Marathon Madness!

A couple weekends ago I embarked on another mountain bike racing excursion.  I'm both loving and hating the feeling of doing races outside of my usual triathlon comfort zone.  Loving the new experiences and fun dirt offers but hating the learning curve! One of my season goals for this year was to sign up for several mountain bike races to improve my bike handling skills and race tactics for some upcoming Xterra racing I'd like to do.

Photo credit: Broken Photography

This weekend I was waffling on wether to drive to Alabama for an Xterra race or race a more local Mountain bike marathon.  My training is still far from where it needs to be so I decided to not drive 12 hours to get my butt kicked but instead to drive about 1.5 hours for a butt kicking!   So I headed to Solon Iowa for the Sugar Cubed IMBCS Marathon.  I had no idea what to expect with a mountain bike race this long but was pretty sure it was going to hurt!  The race format was basically how many laps can you get in on a 4 hour time limit.  Each lap was 12 miles long riding on all the Sugar Bottom mountain bike trails backwards.

RACE RECAP:
My plan going in was to just ride the first loop, race the second loop, and then see if I had anything left for a third lap.  Well that plan went out the window as soon as the race started!  I went out with the lead group of about 15-20 guys sitting right at the back of the pack for the first turn into the start of the single track.  I quickly got sucked into racing that first lap.  I remember looking down at my heart rate monitor and seeing I was about 15 beats higher than I planned on being.  I kept thinking to myself, what in the hell are these guys doing there is no way they are going to push this pace for 4 hours!

The first lap was an absolute blast and was very rewarding in the sense I felt in the mix of the race.  I was passing and getting passed, working turns and climbs, just having a lot of fun!  I came through the first lap with about 5 other guys sitting around 10-15th place.  The second lap was excruciating! About 15 minutes into the lap I wiped out in a corner, when I popped up my left hamstring locked up with a bone rattling cramp.  I hopped (more like crawled) back onto my bike but couldn't get the cramp to release, so I soft pedaled until it worked itself out.  Then I got out of the saddle to climb a hill and both my inner thighs locked up.  Back to soft pedaling.... I was having that mental conversation with myself wondering how and the hell am I going to bike another 8 miles back to the start... should I call it a day and find a short cut back??? But what if I get lost and end up having to bike more miles!?!?  In the end I decided to just ride it easy back to the finish line and hope I get there in one piece. The last couple miles things seemed to calm down a little and I was able to pick it back up a little with the ever constant threat of a cramp at each hill.  I finished out the second lap and called it a day at about 2 hours and 50 minutes. I literally crawled back to the truck, turned the AC on, and just laid there for like 45 minutes.  I was pooped!

TAKEWAYS:

• I would have had a better race and placing had I followed my race plan going in, but I did get a lot of technical and tactical race experience pushing it that first that lap that I don't think I would have got otherwise.

• Mountain biking is no joke!  I hurt for seriously like 3 days after the race.  It hurt to type emails, that's how much of a wreck I was. 

• Sugar bottom is a great mountain bike course!  There is a little of everything out there and is just a lot of fun to ride.  ICORR and Goosetown Racing, led by Race Director Mike Frasier, put together a great race!

SHOUT OUT: It was great seeing fellow Free Flight racers out there shredding as well.  Way to go Kyle, Jennie, Chris, and Matt!
  

Spring Photos!

This Spring has been full of adventure and fun, in large part due to my two favorite girls!

We have all gotten in some much needed training........

Start them young!

Yoga anyone?

A run at Horseshoe Canyon

A little travel........

Flying back from Texas 70.3, quick stop in Chicago!

And of course some racing!

CAT 2 30-39 MTB race

Love the berms at Illiniwek Forest Preserve

       

My Mountain Bike Race Debut: Illiniwek Abermination



photo courtesy of Eric Roccasecca

My first Mountain bike race is in the books, and all I can say is it was a blast! Since making the decision to do some Xterra Triathlons this year I thought it would be smart to try out some mountain bike racing this Spring to help me learn how to race in the dirt. So Erin and I traveled to the Illiniwek Forest Preserve this past weekend for the first of the Iowa Mountain Bike Championship Series races, the Illiniwek Abermination. The race was a lot fun and definitely learned a thing or two. A quick shout out to the Race Director, volunteers, and Race Officials that worked this race, it was very well run and I highly recommend it to all my fellow triathletes!

This being my first mountain bike race I made quite a few rookie mistakes. Some of the mistakes I knew better but made them anyways and other mistakes were a little bit of a surprise. I thought I’d document my top 5 mistakes so that those thinking about doing their first race can learn from my mistakes without replicating them. So here they are:

MISTAKE #1: Showing up too late.
My race start time was 10:45. In my world I thought I would show up an hour early, pickup my race number, and pre-ride a lap of the course as my warmup.  As I arrived they announced there was only another 10 minutes left for the sports division to pick up their race number. This let me know right away I had miscalculated my get ready time. I didn’t realize we would be sitting in the start corral for 20-25 minutes. This mistake would compound to cause several others.  ALWAYS ALLOW FOR MORE TIME THAN YOU THINK YOU’LL NEED.

