Racing with the ‘Fast Guys’

I’ve had one prevailing thought in my head since 12:20 (shortly after my first professional transition). And I’m hoping that writing this will somehow therapeutically free my thoughts. First of all, I had a fantastic time in my debut as a professional triathlete. The entire race was exhilarating; I had a smile on my face for much of it and loved finally being in the thick of it. The swim couldn’t have been better, Paul Tichelaar went out fast at the beginning and I managed to get on his 6-beat kick, feet. It remained like that for most of the first lap and into the second lap. There were some other swimmers right next to me (Brian Fleischmann and Matt Reed) and we were fighting for the same draft so I went to the third position to alleviate this. And I stayed on those feet for the rest of the swim.

The drafting was awesome; it was much easier than I anticipated. I had enough in me to go for the fastest swim but felt my position was perfect for getting in the leading draft pack and conserving energy for the rest of the race. So I finished at a moderate pace just holding my position right behind the leader.

I was out of the water in a flash in 3rd position and running to my bike, I reached behind to grab the string and unzip my wetsuit. No string; reached again, no string; I circumnavigated my entire back with out finding it. I focused on finding that string for what seemed like eternity, still no string. I was now starting to lose precious seconds on my competitors. If only I could have seen the debacle taking place behind me I probably would have laughed as the string danced around my grasping fingers. I slowed down hoping to at least let the string fall straight and true. At last, I had the elusive string in my hand. I pulled, but it did not want to unzip, by now I had reached T1 and swimmers I was with and ahead were on there way out. For a micro-second I thought I might not be able to race, I couldn’t continue in my wetsuit!? I was angry; that’s when I gave a forceful tug on the string, half wanting the suit to rip apart. Ahhhhhh, it came undone. But the damage had been done. Those precious 20 seconds were more than enough for the first draft pack to form and surge ahead.

In hind sight, part of my problem is picking total strangers at every race to zip me up. They all do it differently. This guy put my string under the pull over Velcro. And it’s my fault for not checking it until I was under the pressure of a race situation. My pull over Velcro is torn so I thought I had un-done it, when it was actually the torn flap. This made it all the more difficult for me to find the darn thing. When I was angry enough to tear off the suit into a thousand pieces, my forceful tug undid the Velcro and my race resumed in earnest.

Luckily there were 3 other good swimmers who were just off the pace of the lead group. These were to be my team-mates for the remainder of the 6 lap bike course. Through-out the first two laps we were agonizing close to the lead group. After the second lap someone shouted out that we were only 18 seconds back. Alas, the gap was not to be bridged. The 4 of us could not catch the leading group of 8 riders. I knew that if I had made that first pack my ride would have been easier and faster, leaving me with more energy for the run. I was thinking about this way too much during the race, (and ever since), and had to scold myself to forget about it!

The other three riders I was with were Branden Rikita, Nenad Rodic, and Todd Menzel. Branden, Nenad and I did most of the pulling. Being in the draft was always a quick recovery before trying to take a pull. We worked OK as a team; I think my lack of experience in a pack contributed to our lack of efficiency. But I tried and learned much from the experience. There was never a worry about getting dropped, even after sprinting a few times in an attempt to catch the lead group.

Near the end of the final lap TJ Tollakson and Andrew Starykowicz bridged from the 3rd chase pack up to us. At the end of the bike I went near the front of our group but wasn’t as aggressive as I should have been to be the first one into the transition. TJ was right in front of me with Andrew in front of him and Branden in the lead. The first lap felt pretty good and I stayed close to Andrew while the other two were getting further ahead. Manny Huerta came flying by around mile 1. He zipped by like I was standing still, I was amazed at his speed. He went on to run a 2nd best 30:28 for the 10K!

By the start of the second lap, I slowed considerably. Much of the next lap felt like a painfully slow training run. I think a GU and more fluids on the bike would have helped me to a stronger finish, especially because the swim and bike did not max me out.

Out of the 27 pros that started I finished in 13th. I learned a ton and look forward to less unknowns in my next race, allowing for more strategizing. At least I have one pro race under my belt, now, I have 5 months to improve and ready myself for the next race.

Treasure Island Triathlon 2005 Results

Inside Triathlon

San Francisco, Calif. - Matt Reed of the United States set a race record and successfully defended his 2004 title, and Great Britain’s Leanda Cave broke away from Californian Becky Lavelle on the run to take the wins at the Treasure Island olympic-distance triathlon Saturday, Nov. 5 in San Francisco.

