I am definitely a numbers person. I'm a big believer that heart rate and power data can make a big difference in how athletes execute their race plans. I love to get as much data as I can during a race and analyze that data afterwards. However, sometimes it's just nice to race.
I headed down to Maryland to participate in the 70.3 Eagleman with my two friends: Chris and Jay Swift in a pretty nice ride:
After hanging in these great digs, it was time to start some racing. There was an announcement race morning that the swim would be non-wetsuit. I was pretty surprised by the announcement. The spring weather had been so chilly that I had never thought that it could be a non-wetsuit swim. I had not even packed my Blue Seventy skin suit(rookie mistake). While I was disappointed that I would not be able to race in my Blue Seventy Helix wetsuit:
, I knew my Castelli Trisuit would perf
orm.
Once our swim wave got started, I settled in quickly and found some feet to follow until the first turn buoy. It got really crowded around the buoy and I lost my escort at this point. So I navigated the remainder of the swim solo. I came out of the water at 29:55, which put me in 4th place in my age group.
I was in and out of transition quickly as I had a method to my chaotic setup:
My new Trek Speed Concept 9.9 is so much fun to ride and extremely comfortable. I quickly dialed in to my heart rate and power numbers. As the ride progressed, I had to keep reminding myself to stay in the moment. My thoughts usually wander during the bike segment and I tend to flake out a bit. Coach Paul Regensberg had called for a steady effort on the bike, without any major efforts, so my legs would not be smashed for the second half of the run. I kept this mantra throughout the bike and came off in: 2:13:01. I had moved up into 2nd place in my age group. However, I did not know this at the time. I came out onto the run and saw my friend Chris Swift:
I asked him how I looked. He replied: "great". I mumbled, that's not what I'm asking, but it was to late. I was off onto the run course.
My goal was to settle into the run and build my effort. I didn't want to push hard to soon. My legs were also feeling a bit crampy. I tried to focus on my cadence and rhythm, but my left quad seized up on me at mile 2. I quickly bit into one of my salt sticks and covered my tongue in the fantastic tasting powder, ugh. My quad released, but I shortened my stride to be safe. As I continued on down the road, the cramping came on two more times. I repeated the same pleasant experience with similar results.
I always love seeing the older age groups out on the run course. They love the competition and always give me updates on my age group. As I ran past a 60yr old male at mile 3, he yelled that there was one in front of me and he was 41. I had no idea how far up the road he was, but at least I knew where I stood. I ran by my teammate Pierre-Marc Doyon
at about mile 5 and he told me that the guy I was looking for was up ahead in orange. He seemed to have a decent gap, so I just tried to run steady. My cramps had subsided at this point, so I was looking forward to just racing. I hit the split on my Timex Run Trainer 2.0 as I saw him passing and then again at the turnaround. He had about 36 seconds on me. On the return trip back to the finish line, I could see the man in orange slowing at each aid station to get fluids. I felt good and just kept the same pace. I figured I was pulling about 10 seconds/aid station back on him. I saw my teammate Dave Harju running in the opposite direction at the 9.5 mile mark. He yelled that I was 25 meters back. It took me another .5 mile to close that gap. As I made the pass, we had a brief discussion about the number of Kona slots in our age group (there were 2 as we had 401 athletes in our division). I felt pretty good into the finish. I had managed to run 6 minute pace on the 2nd half of the run and I finished with a run time of: 1:20:03.
Final Results: 4:05:43 (Course PB) 1st Overall Amateur/ 13 Overall - Heading back to Kona!
Love racing with my teammates!
After hanging in these great digs, it was time to start some racing. There was an announcement race morning that the swim would be non-wetsuit. I was pretty surprised by the announcement. The spring weather had been so chilly that I had never thought that it could be a non-wetsuit swim. I had not even packed my Blue Seventy skin suit(rookie mistake). While I was disappointed that I would not be able to race in my Blue Seventy Helix wetsuit: 
, I knew my Castelli Trisuit would perf
orm.
Once our swim wave got started, I settled in quickly and found some feet to follow until the first turn buoy. It got really crowded around the buoy and I lost my escort at this point. So I navigated the remainder of the swim solo. I came out of the water at 29:55, which put me in 4th place in my age group.
I was in and out of transition quickly as I had a method to my chaotic setup: 
My new Trek Speed Concept 9.9 is so much fun to ride and extremely comfortable. I quickly dialed in to my heart rate and power numbers. As the ride progressed, I had to keep reminding myself to stay in the moment. My thoughts usually wander during the bike segment and I tend to flake out a bit. Coach Paul Regensberg had called for a steady effort on the bike, without any major efforts, so my legs would not be smashed for the second half of the run. I kept this mantra throughout the bike and came off in: 2:13:01. I had moved up into 2nd place in my age group. However, I did not know this at the time. I came out onto the run and saw my friend Chris Swift: 
I asked him how I looked. He replied: "great". I mumbled, that's not what I'm asking, but it was to late. I was off onto the run course.
My goal was to settle into the run and build my effort. I didn't want to push hard to soon. My legs were also feeling a bit crampy. I tried to focus on my cadence and rhythm, but my left quad seized up on me at mile 2. I quickly bit into one of my salt sticks and covered my tongue in the fantastic tasting powder, ugh. My quad released, but I shortened my stride to be safe. As I continued on down the road, the cramping came on two more times. I repeated the same pleasant experience with similar results.
I always love seeing the older age groups out on the run course. They love the competition and always give me updates on my age group. As I ran past a 60yr old male at mile 3, he yelled that there was one in front of me and he was 41. I had no idea how far up the road he was, but at least I knew where I stood. I ran by my teammate Pierre-Marc Doyon
at about mile 5 and he told me that the guy I was looking for was up ahead in orange. He seemed to have a decent gap, so I just tried to run steady. My cramps had subsided at this point, so I was looking forward to just racing. I hit the split on my Timex Run Trainer 2.0 as I saw him passing and then again at the turnaround. He had about 36 seconds on me. On the return trip back to the finish line, I could see the man in orange slowing at each aid station to get fluids. I felt good and just kept the same pace. I figured I was pulling about 10 seconds/aid station back on him. I saw my teammate Dave Harju running in the opposite direction at the 9.5 mile mark. He yelled that I was 25 meters back. It took me another .5 mile to close that gap. As I made the pass, we had a brief discussion about the number of Kona slots in our age group (there were 2 as we had 401 athletes in our division). I felt pretty good into the finish. I had managed to run 6 minute pace on the 2nd half of the run and I finished with a run time of: 1:20:03.
Final Results: 4:05:43 (Course PB) 1st Overall Amateur/ 13 Overall - Heading back to Kona!
Love racing with my teammates!
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