Trying to be the best at exercising.

Been a long time since my last update - which, outside of social media, is true of all of my long-form writing. But I’ve definitely been busy.

Last season ended on a high note at Savageman. In the fall I did only two races: a six-person 50-mile relay at Tussey Mountain, and a 10k turkey trot (which ended up a PR and my first ever sub-40minute 10k. But my main focus since the end of October has been my second marathon on March 17 in Washington DC. I set a goal while training for the Pittsburgh Marathon last year to qualify for Boston. Which I did, but wasn’t able to register since I didn’t beat my qualifying time by enough (the race sold out). Getting so close made getting to Boston that much more important as a goal. So even though they dropped qualifying times by 5 minutes this year, I decided to focus in the off-season on getting my run times down.

Qualifying for this year is a 3:10, but in order to not risk missing out again I felt like I should try to beat the time by more than 5 minutes so I could register early. Then looking at a sub-3:05 qualifying time, I decided what the heck. Why not just push for a sub-three-hour marathon?

I searched around for a marathon training plan aimed at faster runners. I quickly settled on a plan put together by Benji Durden (I’m pretty sure the plan is copyrighted but I found it a few places online. Sorry Benji!). I was immediately drawn to the plan since it focused on building speed and used time rather than pace for the long run. I needed to adjust it to fit with a triathlon background, and since my marathon will be relatively flat I skipped the hill part. I’ll write another post with details on how I modified the plan later.

So from late October until now I’ve been following the modified plan very closely. Speed-focused intervals Tuesdays, tempo run Thursdays, and long run Sundays. I’ve also adjusted nutrition quite a bit. I’m using a protein supplement and fish oil, and my nutrition balance is very close to the 30-40-30 Zone diet. With five weeks to go until the race, I’m really happy with where things stand. Here are the highlights:

• I’ve taken my 1/2 mile interval pace from 3:17 to 2:57. Since Yasso 800s are supposed to be a good predictor of your marathon finish time, I’ll take a 2:57 average.
• My most recent tempo runs are right on 6:50, with a heart rate in the mid-150s. I’m pretty bad at holding a pace for longer distances, so this is encouraging.
• My long slow distance pace is a comfortable 7:30. That’s a 3:16 marathon - pretty much the same as my marathon pace from last year.
• Two weeks ago I decided to do a half-marathon race simulation, to see what I could hold. I ended up at just under 1:28, which if it were an actual race would be a PR by over 7 minutes (previous PR was 1:35 at Cook Forest, though my half-marathon split during the Pittsburgh Marathon was around 1:34).

So for the next couple of weeks I need to continue to post small gains and try to avoid injury. Then a two-week taper and it’s time to put everything to the test. 6:52/mile gets me to my goal, and if it comes together, it’ll be a great start to the season.

Here we are, and the end of my second triathlon season. The capper was the Savageman 70.0 - billed as the toughest course in triathlon. It lives up to its reputation.

My first experience with Savageman was my first or second PTC meeting in the fall of 2009. I recall some of the others there talking about the race, and my first reaction was, “I’ll never do that. I’m just going to do my half iron at Steelhead. That’s enough for me.” Fast forward two years and not only did I finish Savageman, I’m planning to do the 100.0 next year.

I’ll skip a lot of the non-race weekend details except to mention that thanks to Julie R we ended up staying in a fantastic waterfront vacation home that was right on the bike and run course. For those who weren’t racing on a particular day it was a great place to spectate and cheer on the athletes.

The day before, Tim and I pre-rode the first 18 miles of the bike course out to the Wall. My first attempt didn’t go well - I fell about 2/3 of the way up. The second attempt was successful, but just barely. In both cases my strategy was to take it as easy as possible until the bottom of the 31%Tim and Nikki (who along with Bergin drove out to pick us up) had no trouble making the tough climb. I actually walked away very nervous. Savageman isn’t a PR course - the goal is to finish and get the Brick that is awarded to everyone who makes it up the Wall without falling and finishes the race. So this was a very binary event. Pass/fail, not best effort. That made for a week of nervous jitters leading up to the event.

Race Weekend Notes

This was the first time I actually slept the night before a race, which I didn’t expect given how nervous I was. Though I had been very nervous for the week, by about 7pm the night before everything calmed down for some reason.

The weather for the event was a factor. Morning temp was 45 degrees with a forecast high of 65 and mix of clouds and sun. I was worried about being chilled on the bike since the first 18 miles are downhill and I would be wet from the swim. Since my bike shorts were to the knee and I was wearing calf sleeves, I chose to just add arm warmers to my kit rather than wear a top layer. I was worried about the added weight on all the climbs.

Swim - 30:02 (PR)
So I guess not many people can say they had a PR at Savageman. This was 30 seconds faster than my 2010 Steelhead swim split for 2k. Looking at the times for other swimmers, I believe the course was significantly short. Still, I’ll take it.

I took the swim very easy since I didn’t want to drain myself for the bike - found feet to draft off of where I could, and otherwise did the swim equivalent of a mosey. I jogged up the hill to T1 (yes, there is even a hill in transition) and took my own sweet time in transition - making sure the arm warmers were on properly, double-checking hydration, and so forth. I knew what was coming next.

Bike - 3:26:19
I was happy to have ridden the first 18 miles of the course the day before, so I was prepared for the beginning part. Still nervous, since every mile that ticked off was one mile closer to the Wall and the chance at the brick. Here too I took the bike easy even though it was almost entirely downhill and I knew the course. When I came out of the state park area and saw the Westernport paper mill my HR jumped, but at that point I committed myself. It was either going to happen or it wasn’t, but I would give it my all. I knew from having had good success with the training rides along the Dirty Dozen course that I could manage the grade and the climbs - this would come down to skill in navigating the potholes on the Wall and luck in avoiding the other riders.