MISTAKE #2: No pre-ride.
I had every intention to pre-ride the course as my warmup, but do to mistake number 1 very little warmup happened and definitely no pre-ride. Lesson learned, you definitely want to pre-ride the course, it makes things like passing, climbing, cornering, descending, and every other action you will be required to do while racing much easier! ALWAYS PRE-RIDE THE COURSE.

MISTAKE #3: Equipment check.
Again thanks to mistake number one I had less than ideal time to run through my bike that morning. I had cleaned it up the night before but forgot to torque spec all the important bike parts that night. One of the first hard corner we raced into I caught my tire hard causing my handle bars to turn but my wheel and fork didn’t and BAM! I was down for my first crash. I hopped back up and started pedaling right away only to find that my handle bars were out of alignment. I pulled over and got my handle bars squared away letting what seemed like another 50 riders by me before I could get going again. Later in the ride I realized as a result of the spill my saddle was pretty dang crooked too.  ALWAYS CHECK EQUIPMENT TO ENSURE ITS 100% BEFORE RIDING.

MISTAKE #4: Race start.
I decided to race the Sports Category, which is a category higher than the novice where most beginners start. I chose to do this because I have a limited number of races before my first Xterra and I wanted to the extra distance and exposure to more riders while racing that the sports category offered. I’ve been logging quite a few rides over the last month on my bike and was confident my handling was there but because this was my first race I chose to line up in the back of the group when we started. This wasn’t really a mistake, as a beginner this is where I should have started, but it does make the rest of the race a little more challenging. I was at the back of the pack and spent much of the race stuck behind riders looking for an opportunity to pass, on a 95% single track course that’s much harder to do than I thought. For future races I’ll be a little more aggressive at the start and try to secure a good position up front. HAVE A RACE START STRATEGY!

MISTAKE #5: Crashing!

So I wiped out about 5 times throughout the race (I apologize now for any racers I held up as a result!) Nothing serious but I believe I definitely lost more time with these slips than I made up pushing some sections of the course. Most of my wipes came as a result of my rear wheel sliding out on dried leaves. I have now learned that those harmless looking dry leaves in the corners are the enemy, stay away from fallen leaves! I also learned that biker versus tree always ends with the tree winning that fight (see picture for reference). AVOID CRASHING AND YOU’LL BE FASTER :)



I hope these lessons of a first time mountain biker help you as I’m sure they will help me in the future.  On the day I ended 17th out 55 riders in the Sports Category, results can be found here, while the place wasn't high the experience was awesome and much needed.

After the race Erin and I headed into Le Claire for some Mexican food with friends Justin and Jen who were at the race too. We all (except very pregnant Erin) enjoyed some Mexican beers and had fun sharing war stories. Big congrats to Justin for winning the whole damn Sports race!


 For those that have thought about racing a mountain bike but have been intimidated, just sign up for one and give it a go, you won't regret it and I guarantee you have some great stories to share!

Photo courtesy of Eric Roccasecca

Race Season is coming fast!

I have rode my bike outside three days in a row, a great sign Spring is here, and with that the start of a new race season.  This season is going to be unlike any other and has me excited for just that reason.  For those that don't know Erin and I are expecting a little girl to arrive in a few weeks.  We are both thrilled to turn the page on a new chapter in our lives and DIVE into parenting. I knew all those years on the swim team diving blocks would pay off!  Since this is our first child and I really don't know what I'm getting myself into I've decided to approach this season much less structure than in the past.  Those that know me well know that I prefer a lot of structure in my training and spend a lot of time planning, training, and racing, so this will be quite a change for me!  I'm a big believer that change is good, it often challenges us and so I look forward to the challenge.

With less structure this year it's going to give me the opportunity to try some new things that I've been wanting to do.  I'm planning on jumping in on more local races, and actually racing more often and training a little less. Here are a few of the races and adventures I'm planning to date:

Triathlons:  Pigman Sprint and Quad Cities Triathlon are both local races that I've done in the past, I'm looking forward to kicking the Triathlon Season off with them.  The Dubuque Triathlon Club always has good attendance at these races which will make for a great time! I will add more triathlons as training falls into place this Summer and am hoping to fine a few good Olympic distance races to throw on the schedule.

Xterras:  Xterras are an off road triathlon that involves mountain biking and trail running.  I'm really looking forward to racing some dirt races this year! I've already signed up for Xterra Dairyland at the end of June and have about 3 or 4 others I'm eyeing as well.

Mountain Biking:  If I'm going to race Xterra I better improve my mountain biking skills. What better way to do that then race! I've added three mountain bike races from the Iowa Mountain Bike Championship Series which should be a great time.

