Race Report Rev3 Knoxville Olympic: The Race of Three’s

Well, my first race of 2012 is in the books and it was a huge success!  In case you couldn’t tell from the title, it was the Rev3 Olympic in Knoxville.  The following are 2 versions of my race report: the short and long version, which you can choose depending on how much time you have….Enjoy!

Short Version:  I finished 3^rd Amateur Overall.  1^st in M30-34.  Short enough?

Long Version:

I had done this race the past 2 years, but since it was part of my Ironman build for Coeur d’Alene, I raced the half both times, but never the short-course Olympic.  Actually, this was the first Olympic event I truly raced since 2009.  With a focus on an early-summer Ironman and qualifying for Kona in 2010 and 2011, I was completely focused on long-course training and racing from the start of the season.  However, with my plan to race Ironman Louisville (late-August) this year, I have the flexibility to race other early-season events.  So about 8 weeks ago, I discussed with my Coach, Bonnie Karas from Fraser Bicycle, which race I should do, the half or Olympic?  We agreed the it would be interesting and fun to see how I would perform on the shorter distance.  With that in mind, my goal wasn’t only to race the distance, but my goal was to place on the Amateur Podium:  Top-3 Overall.  Period.  Based on my fitness this year and looking at past results, it was a realistic, stretch goal.  With that goal in mind, we tweaked my training plan from the standard Ironman base building to include more race specific intensity.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:  there is nothing easy about racing an Olympic; the training hurts!

Fast forward to the race weekend, I drove from Detroit to Knoxville on Friday, May 4.  Fairly uneventful, but when we went out to dinner in Market Square it was completely packed with people.  Apparently the first Friday of every month the City has an outdoor concert/festival/party in Market Square.   Definitely something to keep in mind if you ever decide to visit.  It looked like a great time.  Saturday was also fairly uneventful, which is a good thing on race weekend.  Pretty much it was final inspection of gear, easy ride and run and a practice swim in the river.  The practice swim was nice since this was my first open water swim of 2012 and the wetsuit always feels tighter than normal during the first few minutes.  The interesting part came when I went to pick up my number.  I was 333.  This got me thinking, was this some type sign of things to come?  I mean this was my 3^rd race in Knoxville, my name has a “third” attached to the end, my son is 3 years old, and I was aiming for a top-3 overall.  Seemed like there was a theme here…

Race Day:

As usual, up early to go through my standard pre-race routine.  Even though it has been over 6 months since my last race, I was able to progress from one activity to another without skipping a beat.  Before I knew it, everything was ready and I was right on schedule: done by 6:45 and I had about an hour until my wave start at 7:50.  After my run, we headed down to the start area, where I continued getting ready for the swim.  Since this is an in-water start, there is no swim warm-up allowed, so any swim warm-up is done before getting in the water.  I was able, to find a place out of the way and hooked up my swim cords, which resulted in more than a few odd looks in my direction!  Oh well, they worked and I was ready to go.  With about 20 minutes before start, I took my Biest-Booster, and with 10 minutes to go I took my gel.  On with the wetsuit and now time to get in the water.  It’s go time!

Swim:

With no real swim warm-up, I made it a point to get in as soon as possible, which was about 5 minutes before the gun went off.  At least I was able to get used to the water and had a few short swim bursts.  While I was swimming, I missed out on the front row at the start line, and ended up about 5-6 feet behind the line about the 3^rd row back.  Finally, the countdown and the horn sounded!  We were off!  It was the usual bumps and knocks for the first couple of minutes, but after that I was able to get into a good rhythm.   I found what seemed to be a good set of feet to follow and settled into a steady pace, which allowed me to focus on my keeping good form.   The swim is a river swim, that is about 1/3 upstream, where we turn-around and head downstream to the swim exit.  There is virtually no current, and the water is flat; absolutely no waves or chop at all and typical of river swims, the visibility was about 6” (I couldn’t see my hand at all during the swim).  About halfway through the swim, I decided the feet I was following were not moving fast enough, so I decided to pull out and go for it.  By this point, I was feeling good and kept the same RPE through to the finish.  The swim exit here is a bit different.  We swim up to the floating dock and heave ourselves out of the water, and being in our black wetsuits, I felt a penguin trying to land on an iceberg….hoping that we launch ourselves enough out of the water so we don’t fall back in!  This has to be pretty entertaining to the spectators.  As I ran up the dock I glanced at my watch and saw 21:18 (1:28/100m avg)!  Based on my training, my target was 23:00, so seeing this was awesome; I was ahead of plan, but with no time to waste, it was on to T1.  My placing at this point was 26^th overall.