I rounded the final turn through the city and saw the start of the Wall climb. It is a moderate climb to a sharp left, then a jog before you hit the actual four-block ascent. I spun at high cadence through this part and when I got to the bottom of the Wall my heart sank. I can still close my eyes and picture the four-block stretch. There were three riders down on the Wall and I was at the end of a line of fifteen other riders. So much for having a clear stretch and no obstacles.

I was already in my granny gear and continued spinning up the first 2 1/2 blocks. I remember a woman yelling ‘You got this!’ and walking next to me as I spun. She was a little below the part of the road where it was safe to make predictions. The grade gets steeper in the third block but I continued to spin. When I got to the top of that block I climbed out of the saddle and went for it. The cross road is flat so this gave me some momentum going in to the block that is closed to traffic.

So, you know how in the climactic section of a movie, time slows down, the music dims, and it seems like events that would normally take a split second last an eternity? I learned on the Wall that this is not just a dramatic effect. As I hit the bottom of the wall and leaned over my handlebars I saw and heard nothing. None of the hundreds of spectators. None of the dozens of potholes in the road. Not a note of the Rocky theme that plays on repeat until the last rider gets past the Wall. Not one of the other riders that I now know were on the Wall with me.

And then it all came back in to focus. As soon as my front wheel hit the asphalt at the top of the Wall (where it flattens out and you can be sure you made it), everything came rushing back. Suddenly I found myself on a collision course with three people walking their bikes through the narrow section at the top of the Wall (for some reason they had half of the road barricaded off). “Coming through!” I yelled as I coasted through the 18-inch gap they had left. And then it was over. The elation I felt knowing I’d made it through the Wall was strong enough to keep me smiling as I started up Big Savage Mountain.

Media
Thanks to an army of volunteer photographers and two ‘official’ video cameras, there is plenty of evidence of my climb.

You can catch me in the following videos:

Starting around 12:30 of this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN4BaOw8rpI

At the top of the Wall in this video at 5:47 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTnL2cfICtw

Of course the Westernport Wall is only 19 miles in.  There’s still a lot of climbing left! I was so stoked from the Wall climb that I didn’t really mind the Big Savage Mountain or Savage River climbs. When it got to Otto Lane I started to feel my quads a bit, which was a bad sign since there were still two more steep climbs left and a lot of smaller hills.

Everyone I talked to said that while the Westernport Wall is the famous climb, Killer Miller (at mile 40) was harder. They were right. It starts out steep, switches back, stays steep, and has a couple of kickers at the top. It reminded me a lot of Suffolk Ave in Pittsburgh. By the halfway point I was sucking wind and could definitely feel the quads, but I powered up the hills - I even had a few appreciative cheers from the spectators. Of course I was out of gas by the time the last bit came around. Somehow I struggled to the top and when it flattened out, it was all I could do to catch my breath. There was an aid station at the top, and a man held out his hand and asked, “Do you want these?” He had two brown gelatin-coated pills. He also didn’t have an official volunteer shirt, but I said what the heck and grabbed them. I am pretty sure they were endurolytes, but I was not in a position to question.

I could definitely feel my quads - it felt just like the end of the Eagleman bike course, so I assumed it was a combination of being spent and low on electrolytes. The pills kicked in after a few miles and I felt good enough to start to push the pace. Then I hit the last ‘named’ climb of the race - Maynardier Ridge. It’s only 1/4 mile long but it has the same average grade as Westernport. My plan was to just pound up it and be done with the climbing on this course.

Bad idea.

About halfway up, my quads and left hamstring absolutely locked up. I was in real trouble. I almost cut off another rider and apologized loudly, explaining I was cramped. I coasted to the right and planned to clip out. And something inside me said no. I spun the wheel hard to the left and pushed down with my left hip, then pulled up with my right hamstring. I was paperboying bad, but I was still going uphill. I’m not sure how I made it through but I got to the top and backed off until my quads recovered. The rest of the bike course I spent feeling alternately good and on the verge of complete leg failure, but when I got to mile 54 I knew I was there. Thinking about seeing my family at mile 55 seriously brought tears to my eyes, and I yelled loudly as I passed them. I coasted in to transition and still had enough energy to pull a flying dismount.

Run - 1:49:39
I planned to take my time in T2 but after I got my helmet off and put on my Newtons, there wasn’t much else to do. So I grabbed my race belt and headed out. There was an aid station right at the exit to transition and I asked for salt tablets, which thankfully they had. I grabbed four along with water and headed out. This was to be a common occurrence throughout the leg.

The Savageman run is also extremely tough - it’s a two-loop course that goes up and down a 1/4 mile rocky trail and through a hilly campground. I actually felt decent as I started. The first mile was around 7:50 and the second, which featured the first time through the campground, came out at 8:08. The next two miles were 7:40 - they were rolling hilly towards the fire tower trail. That mile came in just under 9:00. The thing that kept me going was being able to run with other people - At various times I was able to pace with Josh Baker and Bob Standish from the PTC and a guy in my age group from Maryland.

I was bouncing off of leg cramps the entire run, and at just about every aid station I was grabbing salt pills to try and hold them off. When I ran faster, the legs cramped. When I slowed down, they recovered. The second loop of the run was slower but I was glad to continue to have pacers and absolutely overjoyed to be able to see my family and the rest of the PTC spectators on each out-and-back. As I cruised over the last incline and hit the flat section headed towards the finish, I gave it what I had left, which wasn’t much. But I crossed at 5:51:53, 15th in AG and 62nd overall.

Post-Race
After eating and waiting for the awards ceremony (where Chris Rotelli was due his award for 2nd overall in the Savage 100), we heard that one of our other PTC members was still out on the run course and was hurting from a bad case of runner’s knee. After some encouragement from my awesome wife, I headed out from transition to try and find him and run him in. It took a couple of miles but I found him halfway back down the fire trail road (and I was thankful I didn’t have to climb the full train road a third time). He was indeed hurting but in good spirits, so I did what I could to keep him motivated to cross the line. And he made it! He’s a Savageman now. All the more so for hanging in there for such a long day.

