an easy thirty miles with Mom and my brother, Ryan before heading back to Pittsburgh.  Not happy to go back to work.  Not happy to be back where it's crowded.  Happy that I get to run and swim again.

Not sure if it was from putting in so much on the bike and so much in general last week, but I've been so tired after all of my runs this week.  I think today is just going to be a yoga day.  I haven't done that in a while anyway, so I should get back to it.

Well, stay tuned for a race report in about a week and a half or so.  June 13th, I'm going back to where it all started.  That's right, it's Yellow Creek time!  I was telling myself last year that I wouldn't do the race again after realizing how short the season really is.  I didn't want to use one of my weekends on such a small race that doesn't have all that much importance, but it turns out that there really aren't any other races for me to do that weekend.  But it's a fun race and I'm sure I'll always enjoy going back to the place where I started this crazy triathlon career.

Cheers!

Race Report of the Davis Family Y/Steel Valley Tri Club Sprint Triathlon. Boardman, Oh. 5/17

Unfortunately, race morning number two of the season was much like race morning number one of the season.  I managed to grab about four hours of broken sleep after a busy night of work before getting some breakfast and heading out the door.  Thankfully, just like week one, the drive was only a little over an hour long.

I threw my disc wheel (yay), which I had tried out at the track a few days earlier for the first time, along with all my other gear in the car and made the drive without incident.  Having a cool new piece of equipment such as a disc because it provides much motivation for the race.  

The thing is definitely darn fast.  Its maiden voyage at the track was a good time.  My legs felt like complete mud, but my speed was still at least what it would have been with fresh legs and standard wheels.  Above all, I noticed how much its momentum carries up slight grades.  I was a little worried to feel how much of a difference the weight penalty of a disc, but I don't think there really is any.  Towards the crest of the home stretch on the track, it helped keep my speed up quite significantly.  I knew that on fresh legs, decked out in an aero helmet with full-on race motivation, I would fly.

Anyway, I got to the race site, picked up my packet and set up transition.  All seemed to be in order, save for the fact that it was about forty degrees at seven in the morning!  There was beautiful weather all week long, but a Saturday storm blew threw and took all of the warmth with it.  There was only a high of mid-fifties for the day.

Thankfully time went by quickly and before I knew it, I was jumping into the heated outdoor pool awaiting the whistle.  My shivering was nearing an uncontrollable level, so the whistle couldn't come soon enough.

After about the first hundred of the 500 meter swim, my lane partner started to pull away.  I knew the race was young and the bike and run would be where I could make up the ground that I needed to, but I couldn't help but feel a twitch of concern.  But there was really no need.  He must have gone out harder than he could hold at the start, because I quickly caught him and started to put time between us.  I came out of the water in third.  I passed second place on the run to transition and passed number one during transition so I came out in the lead.  To make a long story short, that was the race.  But if you've ever read this blog, you know I usually tell the long story, so here it is.

I drove down on the pedals to get up to speed as quickly as possible, the disc wheel grinding beneath me.  I settled into my aero position and noticed that there was a pace vehicle in front of me.  This made me very happy because when there is a pace car, you don't really need to worry about getting lost; just chase the car all day.

For some reason, I barfed at about mile five on the bike.  I guess I was pushing too hard and my stomach didn't want to keep down the stuff I was drinking.  It was all fluid so not as disgusting as it could have been, but it was still weird though.  But I felt completely fine so didn't do anything differently.  

Hitting the turn around, it took a minute or two until I saw anyone coming the other way.  I didn't want to temp the bad luck gods, but at that point, it was pretty much in the bag unless someone was thinking about running a 12-minute 5k.  It was surely a cool feeling hearing the disc wheel; it just made me want to go faster and faster.  

The 14.5 mile bike leg came to an end as I rolled into transition and started the run.

Surprise, there was a lead bike on the run for me to follow too!  Life is good.  The bottom half of my legs and feet were so cold that I could barely feel them hitting the pavement at the beginning.  I buzzed through the 5k in a little over 18 minutes without incident and won by nearly five minutes.  

Just as a little extra bonus, I beat the time of last year's winner by a few seconds.  The winner last year was the same person who beat me in a duathlon last year by a few minutes.  Hopefully this means I'm definitely getting faster.

Lastly, my leg seems to be feeling considerably better.  There's still some pain and discomfort, but I ran again today and think it's only a matter of time until it's 100% again.  I'm very glad about this because I very much need to get in some quality run training to drop my 10k time in races.

Thanks for stopping by!

It's a Laundry Night in Pittsburgh!

Since moving into the new apartment, laundry has been piling up in epic proportions.  Hard training late last week means I have an opportunity to turn my stinky heap of spandex and underwear into a gleaming Mt. Olympus of cleanliness.  That means blogtime!

The most recent race update is that I have to unfortunately cancel the Pinchot Park Triathlon in Lewisberry, Pa.  I was greatly looking forward to it, as my brother and dad were going to come out in support.  However, one of the busiest weekends of the year at the restaurant (Carnegie Mellon's graduation) means nobody can have off.  Driving to Harrisburg is out of the question for Saturday afternoon.  Technically, I could drive there the morning of, but that would mean getting up at about two in the morning after going to bed at midnight.  Not happening.

So as a solution, I'm doing a race in Boardman, Ohio that's pretty close.  They're pretty close to the same in terms of distance (750m/18.5 mi/5k at Pinchot vs. 500y/14.5 mi/5k in Ohio) but the major difference is that the race in Ohio is, once again, a pool swim.  I suppose it's good for my chances, but I'm disappointed that my first open-water swim won't be until June.  Lame.  It looks as though I'll be in the mix for the win, but as I found out all season long last year, that doesn't always mean it will happen.  The person who won last year was the person who beat me in the Silver Springs Duathlon last May.  I have no idea if he's showing up this year, but if he is, that will be at least one more major player there.  However, there will be a huge reason to be excited this weekend...

It's here, it's here!

That's right, I'm talking about the disc wheel.  I got it in the middle of last week, threw a tire on it and quickly realized that I had not yet gotten a "crack pipe" with which to inflate said tire.  To explain, there is a very small opening in the disc where one can reach the valve to inflate the tube.  It's so small that a normal pump head cannot fit.  Therefore, a little right-angle adapter must be used to inflate it.  It's slang name is a "crack pipe" precisely because that's what it looks like.  Don't worry, mom, I don't know from experience ;-)

Fast forward to two days ago when it arrives in the mail, along with my new tri suit.  More on that later.  The good news concerning the crack pipe is that I figured out how to use it without having another person to help.  I have read that this is a common problem.  The bad news is that the end of the adapter that goes into the pump head basically ruined the head's seal so the the pump can't be used without the adapter at all.  It's not necessarily that terrible, as it still works, but I thought it was a bit weird.