Back in the early-season form that led him as high as second in the ITU World Cup rankings, Reed blew away from an eight-man pack after the bike with a race-best run to top a strong field at Treasure Island, TriCalifornia’s finale to the 2005 season.

Reed’s record 1:51:20 finish on the olympic-distance course was 36 seconds in front of runner-up Paul Tichelaar of Canada and 1:30 ahead of third place Brian Fleischman of the United States.

Reed blazed through the early ITU World Cup season with a 5th at Honolulu, a 2nd at Mazatlan, a 6th at Ishigaki, and a 3rd at Edmonton, then took a 3rd at U.S. Nationals in Bellingham. On Treasure Island, the venue that was part of San Francisco’s bid for the 2012 Olympics, Reed emerged from the water sixth with a 19:56 swim. He rode just under an hour in a group with Ticherlaar, Fleischmann, Timothy O’Donnell, James Loaring, and Brian Lavelle, then blazed out of transition and never looked back on the just-shorter-than 10k run.

Reed’s 30:10 run left all chasers in his dust and marked him as a favorite going into the final ITU World Cup of the season in New Plymouth, New Zealand, next weekend. Reed stands 7th in World Cup standings, just ahead of fellow American Victor Plata and well behind series leader Hunter Kemper.

Cave, who has gradually returned to the form that brought her an upset win at the 2002 ITU World Championship, emerged from the water even with Becky Lavelle in 20:45. The two then excused themselves from the rest of an excellent field on the bike. Their 65-minute ride was 98 seconds faster than the closest pursuers, Samantha McGlone and Carolyn Murray of Canada, and nearly three and a half minutes faster than a chase pack that included Canadians Carol Montgomery, Lauren Groves, and up-and-coming U.S. competitor Sarah Groff.

Cave then put the hammer down with a 34:19 run that put 44 seconds on runner-up Lavelle, enough to hold off the race-best 33:41 run of third place McGlone and the second-best 33:48 run of fourth place Murray. Veteran star Carol Montgomery ran 34:03 to advance to fifth place at the line.

Treasure Island Triathlon. San Francisco, California. November 6, 2005.
S 1.5km/B 40km/R 10km

Overall Results, Women:

Overall Results, Men:

Friday Preparation

I woke up early to go for a 15 minute run. The day promised to be a busy one, as we had a lot of prep work to do in order to be ready come race day. I just ran out at a leisure pace for about 8 minutes down Embarcadero before turning around and going a bit harder. I tried out my new size 10 shoes ( I have always ran in 10.5 of the same brand) and found myself liking the fit better.

After some stretching, leg shaving, and a shower the hunger pangs were growing. Greg recommended Mamma’s as a great breakfast spot, but warned that the wait could be endless. We figured that Friday might not be too bad, so we headed over to Washington Square and were delighted to only have a 20 minute wait. Had we been there a couple minutes later the wait would have been much longer as a large group of people from England showed up right after us.

The Farmers Omelet (leeks, goat cheese, bacon, onions) I ordered, was delicious and the place had a superb atmosphere.

Upon returning to the Lombard apartment Hortense and I dedicated our efforts to getting our bikes put together and in racing order. While we we working on the bikes the Wild Parrots of Telegraph hill flew by. 10 to 15 flew by squawking like three to four-hundred. They are talkative, colorful birds. We could hear their distinct squawking often the rest of our time in the apartment; it created a tropical island feel for me. I tried several times after that to get a good photo of them but my camera did not have the zoom abilities needed. The Wild Parrots of San Francisco were quite a site but it’s the sound that left an imprint on me that I hope to hear again.

After getting our bikes ready I had time for a short nap before we headed to Treasure Island to scout the course and pick up our packets as well as attend the mandatory Pro meeting at 5:00. We arrived around 3 o’clock which is a good thing because any later and the traffic would have been horrendous. Hortense and I did two and a half laps of the tricky bike course. The road was rough and there were many turns. Some of the pot holes would seem to cause severe damage if they were not avoided. The eyes would have to be alert come race day. We ended up riding about 10 miles and I only did one hard effort for about 30 seconds. Just enough to get the blood flowing.

The meeting took quite a while and I was freezing the whole time. The hanger was chilly and I was still sweaty and only wearing shorts, no socks, and my bike jacket. By the time it was over it was dark and I was getting tired. On our way off the island we had to take a shot of San Francisco with the Moon sliver hovering above. The scene was epic and my rushed photo didn’t do it justice.