All in all, it was a fantastic race. We’re definitely headed back. I never would have thought I’d say that when I started triathlon, but we’re definitely headed back.

It’s hard to believe that I started training for my first half-iron in October 2009 and Steelhead was my fifth. It’s also my first repeat event (my previous race report is here). One of my goals for this year is to gauge progress, so repeat events are important to me. And this is the longest by far.

I actually almost didn’t do this race. When I plotted my race calendar I hadn’t planned on changing jobs, so I set out four 70.3 races, spaced out one per month. As it turns out when I did change jobs the date of Steelhead fell close to a product launch for my new company, so since I hadn’t registered, I decided just to skip it. As the date got closer, events seemed to conspire to point me toward this race. First off, three other awesome friends from PTC were planning to do the race: Sarah, Tony (his first 70.3) and Amy. So I’d have some company. Second, my 20-year high school reunion was scheduled for the same weekend, and since Benton Harbor is 2 1/2 hours from the reunion, a plan sort of coalesced. Bring the kids to spend a weekend with grandma and grandpa, go to the reunion on Friday, drive to Benton Harbor, race Sunday, drive back, pick up the kids, drive to Pittsburgh. So on a whim, I registered and set the plan together.

Pre-Race
I headed to the hotel right from the reunion - finally got in around 2:00. Sarah, Tony and I had agreed to meet at transition at 9:00 to do the pre-race swim/bike/run, so I was starting out behind the curve as far as sleep. Come 9:00, we all were there. I had been scouting the weather report for a while and was really happy with the temperature. The high for the extended weekend was 76, which suited me just fine given both other 70.3 events this year have had a high of over 90. There was one negative - storms in the forecast for Saturday and chance of rain for Sunday. As the weekend got closer the forecast got worse. High winds and a rip current advisory. Sure enough when we got to the beach, the waves were crashing. Not so bad that you couldn’t swim safely, but way more than last year’s swim.

So we did our pre-race warmups, I registered, and we met for dinner at a local pizza/pasta place, Silver Beach Pizza. The weather reports were getting more dicey, and a couple of pretty bad storms blew through. This was especially bad since Sarah and I had already racked our bikes in transition. So after dinner we went back to check and sure enough, our bikes were coated in sand. I cleaned my bike off as best as I could and we headed out.

4:00 came early as it always does on race day. When I got to the event they made the announcement that as we had feared, the swim was cancelled. Although it was disappointing I can’t blame them - the wind was outrageous, and I like chop more than most triathlete swimmers, but I wouldn’t have been able to hang in that water.

So Steelhead 2011 would go off as a bike-run, in time trial start. While I was waiting I chatted with Rich, the guy with the transition slot next to mine - he was 2 weeks off of the Vineman full where he went 10:13, so we chatted a bit about expectations and tried to size each other up. We both mentioned we were looking to go around 2:30 on the bike, and I volunteered that I was just hoping to go under 1:40 on the run. He said he should do better than that and was looking to go under 1:30. Within the age groupers, friendly and competitive are hand in hand, and based on that I knew he’d probably get me out there.

Bike - Time 2:20:38 (7 minute PR - 25/228 AG)
I had rented a set of Bontrager Aeolus 9 race wheels from Top Gear Bicycle shop for this event. I was curious to see what type of difference they would make, and even though there were a lot of other variables (not having the swim, weather being mild, a tailwind for the last 13 miles of the course) based on my time alone I’d say they made a huge difference. This was about as perfect a bike as I can pull off given my current level of fitness. I felt like I was flying out there. My HR was perfectly in line - average 143 for the entire event. After my challenges at Eagleman and Musselman with weather I think I played things a bit too conservatively even. I had the fear of a blowup in the back of my mind, so I was careful to manage my HR. Even still, given the way they seeded the time trial start the course was pretty full (about 1300 riders went off before me). I don’t remember eve having 20 seconds of ‘normal’ riding where I wasn’t in the process of executing a pass. A lot of times I was passing someone who was in the process of passing someone. So the legal drafting I’m sure also contributed to my time. Honestly there wasn’t much memorable to the bike outside of the joy of doing 23mph on uphills - I guess the shorter the bike split, the less there is to think about.

The one notable part was that I passed Rich at abut the first mile, which may not be much since he started just 2 seconds before me in the time trial, but I never saw him on the bike.

Run (1:36:13, 21st AG)
Again this is my fifth 70.3 and it’s the first one where I’ve actually had enough left to race the run instead of just manage/suffer through it. What a great feeling. Again my heart rate was right in line and everything felt effortless. On the run even more than the bike I had that voice in my head reminding me of Musselman, so I am sure I held back. Over time I’ll get to trust my HR data and push when the numbers say I can. But My goal for Steelhead was to go under 1:40 on the run, so this felt great. I’m sure here that the weather was a big factor. Even around noon, which was when I was in the middle of the run, the temp was still below 80 and it was breezy without being annoying. Perfect run weather. On the run too I was passing people left and right - I remember passing one guy who laughed that this was perfect weather for a race. “Big guy weather,” he called it. I don’t consider myself a big guy, but I was enjoying it too.

Two laps of the run loop (it’s a lollipop-style course) and I was till feeling strong. I planned to get up the last hill at mile 10.5, then start to drop the hammer since the rest of the course was mostly downhill.  I had just started my push when Rich caught up to me. “There you are!” he said. “You didn’t do a 2:30 bike split. I’ve been looking for you the whole time!”.  We chatted for a bit but he was holding a solid 6:30 pace and I knew I couldn’t hang, so I let him go, though I was disappointed. Plan for next year to take the run to the next level - it’s the run that separates triathletes. I understand that now.