Trail Running:  I just signed up for the Mines of Spain Trail Race, a great local race that's quickly becoming one of the best in the Midwest!


As far as Pro races are concerned, I'm back to the drawing board.  Initially I was planning on racing the Lifetime Fitness Series with races in Austin, Minneapolis, and Chicago.  Lifetime recently announced they were cutting the prize money and Pro races from their series.  Unfortunately this leaves very few Pro Short Course races in the country.  I might look at adding some Challenge or Ironman 70.3 races to the schedule late Summer and Fall so stay tuned for that announcement.


Had to throw this picture in. Dubuque Triathlon Club surprised Erin and
I with a baby shower, Pam Connolly had this awesome cake made!

Super Fly!

This past Fall I started adding mountain biking more and more to my cycling diet and decided it was time to put a new bike in my arsenal.  The learning curve for mountain bikes is steep with variables like bike weight, suspension, tire selection, wheel size, and gearing needing figured out. Thankfully I had Brian at my local bike shop "Free Flight" to lean on for help.  So after lots of research I pulled the trigger on a Trek Super Fly 9.8 SL.  By the time I decided to buy the bike I only got about 3 rides in before the snow came.  Needless to say I've been itching to get back outside and break the bike in properly!  I figured while waiting for the temperatures to rise and snow to disappear I'd write an "initial impressions" blog.


Post ride pic

The Build, The Super Fly came stock with the following:
Frameset:  OCLV Mountain Carbon, removable Carbon Armor, E2 fully integrated tapered head tube, BB95, internal control routing, Micro Truss, balanced post mount, Closed Convert dropouts, G2 Geometry

Front suspension:  Fox Performance Series 32 Float, CTD (climb-trail-descend) remote-ready FIT damper, rebound, E2 tapered steerer, 15QR thru axle, custom G2 Geometry w/51mm offset, 100mm travel

Wheels:  DT Swiss X1700 w/tubeless tape & valves, 142x12 rear, 15mm front

Drivetrain:

  - Shifters - SRAM X1, 11 speed

  - Rear derailleur - SRAM X01 Carbon, Type 2

  - Crank - SRAM X1 1400 X-Sync, 32T

  - Cassette - SRAM XG-1180 10-42, 11 speed

  - Chain - SRAM PC-1130

Components:

  - Saddle - Bontrager Evoke RXL, hollow Ti rails

  - Seatpost - Bontrager Carbon, 2-bolt head, 27.2mm, 8mm offset

  - Handlebar - Bontrager Race X Lite Carbon Low Riser, 31.8mm, 5mm rise

  - Stem - Bontrager Race X Lite, 31.8mm, 7 degree

  - Headset - FSA IS-2, E2, alloy cartridge

  - Brakeset - Shimano Deore XT hydraulic disc

 

Must have features:  Knowing that I'd end up wanting to race this thing I had a few features I was specifically looking for:

1. Light Weight:  I didn't want weight holding me back on climbs.
2. Full Suspension:  I plan on racing a few Xterras, I wanted one bike that could do it all from a suspension aspect and I also thought that full suspension would be a little more forgiving on the body allowing me to run faster off the bike.
3. Tubeless:  I wanted to have the ability to run low tire pressure without worrying about a pinch flat so a tubeless setup was important to me. 

On first impression the 3 features above were all a great call.  I ride at FDR park in Dubuque which can be pretty technical.  I love the full suspension for descending.  The 29 inch wheels lets me roll over anything and the full suspension allows me to not feel the effects of rolling over everything!  The weight was a big change.  My previous Mountain bike weighed over 30 pounds, this bike came in at 23lbs.  It feels a ton more responsive on climbs and I feel like the weight reduction gives me another gear for climbing.  The tubeless tires just give me more options for the terrain I'm riding on any given day.  When I'm in loose sand or muck and can drop the tire pressure and get more traction, the additional grip makes a big difference in turns and the speed I can carry through those turns.

 

Surprises!

There are a couple other neat features included on this bike that I didn't necessarily know if I wanted but I can tell already are really nice to have.

1. 1 x11:  The Super Fly came with 1 x11 meaning there is 1 chain ring up front and the cassette has a 11 cogs on it. I wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not.  Initially I'm loving it!  First it makes the bike lighter, with one less shifter, derailleur, and chain ring.  But it also simplifies shifting, which for me just makes the riding that much more enjoyable. 
2. Remote Lockout: If you are on varying terrain that goes up and down often this is a really nice feature.  It allows you to lock out the front, rear, or both suspensions with just a push of a button on the handle bars. I'm not having to search for my front or rear shock lockout while worrying about handling the bike and the trail ahead.

SO, needless to say I'm excited to get out there for another ride!!! I've been searching for local mountain bike races and Xterras and once I get a few more miles and a race under my belt I'll post and update.  Feel free to post comments or ask questions.

 

Happy Training!