T1:  They move this about ¼ mile further down the road than last year.  I figured it would add about 2 minutes to my T1 time and I was close.  I was in and out on the bike in 3:51, not great, but good enough to pick up 1 more position, I was now 25^th. 

Bike:

After racing here the past 2 years, I knew what to expect on the bike.  Plenty of climbs, descents and curves with a few technical portions and speed in excess of 40 mph.  So in other words, it’s not really a course where you just settle into a pace and ride.  On the flip side, it is a fun course that is honest; not overly challenging, but not easy either.  Going into the race, I estimated that if I average about 0.90 Intensity Factor (IF), my time would be about 1:00 – 1:02.  So that was my plan.  Based on some key race simulations, this puts me right in the “standard” Olympic pacing range and still have a strong run after.  In general, the bike went as expected.  I worked my way through the earlier waves of Half-Iron Distance competitors and at the same time passed a few in my race as well.  From mile 10 until about 18, I had a nice battle with another rider swapping positions every couple of minutes.  We were pretty even on the flats, but I was faster on the descents and he would pass back on the climbs.   On the little out and back around mile 13, I was finally able to get an idea on my overall position.  Counting the riders heading back, I figured I was in 6^th place at this point, with about 10 miles to go.  The good news is that I was climbing the overall rankings, but I still had a ways to go get on the podium.  Since every position counts, I knew I had to drop the rider I was swapping positions with.  I couldn’t let him get away and wanted to beat him into T2.  Even if we had the same time, I at least wanted the psychological advantage of being back first.

Finally on the last major climb and technical descent I was able to get a gap and pull away.   For the rest of the ride I kept the hammer down and passed what seemed to be another unlucky rider with a flat about ½ mile from the finish.   I was back into T2 after a ride of 1:01:08 (23.55 mph avg) and move up to 4^th Overall, 2^nd in M30-34.

During the race I paced myself to what seemed to be the correct effort for the distance, but in the end my average power was about 0.85 IF.  This gave me a bike split of 1:01:08, which was right where I thought I would be and it was the 3^rd fastest amateur bike split (I missed the fastest bike split by 6 seconds….damn, I was close!)  Based on my training I think I should have been able to ride at a slightly higher power, but the effort seemed correct.  I think pacing off RPE is better than trying to hold a certain power number, since it gives better chance of a strong run when you listen to your body.  Something to look into for next time.

My nutrition plan for the bike was pretty simple.  1 bottle (2 scoops) of First Endurance EFS, plus 1 serving of gel.  In my water bottle, I also added ½ scoop of First Endurance Pre-Race.  Man, this stuff really is rocket fuel.  This was about 300 cal/hr, which was enough to keep me fueled, but not enough to overload my system at the high intensity.  To keep things simple, I only carried this 1 bottle on my bike….between my extensions, of course!

T2:  I flew into T2 and again move quickly and efficiently.  I slipped on my K-Swiss K-Ruuz 1.5 with speed laces (no socks), grabbed my number belt and visor and headed out on the run.  In and out in 1:11, still in 4^th overall.

Run:

