This was my second year racing Evergreen Lake triathlon. Last year I finished 4^th, passed by Jennifer Garrison in the final mile of the run putting me just outside a cash award. This year I was determined to stay with the leaders throughout the duration of the race.

 My older brother Gavin (if you can’t tell by now we do most races together) and I camped along with a few friends. I was the last to arrive to the open camping area provided at Comlara County Park. After making some final adjustments on my bike I checked it into transition and set up my tent. We went to bed early to get a good night’s sleep. Camping adjacent to transition has it’s benefits, we were able to literally roll out of bed as we heard other athletes arriving, allowing us to sleep in until 5:30 am, a late wake up call compared to most race mornings.

 We’ve had a warm summer this year to say the least, today was no different. The water was a sweltering 84 degrees, therefore no wetsuits were legal. After forgetting to pack my speedsuit last weekend, I made sure to bring it along this time. My first opportunity (and probably the last) to use my Aqua sphere speedsuit.   

 Evergreen Lake Olympic Triathlon is the Best of the US qualifier for Illinois amateurs as well as the Midwest Collegiate Regional Championships. Between the two championship races taking place the field was stacked with talent.

 The elite wave included both male and female athletes. Remembering a rough start last year getting pummeled by guys, I attempted to get out in front right away. As the start gun went off the lead pack of men, lead by Gavin separated from the field. I stuck with the 2^nd pack of men for the first 400 yards. At the first turn buoy I was able to drop the majority of the pack with a few stragglers staying with me. Because of the sighting issues I’ve been having this season I tried using anti-fog spray in my goggles. This seemed to work, usually about mid-way into the swim my goggles start to fog up and I lose most of my vision. Not this time, I could still see clearly coming around the far buoys. The leaders must have swum wide outside the course and most of the guys followed them. Since I could still see, I continued on track swimming straight from buoy to buoy. This is an absolute first for me.

As I came into the home stretch I noticed to my left another swimmer with a decent stroke. We raced into the swim finish, I came out of the water slightly ahead, as I struggled with the zipper on my speed suit I noticed it was Nicole Voelkel. She crossed the timing mat first.

 

Swim:   21:59

 As I hopped on my bike there was a guy struggling to get his shoes on while riding on the far left side. After yelling on your left; count it 4 times, I went around and passed him on his right. Later I found out that he received a blocking penalty and I received a penalty for passing on the right.

At mile 2 I passed a collegiate woman, Michelle Mehnert. At this point I was under the impression that Jennifer Garrison was still out ahead of me. Nicole crept up on me around mile 5 of the bike, but I was able to pull ahead again. A man passed telling me I was 45 seconds ahead, I assumed he meant Nicole was 45 seconds back, but at mile 13 to my surprise it was Jenny Garrison who had been behind me. We went back and forth a few times. I dug deep in my legs and did my best to pull out in front again, I was successful and she did not follow this time. I continued to hammer through the remainder of the course knowing I was now the leading female.

 Bike: 1:07.10 (42k)

 Heading out on the run, I was able to see Jenny come into transition. I knew I had about a minute on her now. If I could have a solid run I could stay ahead. My shins weren’t feeling too bad, although I still hadn’t been running outside of races.

 I ran out with a training partner of mine, Matt Thibodeau, he quickly took off ahead of me after the first mile. The run course was through corn fields in central, IL. There was no opportunity for shade or a breeze, just the sun beating down on us. The run course did offer two 180 degree turns allowing you to catch a glimpse at your position. At each turn I was able to pull a little farther ahead. I also saw many familiar faces from my training groups and racing in the men’s elite race. As I came down the home stretch I saw my family and friends cheering me on.

 

Run:  43:38

Triathlon Time: 2:12.10 (+2 min penalty)

  

overall winners

This was my first time finishing before Jennifer Garrison, although it was not her best day racing that is still a huge accomplishment for me. While eating lunch after the race, Gavin and I sat chatting with the pro athletes. I was able to discuss going pro next year with Bryan Roads, Andy Starykowicz, and Jenny Garrison. I gained some helpful insight into my decision.