Anyway, it's all pumped up and ready to go, though I haven't been able to get out to the track to take it for a spin yet; a must do before the race.

On to the tri suit.  I have needed a new one for a while.  Badly.  I have been using my beloved Orca elite tri suit for the past two years, but it's getting dangerously worn, almost to the point of offending those behind me on the course.  I would gladly buy another of the same suit if it wasn't out of production for two years an impossible to find.  I'm not sure how it's possible, but even with all the manufacturers of race apparel, not one of them makes a suit that attracts me like the Orca I had.  I wanted something black with some red highlights and maybe some white.  Only two that I found fit that criteria:  The De Soto Forza and the Speedo FastSkin II.  Huge problem with the Forza is that the legs are way too long.  My friend has one and they go pretty much down to his knee.  No good.  To find the problem with the Speedo, you need look no further than the price tag.  It's around the $230 ballpark.  Ouch.

So time passed and I delayed long enough that I had to use my trusty Orca in Slippery Rock.  But afterwards, it was time to finally make a decision so I could have some new threads for the next one.  I ended up with the 2XU endurance suit in black.  I have a wetsuit from 2XU and think they're a reputable company, so I didn't really have any inhibitions about the suit.  It has some white/grey highlights with the stitching that gives it some visual interest.  It fits well, albeit a bit more snug than the Orca.  For me, its drawbacks are:  A front zipper.  I'm still not sure whey anyone would do this.  Second drawback is the silicone leg gripper on each leg.  I much prefer the looser leg of the Orca that provides for some movement.  I'm not sure why people seem to shy away from this.  The third and final negative is the top-opening rear pocket.  I have seen some side-opening ones and that makes a little more sense to me.  The top-opening one is strange because it makes me think that it would create drag in the water if swimming without a wetsuit, as I will be on Sunday.  Granted it will be the only one that I'll do this year without a wetsuit in the event that the water is cool enough to always use one. 

The pocket could come in handy for storing a gel flask as opposed to keeping it on the frame of the bike, but I'm undecided on what approach I'll take.  Still, I would just prefer having no pocket at all.  As I said, I find it strange that given all of the manufacturers, a suit with this many flaws was my best option.  Oh well.

Lastly, I'll mention a new race that will be cropping up in Western Pennsylvania this fall.  It's not the closest to Pittsburgh, being in Meadeville, but it's still maybe only an hour and a half drive.  As I've mentioned before, Pittsburgh is a disappointment when trying to find races that are close by, but this one definitely helps.  There will be sprint and olympic triathlon options.  You can find more info here. 

Oh, I Forgot. It Rains in Pittsburgh.

There's really only one thing to do when there's a torrential downpour all day long.  

1.)  Watch CNN?  Nope, because if I hear one more thing about the biggest non-story of the year that's been on non stop for a week and a half, I'm going to commit myself to an insane asylum.  That's right, I'm talking about Swine Flu...I mean H1 N1...I mean...oh, who cares?

2.)  Watch Sports Center?  No, because 9 out of the top 10 plays of the week are people slam-dunking a basketball in the exact same manner.  The only reason it's not 10 out of 10 is because some no-name horse won the Derby.

3.)  Write in the blog?  Yes, you're so smart!

So the big news for the week is that the disc wheel is finally coming.  It either shipped today or last Friday so it'll be here soon.  Man, I can't wait.  It feels like I ordered it so long ago that I've almost forgot about it.

The Pittsburgh Marathon was yesterday.  It turned out to be a pretty rainy day, but it was perfect weather for running.  I felt a little bad that I wasn't in it.  I always feel like I'm wasting an opportunity when I don't do a race that's taking place where I live, but I know it would not have been a very good idea in consideration for triathlon season.  

Speaking of the race, my good friend Mappleton ran it in 3:48.  I was honestly surprised because I knew how his training was going, but having been a runner for a long time, I think he recognized that he would not be able to get the 3:30 that he wanted so just paced it out as evenly as he could.  

I was also a little surprised at the winning time of the race was 2:22.  I know I could never run that fast, but it just seems a little on the slow side for a decently-sized marathon.  I'm not sure what the prize purse was, so that might have had something to do with it.  Also, maybe so many of the big players that can run in the 2:1x range were at Boston like two weeks ago.

Lastly on the Pittsburgh running front, there is a new half marathon in Pittsburgh this October!  I'm definitely going for it and really excited about it.  The "Spirit of" series is already in a few different cities throughout the states and is gathering steam.  The races that are already in existence are incredibly well-run and a lot of fun.  I have often criticized Pittsburgh for being a big-profile city and not really having any racing scene to speak of.  Within a year, however, there is now a marathon/half marathon in May, a triathlon in July, a huge 10k in September, and now a new half in October.  It would be great to see a few more triathlons pop up in the still-under served area, but it's a great foundation on which to build a great racing environment.  Who else is tired of traveling across the border into Ohio to do anything?

So how's my running going you ask?  Not so bad.  I'm trying to pick it up lately, but I still can't seem to bring myself to run more than three times per week.  Having said that, my times are looking amazing for some reason.  My last four runs have had the following average paces:  6:39, 6:15, 6:30, 6:47.  Just for fun, I'll compare those to four similar consecutive runs last August/September:  6:57, 6:47, 6:51, 6:55.  Looks good to me.

My left hip is killing me, however.  I'm pretty sure it's because I very much need a new pair of trainers.  I have well over 500 miles on them and haven't gotten a new pair because I have been stubbornly searching the internet to find the same pair that has been out of production for at least a year and a half or two years.  I'll probably just have to suck it up and order something today because now pain is involved in the equation.  Injury would be bad.

The swimming has been looking up after being considerably dormant for a lot of the late winter/early spring.  I've been comfortably putting in a few hundred meters more every session and feel pretty strong going longer distances.  I can't wait for my first open-water swim of the season in a few weeks at Pinchot.

I hope everyone is having a better Monday than me; hopefully one without rain.  Thanks for visiting!

P.S. Go Pens!