As I left T2, I heard the other riders entering Transition, so I knew I needed to find my running legs pretty quick.  Normally, the first mile always feels a little bit off, both in terms of pace and form.  Today was not that different.  I went out at my target pace for the first 3 miles (goal was sub-6:00 min/mile), and while I was holding sub-6:00 (first mile was 5:56) my form definitely felt a little clunky….but I knew I had no choice; I had to keep pushing.  As expected, my running legs came around about 7-8 minutes into the run.  Now I was still pushing the pace, but my form felt a lot better and running felt more natural.  By this point I couldn’t see anyone in front of me or behind me.  Knowing there were at least a few racers ahead of me, I knew I needed to keep pushing.  At this point, I slowly saw my speed increase:  mile 2 was 5:50.  Somewhere between mile 2 and 3, I knew the turnaround was getting close and it was time to finally check my position.  First I saw 1 runner, then another, then another.  Damn I was 4^th and getting close to the halfway point of the run.  Surprisingly, as I rounded the next corner, there it was!  The Turnaround!  At this point I figured I was about 40 seconds back from 3^rd place with about 3.5 miles to go.  My first reaction was to put my head down and charge full speed ahead.  After a minute or 2, the thoughts started to creep in to be content with my position, 4^th is still a good race, etc.   But I knew I wanted that podium, and I would be disappointed in myself if I didn’t give a full effort.  I didn’t know if I would catch him or not, but I knew I need to keep the pressure on.  The good news is that I continued to see my times fall: Mile 3 was 5:41 and Mile 4 was my fastest yet, at a 5:36, but I couldn’t tell if I was catching 3^rd place or not. 

The run at this point is in a wooded, meandering path, and you couldn’t see more than a few hundred yards at any given time.   Finally, I reached the end of the path and we were back on the main road that parallels the river.  As the road came into view, there he was!  I was getting close.  I was still about 25 seconds back, but at least I could see I was making progress.  We passed the aid station around mile 5, and he still had a 20 second lead.  I knew this was going to be close, and with the few small inclines (they were not really hills, but the rise and fall of the road), my pace had dropped to 5:48 for mile 5. 

The last ½ mile of the course is a climb to the finish, and just before that, the course enters a sidewalk with a couple of switchbacks to enter a tunnel to cross under the road.  I knew I didn’t want to get into a sprint finish on the uphill, and all the turns in the switch back would be hard to make up any time.  So this was it.  I had to do something within the next 0.75 miles, and I was catching him.  At this point, I had no idea on my pace, and I really didn’t care.  I knew what I needed to do, and it was right there!  As I closed in on him, I knew I wanted the pass to stick, so I paused for a few strides to recover (very slightly!) and then charged past as fast as I could.  As I passed I didn’t even look over; I kept looking forward and just ran.  After about ¼ mile I turned around, and he had dropped back about 10-15 seconds.  From this point forward, I kept the pace up and charged up to the finish.  Finally halfway up the hill to the finish, I turned around and no one was in sight.  At this point, I knew I could was going to do this!  I started to get excited, but still kept the pace on and finished my last mile in 5:42.  As I crested the hill, I could finally see the finish, and there was my family cheering me on!  I ran down the finish chute and finally I was done!  After the finish line I finally looked at my watch and saw I ran a 35:31 for the 10k run (5:44 min/mile avg), which is my fastest 10k ever, and a total time of 2:03:00!  At this point I knew I was third over the line, but the race wasn’t over yet.

Now came the waiting game.  While I was 3^rd over the line, there was a second wave, so it wasn’t until about hour later that I finally knew if I reached my goal of finishing on the podium.  During what seemed to take an eternity, the results were finally posted, and there it was: confirmation I finished 3^rd!   What a race!  I am extremely happy with the result, not only because of my placing, but also because I know I raced at my full effort.  Regardless of my position, I know I raced the best possible race and that’s what really counts to me. 

I also need to thank those that have supported me in helping me achieve my goals.  As always, the support and help of my wife and son are essential in everything I do.  All the people at Fraser Bicycle, especially Coach Bonnie Karas for providing the plan to get me “Olympic race ready” in 8 weeks, Ron Schmid for getting my bike ready after a long winter and Paul Rogers for his continued support.   Also, my partners, First Endurance for the producing the best in nutrition products, K-Swiss, SLS3 and H20 Audio for making the long swims much more enjoyable!

This race is definitely a thumb's up!

Now it’s time to recover and figure out what’s next.  My next race is tentatively planned for the Motor City Triathlon in Detroit on June 17.  On a side note, the Rev3 Olympic in Knoxville is a USAT Elite qualifier, and by finishing in the Top 3 Amateur, I am now eligible for a USAT Elite racing license.  So I need to do some thinking if I want to take that step and if so, when does it make sense…. Stay Tuned

It's Almost Here!

