Legged Out Again

The wind was brutal for the second year in a row at Waconia this weekend. I knew the swim was going to suck but had no idea of the carnage that was about to take place. At the start I got close to Brian Bich to try to draft off him as long as I could. That lasted about ten seconds as I soon found myself in a near fist fight with the rest of the field. My goggles got knocked off, I got smacked, kicked, scratched. It was awesome! I haven't felt that alive in a long time. I was swimming over people and people were swimming over me. Somehow I managed a great swim and came out of the water in 8th place. I had a much improved T1 and decided to put my shoes on in transition instead of trying to fight the wind while putting them on in the bike. I was right behind Matt Payne out of T1 and was able to stay a few hundred meters behind him. As he came up on Patrick Parish I looked down and when I looked up there was only Patrick. I thought, holly shit Matt went off course! It was my opportunity to get a little distance on Matt before the run. Then just as I was about to pass Patrick I tried to go to my small ring on a hill and my chain fell off. It took me about thirty seconds I'm guessing, but it was just enough for Matt to catch back up. A minute later he passed me just as I was coming up on Patrick again. Once I got around Patrick, Matt and I, being careful not to draft, flip flopped a few times then Matt took the lead for good. I kept him with in a few hundred meters for the rest of the bike but he had about 15 seconds on me coming into T2. I had another much improved T2 and managed Matt from gaining any ground on me. The first mile of the run was brutal and Matt just kept gaining ground. I new Patrick would be coming for me eventually and at the turn around both him and Brooks Gossinger looked like they might be able to catch me. Then it happened again. Patrick caught me with about a quarter mile to go. Patrick ran at Duke University and we are both on the TCMC team so I know him and know I am not going to keep up with him. Although I am not one to give up and I new Brooks was coming so I gave it my all but Patrick took me by about five seconds. I did manage to keep Brooks at bay and take fifth in another fantastic race.
Being my fourth top five finish of the season in some tough races people are starting to notice me. After the race race Matt Payne, Patrick Parish, Chris Frykman and I were about to do a cool down run around the course again and Jerry Mcneil stopped us. Jerry is a local legend that announces at most of the big races and wrights a blog called Tri Minnesota News that I follow religiously. Jerry, with a big grin, said he was becoming a fan of mine. A fan, I'm starting to gain fans? I know my friends and family are fans but to have him as a fan is awesome. Hopefully I will give him more to cheer for in the future and maybe gain some more fans.
Last year I really only had two races that I though went well, Brewhouse and Buffalo, At very race something seemed to go wrong or I just didn't do as well as I hoped. For some reason this year I feel much more relaxed and when my chain falls off I still feel amazed that I could come in fifth at The Best of the Midwest Tri. I guess being relaxed maybe just what the doctor ordered. I'm going to take this weekend off from racing to focus on training for Lifetime on the 11th. Hopefully I will give Jerry something to write about.

Injury

Well, the season is already starting to wear on me. Monday I decided against my better judgment to go for a nice relaxed recovery run on tired legs. As soon as I got to the end of my driveway I contemplated turning around but decided to push through it and get in an easy seven miler. At mile six I felt a pull or tear in the back of my knee to the inside. I already have a torn meniscus and partially torn ACL in that knee and have to do physical therapy every week to keep from making the injury worse. I don't think this has caused any major damage and it hasn't effected my training much this week. Luckily it was at the end of the run and I was able to get off it before it became a problem. There is no swelling and very little pain so far. It just seems to be a little tight in that region and doesn't seem to effect my running or biking. Waconia is this weekend and I will give it a rest tomorrow and a light go through on Saturday. Hopefully it will be fine by then. I did have a physical theropy appointment this week with Toni D at Minnesota Sports Theropy. Toni has been my Physical Therapist since I got back form Iraq and was properly diagnosed with my knee injury. Toni is an avid marathoner herself so she understands the dynamics of my condition. She also doesn't believe it to be a serious injury. Now I just have to watch it to make sure I don't turn it into one.