Finish (3:59:39, 113 overall)
With my last mile I pulled out everything I had, since the Garmin said I was close to 4 hours. As I passed the section of the finish chute where last year I got to high five my oldest daughter I felt a pang of regret that they couldn’t be here, since I draw such strength from them. But I was elated to cross the line in under 4 hours. My PR for a 70.3 is 4:58:50. Last year at Steelhead I swam a 30:32. So allowing for a similar swim split and extra transition that’s a little over 4:30 for a full 70.3 based on this bike and run split. Even allowing for additional fatigue I think I could easily have broken 4:45 and maybe 4:40 at this event if the swim had been included. Given this was my late-season A race I couldn’t be happier with the result.

I have used the Profile Design Aero Drink system for almost the full two years I’ve been doing triathlon. It’s honestly been a love-hate relationship - I love that I can keep fluid close enough that I can drink on the bike without disrupting my pedal. I hate the slitted lid on the thing. Despite my best efforts I lose a ton of liquid to splashback from bumps in the road, and it ends up all over my forearms, legs, and the frame. 

I decided to make a switch and was considering using one of the between-aero-bar water bottle holders, but I felt like I would be thrown off rhythm every time I needed to drink. So after looking at some reviews, I settled on the TorHans Aero 30.  It looked really tight from a setup perspective, but most importantly it looked like it had a lid made of a more solid material, so hopefully less splashback.

Well, I took it out last weekend and wasn’t at all pleased. There was less of an opening for fluid to escape, which had the effect of spraying the fluid farther out. Frustrating, to say the least. But the Aero 30 comes with three different lids, and I was using the one with the most slits for an opening. Intriguingly, it came with a solid lid too. That would solve my problem right there, except for one thing. I could see myself going to refill from a bottle during a long ride and losing the lid (you have to take it off to refill the container since it has no slits). Frustrating.

I played around with the device a bit and figured out that I could probably craft a hinge on the solid lid. This would make it possible to lift the opening to refill from a bottle, and close it to prevent all fluid from escaping. So I took a shot at it, and I’m pretty happy with the result. The real test will be in my next few rides and the upcoming 70.3, but here are some pictures to show what I did.

The Aero 30 has three protrusions on each side of the opening to hold the lid on. I poked a tiny hole in the rearmost of each side with a brad nail.

I took the solid lid and cut the back part off so it would pivot when opened (but I didn’t cut so much that the opening showed through).

Here’s another shot of the lid with my slice removed.

Last I poked holes in the lid directly next to the ones in the container itself and ran an unfolded paperclip through each side. I bent the ends down to secure them, but not so far that I couldn’t remove them to clean the lid or to put the main container in the dishwasher.

The cool thing is there is enough friction generated by the paperclip to keep the lid propped open while I refill, but closing is still easy.

Editor’s note: I didn’t start this blog with the intention of doing gear review, but I have found triathletes to be very receptive to stories about what works for other people. So in the interest of sharing, I’m going to post overviews of some of the gear I like and why.

For the benefit of those who are not members of my social circle (and thus wouldn’t already know this): I’m not a barefoot runner or trail runner. I’m a triathlete. I like the idea of train running and have done a few short races (and will definitely consider doing more in the future). I am a solidly forefoot runner at this point. But first and foremost, a triathlete.

I came across the Vivobarefoot line when I got fitted for my current distance shoe, the Newton Distancia, at Mojo Running in Cranberry Twp. At the time I was switching to forefoot and also working up to full marathon distance. On a lark I tried out a pair of Vivobarefoot Evos because I remember looking at them on the shelf and thinking, “That’s exactly what a ninja would wear if he was a runner.” Well, I took them for a short spin in the parking lot and was amazed at how quick they accelerated, and how fast my turnover was. Still I was looking for a marathon shoe, and the Evos were a bit pricey for the few shorter races I do.

I kept tabs on Terra Plana, the company that makes the Vivobarefoot line, on Facebook, and a few months ago I ran across some early reviews for the Ultra line. The minute I saw them I thought, “That is the perfect sprint triathlon shoe.’

Easy to get on - speed laces built in. 4 ounces. 4 freakin’ ounces?! My only question was, with only 4mm of sole, would my feet be able to hold up even over the 5k run that makes up a sprint tri? If so, and if they are only equally as fast as a traditional shoe, the time saved in transition would make it worthwhile. Plus at slightly more than half the cost of the Evo, I figured best case, I have a secret weapon for my next sprint. Best case, I’ve got a great all-purpose shoe. So I took the plunge.

Fast forward a few months and I can honestly say I love these shoes. Unfortunately my race schedule hasn’t worked out to where I can put them to the test, but as an all-purpose shoe they are fantastic. I wear them almost constantly - even over the occasional objections of my wife, who calls them ‘birth control shoes’. As a triathlete I’m used to criticism of my attire, so that doesn’t bother me. They are truly comfortable, being one piece means there are no seams to create hot spots, and for the short runs I’ve done in them they feel lightning fast. I still don’t have the foot strength to put more than 2 miles at a stretch in to them, but I am working on it. In the mean time I’m really glad I ran across this shoe.

Starting out by stating the obvious; this wasn’t a good race for me. My fourth 70.3 was my worst finish by far at 5:25:39, which is 15 minutes more than my previous longest time and almost a half-hour off of my PR. I do have to keep this in context; I know that my time  was objectively really good regardless of conditions, and finishing 17/82 in AG and 98th overall is still an impressive finish. I also have to keep in mind that last year at this time I was still one week out from my first ever 70.3, and I don’t even have two full seasons under my belt. My personality is such that I will always be disappointed with anything less than my best, regardless of circumstance. I know I only get so many big races in a season and maybe in a lifetime, so I want to be proud of them all.

Anyway, on to the details.

Pre-race
The family and I drove up on the Friday before and stayed in a nearby motel. Friday night we took the kids to see the microMussel; a ‘super-sprint’ triathlon featuring a 100 yard swim, .6 mile bike, and .2 mile run. I don’t want to spend a lot of time in this report describing it but I encourage you to Google the event - it’s worth spectating if you get a chance.