Finally!  Race week is almost here!  It’s hard to believe it’s already been about 7 month since Kona, and it’s time to get back to racing again.  The time since Kona was first spent taking a much-needed recovery from a long 2011 season, and then it was back to building my base for 2012.  All was going to plan, and then about 2 months ago, I started talking with Coach Bonnie from Fraser Bicycle about what would be a good first race of the season.  I really like the Rev3 Knoxville in early May…but the question was which race:  the Olympic or the Half-IM?  My last 2 seasons were based around a relatively early-season Ironman in Coeur d’Alene, which required the key preparation phase from mid-March through June.  As part of this build-up I raced the Rev3 Knoxville Half as a key milestone indicator.  This year is different.  I am giving Ironman another more shot, but this year, it is late in August at Ironman Louisville.  With that in mind, my early season fitness is at a different point than it has been the past 2 years.  Also, the added benefit of a late season IM, is that I can race something shorter than a Half or Full, which would be a nice change.  So based on these 2 main factors, the Olympic it is!

Over the past 2 months, we changed the focus of my training from long-course to short-course.  The first thing I have to say is that there is nothing easy about short-course!  Overall training time is slightly less than my long-course training plan, but the reduction of long bike and run was made up with intensity.  Physically, I seemed less fatigued and tired overall, but mentally it meant that you needed to be a ready hit the correct intensity….not all the time, but when the plan called for it.  More so than in IM training, it was essential make the hard days hard and the easy ones easy.

So here I am just over 1 week from race day, and everything is coming together nicely.  Based on my training, I know the changes in my training approach have had the desired effect.  I have supplemented my base endurance with the added speed required for short-course racing, but the question is by how much?  I am not sure; that will be defined on race day.  But until then, I know I am prepared physically and mentally and all that’s left is the final preparations and count the days until race day….which is right where I wanted to be in 1 week out from race day!

Spring has Arrived!

What amazing weather we have here in southeastern Michigan over the past week or 2!  After a few years of some of the longest, coldest and snowiest winters I can remember, we have gotten lucky with an early spring here, and I’ve been loving every minute of it!  In stark contrast to past years, I can’t remember the last time we had this many days above 70F in March.  It is awesome, and it could not have come at a better time.  This is usually the time of year where all those hours of indoor training start to wear on me.  Quite simply, it’s just too many trainer and treadmill hours.  Call it “the pain cave”, “training dungeon” or whatever else you want, there is nothing that compares to a ride or run in the great outdoors.  The fresh air, the animals and the scenery is what makes training fun.  Because, yes this is supposed ot be fun.  While I continue to stay on the trainer year round for mid-week rides, those outside rides on the weekends are essential for my sanity….and what else is there to say about running outside; it’s just awesome!

While this is a great mental break, the warm weather usually gives me a reminder (and a swift kick in the pants) to make sure everything is ready for the first race of the season.  Now is when I start to count down the weeks to my first race (really, it’s only 6 weeks away?), review where my training is at, and start to realize it’s time to take care of all those little things I haven’t thought about until now…primarily race logistics (are all the hotels really sold out?) and my swim, bike and run race equipment. 

My 2-cents of advice is that it seems everyone goes a similar thought process, so now is the time to order whatever supplies you need before they are sold out.  It seems that after this initial rush March-April, stocks are replenished in a month or 2, so if it’s something that you must have for your first race, and you have less than 2 months to go…now is the time get it, especially if it is a new or hard to get item.  If you wait, it might be too late.

With that said, enjoy the great weather, have fun and be safe out there!

Tech Tip: Swapping Shiv Extensions

Disclaimer:  The following is a procedure that I followed to swap the stock Specialized Shiv extensions with a different brand.  While this has worked perfectly for me over the past year, I make no guarantee of the structural integrity of this modification.  Basically, this is for informational purposes only, so perform at your own risk.

So with that out of the way, lets get started…..

Last year in early 2011, when I first took delivery of my Shiv, I loved it, except the shape of the extensions.  I am not a fan of the straight s-bend extensions, especially for Ironman racing.  The approach to my bike set-up is I first must be comfortable, because if I’m not comfortable I will not perform my best.  So I set out to make the one change I needed to perfect my bike before my first big race of the year.