 

Wes

2014 Season Kick Off!

Saying I had some uncertainty going into my first races of 2014 is a bit of an understatement.  Let me set the stage....
We moved to Dubuque in August of 2013 and I finished my first Ironman (IM Lake Tahoe) in September.  After this race I took a lot of time off and came back to training pretty unfit at the end of January.  It has been 5 years since I last trained in an Iowa winter and the first time as a Professional Triathlete.  I decided it would be smart to turn to the experts at QT2 and Coach John Spinney to take care of my training plan this year.  I also partnered with Free Flight Bikes in Dubuque,and they set me up on a new bike, a Trek Speed Concept.   So if I was to sum my offseason up as a math equation it might look something like this: 
Extended offseason + new coach + different training + new nutrition plan + new bike + Iowa winter = I’ve got no idea what the results of my first race of the season will be!  To further complicate things I chose to do back to back 70.3 races to open the season.  Here is a quick recap of those races.

Ironman Texas 70.3:  



On the run!

I’ve raced in Galveston two previous times and had a pretty good idea of what I was getting myself into. Last year I had a good result recording a personal best up to that point with a time of 4:06.  A good friend and fellow Pro Triathlete Mark Saroni was nice enough to pick me up from the Houston airport and haul me around for the weekend, this made life easy. Thanks Mark!  The race plan going in was to swim like hell to stay in a pack, bike a steady power wattage and run a consistent pace all while nailing my nutrition plan. In the swim I settled into a pace that was probably too comfortable but I was in a large pack of guys and would have done more damage than good trying to swim up to the next pack.  Once out of the water and on the bike things went well. This was just my 4th ride outside this year, so I didn’t know what to expect. I ended with my fastest bike split of ever for a 70.3, averaging around 25.6 mph with a 2:10:50 bike split (Thanks Free Flight!) all while executing my pacing and nutrition plan.  The run was my big question mark last year, I never felt like I ran well off the bike and was excited to see if all those treadmill miles would pay off.  Well they did!  I never faded and clicked off 5:50 miles without a problem.  At the end of the day I broke 4 hours for the first time in a half ironman and finished as the 18th pro in a deep field.  I was hoping for a higher finish but I can’t control who and how many guys show up at a particular race so I’m happy with the result.  Big Congrats to Richie Cunningham on the men’s win and Sofie Goos for the women’s win.

Ironman New Orleans 70.3:

Carlos, Rachel, and I on our way to the Big Easy!

 After racing Texas I had a quick 7 day turn around before New Orleans 70.3, the biggest question would be whether or not I had enough time to recover before the race.  I had a great week in between the two races visiting friends in San Antonio and was excited to see many of them racing with me in New Orleans.  After racing well at Texas I had
more confidence going into this race and was excited to give it a go.  I had a poor swim start not ready for the start and missed the pack I was hoping to swim in.  I settled into a pack of about 8 swimmers again feeling I was going just a little too easy but not wanting to risk swimming overly hard to make it to the next pack.  I came out of the water in 14th place.  Once on the bike I initially had to jockey for position but by mile 5 I felt strong and settled into a good rhythm.  Around 28 miles into the bike we had our  first turnaround and I could see I was about 45 seconds down of the pack I wanted to be in that included 6-12th places, I was 13th.  I remained patient and just focused on reeling guys in.  Around mile 40 I reached the back of that pack which had now blown up to move into 12th place.I spent the remainder of the bike picking up guys, and excited that I was feeling really strong on the bike. By the end of the bike I came into T2 in 7th place, the highest place I’ve ever been in coming off the bike in a large Pro race.  Unfortunately, it became pretty apparent that this was going to be a rough run.  I took my first mile out at a 5:45 pace but could tell the legs were tight with cramps threatening and backed it off a touch.  Shortly after my right hamstring completely locked up in a cramp and I was at a complete stop trying to get the cramp to release so I could bend my leg.  I lost a good minute until I could get the cramp to release and get moving again.  Shortly after two guys came by bumping me back to 9th place, right there I set a goal to finish top 10 and just try to make each mile slightly faster than the previous.  Around mile 7 good friend Robbie “Irish Flash” Wade came by to bump me into 10th but also encouraging me to pick it up.  I did manage to pick it up a bit and reel in one more guy to move back into 9th before the finish.  Reflecting back on the race I’m pretty happy. It was my highest Ironman 70.3 Pro finish to date and was a good result coming off a hard race the week prior.  It leaves me hungry as I was in a position off the bike to finish higher and that in itself gives me more confidence as I prep for my next race. Congrats to Andy Potts and Lauren Barnett for their overall wins in New Orleans.