Race Report of the Brian's Ride Mini-Triahtlon. Slippery Rock, PA. (4/26)

For my first triathlon of the season, I decided to remind myself how much it sucks to work the night before a race.  Getting home at 11:30 after a very busy graduation weekend dinner at the restaurant and finally falling asleep at 12:30 probably isn’t the smartest way to approach race morning.  Luckily, the drive to Slippery Rock and the race itself were both pretty short so I managed to pack in a good four hours of sleep knowing that I wouldn’t really have any fatigue-related obstacles to overcome during the race.

First thing’s first: This race was pretty short.  The swim was only 400 yards and held in the Aquatics facility of SRU.  A little cheesy, I know, but there aren’t that many options in northwestern PA at the end of April for open-water swimming.  The bike was a multi-lap course around campus that featured a good quarter-mile climb on each lap.  It totaled 10.5 miles.  Lastly was a two lap run on the same circuit for about three miles.

Things are a little difficult to organize when you have 200 participants and only room for 12 swimmers at a time.  To make it as fair as possible for everyone, the participants were asked to submit an estimated swim time with their applications.  Racers were numbered accordingly and began the swim based on those numbers so the fastest went first.  Numbers one through nine were the nine teams participating, so individuals really didn’t start until number 10.  I was 25 out of about 200.  This would, however, be a unique opportunity as far as racing goes because it’s almost an individual time trial effort.  Because people are so spread out as far as when they’re starting, you’re not really racing against anyone because you don’t know where you stand on the course.  Sometimes it’s extra motivation to be racing head to head against someone and try to chase them down or hold them off.  This sort of start would take that out of the equation.    

The swim started and I stood in line watching the other swimmers until it was my turn to go.  It probably took about a good ten or fifteen minutes until I jumped in.  I ran over the timing mat and dove headfirst into the pool; something I’ve never actually done before.  And while I don’t think it was a poorly executed dive, it could have gone better.  The left side of my goggles must not have been quite tight enough because it immediately got jarred away from my face, filling with water.  I took a second to pop it back on and started again.

I felt like I was absolutely flying.  Partially because I was actually swimming well and felt very fresh, but partially because I was swimming in a pool that was 25 yards as opposed to the pool that I train in that is 25 meters.  It was a great feeling to have every lap when I would hit the wall so much sooner than I was expecting.  Just for comparison, at my speed, I probably swim 100 yards about 7 seconds faster than 100 meters.  That’s pretty significant, especially when it’s over 400 yards and save 28 seconds.  My swim split was 6:twentysomething in the results, but that was including transition, which took probably took over a minute due to the fact that I started to take the wrong exit out of transition.  I know, I know.

The bike course was fantastically fast aside from the hill every lap.  It’s fun to do these courses that are so short sometimes because you know you can just give it everything the entire race and not worry about it affecting the end of the run or anything.

It was a constant source of motivation to fly by people on the bike all day long, especially in the later laps when more and more people were coming out of the water and on to the bike.  Being such a short circuit, the course could have gotten dangerous with so many people on it, but much to my amazement, there were no complications.  I had to slow down a few times into corners when it got crowded, but it didn’t slow things down more than a few seconds.  I ended the bike in 26:something.  Good for a 24 mile per hour average speed.  Not too bad considering that hill, the corners and the 2nd transition time that the bike split included.  I didn’t know it at the time, but it was actually good enough to be the fastest bike split of the day.  

Around the sixth of seven laps, it was a strange feeling to see people starting the run already.  But because of the start, I had no idea where they actually stood.  Did they start five minutes before me?  Ten?  I didn’t know.

The run started well despite having to grind up the hill right away.  The rest of the course was pretty favorable so it was easy to settle into a rhythm.  About half way through the first lap, I started catching some runners.  On the flatter sections, I repeated a run strategy of running my normal pace for thirty seconds, then going a lot harder for about ten.  The run ended and I felt pretty good, but wondering if I could have pushed things a little harder.  The entire race went by so quickly.

Because of the structure of the race, it was impossible to calculate times on the spot, so I didn’t know where I finished until the results were posted online the next day.  It turns out that I won the race.  Just like that, I won.  I’m pretty happy to have finally taken out my first race after so many top-five finishes last year without a win.  It was a little lackluster in retrospect, though; not having the fanfare as I crossed the line as the winner.  I finished and went home and nobody really knew, save for me.  Hopefully the next one I win this season will be like I want it to.

I ended up with the 7th fastest swim time, but that was including teams.  Among individuals, I think it was about 5th.  My bike split was the fastest.  It’s nice to be able to say that again.  My run was 2nd fastest on the day due to some guy that finished down in 10th or 15th that ran six seconds faster than me.  Oh well.  On to the next one.  

OMG Disc Wheel!

Okay, usually I wouldn't be using such absurd text expressions (textpressions?), but I think that there is a certain level of excitement for everyone that triggers the need to express things unnecessarily quickly.  For me that thing is a disc wheel.

For quite some time, I have been scheming on how to get one.  A Zipp, while nice, has always been out of the question for no other reason than its price tag.  Surely they spend a lot of time and money in the wind tunnel, but I wouldn't be surprised if a very large fraction of their budget is spent on marketing.  Yes, they have dimples.  I have yet to see that dimples actually translate into real-world results.  Yes, they have the sub-9, a wheel that is capable of achieving negative drag; that's right, propulsion.  But I've read plenty of articles by people who know what they're talking about who question both the integrity of the results and the testing protocol that was used.  According to the Hed website, their Jet Disc and Stinger Disc models are both faster than the sub-9, so who is right?  Until an independent third party ponies up the cash for a study of their own, we'll never know.

And speaking of Hed, I've always been a big fan and have been drooling over their Jet Disc for some time.  It's relatively light, manufactured around the same "bulge" principle as Zipp's Sub-9 and Clincher discs and nearly half the price, probably thanks to a lot less of a budget for marketing.  I also like Hed's development of their wide-rim, C2 technology.  Of all the crazy technologies that have recently come out regarding wheels, this one seems to make the most basic sense to me.  Despite playing second fiddle in the number of magazine ads to Zipp, I doubt they perform any worse.  Steve Hed has been an aero pioneer for such a long time.  Although they don't have near the amount of pros riding their stuff, I only have two words:  Lance Armstrong.  If him and his Postal/Disco/Astana squads have been running an H3 since the dawn of time, I'm sure it's for the simple fact that they perform.

Even so, nearly a thousand dollars is hard to plunk down for anything, let alone a single wheel.  Dirty Harry's would be able to get a Jet Disc in for me, no problem, but since they're not a Hed dealer, I would probably only be saving around $200 off of the $1100 MSRP.