Saturday we came out to the park to spectate the mini mussel Sprint tri - Chris R and Matt M were doing it as part of the double, and Jill and Bob were competing. This is actually the first time I’d been able to spectate a race and it was a lot of fun seeing people fly by. Saturday night didn’t go so well - some personal issues had me pretty upset and I felt sick to my stomach all evening. I wasn’t really mentally ready to race, but I thought that things were settled down by the time I went to bed.

Race morning came and I was still feeling off, but set-up and my morning pre-race meal was normal (though I chose a double Ensure rather than just one - that’s the only real difference in routine).

Swim
I was in the first wave, which I was happy about because the race clock would be my clock and also I would have to spend the least amount of time out in the heat. Temps were forecast for over 90 with relatively high humidity, so I wasn’t looking to enjoy the scenery. The swim was a water start about 15 feet off shore, and we were to swim directly out towards the middle of the lake, turn left, then head back in through a boat launch canal to transition.

At race start since we were in 3-feet deep water, some racers decided to high-step or dolphin kick, but I got right in and started swimming. I knew the lake was very weedy and the bottom was covered in rocks and the occasional broken mussel shell, so I was worried about damaging a foot. The swim out was pretty choppy as it was right in to the waves. I don’t think I did a good job of timing my strokes to avoid the waves but in general I like rough swimming for the same reason I like hills - I figure if other racers are intimidated by chop (or climbs) that’s an advantage for me that doesn’t require any additional fitness.

Sure enough I hit several large patches of sea kelp during the swim, which is a very odd feeling. We were all fighting the current since the waves were headed directly in to shore. I turned left hoping to get some relief from the waves, but it actually turned out worse, as the waves were now coming from the right while the rising sun made breathing to the left challenging. I reminded myself that everyone swims in the same conditions and just saved energy and fought through it. Once we made the turn towards the canal I opened it up. I passed 4 swimmers in the first 200 yards or so and just tried to cruise toward the swim out. I finished with a 31:02, which missed my PR for this distance by a few seconds. I flew through T1 in 1:07 which amazingly was the first overall T1 split. I passed a couple of racers there.

Bike
I started out fairly strong although I messed up my flying mount. Mental note to put the left shoe forward rather than back next time. My HR was in the 170s which was also the case at Eagleman. I am not pushing the swim ( I don’t really have a sprint speed - I’m a technique swimmer) so I’m not entirely sure why my HR was so high. I suspect it’s actually from running through transition in a wetsuit. In previous events the HR settled down quickly on the bike - here it didn’t. I assumed that was due to the gentle uphill for the first five or so miles.

While Chris had passed me right out of transition I could see him ahead of me. At mile 8 Chad, the PTC president, passed me. Given he started in the wave 5 minutes behind, I knew it was going to be his day. At mile 15 I still had Chad and Chris in sight, though gaining ground wasn’t an option. I asked a volunteer how many were in front of me and he yelled ‘You’re fourth!’. Since one of the ones in front of me was Chad who is in M30-34, that meant I was actually running third in my age group! This gave me a burst of energy and came conveniently as the course hit a gentle descent. I was clocking some pretty fast miles and also trying to avoid the Amish wagons that were headed to church. I held on to third until mile 25 or so when a rider passed me, and another got me at mile 28 (Matt also caught me somewhere around there).

Mile 30-ish was where it all fell apart. I hadn’t been feeling well though the adrenalin of a good swim and early strong race kept it in the back of my mind. I’d ignored the fact that my stomach was queasy since things had been going so well, and also that my HR was higher than normal for a race at this point. Over the course of three miles that went from something I was dealing with to an overwhelming urge to throw up, and somewhere past mile 30 I did. Not that there was a lot of it, but now I was wobbly, weak and nauseous. It didn’t help that miles 40-45 were through some sort of rough trail. More mainly dry heaves. Since it was so hot I knew I needed to get and keep something in me, but the concept of taking in Infinit or the gel I had with me made me even more nauseous.

My speed slowed way down and I tried to just hang on for the rest of the bike course. I continued to heave every so often, which didn’t help. At mile 30 I had been on pace for a 2:37 bike split and ended up at 2:40:42, which was still 41st overall and 10th in AG, but the wheels had already come off. I still had enough energy to pull a decent flying dismount and jog the bike back to the rack. I was grateful to see Bob in transition and let him know how I was feeling. T2 definitely didn’t go as well as T1 - I was disoriented and hadn’t had anything to eat or drink in over an hour. I was looking forward to ice and water on the run course.

Run
I headed out and got to see my family a hundred or so yards in to the course. I waved but I was definitely not able to appreciate them being there.  At 1/2 mile in to the run course I stopped to stretch out my quads, which had cramped due to not having salt in addition to not having any nutrition or fluids. It was to be the first of many stop-and-walk sections of the run course. I knew I needed to hold back as much as possible but it was demoralizing as this was the first part of any event at any distance where I’d walked anything other than the aid station. The worst part of the run was that I still needed to throw up, but now couldn’t. So I spent the portions I did run feeling queasy. 

All I really remember about the run course was that it was surprisingly hilly, took forever, all I could keep down was water so I drank too much of it (which made me a sloshy mess), and the volunteers and residents were fantastic and I appreciated their water sprays as I went by. I finished the run in a little over 2:11, which needless to say wasn’t a great time for me. I took advantage of the ice bath but still couldn’t eat anything. I wasn’t really in pain at all - my HR was really low and my body didn’t have the stress of a 70.3 race due to all the walking. I just couldn’t settle my stomach.  After an hour or so of congratulating the other racers (including Chad who took first overall and Matt and Chris who both placed in their age group). We packed the car and headed for a week’s vacation in the Poconos.