My last bike had Zipp Vuka extensions, which I really liked, so my first thought was to use those same extensions.  After some investigating, I found pretty much any aftermarket extensions will work…..except Zipp (due to their non-standard diameter), so I decided to go with a set of Hed Lazy-S bend extensions.  Once I had the parts here is what I did:

Step 1:  Remove the existing extensions:

The first step is to heat the extensions to soften the resin and remove them from the aluminum mounting brackets.  To do this, I first installed an old bolt into the mounting holes so I could grab on with pliers, and then placed them in the oven at 350F for about 12-15 minutes.  When I pulled them out I was amazed at how easily the carbon extension delaminated and fell apart.  It quickly disintegrated in my hand, and was completely unusable.  So be sure you want to do this before you start because once you place them in the oven, you are already at the point of no return.  Also, it still took a fair amount of force to remove the extensions; they don’t “just slide off”.  I only heated one extension at a time, so repeat the process with both extensions.

Step 2:  Prep the brackets:

The mounting brackets will still have some resin residue left on them, so we need to remove that down to bare metal to ensure good adhesion.  So with a combination of sand paper and a Dremel tool with the little wire wheel installed, I removed all the remaining resin. 

Oh yeah, it’s probably a good idea to wear a dust mask for this step, I figure it’s not good to breath the fine dust being sanded off.  Once they were clean, I went over them with the sand paper one more time at a 45-degree angle in both directions to create a cross hatch pattern.  This was a trick from my go-kart racing days to prep the surface.  I’m not sure if it helps, but I figured it couldn’t hurt.

Step 3:  Prep the extensions:

Now get your extensions how you want them.  You only have 1 chance to epoxy them on, so you must make sure they are perfect after this step.  Shorten them, adjust them, twist them, create and internal cable routing hole (I had to do this with the Heds), whatever you want, just make sure they are perfect before you get the epoxy out.  The epoxy sets up in about 5-minutes, so you have to move quick once you start to apply it, so make sure you are ready.  I also found the interior surface of the extensions were not smooth and had some resin build-up which prevented them from sliding completely onto the mounts.  To address this, I had to sand the inside of the extensions so they would slide all the way up the mounting brackets.

Once I was sure everything lined up correctly and was perfect (for me), I mixed up the JB Weld epoxy (a standard 2-part epoxy), and slathered it all over both the mounts and inside the extensions.  Then I slid the extensions on, and repeated for the other side, wiped off any excess and held them in place until the epoxy set-up about 5-10 minutes, then that was it.  Bam.  Done.  I checked them over the course of the next couple of hours to be sure they were still where I wanted them, and they didn’t budge.

After curing for 24 hours, they were good to go.  I wrapped a piece of black electrical tape around the joint, and viola!  New extensions on my Shiv!

Club Fraser: Pedal for a Purpose

While I did not attend, I need to give a shout-out to the great work by the Club Fraser members who participated in the 24-hour charity fundraiser at the Computrainer Cycling lab at Fraser Bicycle, raising over $6,300.00 for various charities.  Great work for some great causes.  I'm not sure if it ended up happening, but I heard of a few members attempting an indoor century....starting at midnight!  That's some serious mental fortitude for a January trainer session!  The event summary, as posted by Club Fraser on their facebook page, is here:

Fraser Bicycle and Club Fraser held their 2nd Annual Pedal for a Purpose Lab-a-Thon to use sweat to raise funds for some very worthy causes. Eight teams of riders rode on various ‘courses’ without even leaving the bike lab! The riders traded off times from noon Saturday January 28th through noon Sunday January 29th with some very generous riders taking the overnight hours to truly make this a 24 hour fundraiser! They were joined by ‘drop-in’ riders who just wanted to spend an hour or two supporting their cause!

In the end, the teams themselves rode for over 2700 miles. That sweat and determination yielded $6363 to help support 11 different charities near and dear to the riders!

During those 24 hours, the teams even battled each other over the miles rode by their members. In the end, the Racing Greyhounds edged out the Yellow Submarine team. But the Yellow Submarine riders get the style points for their green flashing glasses that lit up the basement!!