If interested in a good read I was one of several Pros and Coaches featured in a recently released book called, "FROM THE MOUTH OF THE PROS – The best advice from pro triathletes & elite coaches".  The book is a collection of advice and tips from a large number of professional triathletes and elite coaches with some of the biggest names in the sport including current and past world champions, Olympians, Ironman, ITU champions and many more.   It is currently available as an ebook on kindle, here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JSXK48I

As always, I can’t thank my Sponsors enough for helping me get to this point in training and racing.  Please consider supporting these sponsors as they have been incredibly great to me and are outstanding ambassadors for the sport.

Thanks for reading, next up, Pigman Sprint June 1st.

    


Nothing beats a post race hotdog and beer!



Shenanigans with friends on Bourbon Street!



2014 Race Schedule and Update!

As I sit here trying to survive another Iowa day with something like the 40^th day of temperatures below zero I thought it would be a good idea to remind myself that my race season will be here before I know it, stay focused! 

First a quick update as I’ve got a lot of exciting things happening already this year and a lot to look forward to.  My recent move to Iowa has brought new opportunities and given myself a chance to refocus and work with some great people. Here are a few quick updates with more details to come in futures blogs.

SNAPPLE:  I’m very excited to be racing on the SnappIe Tri Team for the 3^rd season, what a great group of athletes to be a part of, if I can keep pace with the guys and gals on this team, 2014 is going to be a great year!

LOCAL SPONSORS:  Anytime I can work with a local business I jump at the opportunity. There’s something about being able to walk into a local establishment and chat with owners, employees, and customers that really makes you feel like part of the community. I recently had the great pleasure of adding Free Flight Bike & Ski and Signature Health & Fitness to my list of sponsors and supporters.  I truly think these two businesses are the best in the area.  Brian at Free Flight has a staff that is very customer service oriented and they know how to wrench on bikes! Pat and Jill have welcomed me into the Signature Family and this beautiful gym has provided me with access to top notch equipment to help me get STRONG for the 2014 season. 

COACHING:  After a few years of self coaching I made the decision to work with a coach this year.  I wanted a fresh look at my training, someone to bounce ideas off of and really the ability to just focus on executing workouts and not sweating the details.  So after a lot of research, I’ve turned to the guys at QT2 and Coach John Spinney.  Being partnered with QT2 has not only provided me with a great coach but also given me access to a lot of outstanding resources including: camps, webinars, dieticians, sponsors, and many more.  I’m a month in today and things are really starting to hum along, I think time will show I’m very lucky to have QT2 in my corner!

LOCAL TRAINING:  Last, I’d like to give a quick shout out to a few of the local clubs that have helped given me motivation this winter.  The guys and gals at Driftless Dirt a local trail running club have been just awesome and got me OUTSIDE for some solid trail running this December and January.  The Dubuque Area Triathlon Club has really started to wet my appetite for training and racing this spring and it looks like I’m going to have a lot great training partners to keep me motivated this Spring and Summer.  Both have Facebook pages make sure to look them up if you’re getting ready for an upcoming triathlon or running race, you’ll have great people to train with.

RACE SCHEDULE:  Okay, here is the tentative race schedule.  I’m really focusing in on the 70.3 distance this year.  I made great gains on the 70.3 Pro circuit last year and am hoping to capitalize on that experience this year.  I’ll most likely be adding a few local races for fun as things progress this season.

The Big Move!

As the headline suggest I recently went through a move and unfortunately I'm not talking about a "big move" to the top of the 70.3 Pro rankings :) but fortunately I am talking about a move closer to family!  This last week Erin and I packed everything we owned in a Penske truck and made a 20 hour drive north to Dubuque, Iowa.  So in the spirit of change I thought I'd do a couple Top Ten lists.  The Top Ten things I'll miss about San Antonio (with pictures) and the Top Ten things I'm looking forward to in Dubuque, listed in no particular order :)

SAN ANTONIO TOP 10

1) Warpathers: This winter a group of friends got together to help motivate each other to train for upcoming spring races.  The results were some of the best winter/spring training I've had with just aweome people!  Thanks Warpathers (Sean, Melissa, Brian, Katie, Robbie, Carlos, Apryl, Ron, Tiffany, Mark, Jess, Chris, Lorena,  you will be missed!

Katie, Brian, and Apryl representing the Warpathers at IM Texas

Carlos, Sean, and Melissa tearing it up at a local Jack and Adams Race



Several Warpathers joined Masters to work on our swim, Thanks Coach Susan and MOST swimmers!


2) Winter Biking:  San Antonio has got to be one of the best places for winter riding in North America.  The weather is just great.  I'm already planning this winter's training camp. 

Mid Ride at a hill Country Overlook

Winter Coffee Rides!

3) Mexican Food: By far the best I've ever had!

Feasting at Costa Pacifica!

4) Hollywood Park:  A super neighborhood to live in filled with great: running, riding, homes, landscaping, wildlife, and neighbors (Neal and Shirley, Mike and Grace, you will be missed!)

Entrance to Hollywood Park

5) Music: It amazes me that you can go to one of the several Dance Halls in the area and see big name country artists almost any night of the week.

