Last weekend I raced in the Charlottesville International Triathlon, a race put on by the Charlottesville Triathlon Club.  Even though I’ve lived in Charlottesville for a two years, this was my first shot at this race and I was excited to be racing in C’ville.

The day started fine until about 30 minutes before the start when we were informed that wetsuits would be allowed.  This was a bit of a shock but upon hearing this I lubed up, pulled on the Helix, and headed to the lake.  After the start one of my training partners, Chris Morrow, and I broke away pretty quickly and were out on our own in no time.  However, I wasn’t feeling great and Chris was able to open up a gap on me.  Thinking back on it, I realized that I had pulled my wetsuit on too quickly and that it wasn’t fitting properly.  This is a great lesson for wetsuit wearing: make sure you don’t rush it!  This is especially imperative with a suit as precisely designed as the Helix.  So back to the race, Chris gapped me on the first buoy and never looked back, which left me second out of the water.

As I started the bike my focus was on trying to go really hard since the run for this particular race is on a single track MTB trail.  Because of this I had to make sure that no one passed me on the bike so that I could have a comfortable lead on the run.  After 15 minutes or so I had caught Chris and for the rest of the ride I was just concentrating on pushing hard up the hills and really opening it up on the few flat sections in order to maintain or increase my lead.   

Coming off the bike and into T2 I was still in first so I was able to cruise the run and not worry about going too hard.  As I mentioned before, the run is on a single track mountain bike trail which is very technical and therefore not very fast.  Aside from the up and down of the hills, the roots and rocks can cause numerous impediments to fast running.  Because of this my strategy was to go hard up the hills and take it easy on the way down so as not to seriously hurt myself. 

Luckily I made it through unscathed and ended up having a great time.  Its amazing how quickly the time goes by when you are focusing on the trails rather than how much you are hurting.  However, while it was fun, I was still glad to take the last turn and head into the finish to take the win in a time of 1:59. 

Overall, the race was very well run and I have to give a big kudos to race director Steve Policastro who volunteered for the position and did a great job of organizing the race while also getting ready for his PhD proposal.  The bike course was fully staffed with police and volunteers at every corner, the run was clearly marked with large arrows, and there was a nice selection of bagels from Bodo’s, fruit, cookies, Gatorade, and water at the finish. 

So if you decide to travel down to beautiful Charlottesville, VA for this race next year don’t expect a fast time.  As I mentioned before the bike is hilly and the run is hazardous.  However, if you don’t like running on the roads because they beat up your legs too much, this race will be a lot of fun. 

There was also a very nice article by Sean McLernon in the Charlottesville Daily Progress and the awesome pictures were courtesy of Jason O. Watson Photography.  Jason is a fellow grad student here at UVa but does some awesome work with his camera as well.

After finishing out of the money in my two races, the MedExpress Mountaineer Triathlon was my last chance to win some cash for a while.  For a little background, this race is put on by HFP Racing in Morgantown, WV, home of WVU.  The race is notorious for its scenic but hilly course and it certainly lived up to its billing.

After arriving at the race site in the morning, I quickly received some good news: the water temperature was 75-76 which meant that although the AGers would be able to wear wetsuits, the pros would not as our cut-off is 72.  This was great news for me as my swimming has really improved and as we all know wetsuits help slower swimmers more than faster ones.  No wetsuits also meant I would get to wear my new pointzero3 skinsuit from blueseventy which I was excited about. 

After jumping into the river and taking a few strokes, I was amazed at how fast the pz3 felt.  I was gliding effortlessly through the cool calm water which gave me confidence at the start of the race.  Before I knew it we were corralled onto the dock for our dive start.  The gun was off and we were in the water. 

Feeling confident in my new pz3, I wanted to try to swim with Brian Rhodes for a long as possible since I knew he was the best swimmer in the field.  Into the first turn I was only a couple meters behind him and feeling good.  I stayed there until about 2/3 of the way into the swim when we came up on the third turn, which I totally goofed.  The bad angle I took caused me to lose his feet and swim the rest of the race alone.  Still, I was only about 15-20 sec back when I came out of the water in 2^nd.   

After a quick transition, I was out on the bike.  It took a little while for me to get up to speed but once I got going I was feeling pretty good.  Still though, as usual, I began getting passed.  This is something I’ve gotten used to so I just had to put it out of my mind and focus on my race.  I came through the first lap in around 1:13 and starting the second lap I just wanted to focus on going faster than the first.  By the time I finally came into the finish of the bike, I had fallen all the way down to fifth, a little disappointing.  But the good news was my second lap was faster than the first and now it was time to start running. 