Alas, the night was still young. Guillaume arrived a short while after we returned to the apartment. Hortie and I loaded up our gear into manageable bags and talked about where and what to eat for dinner. We ended up on the south side of town near 18th street, I think, and ate at an Italian place. I had some broccoli fettuccini with way to many olives in it. Apart from that, it was OK. They messed up my wife’s order so I was done by the time hers arrived. They did order us some free dessert to compensate. The crème bole was delicious.

The dinner was long and it was late by the time we were back at the apartment. We were both sound asleep within minutes of getting back.

Thursday Travel day (Treasure Island Triathlon)

It has been non stop rushing since packing for the trip last night. Work has been crazy due to my responsibility for changing a division’s Price Maintenance run times. Usually, I love doing this work that is detailed and important, but today I am distracted and have little time to make the changes. The plane leaves at 2:25, so I’m making these changes and leaving town…not the best situation for work. My head is firing off too many signals, multi-tasking all day and flustering from one thought to the next. There are so many unknowns for the weekend, coupled with excitement and this constant rush to get this done and that done.

We rush to the airport and encounter Sally the un-friendly ticket handler. She was of the mindset that customers were the enemy. Although we had little time to make the plane, Hortense and I were friendly and in a good mood, we were on our way to San Francisco for the weekend! This lady did everything in her power to de-rail us. She was appalled, I think, that we would trouble her by taking our bikes with us. She was determined to make this as difficult as possible, letting us know of her disapproval many times. Her persistence was mind numbing but neither I, nor Hortie, stooped to her level. We simply wanted to check our bike box in like we had done numerous times before. The bike box weighted 70.0 lbs (which we later found out is the correct weight limit) but Sally said it was not to be over 50 lbs. and charged us and extra $25 dollars. We were almost happy to pay this in hopes that her prosecution would end.

We hurried to the plane to board, the last ones, and crossed our fingers that our luggage would make the trip with us. And moments before we taxied, our cargo was loaded.

AHHHHHH! At last, some tranquility.

Lets go to San Francisco!

One of the unknowns I referred to earlier was if Rob’s car could fit Hortense, me, the double bike box, Hortense’s suit case, my suit case, and both of our carry ons?? His two door Acura Integra certainly was going to be a tight fit. Luckily Rob had a bungee cord to hold down the partially opened 5th door. Hortense and I then snuggled in the front seat, it was a very tight fit, but we thank Rob for picking us up and making it work.

We arrived at our destination on 101 Lombard. We were excited to see this awesome apartment that was to be our place for the next 4 days. Hortense and I can not thank Greg and Shannon enough for allowing us to stay in their apartment. It was such a relief to have this calm and spacious place to prepare for our race on Saturday (Our last race in Pacific Grove, was spent sleeping and living out of the car for 3 days.). The peace of mind, the money saved, and scenic view went a long way to making this an outstanding weekend. What a great location! And it couldn’t have been any better for our triathlon as the view was directly towards Treasure Island. Thanks Greg and Shannon, your generosity worked out for some fast times in both of our triathlons, not to mention a fantastic weekend in town.

Swim 2000 in 40 minutes

The last swim before jumping in the San Francisco Bay on Saturday. I have been swimming hard in every workout for the past couple weeks so I didn’t want to over do it today. I basically did what would be optimal for a race warm-up and then warmed down. I felt fast and the stroke feels efficient.

Bike 10 miles in 35 minutes — Run 3.5 miles in 25 minutes

The sun was racing for the horizon and I needed to get a ride in. Not wanting to change up my training, I was opposed to riding the trainer or stationary bike. So I improvised by doing figure 8’s between 17th and 18th street. The traffic was at a minimum in the north end so this felt safer. If I turned right and then left on the correct cross streets I could go the whole way, legally, without having to stop. It was fun and good practice for my cornering ability. I may need to establish some personal course records for later reference. It was too dark to go top speeds. I did this for a total of 35 minutes.

By now the sun was shinning directly over Australia, leaving the Pacific Northwest in darkness. Thinking along the same lines as before, not wanting to change up my training a few days before my race, I was forced to run outside in the dark. So I drove to Camel’s Back park and ran on the trails between there and the utility road. Luckily, I had no sprained ankles and was able to get a moderate run in.