At this point I’m really glad I decided to sign up for Steelhead. My last 70.3 of the season is Savageman and given the nature of that course I don’t have a goal for it other than just to finish. One of the things they say about NFL cornerbacks is that they have to have short memories, because they will eventually get burned. So it’s a matter of how well they bounce back. I intend to bounce back at Steelhead.

One of my goals in year 2 of triathlon was to compete in as many races as possible from the previous year, so I could see where I’ve improved. After all, with a new bike, entirely new running style, and the wisdom of a year’s worth of racing under my belt, I should see some improvement. Oddly, the Dam Tri was my the first race that is a direct repeat of something from the previous year (Edinboro would have been, but it was a duathlon last year). So for that reason alone I was looking forward to this race. I enjoyed it last year and felt I did well (I was 12th overall with a 2:31, 4th in AG), so I was looking to take some more time off. My goal was to go under 2:20, though it wasn’t an ‘A’ goal and I didn’t taper for this race (in fact I had my hardest workout of the week the day before). Since we had 20 or so PTC members, all I really wanted to do was to place in my age group and have a great time.

I drove a couple of other PTC members and we met two more along the way. I’m usually the type who prefers to be at an event early as I tend to forget things if I’m rushed during setup. We met with plenty of time but the logistic comedy of errors started pretty much right away. First the highway, which was closed overnight but was supposed to be open by 5, wasn’t. This added 20 minutes to our commute. Once we got past that I realized the car was low on gas and wouldn’t make it to the race on what was in the tank, so we had to stop. We picked the first exit only to find the gas station wasn’t due to open until later in the year, and by that time we needed a nature break badly enough that we had to stop anyway. So after all of that we got to the race with what would have been 50 minutes left before the first wave. Luckily the race itself was behind schedule, which took some of the pressure off. Still with all the chaos I forgot my routine for setting up the Garmin on the bike - instead I left it on the wrist strap and in the helmet like I had last year.

Swim

Not much to say about the swim - I felt prepared and calm for it. I was using my old goggles since my better pair developed a leak at Eagleman. The old ones tended to fog but I figured they would get me through the event.  And for the first two legs of the triangle swim I was fine, but the return leg was directly in to the sun, and by that time the low level of fog on my goggles made it nearly impossible to sight. Eventually I had to stop and rinse them off, which cost me a couple of seconds but was worth it as I couldn’t see. I exited in 23 minutes and change, which is a 1:39/100m pace ( I would like to be able to hold 1:30, so this is close). Out of the wave I think I was 8th out of the water.

Bike

Sure enough, the Gamin thing with the watch band got me. Instead of being able to throw on glasses, my helmet, and take off, I stopped to try and secure the watch, which was uncooperative. I think I lost about 30 seconds dealing with it, but finally got out on the bike. My flying mount was slower than I wanted but not bad.

I picked off two from the men’s olympic wave and most of the female elites on the first bike loop. I never saw Chris, who was ahead of me from PTC, after he passed me right out of T1. The first half of the bike course is hill and the second is more long descents and climbs, with one two mile stretch of gentle downhill that felt fantastic. My HR was still higher than I would want on the first loop - I finally figured out that this isn’t because I’m coming out of the water gasping for breath, it’s because I’m sprinting to T1 in a wetsuit. Do I need to practice that?

Second bike lap I encountered a portion of the sprint wave, and spent a bit of time weaving through them, especially on the climbs. Towards the back part of that loop I ended up dropping my chain on a bad shift, then accidentally triggering my bike-to-run transition on the Garmin  in the process of putting the chain back on. I lost about a minute or so in the process and ended up with a 1:11 bike split - I had been hoping to get under 1:10, so without the chain issue that might have gotten there. My flying dismount was pretty solid and I ended up with a pretty fast T2.

Run

I knew from the trip from the car that the course area was muddy. It had rained quite a bit in the area recently. The run course is a somewhat random route through combinations of multipurpose trail, parking lots, and a 1.5-mile out-and-back on the Dam that gives the event its name. The first 30 feet of the run course however were through 3 inches of goopy muck. Since my Newton shoes have only a mesh top, this drenched my entire feet. Still I managed to hold a little over 7:00 mile splits. I’d love to get those under 7 but this is consistent with where I was.

On my way out to the Dam I had an unfortunate encounter with a bee, who stung me on my left shoulder. It was pretty easy to ignore in the pain of the race, all things considered. My bigger worry - as I rounded the dam and headed back I saw Sean, another PTC member, gaining on me. I had turned in a narrowly-better time than he did at Eagleman and I knew this was his chance for revenge. I can usually get him out of the water and sometimes on the bike, but he’s a stronger runner. I figured I had 4 minutes on him with 4 miles to go, so I picked up the pace a bit.

The rest of the run felt rough - even the flat parts felt uphill. I saw Sean again at one of the multiple out-and-backs on the run course, still gaining, so I pushed as hard as I could. I finally got to the final downhill, sprinted back through the mud, and across the finish for a 2:23 final and second place in my age group, many minutes behind my friend Chris. After that it was good times with friends until we packed it up and headed home. Next up is Musselman in mid-July. Looking forward to finally putting a full 70.3 race together.

I didn’t originally have this event on my calendar. It’s pretty far from the northwest side of Pittsburgh, and its reputation as a flat but hot/humid event didn’t really appeal to me. But, joiner that I am, I signed up when I saw the sheer volume of PTC members who were already registered. It was my first 70.3 of the season, but honestly most of my winter and spring were focused on the Pittsburgh Marathon. This definitely wasn’t an A race for me, but I did go in to it with the goal of breaking 5 hours. My previous PR at this distance was 5:04 on a much hillier course so that seemed achievable. Internally I was hoping for a more significant drop, but I told myself I’d be satisfied with anything under 5 hours.

Eagleman is also an unusual race for me since it’s flat and hot/humid. My other two 1/2 irons, Musselman and Savageman, aren’t going to be anything like it. And it’s not easy to train around Pittsburgh for a flat course. So I studied up as much as I could, and used Edinboro as a prep race.