So what's on the super-cheap side?  Wheelbuilder.com sells wheel covers that go over a standard spoked wheel to make it perform like a disc for just south of a hundred bucks.  Great deal until you realize that the covers weight 500 grams.  I know that it's a disc wheel in a triathlon so it's not about the weight, but I think that's only so true.  It's true when something weighs just under 1200 grams, but not so much for me when you're talking of a figure more like 1500g.  

Enter Renn Multisport.  They are a company based out of Tennessee that has been making disc wheels for the better part of 25 years or so.  Actually, using the phrase, "they are a company" is a little misleading, as it is actually really only one person making all of the wheels by hand in his workshop.  They are as light as the Jet Disc that I was drooling over at literally half the price.  One look at the company website and you can tell why he can get away with charging so little compared to those other companies.  It's certainly not a pretty website, but I'm sure if he had a polished one like Zipp, the product would be more costly.  Likewise, I have never seen a Renn advertisement.  But once again, I'm sure that if I had, the product would be more expensive.  What I have seen through my extensive research or Renn wheels over the past few months is an overwhelming amount of positive feedback.  Sure all of it is basically anecdotal, but as we have already gone over, you can't really expect Renn to pay for wind tunnel time.  Also, this is feedback from people who have been in the sport longer than I have been alive and have ridden more bikes and different wheels than I have pairs of underwear, so I trust it.  Everyone seems to love them.  Everyone seems to love the customer service.  Lots and lots of people have bought more than one throughout their careers.  Absolutely nobody whose opinion I've read had said negative things about the product.

When you combine all of this information with the simple fact that the difference between different disc shapes (lenticular like Hed and Zipp, versus flat like Renn) and dimples or no dimples is really splitting hairs.  Essentially, once you have a disc, you have the fastest wheel option available.  Playing around with the other specifics barely means anything.  The five seconds I might gain over a 40k TT with a Zipp Sub-9 as opposed to a Renn 575 pale in comparison to the minute and a half that I just gained from having a disc in the first place.  In other words, the only importance that these differences have are realized when you TT against Fabian Cancellara and I would need a lot more than a better wheel racing against him.

All this to say, I ordered a Renn 575 last night.  I'm not sure what the turn around time will be on it, but hopefully I'll have it soon.  A few weeks ago, I emailed the man behind the wheels to ask him how long of a wait there was due to other orders.  He said about a week.  Hopefully that hasn't changed much.  Either way, I'm excited.

Race Review of the SLIM Project Malawi 5k. South Park, Pa. 4/4/09

Okay, I know I'm writing a race report for a 5k (who does that?), but it was the first actual race of the season and it went unexpectedly better than I thought it would.

The race was actually being put on by an organization based out of the University of Pittsburgh whose purpose is to raise funds and awareness for Malawi.  Check them out here.

In the spirit of being conscious of worldly matters, they also pulled through and offered shuttles to and from the race site.  Since there were so many Pitt students competing, they ran the shuttles from the Pitt Union.  All in all, I believe 5 full buses were taken to the race site.  Awesome.

I wanted to take the shuttle, but my good friend Mappleton was driving.  I tried to get him to take the shuttle with me, but he wasn't having it, so I hitched a ride with him.

The 10-day weather forecast for the entire week was saying that the weather would be beautifully sunny and about 50 degrees by the time the race started at 10.  However, the night before the race, Mapple called and said that they changed the forecast to 30 degrees and a wintry mix for the morning.  Great.  I had a feeling I wasn't going to be happy in the sleeveless under armour and running shorts that I packed, but I was already at Kayla's for the night and didn't feel like going all way home just to get something else.  After all, it would only be a 17 or 18 minute race; maybe it would make me run faster.

The morning came and it turned out to be pretty mellow.  The sun was shining when I was picked up at a quarter after 8.  It was pretty chilly, but not like the thirty degrees that was threatening the night before.  It looked as though it would be acceptably warm by 10, but the hard, brisk wind that was blowing would not die down.

We got to the race site and milled around for an hour, watched the 10k start and took to the line ourselves.  The air was warm, the sun was nice and we had stayed out of the wind for the most part by standing behind an ambulance parked at the start line.  It was a strange feeling standing there, April already and about to start the first race of the season; the start of what I am still hoping will be a year to change all years.

Gun.

We all started to grind up the uphill grade that was the first quarter mile of the race.  After seeing so many serious-looking people getting ready before the race, I was fully expecting that there would be a handful of 15-something 5k runners in the field.  I was going to wait for them to come by at the start and see if I could hang on to any of them.  But as I was running in the first line of people, I actually ended up holding back for a second, noticing that nobody was coming around me or taking charge.  Apparently all those serious-looking people were just that:  Serious-looking.

So since nobody else was going to, I went for it to see what would happen.  What happened was me leading the race for the first two miles.  I heard the patter of footsteps slowly but surely dropping away.  Starting with the whole field, then to a dozen or so, then to maybe just a handful and finally just the single pair of feet, banging out a rhythm in synch with my own.  I could feel him hanging there for maybe ten minutes or so, breathing down my neck and waiting for me to fail.

I was feeling good for the first two thirds of the race.  Really good.  But it was evident after trying a little surge here and there that my shadow was hanging on at least somewhat comfortably, obviously feeling good as well.  I tried to pick up any sign of discomfort from his audible breathing.  It was hard breathing for sure, just like my own, but not yet heavily labored.

After about two miles, he came around me.  I hung on his heels for maybe a hundred yards until my breathing started to take on a familiar heaving quality that I knew indicated that I was at the limit.  It was a little psychological blow to me to see his seemingly effortless stride in contrast with how heavy and inefficient mine was starting to feel.  He slowly began to float away from me.

I was gone.  Just sitting on what I could manage and hoping to see some familiar landmark that would signal the impending end to the race.  With about a quarter-mile left, another runner slipped past me, but with much less gusto than the leader.  I'm not sure where he had come from, as I didn't remember seeing anyone else behind me besides the now-leader a few minutes before.  

I realized now that we were on the trail coming up to the finish.  Second place wasn't very far in front so I tried to conserve what I could for the last effort and maybe come around him.  I went for it and so did he.  It was immediately obvious that he had more kick left than I did and that regaining second place wasn't going to happen.