 I acquired my first penalty as discussed above for passing on the right. Luckily I won by over 2 minutes, therefore it did not skew the results or cash awards distributed. I have discussed the call with numerous officials since Evergreen tri, all of which disagree with the call to both athletes (should have just been one). I will take it as a learning experience.

---

Here is some crude video from our experience at Ironman Canada this year.  I will write up a real “race report” soon.  Thanks to all the support from our Timex cree and teammates!

---

When I was back in the business world – working 55-65 hours per week, traveling most weeks, and still doing triathlon – I would tell my oldest son (now 31): “you can do it all.”  Well, since my transition from crazy Type-A on steroids to a more relaxed, less stressed life of pursuing my passion, that “drive” to do it all has subsided a bit … until this weekend.

I raced the Utah Half (a half-ironman race) in Provo on Saturday morning, and immediately left, drove 7.5 hours to Denver, and caught the last 1.5 hours of the Green Day concert  Jodee and I were so looking forward to.  A classic 21 hour day!

The race went great.  Becasue I left so quickly, I did not know until Sunday afternoon that I actually won my age group (thanks to my Timex teammate, Trista Francis!).  This was my third race in 3 weeks, and all have been solid performances.  The 5:51 Pearl St. Mile was big.  A 1:35 half-marathon on trail last weekend, following a big bike the day before was big (and good enough for 3rd); but, Saturday’s “victory” is really big for me mentally.

I really focused on racing – concentrating, not waving to people, not thanking every single volunteer out there (though, I still did a lot of that), and staying focused.  This is why I chose a smaller, non-Boulder area race, where no one would know me.  It worked.  After an “OK” swim (the course was notably long, per the swim director, and clear by the times; plus a very long run to the TA and timing mat), my bike (2:39) and run (1:48) were solid.  I was comfortable throughout, hydrated and fueled well (thanks PowerBar), and my equipment was excellent.  My Orbea Ordu gave its usual awesome performance; but, the best surprise – equipment wise – were my new K-Swiss Blade-Light Runs.  I have honestly never run in a better fitting, lightweight (especially for my size 13!) shoe that felt fantastic throughout, sockless.

I also used my Timex Global Trainerfor the race – mainly to keep me “honest” on the bike … and it did.  I routinely checked my pace to be sure I was working hard enough; and, a couple of times it, indeed, served to wake me up.  This certainly allowed me to hit my average speed of 21.13 MPH for the 56 miles.  I felt great and ran 7:30’s for the first few miles – easily – but, one bathroom stop, and a wrong turn on the run (my fault) cost me at least 2-3 minutes.  I also had a minor side stitch a few times that caused me to be a bit more conservative.  Overall, great race, though … and a win for this old guy!

The picture here shows some new friends I met the day before and at the race – a wonderful father-son team.  The father successfully did IM St. George this spring, and this was his son’s first half.  He did great.  They loved the Timex Ford Flex … and were “rewarded” for their spirit by getting a couple of cool Timex t-shirts.  Good people!

So, this was Saturday, Part 1 – 4 AM to 1 PM.  Part 2 consisted of an immediate 7.5 hour drive to Denver to meet Jodee (who got their by bus and light rail) to see Green Day in concert.  I got there one hour into the show, but still caught their last 1.5 hours. They are absolutely one of our favorite bands, and the show exceeded our expectations.  Simply amazing!  Even though my legs were screaming, and we stood for the show, it was well worth the pain.  Got home at 12:15 – got to bed at 1 … 21 hours after waking for the half.  Good prep for Ironman!