My family joined me for the trip, which is fantastic because of how much their support means to me. It’s also a bit challenging because there’s additional logistics required with kids and such. We wheeled out early Friday and got in around the early evening. More stress than we all would have preferred due to traffic, I-70 being closed due to an accident, and the unfortunate smoking room (mental note - register for hotel early if doing this race again, which I will not).

Saturday we got up, drove to the race site, and met Chris and Sean for a short swim and to bike the run course. The water temp was hovering above the cutoff for wetsuits, so I did the pre-race swim in my tri kit. I thought it went pretty well, but I could feel the loose top dragging a bit.

Riding the run course was a great idea. I was shocked at how easy it was to maintain 21+mph just spinning on the flat course. We did a quick ride, a short run off the bike, then met some of the other PTC/Ballou Skies team for lunch. After we wrapped up, I registered and headed back to rack my bike. THis was the first time this has happened to me - the rack bar was set too low for me to walk my bike under it and hook it on the front of the seat. So I had to angle it under to get it seated properly, but I wasn’t willing to take chances with propping it up on the bottom part of my aero tail since we were potentially going to get a storm and I was worried it would fall over.  I figured it would cost me some time getting the bike out of transition - turns out it was more problematic than that. After racking, we headed back for dinner and an early bed.

Raceday morning came too early - 3:45. I’d set up my nutrition the night before it what was getting to be routine - one 24oz Infinit per expected hour on the bike course, with an extra 20oz as a pre-race carb and electrolyte primer. I did try something new this time - instead of using individual Roctane gels, I dumped 6 in to a gel flask instead, figuring it would be easier to manage. I have looked and haven’t seen Roctane available in the big bottle for filling flasks, but if it exists, I’d buy it.

We got the kids up and out the door by 4:30 and met Chris and family by about 5:15. We took two loads of sleepy kids and gear and got the families set up under a shade tree in the park next to transition, then Chris and I went to set up the rest of our transition areas. We had about an hour to wait until the swim went off, so I tried to stay loose. Ran in to other PTCers and met a guy from Beaver, PA who was doing his first 70.3 and chatted with him a bit. Always a good crowd and energy before a race like this. It was already sunny and really warm and it wasn’t even 7 yet.

Got out in the water with our swim wave. I’m used to a much more crowded field but maybe because of the width of the start line, it felt really spread out. A lot of guys were hanging way to the back. When the horn sounded I headed out. I didn’t feel slow but I did notice I wasn’t pulling ahead of as many people as I had expected to. The currents didn’t seem to bother me, though I did get in to more traffic than I was used to. A guy was tapping my feet pretty much the entire course. 

I caught the previous wave about 400 meters in to the swim and it started to get congested again at the halfway point. It was here that I came up on someone from the M40-44 group who had pulled up and was breaststroking while he sighted. I came up fast on him and accidentally clipped his nose with my right thumb. From the sound of it, I am positive I broke his nose. He immediately crumpled and flipped on to his back - I yelled an apology but felt too guilty to stop.

I exited the water in just over 38 minutes, though I didn’t know it at the time. I got to see my family cheering as I headed in to T1. I threw my helmet on and grabbed my bike, but had a tough time getting it under the rack bar, especially with the bottles on the back. It wasn’t until 10 miles or so in to the bike that I saw my shadow and noticed the angle of the bottles looked odd, so I reached back. Unracking the bike had loosened my aero cage and the bottles were now pointed horizontally out the back rather than angled up. I was worried about losing them but I decided to risk it since the pavement was actually really in good shape.

I knew this was going to be a fast course but I was shocked to see a 23mph+ average speed after 19 miles. I was passing folks left and right, and my HR was floating just under 160. When the winds shifted I changed from 21mph to 25, and I decided to just spin through the sections with a headwind rather than try to mash through them (the course changed directions very frequently). I figured my pace would drop off as I tired or when I hit the long headwind that I expected to show up at any moment, but at 40 miles in I was still feeling strong. I could see that I was going to finish the bike under 2:30, and 2:25 was in my reach. I was torn between trying to push for it or to save myself for the run, since it was already nearing mid-day and was really hot. I ended up doing neither - I split the difference and ended up with a 2:27, which is still a 13 minute PR over Syracuse. I was definitely happy with the bike split.

As soon as I got off the bike my quads tightened up. I hadn’t felt them on the bike (maybe if I had ever had to stand up to climb I would have) so I wasn’t sure if this was a soreness issue or electrolytes. I had hydrated well and had plenty of calories during the bike, but the quads were extremely tight. it felt like the first mile was walking on peglegs. I shook the tightness out after the first mile but they never fully went away. I dealt with them through the entire run.

By mile 3 I could tell this wasn’t my day from a run perspective. I never got in to a rhythm and my form was off, due both to the quads and the heat. By mile 5 I was basically just trudging from aid station to aid station, dumping ice on my head and down the tri kit and trying not to walk any portion of the course. I got passed by some people who were doing much better than I in the conditions and I was very jealous. This is something I need to work on.

I made it through the run and crossed the finish line at 4:58:50, which met my main goal for the event, but seeing my time after the bike I really was hoping for a lower time. I finished 33 out of 244 in my age group, which is also pretty good. But there’s room to improve, for sure. Given my first 70.3 was 5:10, the second was 5:04, and this one was 4:58, it looks like I’m dropping 6 minutes every time I line up. If that holds true, I’ll be pretty happy.

What worked:

• I am dialing in my nutrition pretty well, though I will consider getting a separate ‘heat formula’ Infinit mix for these types of events.
• The bike is really working well. The intervals with Chris have done a lot to improve my power and I was happy with my ability to hold aero for the entire event. That’s not something that is easy to practice in Pittsburgh since the terrain varies so much.
• Even though it didn’t show up on the swim split, I’m happy with bullfrog as a sunscreen option, especially with the heat. No unusual sunburn areas at all.