Gary Allen live at John T. Floore Country Store

6) The People:   One of San Antonio's best features is the great people. I've made several life long friends and they will all be missed!

Celebrating Erin's Birthday withfriends!

7) Ammenities:  Shopping, Food, History, Music, Entertainment; you name it San Antonio has it!

8) Races:   A race every weekend with great race venues.  I earned my Pro Card while racing in Texas!

Collecting a check for the win at Houston Tri and the overall TX3 Series win!

 9) Diversity:  San Antonio is really a melting pot of different cultures with strong Spanish, Mexican and German heritage. Today people from all over the world with very different backgrounds call San Antonio their home!

Two of my closest SA friends. Carlos from Mexico and Robbie from Ireland

10)  Our Home: Erin and I bought our first house in San Antonio.  It was just perfect for us and will be tough to replace.



Front of our house this spring.

DUBUQUE TOP 10
lots of fun to come!

A picture of the Mississippi River from Dubuque.

1) Family:  It is going to be great to be so close to our family!

2) Cycling:  The bluffs around the Mississippi are just amazing to bike on, plenty of hills!

3) Camping:  We love camping and there is a plethora of camp sites in the tri-state area.

4) Skiing:  We've missed being able to cross country ski throughout the winter and it looks like Dubuque has some great Cross Country skiing and even some downhill.

5) Racing:  A myriad of great triathlon racing throughout the tri state area!

6) Traffic: There is none!

7) Views:  The scenery is just breathtaking!

8) Sweet Corn:  Just had some last night, nothing beats Iowa sweet corn!

9) Change:  We are looking forward to the excitement of being in a new place and meeting new people!

10) The Seasons:  Iowa scenery changes so much throughout the year.  Looking forward to Fall leaves, Winter snow, Spring plantings, and the green Summer!

So for now it is so long San Antonio thanks for all you have given the Andersons and a hello to Dubuque we are looking forward to new adventures!

New Orleans 70.3 Race Recap

I love 4am wakeups, not!

I have mixed feelings about New Orleans.  I seem to never race great there but always seem to have fun.  I decided I wanted one more crack at 70.3 before switching over to short course for a few months and New Orleans is within driving distance and I was hoping to capitalize on some fitness gains from Texas 70.3 just two weeks earlier. The last two races San Juan 70.3 and Texas 70.3 were good races but I didn’t put it all together.  Mostly because some lower leg issues have forced me to cut way back on my running.  I really feel I can swim 26:00ish, bike 2:13ish, and then run 1:18ish with transition times that puts me right at 4 hours total.  Sub 4 hours would be an awesome race for me.  Spoiler alert! I didn’t break 4 hours in New OrleansL but let’s talk about the race anyways.

I took off on Friday after work with training pals Carlos Miranda and Robbie Wade.  We decided to drive about 5 hours crash for some sleep and then finish the drive the next morning.  I did get awesome sleep and by 12 o’clock on Saturday we were in the Big Easy.  We went through all the normal pre race hoopla to get ready for the next day; pro meeting, pre-race workout, hotel check in, bike prep, etc.  I had two new equipment changes for this race I was excited to try out.  My Mizuno Wave Ronin 5’s had arrived a couple weeks earlier and I received my HED Jet Disc and HED Jet 7 wheels the week before.  Well lets just say they both rocked!

Transition set up and ready to roll!

So here is the race report.  After setting up my equipment in transition I headed over to the swim start.  I was a little nervous about the swim as it was being held in a small harbor.  They were having us swim an “M” shaped course and I thought sighting was going to be a challenge (read last year’s NOLA 5150 experience here to find out why).   Well my swim start was a disaster; the race official false started us with about 75% taking off early and 25% sitting there wondering what the heck was going on.  Unfortunately I was in the 25% and had to play catch up.  I made it to the 3^rd pack but missed the 2^nd pack.  I chose to swim comfortably in the 3^rd pack vs. try over work myself to maybe make it to the second pack.  I came out of the water with 4-5 other guys in around 26:20 not a bad swim but not as good as my Texas 70.3 swim.    I was into Transition in 16^th  Place.

I made good work in transition and came out with the 3^rd pack on the bike.  I was happy to have guys to work with.  Unfortunately the pack I was in didn’t work well together and it was showing in my bike splits.  At mile 30 I decided to push hard and see if I could separate myself.  I had a good push and broke away from the other guys and made up some good time.  I came off the bike in 12^th place but now for the real test, the run.

I was anxious to see how my run would hold up, I knew New Orleans was a pretty fast course and was hoping that would help with my lack of run conditioning.  The plan was to go out at 6 minute miles and work the times down after the first few miles.  The first mile I came through at 6:05, every mile after that I settled between 6:15 and 6:25. By mile 2-3 I had a few guys roll past me.  I never faded but never really got going.  I ended up running a 1:22 well above what I’m capable of running but about 2 minutes faster than Texas 70.3.  Unfortunately I had 3 guys moving much faster than me go by between mile 10 and 11.  I ended up in 18^th place on the day with a 4:04:41, a new personal record for the 70.3 distance.  I’m happy I went and raced, I’ve got even more racing experience to add to my race bag and some valuable lessons learned. 