Exciting Finish

It was close to a perfect morning for the Lake Minnetonka Tri Saturday morning. I felt good but had no idea how I was going to place against a pretty stacked field. I was hoping for a top five but had no idea that I was going to have to battle for second place in what ended up being one of the most exciting finishes I've had. The race started out well as I had a much better swim than a few weeks ago at Buffalo. My first transition was a bit sloppy but could have been worse. I did not have my shoes clipped in as I didn't have far to run and wanted to be able to drive as much power into the bike as fast as possible. The bike felt good but not great. I think I need to adjust my seat position a little bit. Jeremy Sartain eeked me out by three seconds to have the fastest bike split. Jeremy is a former Pro Cyclist and MN Tri Series Champion in 2007. Early last year he had a devastating motorcycle crash. He is just now coming back and is improving on a daily basis. It won't be long before he regains full form again. I have been taking some bike clinics from him and joined his Twin Cities Multi Sport Club. Jeremy has been a huge part of my improvements this year and I'm sure I will continue to learn from him. My second transition was very sloppy as I had trouble getting my race number on and my shoes seemed to be more elusive than normal, I definitely need to work on my transitions as they were the reason I was legging out for second place instead of first. Mike Williams was right behind me off the bike and managed to have a lightning fast transition and was in front of me out of T2. I hoped he would make the mistake of running too hard too fast and stayed behind him for the first half mile. Then he started to fade and I made my move to regain the third position. Just before the turn around I passed Jeremy who told me I could catch Brett who was with in sight. At the turn I knew I could catch him but that would be up to him. All I could do is keeping racing at my pace and hope he fizzled. I did notice a fast runner on the way back and thought he might be able to catch up but forgot about him until about a quarter mile left. It was Josh Blankenheim. He is a faster runner than I am but I have beaten him at both Buffalo this year and Brewhouse last year. I stayed on him after he passed me to see if he kicked too early. I then made my own mistake by trying to pass back too early. We came off the path onto the final 100 meter stretch right next to each other but this was Josh's day as his 16:06 5k was just one second too fast for me. I talked to Josh, who is an awesome guy, and some of the other guys after the race. I like that fact that I am starting to get noticed. I also love meeting legends like Tony Schiller, Brett Lovaas and Jeremy hoping that one day someone will look at me like I look at them. I took third but felt so good about my performance I may as well have won the race. Hell, I ran the fastest 5K I have ever run Triathlon or road race. I was 8 seconds off the old course record and the fourth fastest time ever on that course. Funny because Kelly asked me how I thought I could do and I told here I thought around 1:04. She asked what the course record was and I told her 1:03:47. She thought I was being a little too optimistic. It is not the first time someone has doubted me in my life, nor will it be the last but in my opinion that is what drives a true competitor. If no one doubted what other people could do this would be a very boring world. After the race Kelly came over and gave me a big kiss too congratulate me. I wanted to tell her I told you so but trying to impress her is what drives me. Telling her I told you so may keep her from doubting me in the future. We have a fantastic relationship in which we have no problem telling each other they may need to be more realistic. Most of the time that is the correct statement. I'm just glad this time it wasn't.

Week Before Lake Minnetonka

This will be the first time for me at the Lake Minnetonka Triathlon. Last year I did Mankato instead because I went to college and still have a lot of friends down there. Unfortunately it was such a poorly run race that I decided to go with LMT this year. I am also stoked because I believe I have improved even more since Buffalo. Although I don't think that I can catch Brett if he is there this weekend. In looking at past race results it looks to me like this is Brett Lovaas's race. Brett had a fantastic race last weekend at Liberty and looks unbeatable going into this weekend. I am hoping to shave some time off of my swim so I can at least keep him in striking distance if I have a great day and he happens to be soar after last Saturday.
In the mean time my fiance Kelly has her first and most difficult round of medical boards today. I am super stoked that she won't be studying all day and we can start spending some more quality time together. On top of that she is having her eyes fixed tomorrow so she will no longer have to wear contacts. Apparently she may be somewhat blind over the next couple of days so I get to take care of her.