It was a little disheartening to yet again come in third or some other position so close to the win, to literally watch the winner finish just in front of me.  But more important than winning or losing the race was the time that I was looking for.  Going into the race, I was hoping for a 17:30 or so.  Approaching the line, I was shocked to see a time starting with 16!  I stopped the clock at 16:53, 14 seconds behind the winner.  I could have finished in 50th place and been happy with that time.

As I mentioned before, I think I can say that this dramatic speed improvement is courtesy of approaching this season with a short-course focus.  Putting shorter, but harder efforts more often than what I was doing when preparing for a 70.3-focused season has definitely made a difference.

Training Update.

Awesome metric century ride on Sunday and some stretch cords.  Felt really great, but dead tired later in the day and today as well.  Though I have off from work, usually a great time to put in some quality sessions, I'm taking off today.  I don't think I've had a real off-day in about a week and a half.

P.S.  The car is awesome and I think the disc wheel is pending.

Cheers!

Fun in the Sun (or the rain) With the Top Down

Greetings from blogland!

Well, today's not an off day, but I'm not sure when the next one will happen.  I was really shelled last Sunday, but still did some Yoga and didn't really have a lot of time to write.  Therefore, I don't really have a proper off day planned for this week.

So at the moment, I'm in Panera having some coffee and waiting for the rain to stop so I can go run.  I know, I know, harden up and run in the rain anyway.  I would if not for the fact that it's slowing and supposed to stop soon.  That and I have the day off from work; I essentially have all the time in the world.

Flashbackblog

Started the week with a darn good swim session on Monday.  I've been throwing some work with the pull paddles back into my routine to get a little bit more strength.  I remember back to this time last year when I first got them and how strong I started to feel because of them.  Not sure why I stopped using them, but it's strange how you do something that is met with positive results and let it fall to the wayside.  I feel like this happens to a lot of people in the never-ending quest for more speed, strength, efficiency or whatever.  No matter the improvements of their current practices, they abandon them in the search for even greater gains.

I also threw in some back stroke for the first time in quite a while and it felt pretty good.  Not sure why, but I was definitely flying after not having done it for months.  Swim session number 2 for the week is hopefully today, but that might not materialize.  Because of a post title related bit of news that I'll get to later.

Yesterday was the first bike/run brick of the season!  I put in about 35 miles on the bike between the track and Highland Park (where I ran into Steph again) and then did one of my usual 5k brick run routes and pulled it off with a 6:40/mile average pace.  I was pretty pleased with how fresh I still felt on the run.  I think I was still feeling the effects of the speedwork at the track from the week before.

Also in the news department:

If you've been keeping track of the blog, you will have noticed that there is a race on the schedule for '09.  It's a small 5k this weekend in South Park, just outside of the city.  I'm not nervous about it (it's just a 5k for Pete's sake) but I still want to do well, of course.  I'd like to go around 17:30.  The course seems pretty favorable after a slight uphill grade at the beginning, so it might be possible.

5:28 mile x 3 = 16:30 (I know, not really.  I'm just rounding) that's a minute less than 17:30 and that mile was run in pretty much the opposite of race conditions with the taper, motivation and people to chase, etc.

Regardless, this has put me in a bit of a pickle concerning what to do with my training for the rest of the week.  I figure that I'll probably just swim on Saturday, though that means that I'll have to ride tomorrow and Friday to get in three bike sessions for the week.  This is fine aside from the fact that there would be no weekend rides in which to enjoy the lack of typical weekday traffic.  Though I suppose I could ride on Sunday after the race; it's a 5k after all.  But now my dilemma is my running for the rest of the week.  I ran yesterday as part of the brick and I'll run a longer tempo run today.  My track run last week gave me so much that I'd enjoy doing one this week, but I don't want to do it any later than Thursday in consideration for the race.  Perhaps I could get it in before work Thursday morning and ride my bike after work.  Hmmm...decisions decisions.  

The last bit of news in regards to the title of today's post is that Kayla and I are getting the car today!  We're both pretty excited and nervous about it, but I'm so relieved that I'll be able to go to whatever races I want this season.  But that might stop me from being able to get in a swim today because I'm not sure what time I'll end up getting back from that.  If I leave it too late, the swim is out because we'll be leaving for Trivia night at 7.

That and I might be ordering a disc wheel at the end of this week.

Cars, races, bricks, disc wheels.  Could be a big week.

Do it.

The Long Mile and Adult League Stanley Cups

Good afternoon!

"What's this," you ask?  "Another post?"

Indeed.  It's not a day off, just waiting to go to the pool in a little while.  I know, you're excited.  I'm excited too.  News time.

I managed to get up before Kayla had to leave (unbelievably) and eat some food to fuel the morning's pre-work run.  I knew that I would only have about 45 minutes max, so I decided to get in a speed workout on the track.  I have a 5k in about two weeks or so, so I decided that it would be a good idea to see what some mile times on the track would be.  I haven't done speedwork really for the run since last fall, so I believe it may be time.

I ran the mile to CMU's nice outdoor track at a leisurely pace.  As I was making my way around the back stretch, getting ready to wind it up for a mile, who do I see but my long lost triathlete friend, Steph Stambaugh.  She's been busy owning the women's B class in the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference this spring, preparing herself to own a lot of races again this summer.  We chatted.  It was good.  Had to work later so I was on a deadline.  Time for a mile.

The first lap was pretty decent, I guess.  just under 80 seconds.  I know.  Don't laugh.  Slowed a few seconds each lap and ended up at 5:28.  Can you believe the "under four minute" crowd?  Me either.  I'm okay with it for a few reasons.

a.)  Ummm...not a mile runner.  Obviously.  Of the miniscule speed work that I've done on the track, I've never really recorded mile times.  Need to start somewhere, I guess.

b.)  I was doing an entire workout that a mile TT was just a part of, so I definitely didn't give it everything.

c.)  I didn't give it everything because I don't really know how to run a mile regarding pace.

d.)  I think I can still expect to run reasonably faster in a race because of motivation, adrenaline, tapering and other runners.  This run was pretty much lacking motivation.

It's nice to have a  more clear picture of what sort of racing I'm going to be targeting this year.  Last year, I began still thinking the 70.3 distance was for me, but later had the revelation that I'm better suited for Olympic distance races.  At that point, it wasn't really possible to alter my training to drastically affect my races.  This spring, I've been more okay with just putting in thirty or thirty-five miles (although that's my bare minimum) because I know I'm racing a shorter distance.  This does mean, however, that I am trying to get more sessions in per week to even out the mileage.  As the quote goes, cycling is a blue-collar sport; you need to put in the work.  It's so much easier to have a double workout day when I only have a 1.5 or  2 hour ride to do if I work in the evening.  Last year, I would try to get in 45 or 50 and that would pretty much kill the day.  No running or swimming, both of which I need to be doing a lot more of.