Highlight of the trip, after the race me and few other guys caught the event bus back to the transition area.  One of those guys was runner-up on the day Trevor Wuertle.  Super nice guy saw me drooling over his beer and shared it with me, mmmm.  For a hilarious recap of his race check it out here you won’t regret J

Up next I’ll be blogging about the Kemah Triathlon I competed in this past weekend!

Ironman Texas 70.3 Race Report!

Wow! I just finished up a whirlwind trip to Galveston to race Ironman Texas 70.3.  This is a great race and only four and half hours down the road from San Antonio.  I had a ton of friends there which made it feel like a home town race!   So first I want to thank all my peeps for cheering like crazy while I was out there, you make these races fly by whether or not I’m flying by ;)

Three weeks prior to Texas 70.3 I raced San Juan 70.3.   I learned a lot at San Juan, made some adjustments to my training and was excited to see if training was going in the right direction.  Race morning I woke up bright and early, ate breakfast, and headed over to transition about 5:30 am.  I was nervous and excited; there were about 40 pros on the start list that would be fighting it out for their share of the $15,000 purse and 500 70.3 worlds’ points.    I got everything set up in transition grabbed my Xterra Wetsuit and headed over to the swim start to warm-up. 

After a short warm-up we lined up for the male pro start.  If you want a good laugh watch the beginning of an in-water start for the Pro men and woman.  It basically consists of one side of the line inching forward then the other side moving forward until we are about ten meters past the start line and officials are screaming at us to back up.  We back up and then repeat the process for the next 3-5 minutes leading up to the gun.  Eventually we got semi lined up and we were off.  At San Juan I was in the second swim pack for the first 400 meters until I dropped off and was swimming by myself.  The goal for this race was to stay with the second pack longer than 400 meters.  Race officials had the buoys laid out every 100 meters.  So I did my best to attach myself to the swim pack and hang on.  Before I knew it I was at 400 meters and still in the pack, YES! About 300 meters later I was still hanging on and felt in rhythm, YES!! At about 1200 meters I was still in the pack and determined to hang on the entire swim, YES!!! Well I’m glad to report I exited the swim for the first time ever in the second pack of a Pro field. A big thanks to Susan Ingraham my masters swim coach and Xterra Wetsuits for your great products! My swim Time was 25:30 a new 1.2 mile PR.

As I ran through transition I took too much time and missed the pack heading out on the bike.  Note to self: practice transitions and include different variables! No worries, I hopped on my Guru (bike), settled into a rhythm, and started plowing away.  About 2 miles in a guy rode up on me, He went by quick and I decided to let him go, checking my watts on my power meter he was pushing harder than I wanted to play that early on in the race.  Another mile down the road I made my first pass and was feeling pretty good.  That’s basically how it went for the bike leg.  I’d ride about 5-10 miles and a rider would go by and a few miles later I’d pass someone.  At the start of the run at San Juan my legs were fried, so I planned to take it a little easier the back half of the bike to allow myself to feel a little fresher at the start of the run.  I finished the bike in 2:13:43 averaging a little over 25 miles per hour.

Once in T2, I slipped on my shoes grabbed a couple of cliff shots, and was out on the run.  My legs didn’t feel fresh but were in much better shape than the start of run at San Juan.  The plan was to go out conservative the first 3 miles and then drop the pace to about 5:45-50 after the first couple miles.  The first four miles went as planned; I hovered right around the 6:00 per mile pace and was feeling solid.  By about mile 5 my pace had dropped 30 seconds but the effort felt the same. I just didn’t have the conditioning in my legs yet.  I spent the rest of the run fueling and just trying not to fall apart.  I managed to hold it together and crossed the finish line in 17^th place.  I ran a 1:23:19 averaging 6:19 miles, a ways off my sub 1:20 goal but much improved from San Juan.  Overall time was 4:06:47 and new half Ironman PR for me!

Reflecting back on the race I’m very happy with the result.  It was far from perfect but was definitely a step in the right direction.  The season is just beginning and I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead.  Next up is Ironman New Orleans 70.3 on April 21^st.  I’ve got two weeks to work out a few more kinks and look forward to performing in the Big Easy!

San Juan 70.3 Race Report

One of the many great things about the sport of triathlon are the challenges that come with training/racing and the process of adjusting your training/racing to meet these challenges.  This year I decided to challenge myself by putting an early season half Ironman on my schedule and thus forcing myself to focus my training a little earlier and increase training volume over last year.  I decided to make it a fun race, something epic, so I signed up for San Juan 70.3!  This past weekend I made my way to Puerto Rico feeling good about my training and excited to be back racing after five months off.   The following is a quick recap of my trip.