Improvement at Buffalo

Last year Buffalo was my first triathlon since my deployment to Iraq. I had no idea what to expect and was blown away with my time of 2:05:53. This year was a different story. Last year I raced in the age divisions and was an USAT All American, 30-34 Regional Champion and Toyota Cup 30-34 Champion. I will say there is a lot more pressure when you expect to be faster. I have worked hard on my swim in the off season and revamped my run form and changed my training after Albert Lea. Not to mention the weapons Pat from Grand Performance Bike gave me the day before the race.
The temperature was about 48 degrees when I arrived at the transition area and it was still trying to rain off and on. The wind was picking up and I knew the race was going to suck. I never thought I would get in 66 degree water to keep warm but that is exactly what I did. I saw Jeremy in the water before the race started and thanked him for sending me to Grand Performance. Then before I knew it I was on the beach waiting to hear the horn. When it sounded I decided not to go all out right off the bat and work into my groove. I don't know how much the strategy payed off but I came out of the water at 23:37 which was a minute slower than last year. However, I was 50th out of the water last year and managed to come out at 30th this year. The swimming portion is not easily measured and I'm guessing the course may have been a little short last year. Prior to the race I had made the decision to wear arm warmers and gloves on the bike. It cost me an extra 1:30 but hoped it would help keep me at least moderately comfortable on the bike course. I then got on my knew stallion and started to pedal. I knew I was gaining ground but I don't have a computer so I had no idea how fast I was going. The wind was bad but I was able to push through it. Even though I had the extra gear on when I came to dismount I was still numb and as I got off the bike it slipped though my glove and fell over. My feet were so numb I had trouble stopping and running back to get it. I then stripped off the gloves and managed to get my shoes on with relative ease. I didn't know it but I was in fourth off the bike. John Balabuck caught up to me at the first mile and I knew there was no catching him. I remember the hill at the middle of the run course last year and how bad it sucked. This year I breezed up it passing Joe Langel on the way and felt good at the turn around. I then saw a very fast looking Patrick Parish and realized that he was gaining ground fast. He caught me at mile four and never looked back. After that I knew there was no one who had enough time to catch me. I crossed the finish line 5th overall. While I was ecstatic with a new PR of 2:05:16 I was stunned to see I had the fastest bike split by three seconds over Matt Payne and broke the 1:00:00 barrier with a 59:58. I will admit that Terrenzo Bozzone did not try hard but that's his loss. I also set a new run PR with a 37:36 run time and was ninth overall in that category.
Minnetonka is up next in two weeks and I am hoping to see what I can do there. It has a longer swim portion but I can hopefully gain some ground on the bike with my new found speed.

Saturday Before Buffalo

Two weeks ago I had been dominated by Matt Payne at Albert Lea. Matt has improved greatly this year but I was not satisfied with my race and even though I was turned the wrong way on the bike course I couldn't put my finger on how he could embarrass me by almost five minutes on a sprint course. Saturday morning I learned how when I realized my front tire was not holding air for more than a few hours. Apparently I was racing on a front tire with I'm guessing around 60PSI. I was wondering why it seemed so sluggish on the course. Frantic as I know it can take a day or two for the glue to dry on a tubular I went to Penn Cycle to see what could be done. I love my boys at Penn but there was nothing they could do so I called Jeremy Sartain. He told me to bring it down to Grand Performance and they would hook me up. On the way there I picked up some carbon brakes from another bike shop as the ones I had ordered at Penn nearly three weeks ago had not come in. When I got to Grand a young man named Pat helped me out and said he new what it was and how to fix it. Apparently the valve on Tofu tires are notorious for this and he used an old Samari technique to fix it. He told me that since I already had some glue on the rim and I was putting 130 PSI in the tire that as long as I didn't hit the corners too hard I would be fine. Then Pat looked at my cassette and told me that I would be able to go faster with a 11-32 cassette. "please explain" I said. I know I am pretty fast on the bike but I know nothing about bikes and gears. I just get on and go fast. Pat explained that it was like having a sixth gear in my car. Going down hill and having the wind at my back I would be able to gain another gear. "So your telling me all this time the guys I've been competing with have had another gear"? I asked. Without hesitation I had him throw on the new cassette and another bike tech put on the new brakes. I thanked Pat and told him he is a Michael Angelo of the bike, which he is, and walked out of Grand Performance with a huge smile on my face. Hopefully Matt doesn't know about the 11-32 but Pat helped me regain my dignity on Sunday by only loosing to Matt by a respectable four minutes on a longer course rather than nearly five on a short course.

Pre Buffalo

So Buffalo is on Sunday and the weather looks to be crappy. I don't like racing in the heat but I hate racing in the cold. Albert Lea managed to warm up just in time for the race but the swim was frigid. At least the water should be a little warmer even though the bike ride should be a little brisk. As for training I am starting to feel like I believe I should. My breathing issue is around 95% and I am getting faster while retaining energy. I also have done some tweaking to my run stride and adjusted my seat height on my bike. I thought I was in good shape for Albert Lea but the father I get from it the better I am feeling. Hopefully that will make for a better performance than getting owned by almost five minutes in a sprint.