Regarding running it's nice to know because I can now focus a lot more on speed work.  I probably would have benefited from it just as well racing 70.3s, but I seem to be more motivated to do it because I feel that it will have a more tangible result.  I'd love nothing more than to be able to knock off a few minutes from my 10k by the end of the season.  I'd like to get in one of these session every week, so I'll keep you posted.  I'll be interested to see what kind of improvements I can make with my mile splits from week to week.

Anyway, I ended the workout today with a few miles of sprint sides/jog corners before running back home in time to shower and head to work.  5.35 miles, 32:30 something, 6:07/mile average.  Not too shabby including the run there and the run back.

Well, should be headed to the Y for a swim right now, but the rain has picked up again.  Forgot the rain vest.  Idiot.  My means of getting there is my bike so if it doesn't stop within the hour, I'll be ticked.  In the meantime, I'll make like an old man and work the crossword.

P.S. congrats to my oldest brother, Matt, who scored the game-winning goal to win the "Stanley Cup" of his adult hockey league.  Go, bro!

Crashes Suck

Happy Monday, Everyone in Blogland!

I would say this is my third off-day post in a row, but that would be lying.  Unfortunately, I had a bit of  crash on Thursday the 19th.  Happy 25, right?  I had  a good run the next day, despite being bruised and my upper body being very sore and achy.  Saturday, however, seemed like a good day to rest up so that's indeed what happened.

I went to bed Saturday night with the intent of biking and maybe swimming the next day, but my right knee (the one I didn't fall on, curiously enough) was super-sore.  It was starting to look bruised.  I ran that day too and it wasn't too bad, but I can still really feel it today.  I hope it's just a product of it being sore.

Regarding the important stuff, my bike is okay.  There is a bit of scuff on the left side of my base bar, but it doesn't look like there was any structural damage.  I still rode about 25 miles after the crash that day and rode like I normally do, so I think everything is fine.  Other than that, I completely shredded one of the booties I was wearing so they went in the trash.

More than anything, though, I'm mad that the second half of last week completely sucked regarding training.  I couldn't really swim because my ribs were pretty sore for two days or so.  I tried to do some stretch cords yesterday, but the strap that goes around your hand rests right on the bruises on my knuckles and hurts a lot to pull.  So this officially sucks.

So hopefully I'll get a little bit better today.  My body definitely feels good enough to swim so I know I'll be doing that tomorrow.  I'd like to bike provided that my knee improves.  I rode my fixed-gear to  my house from Kayla's this morning and it didn't feel too good.  I can tell that when I'm actually riding and putting a lot of pressure on the pedals, it's going to hurt almost enough to make me stop.  The pain wasn't too bad running on Sunday, so maybe, if I can't bike, I'll go for another run.

I hate being off of my bike and really want to put in some big mileage for a couple of weeks before the season really kicks off.  However, it's sort of a good thing because it's getting me to run a lot more, which I have been massively neglecting since the post-marathon lull and winter.

That's about it for me today.  No rant, I know.  

Thinking about getting a Renn disc.  Hmmm.

Bye!

Una Macchina and Love/Hate Part 2.

Okay, I'm taking an off-day on a Monday this week.  My legs still feel pretty beat after yesterday's long-ish bike ride.  Only 50 miles, but it's the first time of the new year that I've gone up to 50 so far.  That pales in comparison to the 70-80 I crank out on a Sunday once the season gets rolling, but it's only the middle of March.  Not to mention that all of my other rides that have been over 40 have been with someone else so there was either some working together going on or some slower paces.  Yesterday was by myself so I had to deal with my usual "go hard all the time" mentality.  I'm still recovering.

Did anyone notice that I'm writing for my second consecutive week on the off-day?  Excited.

So the good news first.

Kayla and I are getting a car!  That's nearly as exciting as my two-week blog streak.  It's an '02 Nissan Altima from a family member of Kayla.  Among other things, this means that I'll be able to fill out the schedule portion of the blog page soon as I register for races.  I'll still pretty much be doing most of my racing in the Pennsylvania/Ohio/West Virginia area, but I'll no longer have to rely on anyone else to get to races.

The not so good news.

I suppose it's not really bad news, but having to buy the car results in me not being able to entertain the possibility of buying a disc wheel for the season.  I'm greatly lamenting that fact, but having a car is a necessity for racing and a disc wheel isn't.  Now I just have to drop by Dirty Harry's and have my rear Flash Point hub serviced and I'll be rolling with them again.  I can't believe this will be my third year racing with them.  It seems like only last year that I started all this biking stuff.

It's an unfortunate reality that, if I want to get a pro license, I need a car.  A disc wheel might help if the only thing keeping me from getting one is an extra minute in my bike split, but something tells me that the need to go to bigger races is more important than that.

Love/Hate Part 2.

So last week I talked about the laughable practices of WTC's management of the Ironman brand including the lack of money in the sport and the direction in which it is headed. 

This week, I'll extend the notion that WTC has a responsibility to the entire sport (not just the Ironman distance) because, as I said before, the popularity of all distances of triathlon in America lives and dies by the popularity of Ironman.  I will do this by talking about:

The Average Ironman Athlete

I realize that by somewhat ripping on the average age-grouper, I'm opening a huge can of worms.  Afterall, isn't it the entry fees of these age-groupers that ultimately pay the prize purse for the pros?  Well, yes, but the prize purse has stayed the same or gone down for the past ten or fifteen years while the age-group field and the entry fees have gone up, so someone is just plain mismanaging the money.  Though, I'm confused as to how cycling can afford to pay riders at least a living wage for even the most average domestic pro and there is no age-group base in the sport.  There are ranks of pros just like baseball or hockey and that's it.  WTC has turned their business into a solely-for-profit venture by exploiting the type and class of people who can afford to pursue the sport on a recreational basis, thereby ignoring their inherent responsibility to the rest of the sport.  This is made evident by the most reviled division of an Ironman race:  The CEO challenge.  

Seriously?  The CEO challenge?  Fifty-year-old CEOs are honestly so bored with their time and money that they have to have a competition with other bored CEOs to see who can get into the best shape?  Jokes.  