---

Meanwhile it is 4:39AM and I just got out of bed. Perhaps you could call this dedication to writing blogs, but I prefer to call this insomnia. Waking up and getting out of bed this early does not happen that often to me, actually it is one of the things I prefer to skip on race day… But I guess that getting up early is just part of the deal… This time however is just one of these nights or mornings on which I could not get back to sleep. Perhaps it is the thought of me postponing this blog all the time that got me out of bed… So I will give it a go and see what the early morning brings writing this blog.
As the title suggest I am Dutch. Dutch? Yes, I am Dutch and not German as some think when they hear me speak…. Nothing special to me, but for some… Yes, I am one of those stereotypical Dutch guys from (for as far as I know) the flattest country in the world. I wear clogs, grow Tulips on my balcony, eat cheese all day, have a windmill next to my apartment and a dike is surrounding the apartment building to prevent it from flooding. But of course not! None of this is and will never be true. Well, I must admit that I might eat cheese all day, but that is about it for some days of the month. So, what is it that makes me Dutch then? I happen to have Dutch as my native language, and the last time I checked my passport told me that I am from the Netherlands.  And I am a triathlete and proud member of the Timex Multisport Team!
Of course I want to tell you all about my adventures in training and racing triathlon, but first I want to get something cleared to make me feel more relaxed writing blogs in English. Even though some have already told me that my English is better than their Dutch, I want to get this in this blog. So far I have only made fun of myself, which made people laugh, while speaking or writing in English. And I really intent to keep it that way. I have been getting a lot of compliments about my English, but still it is not my native language and I do not believe it is that good… So, I already apologize for the errors or mistakes in my five-year-old English I speak and write. I always give it my best shot, but  sometimes I mess up sayings, words or other things and with that make unintentionally fun of myself or others, which is of course the last thing I want to do! So feel free to correct me or let me know when I make, once more, fun of myself or others. Hmm… While typing this last line I already have the feeling that you are not going to tell me when I make total fun of myself, but that is okay, I got used to that….
With that being said I can get back to what I want to share with you, my passion: triathlon! I could tell my whole history here, but most of it is already mentioned in my previous blogs on my website. Instead I want to stick to the title and what I think that makes me a true Dutch boy. The things I mentioned before are typically Dutch, but none of those things come in handy while training or racing triathlons. I think I wore clogs three times in my live and I can assure you that they are not really comfortable to run a marathon in. Some, however, do run in them for some reason, but I prefer a nice set of running shoes to give me comfort in the last part of the triathlon. During most award ceremonies in the Netherlands the first three competitors get flowers, but for some reason I have never seen any Tulips been given away. Perhaps they all ship them across the world? I like cheese, but it is far from ideal to use as sport nutrition. I cannot imagine to bring a small round piece of Gouda cheese somewhere taped on the frame during a ride, let alone on a run… Powerbar and Nuun are not only easier to bring along, they are specialist in sport nutrition and really up to the task to keep my energy levels and hydration up as high as possible!Althought the dikes and windmills do not come in handy for training, they do come in handy for the country. A large part of the Netherlands was gained from the sea by building dikes and pumping the water from the lands using windmills. Nowadays the old windmills are more monumental than functional, but the dikes still protect the flat ‘sea bottom’ land from flooding again. And this flatland and the constant wind that howls over it, is what I like! Swimming will be flat all over the world, if you do not count downstream swimming or waves. But flat and windy rides and runs like we have in the largest of the Netherlands are not that common. The constant need to push to keep going makes the flats my favorite training and racing grounds. The openness of the flats surrounding Groningen (my hometown) gives no shelter from the weather. Wind will catch you where ever you ride and during racing it will make the difference, if drafting is not allowed. I have raced a couple of Ironmans, but none is as flat as the long distance triathlon we have in Almere. The altitude profile is almost flatter than a straight line drawn by hand! Perfect if you ask me to see who the strongest triathlete is! No time to relax, no way to escape the elements, open views in all directions and a constant whistling of wind in the helmet’s holes! Bring it on!