Carlos, Robbie and I arrived at the San Antonio Airport on Friday at 4:50 am.  After some research we decided flying with our bikes would be the most reasonable way to get them to San Juan.  The real challenge was hauling the big boxes around with our other luggage.  We looked ridiculous, but after some extended time getting through security we made the flight depart time and arrived in San Juan on schedule.  Kudos to Carlos for negotiating some great bike transportation costs! 

The first night we settled into our hotel and relaxed, recovering from a day of travel.  Saturday was all about race preparation.  We scouted the course and worked in a short bike and swim on course.  Next was the pro meeting.  Ironman.com had the following to say about the Men’s pro field:

The third edition of the Jeep IRONMAN 70.3 San Juan features a stacked professional field of 50 men and 24 women competing on Sunday. In the men’s race, defending champion Tim O’Donnell is also in for a tough race. Former IRONMAN world champion Farris Al-Sultan, Richie Cunningham, Max Kriat, Andrew Starykowicz, Dirk Bockel, Michael Lovato, Bert Jammaer, Paul Mathews and Matty Reed along with a host of others are in San Juan to try to dethrone the two-time champ.

The pro meeting revealed that the majority of the start list showed up and I had my work cut out if I was going to earn any points to qualify for 70.3 Worlds.  After the pro meeting it was off to packet pickup and then pre race prep. We found a nice little local restaurant to eat at and then it was off to bed- nervous as all get out!

4:30 came early the next day and I was up and off to transition. There are a few perks to racing pro and being able to avoid mandatory bike turn in is one of them.  It’s great to be able to ride your bike to T1.  After setting up in T1 and double checking my setup I walked to the swim start to begin my warm-up.  Thirty minutes and the boom of a cannon later we were off in a washtub start to swim 1.2 miles.  This winter I joined Masters of South Texas (MOST) a local swim team coached by Susan Ingraham.  Susan has been great, whipping my form into shape!  I doubled my time spent in the pool and was excited to see if it had paid off.  The first 400 meters went great, I lined up to the far left just behind Faris Al-Sultan and prepped for a crazy start.  I was able to stay in the pack the first 400 meters.  I can remember thinking, this is great just stay on their feet.  About 2 seconds after that thought I popped my head up to sight and saw I had slipped back 10 meters.  I put in a good surge to try and latch back on but it was too late, the pack was gone.  The remainder of the swim I was by myself, behind the first two packs but ahead of the 3^rd pack.  When I exited the water I looked down to see a time of 27:30, my goal time was 28:00 minutes.  I was disappointed I fell off the pack that ended up swimming 1-1:30 faster than me but excited to have swum under my goal time.

The run from swim exit to T1 was long, about 500 meters.  This makes for an interesting dynamic because it causes your heart rate to be sky high at the beginning of the bike.  My goal for the bike leg was sub-2:15.  Bike training has been great this year.  I’ve been training Tuesday and Thursday morning with a group of friends aka “The Warpathers”.  The consistency this has brought to training has been great, not to mention all the fun we have!  The bike went as planned, and I hit my goal watts on my power meter.   The only downside was I spent almost the entire ride biking by myself.  I did pass a few guys but never reached the pack in front of me.  All the racers did get the kitchen sink thrown at us with a mix of rain, wind, and hot weather.  We even had the occasional two foot iguana on course to dodge around!  I finished the bike in 2:12:06 about 3 minutes under goal pace.

My plan for the run was to start conservative and then finish strong.  I knew it was going to be a tough run course and thought a lot of people would be blowing up on the second of two loops.  By starting conservative I hoped to be chasing those unfortunate souls down.  The goal was to run sub 1:20.  Well lets just say by mile one I was adjusting that goal from 1:20 to 1:30.  Straight away on the run I was having problems with cramping and by mile 3 my entire quad had locked up!  Just as I was grabbing my quad and groining in pain the medical truck drives up and asks if I need a lift?  My answer was, “Hell No” and I forced myself to get back to running.  I had to put aside my pride and desire to run people down and just focus on putting one foot in front of the other.  I did manage to negative split my run although I was about a minute per mile off goal pace finishing with a 1:29:28.

Overall I’m pleased with my race.  It was the first race of the season and I PR’d my 70.3 time finishing with a 4:13:29 and finished as the 26^th Male Pro.  I learned a ton, know what I need to work on, and am hungry for my next race.  I’ve set the next challenge and have adjusted my plan to achieve it.  Galveston 70.3 coming up on April 7^th and I need to get my run put together!

Post race I got to kick back, relax, and enjoy some great Puerto Rican culture.  I’ve got to thank my travel companions Robbie Wade and Carlos Miranda for putting up with me for 4 days.  They both had outstanding races and are on their way to triathlon glory this year!

Thanks for reading and keep Tri-ing!

Wes Anderson