I raced at the inaugural edition of the Providence 70.3 in Rhode Island last summer.  In our race packets was a program about the race and about Ironman.  It included a profile of "The Average Ironman Athlete" complete with age, weight, IM times and even average income, which turned out to be $160,000 per year.  Does anyone realistically think that if the average income was $50,000 per year, the entry fee for Ironman races would still be $500?  It's probably the same reason that bikes cost $5,000 and wheels cost $2,000.  There's a bit of a vibe in this sport that, no matter the finishing time, he with the newest, most expensive gear wins.  I've never been a class warrior, but if you think that money doesn't make some things a lot easier, you're kidding yourself.

And then there is the coverage of Ironman races, particularly the world championships in Kona, that focuses on the sixty-year-old  mom with five kids who still finds the time to train, the guy with cancer who is competing in an Ironman as one of his lifelong wishes and the guy who had both legs blown off in Iraq or Afghanistan and is still doing it.  First of all, let me make it clear that these people are insane examples of time management and heartbreaking courage to prove that anything is possible no matter the hand you're dealt.  They deserve the attention they get because they show anyone watching at home what is possible.  But there is such emphasis on these stories that the fact that triathlon is a legit sport with legit pros is lost on the general public.  It is no wonder that there are so many people who get into this sport to climb their Everest and prove to themselves that they can do it; that is image of the sport that is marketed to them.  To them, that is what the sport is for.

It is true that this sport is so much more popular in other countries like Germany, Australia, New Zealand or Portugal than it is in the United States, but as is the case with other things, the U.S. has the influence to direct the world's attention one way or another if for no other reason than its sheer size.  Right now, it is directing attention to the inspirational stories of the common person achieving an Ironman finish.

I believe it is also true that the athlete base in other countries is so much more competitive as well because of how they conduct their races.  If  you race in another country, there are often only three awards given out; first place, second place and third place.  Maybe this goes down to five, but that's the most.  If you race in the U.S., awards go to the top three or top five overall, the top three in each age group, the top three clydesdales, the top three athenas, the top three CEOs and the top three of whatever else the organization has come up with to make people feel better about themselves for completing a sprint race. 

Other countries focus a lot more on Olympic races that they hope would ultimately benefit the country itself in the Olympics.  Whether you think that is right or wrong is beside the point.  They have comprehensive development programs that harvest talent at a young age.  Vanessa Fernandez (Portugal) for instance is something insane like 20-years-old and wins most world cup races she enters.  You can bet she was picked out by her country's triathlon federation years ago and is given everything she needs to become a better athlete.  There are no part-time jobs involved to make ends meet like there are for developing Olympic athletes in the States.  For other countries, triathlon is a sport; here it is a spectacle.

But I digress.  If this post gets much longer, I might fall asleep! 

Training is going well.  I'm trying to pick up my running again and work in more distance on the swim.  My first race is potentially in about six weeks so I need to get things in gear.  Hopefully I'll update further next day off.

On a side note, Wednesday is my birthday!  Feel free to leave a birthday wish comment or to find out where to send disc wheels as gifts :-)

Cheers!

Tuesdays Mean Off-Days. My Love/Hate Relationship with Triathlon (Part 1).

Not all the time, I guess, but it seems like the past couple weeks, my off-day has fallen on Tuesday.  Here's a novel idea:  

"Zach, maybe you should do a post every off-day!"

"Hmm...I don't know, it sounds pretty ambitious."

"Oh, come on.  What else is this blog for?"

"Entertaining me while I drink coffee and wait for work to start.  It makes me feel productive when I am, in fact, doing absolutely nothing at all."

"That was bleak."

"Do you think we should end this before people stop reading?"

"You mean they started?" 

Okay, but seriously, from now on, off-day is now national blog post day.  Hopefully you won't see more than one per week.

There have been many issues regarding the sport of triathlon (that I love so much) that have been bothering me to no end.  They unfortunately permeate the entire culture of the sport it seems, so I decided to have a bit of rant.  Bear with me.   I think a lot of these comments have value (although some may not, aside from me getting it off of my chest) regarding the current state of the sport.  Surely there are things inherent in the sport that prevent its popularity from growing to such a level that it becomes a household sport or even to the level of cycling.  Then there are the myriad things that some of the governing bodies are doing to shoot the sport in the foot.  But I'll start with the things we can't change.

1.)  There is not much money in the sport because:

Triathlon is like cycling and distance running in respect to its viewership.  How much does it cost to stand on the side of L'alpe d'huez and watch the Tour de France roll by?  How much does it cost to stand on the side of the road and watch the best runners in the world fight it out down the finishing stretch of the Boston Marathon?  How much does it cost to stand on the Queen K in Hawaii and see Normann Stadler or Craig Alexander fly past?  The answer to all of these questions is, of course, nothing at all save for the personal expense of getting yourself to these locations.

How much is the average ticket to a game at Yankee Stadium?  There are 162 games a year in baseball; how many of those are at home?  You don't have to do the math to realize that an unspeakable amount of money is being spent on tickets and the merchandise sold at the game.  Also, how much is spent by companies to air a commercial during one of these games?  A lot.  Compare that to the price of airing a commercial on the versus network during the Tour.  Surely it costs a lot of money to be a major sponsor or host an departure/arrival at the Tour or the Giro, but the advertising opportunities during the three weeks of Tour de France pales in comparison to the 162 games of baseball per year for a team.  And these pro teams have to support riders for a full season; a living salary for the year, not just for three weeks during its most well-known event.  

It sure is odd though, how a sport like cycling struggles to even get a foothold in America.  Lance Armstrong won 7 Tours de France.  It took a few of them for people to start to take notice.  In Spain or Italy, if a rider wins a stage of the Tour even, they go home as national heroes.  At the turn of the 20th century, cycling dominated even here in the U.S. with riders earning far more than baseball players ever dreamed.  Every year, there are over 2 billion viewers of the Tour!  That's over a quarter of everyone on earth.  45.85 million people watched the Super Bowl, arguably the biggest sporting event in America, this past year.  That means the Tour had over 40 times more viewers than the Super Bowl!  Interesting when you consider that the average Football player makes about that many times more than the average cyclist.  I realize I've been using cycling here in an article about triathlon, but it serves a point because cycling even is far more lucrative than triathlon.

To me, these are staggering numbers.  But, as I said before, they are inherent qualities in the sport that won't begin to change unless the sport gets a considerably larger slice of the popularity pie here than it currently does.  Sure Armstrong has come back to cycling this year and that is great for the sport.  However, there is currently no American cyclist waiting in the wings to take over his reign and if winning 7 Tours in a row doesn't make this sport more popular here than it has, good luck finding something that will.  Again, I use cycling because I feel like cycling and triathlon are attached at the hip in a way.  The more popular cycling gets, the more popular triathlon will get just because of the involvement of a bike.