As I started the run, it was time to look on the bright side.  I was already in fifth so I would at least be guaranteed money.  I knew the others were pretty far ahead of me though so I just wanted to start the run easy and then pick up the pace and try to pick off as many as people as possible.   After an uneventful flat first 5 miles, I finally moved into 4th place.  Then, it was the “stupidly steep” hill.  Think two blocks at 10-15% grade.  As I was shuffling up a thought crossed my mind that maybe crawling would be faster.  About a mile or so later, I passed the next guy. 

“Sweet!” I thought.  

I was now into third place starting my second lap of the run.  Then I got a time check from a couple of friends,

“3:30 to first and 2:20 to second!” Rudy screamed.       

“2:20 with 6 miles to go? I can do that.”

With that news I had renewed motivation and really focused.  At this point though it was getting hot and I wasn’t feeling great.  At a turn around point two miles down the road though I did another time check and I was only 1 min back from 2nd.  This really helped as I got a little rush of adrenaline and I decided I just needed to suck it up and catch the guy ahead of me.  Finally, at about 10.5 miles I moved into second and was only 1:30 back from first!  At this point I got another shot of adrenaline when I realized I was heading in for a $1750 dollar pay day!  But first I had to make it up the retardedly steep hill again.  Once I hit that hill, illusions of first place left the window and I simply wanted to make it up without falling backwards.  Soon I was up and over and focusing on good form and turning the legs over through the remainder of the hilly course through the campus of WVU.  

Crossing the finish line was very gratifying and I was really pleased with my race.  I  thought my coach, Paulo Sousa, did a great job getting me through the last 6 weeks during which time I race three half IMs.  This was a lot for me since up to this point I hadnt done more than two in the same year. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent enjoying the weather with friends and cheering on other finishers.  I had a couple of fellow UVA students do the International race the same day.  Rudy ”BRO” Khasar (middle) was 1st OA and Chris Morrow (right) was 2nd in his AG dispite going off course and riding an extra 3 miles after recording the fastest swim of the day.    

On the way home there was the obligatory ice cream stop in Berkely Springs, WV where I ordered the Peanut Butter Paradise which contains two warm brownies, two huge scopes of peanut butter ice cream with chocolate swirls, a slathering of hot fudge and hot peanut butter and two mounds of whipped cream.  Sadly, I do not have a picture of this beauty.  I can tell you though that it was well worth the $4.50 + tax it set me back.  All in all, not a bad day at the office.

PS Last night after dinner at Chipotle, the beer money was spent at South Street Brewery here in Charlottesville, VA with a bunch of my friends and training partners from the Charlottesville Triathlon Club.  As far as I know, a good time was had by all. 

Last weekend I got a chance to race Eagleman 70.3 for the first time.  Coming into the race I wasn’t sure how I would feel since I had raced Florida 70.3 three weeks before and I had never done two races this long this close together.  On the morning of the race though I put the negative thoughts out of my mind and just thought about EXECUTING my race. 

The swim started out relatively mild and pretty soon I found myself a good pair of feet as I began my quest to hold on to the front pack.  The pace felt pretty hot but I really thought I could come out of the water in the first pack if I had a good swim so I was determined to try and push it a bit.  About a third of the way through I tried to look as far ahead as I could and from what I could tell I was sitting in about 5th or 6th position in the first pack, which I was happy about since my efforts were paying off.  Then about two thirds of the way through a couple guys got off the front but I was in no position to chase.  So I maintained my pace and was really pleased to hear that I was the 5th guy exiting the water. 

Out onto the bike and the Trek was feeling smooth, as always.  It’s such a responsive ride that it is really effortless to get up to speed which is so nice after a hard swim.  After riding alone for quite some time, a group of three guys passed me about an hour into the race.  Unfortunately, I was hoping to see these guys much later on as I was hoping I had put more time into them in the swim.  So after that I really had to focus to make sure to lose as little time as possible.  The rest of the ride was uneventful and I came out of T2 in 11th or so place.    

Ahh, the run.  Time for me to attempt to have a respectable result.  Within the first couple of miles I had passed two guys and was feeling good, probably a little to good in retrospect as my splits for those were 5:38 an 5:23… a little too fast.  I finally settled into my pace (between 5:40s and 5:45s) which I felt good about since it was overcast and still pretty cool.  Then I got an update from someone on the course that I was in 8th.  8th! That means I only have to pass one more guy to get some money… and I can see that guy!  About a mile later I passed him and was feeling good heading into the turn.  At the turn I noted that the next person was two minutes up the road and I immediately thought I had a chance of catching him and moving into 6th.  On the way back however I ended up just trying to maintain my pace as my hip flexor started acting up.  Unfortunately I wasn’t gaining any ground on the guy in front so I just focused on keeping my form together and finishing strong.  Another bonus was that I noticed that I was on pace to finish under 4 hours and have a huge run PR so I was pretty stoked.   