---

This was my 8th year participating at the Timberman 1/2 IM. Yeah, I really like this race. Although, It was quite a bit different this year under the new ownership. The race expanded to over 2,700+. This was about 800 more than last year and a far cry from the 500+ that competed in the first year. Here’s a pic of the transition area:

I drove up to the race on Saturday morning in the most comfortable ride around:

I love this car.
I wanted to get up to the race venue early to register and get organized. I was able to catch up with teammate Mark Vermeersch and last year’s teammate Mike Lavery on Saturday at registration. They were looking super fit and ready to have some fun on Sunday. Both Mark and Mike had fantastic races on Sunday.
Race morning came in with perfect weather conditions. It was in the high 60s/low 70s and overcast. We even got a little bit of rain on the bike and run. You just couldn’t ask for better weather conditions. I always plan a race strategy with my coach, Paul Regensburg (http://lifesportcoaching.com/coaches.php). The strategy for Timberman was to swim hard, then build into the bike and try to hit the 2nd half more aggressively then the 1st half. We’ve had different approaches at the other races this year. While each race course and weather conditions are different, we’ve noticed that I’ve had problems maintaining a strong 2nd half bike this year in my 70.3 races. So for the Kona prep, the strategy was to hit the 2nd half hard and get the run right up to pace and hold it.
My swim wave was scheduled to go off at 7:55am. It was the 13th wave of the morning. I saw Zach Pratt before the swim start and I thought we might be able to work together on the swim. I had swam behind Zach at 70.3 Rhode Island. So, I thought that if we could work together on the swim, we could be more efficient. However, that game plan went out the window when we got about 400 meters into the swim and started to catch the wave in front of us. It became too crowded. So, I spent the entire swim by myself. This worked out ok as I just focused on finding my rhythm and trying to avoid the packs of athletes swimming on top of each other. I exited the swim in 27:45. My Aquasphere Ironman Icon worked perfectly.

I was out onto my Orbea Ordu and ready to try to put the game plan into effect: I settled in and made sure I got my heart rate under control. I relied on my Timex Global Trainer to dial in on my heart rate, speed, and cadence. I felt really good with the dialed down effort. I was also able to really focus on my nutrition and electrolytes. I still maintained a minimum of 800mg/hour of sodium even with the cool conditions. I found out later in the day that this was a very good strategy. I hit sections on the 2nd half of the bike, that I have really struggled with in the past. However, this year, I felt great. There were a few sections on the bike course that got a little dangerous with all of the extra bodies. There are a few steep downhill sections and there were a few people riding right out in the middle of the road and on their brakes. This created a little bit of an issue when a car was coming up the other side. However, that’s part of racing in the age group wave start format. I came off the bike in: 2:17:02. This was about a 2.5 minute CR for me. I was most pleased with how fresh I felt coming off the bike. I was really looking forward to the run.
I went through T2 pretty quickly and tried to build into my race pace. I felt really strong and I started to open up my stride at the 2 mile marker. Endurance racing is funny. You can feel great one moment, then the wheels can come completely off the next. Well, the wheels did not come off, but at the 2.5 mile point I got a massive cramp on inside of my left leg. It almost brought me to a complete stop. I shortened my stride and grabbed my Thermolytes. I started to chew on one. This was not enjoyable at all, but it was very effective. The cramp went away and I made it to the next aid station and took 2 more Thermolytes. In hindsight, it was fortunate that I was so proactive with the electrolytes on the bike. Things could have been a whole lot worse. I continued on my electrolyte dosage the remainder of the run. I felt really strong until the 11 mile mark, when my muscles started to fatigue a bit. I started to incorporate coke at this point for the simple sugars.

I was able to finish the run in 1:19:03, which was my best run on this course by 2 minutes. My overall time was 4:06:36 (my best time by 3.5 minutes on the course). This placed me first amateur overall and 9th including the pros.
Thanks for reading.
-Chris

---