Now for the stuff that we can change:

1.)  This sport makes no money because:

If I tell someone I am a triathlete, the first question they ask usually is, "oh, so you do that Ironman thing?"  This illustrates the point that Ironman is basically what puts the sport on the map in America so the popularity of triathlon here lives and dies by the popularity of Ironman.  It does not matter that Olympic distance triathletes make much much more than Ironman triathletes because people here do not pay attention to Olympic distance triathlons.  I'd be willing to wager most people don't know that there is more than one distance to the sport.  This would be fine if it weren't for the company that puts on nearly every Ironman race in the world and has rights to the Ironman name and brand.  That company would be the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC).  

They are responsible for setting up the prize purse structure at these events, which are laughable.  It was recently announced that the award for the winner of Ironman Florida would get $8,500.  Believe it or not, that is a decrease since last year despite the fact that the costs for entering the event have gone up, as well as the number of entrants.  This money is going somewhere and it isn't to the pros.  The prize purses for these events, save for the Ironman Championships in Kona, have not gone up in fifteen or twenty years.

Typically, a top professional triathlete will either get an appearance fee from the race director or at least a free entry.  This allows the promotor to use this person's name in the advertisements to get more people out to the event.  WTC has now limited the amount of free entries to just a handful.  That means if you're a pro and you finish in 6th place in an Ironman (which is an incredible feat in itself), you would not only get nothing, you would be out the money that you paid to enter plus the travel and lodging for the event assuming you are not one of the lucky few (and I mean few) to get a free entry.

Throw in the fact that even the most veteran, hardened pros can only handle doing maybe three Ironman races in a year, where do they get their money?  Even if they win all three, they get maybe $25,000.  Good luck with that.

WTC, allow me to look into the crystal ball to tell you what this will do to the future of Ironman, and subsequently, the sport.

1.)  Professionals will stop racing your events because they cannot make any money in them.  They will either move away from the sport entirely, or switch to Olympic distance if they are fast enough.  

2.)  Young, up and coming triathletes will not even entertain the idea of becoming an Ironman-focused triathlete while they still have a chance to develop a lot of speed and race Olympic distance where they can actually make money.

3.)  People who are racing Ironman as amateurs with hopes of becoming a pro will stop because, once again, they will not be able to make any money.

4.)  And now to the demographic that makes up 95% of people racing Ironman, the age-groupers.  I'm willing to bet that there is a very large percentage of those people who will race one Ironman and be out of the sport.  An Ironman is an insane challenge for the everyday person, just like climbing Everest or running an Ultramarathon.  People do it so they have a goal and can say that they did it.

So after your pros, serious amateurs and most of your age-group base has left, not to mention preventing people from getting into the distance in the first place, who is left racing your races?

You have a good business model for making a good profit over some time.  Maybe a decade, maybe longer.  But your model for supporting a sport and its athletes is a joke.

Well, that's all for the money and popularity aspects of the sport and I think this post has grown to be quite long enough.  Next post I will tackle the rest of my love/hate relationship with triathlon.

Thanks for reading.  Hope it's getting warmer wherever you are like it is in Pittsburgh!

Cheers.

Holy Crap, It's 50 Degrees Outside!

Ah, I can't contain my excitement about the fantastic weather that has come to Pittsburgh.  Well, "fantastic weather" might be an overstatement.  You know it had to have been a crappy, long winter for 50 degrees to be warm.  And, it's still Pittsburgh, so it's not like the sun is actually out or anything.  But still, 50 felt warm enough to ride with nothing except an extra jersey layer and some light booties yesterday.  Once I actually started moving, I realized that factoring in the 25 mph speeds and the wind that comes along with it means it's not really 50 anymore.  So arm warmers might have been nice, but I didn't care; I was filled with glee. 

Today I had the pleasure of riding my fixie downtown to the Y to get in a swim.  It was the first time not taking the bus down there, so I was really interested to see what kind of time it would take to get the Y via bike as opposed to taking the bus.

The answer is:  close to a half an hour depending on traffic.  This compares pretty favorably with the bus for the following reasons.

1.  When taking the bus downtown, I have to:

a.  Walk to the busway (for those of you not in the know, the busway in Pittsburgh is an expressway devoted solely to buses that go downtown.  It's a fast, traffic-free way of doing it.  By far the speediest way of getting into town available.).  Time - about five minutes.

b.  Wait for the bus.  The Port Authority buses here are more well-known for not being on time than for being on time, so even if you plan out your trip with the schedule, you could still be waiting a little.  Time - about five minutes.

c.  Ride the bus.  It takes a very short time to get from my stop to the beginning of downtown - maybe five minutes - but the Y is on the far end of downtown, so I take the bus as far as it goes.  The means it gets into a little bit of traffic by the time it gets to my stop.  Time - maybe ten minutes.

d.  Walk to the Y.  Now, for those of you who have been here, you can back me up when I say that the downtown area of Pittsburgh isn't exactly big.  But it's still a good eight or ten blocks from the bus stop to the Y.  Time - another five minutes.

So already, we're at 25 minutes.  And I haven't even factored in the part where you have to schedule the trip to the Y based on the bus schedule.  Saturdays and Sundays, the buses are a lot more few and far between, so you often can't really leave when you want to.

There is then of course, the part where the circa six-mile bike ride there is exactly that; a six-mile bike ride.  Now, I realize that bike rides for me are usually 35-40 miles minimum, going up to around 80, but those miles to the Y add up if for no other reason than I'm doing them on my all-important fixed-gear bike, which, if you have been tuning into super-fun blogtime, you know does wonders for my biking and running.

Conclusion:  The bike is better.  As if we really needed to analyze the situation to know this :)  That is, of course, it's not pouring down rain or below 30 degrees.

I apologize for spending so much time on the happiness that commuting on a bike gives me, it's just that my swim this morning was terrible.

Right, I'm off for a run.

And I'm back.  That was fantastic for not having run in far too long.  Actually it was fantastic even if I had been running all day, everyday.  6:28/mile pace.  I don't know where that came from...fixie.

Well, until next time when I have something constructive to say, enjoy the weather!

P.S.  Yesterday at work, some German guy was ordering a burger with everything on it so he said (cue German accent), "Ze full monty."  I died.