Crossed the finish line in 3:58:xx, a new PR good for what I thought was 7th place.  As it turns out, I was in fact 8th.  Bummer.  No beer money for me.  But wait, there was a prime for the fastest run of day.  I checked the preliminary results and I had posted the fastest run of the pros which was also a huge new run PR of 1:14:32.  So surely that was good enough for the prime?  Nope, nipped again.  As I found out hours later an amateur ran 1:13 which meant I was one place out of the money once again.  Still, with a new 70.3 PR and a new run PR I couldn’t be too upset.  Plus, they had some decadent Sara Lee carrot cake at the finish which was being served by one of the kindest old ladies I’ve ever met.  Good for you?  Not exactly.  Delicious? Absolutely.  And after 4 or 5 pieces of that, I certainly couldnt complain. 

So while I write up my belated Florida 70.3 race report a couple of things come to mind…

First thing: I’m not a Starbucks junky, but I do go there occasionally as I find some of their drinks quite tasty.  As I was wasting time in the Atlanta airport on Friday I noticed a new drink which sounded yummy, the Orange Mocha.  So while I was at Harris Teeter (grocery store) yesterday I decided to treat myself.  Let me say, it was marvelous.  I didnt get to see them make it but I’m pretty sure its just their regular Mocha with some orange zest in it.  Anyway, very good stuff.  The orange + chocolate flavor worked wonderfully.

Second thought: Watching Apollo 13 after interviewing for a job at NASA really makes you want to take the job.  Anyone have any comments about Huntsville?

Its always strange when your first race of the season is a race in which you really want to do well. That was the case last weekend as I headed down to Tuscaloosa, AL with 7 others from the University of Virginia for USAT’s Collegiate National Championship.

The few days prior to the race were rather uneventful and the morning of I was feeling pretty good. After waking up at 4AM for the 7AM start time, I had my usual peanut butter and banana bagel with honey and had some coffee. We made our way to the race site without incident and warmup was rather uneventful. Pretty soon, I was in the water awaiting the start, ready to rock and roll.

The start was strange as no one in the pack really heard the gun go off but all of the sudden a couple people on kayaks shouted, “GO” and we were off. As you can imagine, starting with 140 other testosterone laden college aged males is not the most serene thing in the world. Luckily though I had spent a winter working on my swimming so I was only in the washing machine for a few minutes. Once I broke free of the whirlpool, I was right on someone’s feet, feeling good. Its hard to tell where you are in the swim, but about halfway through I realized I was in the first group which I was stoked about since a number of the competitors race ITU and are therefore fast swimmers. A little later I noticed someone moving to my right and I jumped on his feet, still keeping it under control. Pretty soon, I was coming out of the water in 17:11 and was informed I was in 5th place which was awesome. This was my first swim in my new Blue Seventy Helix wetsuit and I have to say I was very impressed. It felt awesome to have a second skin as opposed to having to pull some rubber around in the water. It was definitely a “breakthrough” swim and at this point I was feeling great about the race, as I was right up front and in position to contend for the victory.

After a mediocre transition, it was off on the bike. At the start of the bike though, my fortunes changed as I just didn’t have it. I knew the guys I was coming out of the water with and I thought I should’ve been able to stay with them but for whatever reason it just wasn’t happening. A couple other people came by me who I also thought I should’ve been able to stay with but once again, no dice. Finally I settled in a bit and stopped the bleeding, letting only one other guy pass me. Note to self: spend more than a week and a half on a new bike before using it in an ‘A’ race. Coming into the finish of the bike I was a bit disappointed but happy to be off the bike and onto the run.
Starting the run, I was informed I was in 11th at which point I decided I should still be able to pass enough people to finish in the top 5 and earn an award (they were given 5 deep). I felt fine except for the fact that I couldn’t feel my feet! The air temperature wasn’t that bad but the cold water combined with biking led to the numbness. Regardless of that, I got into a good rhythm, running around 5:18s, and started picking people off. Even with a couple of big hills I maintained a good grove and finished up with a 5:09 last mile which brought me to the line at 1:53:26, good enough for 5th place.

Overall it was bittersweet. It was my highest finish at Collegiate Nationals and I had a great swim and run. However, I was only 1 min 20 sec off first place and I really felt that I could’ve had a better bike. Oh well, that’s racing.

Who cares about the race though when the awards banquet and after party are tons of fun. In fact, I even wore a bowtie for the occasion as a tribute the undergraduates here at UVa who feel the need to dress inappropriately for football games.