What I would do differently:

• I had made the decision to wear my calf compressions sleeves to help on the bike and run, and because they are challenging to get on I decided to wear them for the swim. They’re knitted fabric - in retrospect this may have been a bad idea as they probably contributed to my slow swim time. I’m not sure if they helped enough on the bike to make up for it, and they definitely didn’t help on the run. For events with no wetsuit, I think I will skip them.
• If I have more no-wetsuit events, I need a speedsuit. The tri kit is too loose in the top. In retrospect maybe I should have gone shirtless for the swim.
• I need need need to do more brick workouts. I think I need to follow the Andy Potts ‘run after every bike workout’ model. I think that will help me get through these longer events.
• Save more gel for the run - I ran out around mile 9. The more I can avoid the on-course Gatorade the better. It doesn’t agree with me so I hate resorting to it.

Next up: Musselman and a 4:52 or better. Back to training!

I have had a string of very positive outcomes in my recent races. From a surprise AG win at the Cook Forest half-marathon, the narrow BQ at the Pittsburgh Marathon, to the podium at New Brighton, it’s been a good early season from a success perspective. 

I signed up for Edinboro mainly for revenge. Last year’s was my first Olympic distance tri ever (though it was changed to a duathlon due to bacteria in the lake), and the conditions were miserable; hot, humid, no shade, the works. The run felt like a death march that year - I walked the water stops and plodded the rest for a 49 minute 10k run split. So I wanted to have a better race, but I also knew that those conditions were similar to what I’d experience at my next big race, Eagleman, so I was looking for some practice.

Luckily the weather largely held off. It was overcast for most of the day and actually a bit chilly in the morning. The swim was on this year, which was also different, so this was a chance to test out the new full-sleeve wetsuit in race conditions.

I met Tony, Chris and Jason at 5:15 to caravan up to the race. This turned out to be way too early - I misjudged how far the event was (I thought it was over 2 hours - turned out to be about a 90 minute drive). So we arrived just as they were setting up, but we got to connect with a bunch of new PTC members and others who we hadn’t had a chance to speak with before. I got marked, set up transition, we did a short 5 minute prep run, and put on our wetsuits.

Swim
This was a small event so the Olympic distance was split in to an under 40 and over 40 wave. Honestly they could have had us all go at once - the over 40 wave was very small. There were a bunch of rocks with tiny barnacle-like shells attached (possibly zebra mussels?), which made entry and exit in to the water rough. When our wave sounded I hit the water and felt pretty good. I found myself on Chris’ feet and hung there for a bit, but felt strong and pulled past him at around 300yd. The fullsuit felt like it was faster due to the added buoyancy but I never felt like I was really pushing the swim. It was only 3/4 mile (short for an Olympic distance) so I just went with my pace. As I exited I stepped in a deep area of the water that I wasn’t expecting and stumbled. I put my hand down to steady myself  and trudged out. I found out on the bike that I had sliced my hand open on the shell of one of those mussels - it bled a bit through most of the bike. A woman yelled to the person behind me that she was 9th out of the water so I felt like I had a good time - it turned out to be a 16:27. Chris actually passed me in transition (ghost that he is) so he had a decent time too.

Bike
I felt pretty good getting out on the bike - my HR was way high for the level of effort that I was giving. I assume it’s nerves or something but this is two races in a row where I’ve come out of the water with what felt like manageable effort and still started the bike in the high 160s. I could just barely see Chris ahead of me so I made my goal to keep him in sight for as long as possible. The early part of the course had a few short climbs but for the most part this was a rectangle bike - four long, straight, relatively flat roads. I was holding a good clip, good cadence, and I was shifting very well, but I was still losing ground to Chris. I did pass one person early and was passed by one other, then at about mile 9 Jason passed me. He said he had a fairly rough swim and he must have since he’s the same as or faster than I am in the water. I tried to hold with him as long as I could but he just crept ahead with sustained effort. I could still see Chris at mile 12-ish when Jason passed him, and at that point it felt like I was gaining some ground so I put the pedal down to try and see if I could catch up. Turns out that worked - by mile 21 I was within a few hundred yards and by the time we hit transition we were neck and neck.

Run
Of course, Chris is a heck of a lot faster on the run, so T2 was about the last time I saw him. I was holding a 7:05 pace up the early hills, and Chris was pulling away, as I expected. This course is an out and back - the first half is more of a climb and the second half is mainly downhill. For the first three miles I was holding steady at just over 7:00. I was passed once by someone who was clearly out of my age group, and I picked off one other person who was also younger than me - he had pulled up with an injury of some kind. 

I hit the turnaround and started working the descents as best as I could. I saw Jason and Chris both looking strong. What got me was seeing a new PTC member Vic who was in the wave that started after ours, absolutely flying on the run. On the bike I had a rabbit - I was worried that I had become one on the run.

At mile 4.5 it started to drizzle and we got maybe 3 minutes of solid rain during what for me was mile 5, which felt great, especially after the sufferfest that was last year. My last mile was actually my fastest at 6:54 and I booked  across the finish line for a sub-44 10k. I’d love to run sub 40 10ks coming off of the bike - Hopefully I’ll get there some day. 

My time was good for 11th overall (fastest listed time was a relay). In M35-39 that’s only good enough for fourth place. In any other age group I would have been first or second. But such is life when you hang out with speed demons. Heck - I was third place in my own car!

The race quickly broke up before they could do awards as a very nasty storm came in. We didn’t quite get packed before it hit so we waited it out under a shelter. Afterwards Jason rode 90 miles back (crazy man that he is) and the rest of us caravaned back. All in all a good day. Since the race doesn’t sell out, I think the trick is to watch the race site in the week before the event and if the swim is on, just show up and register. I think that will be my strategy going forward.