Racing Greyhounds 465
Yellow Submarine (Bob) 404
Purple Team (Mike & Wayne)388
Team Ben (Trish) 372
Roman Cycling 358
Blue by You (Bonnie) 352
Red Team (Paul) 326
Team Ben 2 67

A special ‘Thank You’ goes to Fraser Bicycle who provided the facilities to help us ‘Pedal for a Purpose’! Extra special thanks goes to Paul Rogers, John Hoopingarner, Trish Marshall and Jedidiah Reich-Challis who stayed during the entire duration to help get riders checked in, bikes on trainers and courses set!

Thanks to everyone who donated toward the FANTASTIC spread of food, gels and beverages to help support the riders and those involved in the planning and support of this event.
The planning has already started for the 3rd annual Pedal for a Purpose!!

SLS3 supports Sea Shepherd's “Stand Up for the Oceans”

While not an original post, I wanted to highlight the recent decision by SLS3 to donate $1.00 for each product sold to the Sea Shepherd.  In today's business climate with companies typically focused on the bottom line and profits, it's always refreshing to see an organization to do what they can to give back. This makes me proud to partner with them again in 2012:


Oceanside, CA – January 26th. SLS3 the leader in compression sportswear just announced its support for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS). $1 of every product that is being sold will be donated to Sea Shepherd. 

Sea Shepherd is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization which uses direct action tactics to protect sealife.In 2008, Animal Planet began filming the weekly series Whale Wars based on the group's encounters with the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean.
“I watched the show a couple of years ago for the first time and was hooked ever since” says Sebastian Linke, owner of SLS3. “ In addition to building innovative products that reduce environmental impact, we take our social responsibility mission very seriously - We feel honored to be giving back to those who defend what is so precious to us all.”
Visit www.sls3.com to find a retailer near you and learn howYOU can make a difference.
About SLS3: 
SLS3 manufactures sport compression and Triathlon race apparel in the USA. We design and market high quality compression and triathlon race apparel that meet and exceed the needs of our customers. Our products will enhance performance with emphasis on technical design for comfort. Our goal is to produce the best possible products to serve our customers who are looking for comfort and performance. MADE IN U.S.A. is an important part of our apparel line as we have made a commitment to production of our apparel in America. We hire local staff and we purchase our materials from the highest quality vendors available to us. 

About Sea Shepherd: 
Established in 1977, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Their mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world's oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species. The organization has gained recognition through the TV Series “Whale Wars”

Hello Again!

It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 3 months since my last post and my last race in Kona.  After a few weeks away from training to let both my body and mind recover from a long and intense race season, I finally felt the “itch” to start training regularly again in November.  It’s always surprising to me how tough those first few weeks are, to get back into a regular training routine and how quickly all that fitness can decline.  The message always becomes clear:  Consistency is key, especially for long-term performance improvement. 

As the December holiday season rolled in, all the other commitments that go along with that also took their toll in completing every training session.  I know this conflicts what I just wrote, consistency being key, but at the same time the 2012 race season is still very far away so as long as I hit my key sessions for the week, I was okay with skipping or shortening some of the other “base” sessions I had.  With that said by the end of the month, I was feeling happy with where my fitness was in all 3 sports.  I am not at the peak fitness like I was during the season last year, but I feel that I am building a strong base to build on next year as the training picks up.

As good as my training was going and as good as I was feeling, I still hit a minor roadblock on December 23: a back spasm.  What was a simple and easy task to bend over to talk to my 3-year old son in his stroller, I immediately felt a “zing!” up the lower right side of my back.  I didn’t lift him; I just bent at the waist.  That was it and it was locked up.  In the typical “committed” triathlete approach, it was sore, but not tight enough to stop me from swimming, biking or running for the next few days.  So I kept training.  It wasn’t until about a week later, when I woke up and could barely stand up that I finally realized this was more than just a minor inconvenience. 

The next thing I did was go to my local chiropractor for an analysis.  The good news was that it is not my back itself, but the connections from my pelvis to lower back.  When it happened, those connections had locked up causing my pelvis to rotate forward, pulled my right leg up and twist it forward.  Again, hard to believe all this happened just by bending over.  It’s amazing to me that as strong as we may think our bodies are, they are still relatively fragile and always need to be taken care of.  After an initial adjustment, then a follow-up adjustment and massage, I am now getting back on track.  I spent that past few days testing my back to normal, but light, training.  So far, so good….

Besides that, I have lots of exciting news for 2012!  Stay tuned for updates!  Happy New Year!