After my tremendous blow-up earlier this year in CdA, I (naturally) figured that I should try my hand at the silly distance that is Ironman yet again.  Thus, Ironman Arizona was the goal for the end of the season and training began in earnest in mid-July following my recovery from CdA.  Also, my brother (“Fat Matt”) was coming out to watch, so I was uber-pumped.

The days leading up to the race were chill, the only downfall was that I had a sore throat…fortunately, I diagnosed (by looking in the mirror) that it was a canker-sore.  Given my extended knowledge of the field of medicine due to my strong grades in my sophomore (in high school!) biology class, I ignored it. Giving that it is STILL bothering me (~10 days later as I type) perhaps I should go get it checked out?!?

Race day morning was boring, though my bagels from the hotel had hardened overnight into stones of death:

I chowed down, losing no teeth in the process and survived to race start.

Though the air temperature was brisk, I was pleasantly surprised when jumping into the water (~62 degrees) that it felt warmer than the air.  I proceeded to place myself near the front of the swim pack.  The swim went off without a hitch, though I think I settled down a bit too early and probably swam a bit crooked.  However, still managed another 58-and-change swim so could not complain.

After a blazing transition, I rolled onto the bike course planning to chow down a billion calories on the first loop (of three), while “just chillin’” and keep the effort easy, but constant.  Though I had some stiffness in my back, after stopping at mile 18 to crack it, the stiffness lessened.  My splits for the bike course were ridiculously even, at 1:45-and-change for all three, leaving me with a 5:16 bike split (and no penalties!). The only thing I was frustrated by was how flat this course was (relative to CdA) and the fact that I biked the exact same time.  Oh well.  Whatever.  CRUSH the run.

Taking off on the run, I felt alright and strolled through the first mile just under 6:30.  A little quick, so I held back and dropped mile splits between 6:40 and 6:50 through the halfway point.  Around mile 5 or so I picked up one of the Pros, Gudmund Snilstveit (from Norway) who was going for his country record of 8:40ish.  We proceeded to run together for for about 10 miles (chatting about the fact that I’m doing Norseman next year; he called me insane) and he drifted back a little bit, so I said “crush it” and kept plodding along.  He stayed reasonably close through my second lap, as I checked on him here-and-there, and was happy to find out later (from my brother) that he got his national record with an 8:38!  He also told my bro “Tell your brother thanks for pushing me.”  I couldn’t have been happier.  A quick snapshot around where I picked up Gudmund:

Back to my run…I ran pretty consistently (though slightly slower) through mile 16 or so, dropping down to about 7:00 and was preparing to pickup the pace a bit for the close around mile 22-23, hoping for a ~3:00 mary.  Alas, it wasn’t to be.  Around mile 21 I started to feel LIKE SHIT.  I was crushing the coke, stopped by the can (I couldn’t pee), eating cookies, oranges, more coke, water but was still feeling crappy.  I walk-ran to an aid station around 22.5 and proceeded to stumble around, unable to grab anything the entirety of the aid station (a feat-in-and-of-itself if you know how long these aid stations are).  After getting through the aid station, a volunteer stopped me and asked if I needed anything.  I responded “sugar”. The next few moments are a blur…

The EMT’s came by, asked me how I was doing, what my name was, etc. and though I knew the answers, I struggled to respond quickly.  I then felt a little weak and felt myself begin to fall and the EMT saying “He’s goin’ dude”.  The next thing I know they took me on a stretcher into the ambulance and shaking extensively, leading to them asking if I had a history of seizures.  I was able to respond no.  About 20′ later we were sitting in the hospital room and I was beginning to make inappropriate jokes as my brother arrived (after being called by the EMT).  The EMT asked “Do you remember passing out dude?”  I was shocked.  I SWORE I maintained consciousness the WHOLE TIME, but he reiterated, “Yeah dude, you passed out a couple of times.”  Ridiculous.  And I still SWEAR I was conscious the whole time.

Now, before I go, a litany of mad-props:

• Timex Teammates Victor Zyemtsev (3rd overall!!), Dave Harju, Marie Danais, Daniel Brienza, Luis Alvarez and Juli Fiocca for their late-season racing crush-fest
• Buddy Thomas Gerlach for a great pro debut
• My coach Mike Lavery, who has been very supportive throughout the past couple years, bringing me to the athlete I am today (not the non-finishing one; the occassionally-finishing-fast one)
• My little brother Matt (senior in high school), who is actually not fat and owns the Vermeersch family record in the mile (but not real races like the 2-mile)…it was his first tri as a spectator and I believe he is planning on coming to Norseman for Round II in a continuance of his lackey duties…
• Team Manager Tristan Brown and Team Mechanic Doug Berner for their great work
• Gudmund Snilstveit, for attaining his Norwegian national record
• The volunteer who yanked me off the course
• The EMT’s who stole me from the volunteer and made sure I didn’t take a further trip down the rabbit-hole
• The doctors and nurses who helped nurse me back to health in the ER
• And for those of you who’ve actually made it this far reading–mad props to you too!

What an adventure.  A national record.   A trip for my bro.  A trip to the hospital.  All in one race!  The unfortunate thing is that though I don’t think I drank enough on the bike (they put two bags of fluid in me at the hospital) I feel as though the rest of my race was smart.  Perhaps my nutrition was off?  Did my pre-race beer the night before have something to do with it? Was I really THAT dehydrated?  Not having anything to point the finger to and say “Ah-hah, that’s it” leaves me frustrated.  I’ve had a mental blow-up in an Ironman (CdA) and a physical blow-up in an Ironman (Arizona) in two attempts.  Will I ever get it right?!?

However, that is why we race.  To learn.  Learn how to get it right.  Learn how to live…live life to it’s fullest.

Until next time, peace…

Alright.  So I’m like several months behind writing blog posts.  So, in an attempt to satisfy all six of my fans (my mother and her 2 pet cats quickly cut that number in half) I will attempt to delve waaaaay back into the dark regions of my mind to share some epic Hometown Racing!!

LA Triathlon

I hate Olympic-distance triathlons.  In the past year, I’ve learned I have one speed: half-Ironman.  This leads to weak-sauce performances in shorter races and epic blow-ups in Ironman races. 

First off, while getting ready in transition, I hear the “PFFT” of an exploding tire.  Meanwhile, I’m puttering around wonder what poor putz had the unfortunate experience of a tire deflating on race day.  ALAS, five minutes later I learn I AM that poor person: my disc wheel had taken a crap.  After weeping for five more minutes (I did not bring spare equipment) I sprinted over to the bike tent and miraculously was the first in line.  I learned that the rim strip had finally decided to take a nose-dive and we quickly used electrical tape and “patched ‘er up”.  On to the race.

I sucked in the swim.  Sighting was difficult even with clear goggles.  Boo-hoo to me.  Moving on.

The entire bike ride I put it in high gear (a.k.a. about 3% harder than half-Ironman gear) and managed to ride slightly over an hour.  I found out later that I managed to pick up a positioning penalty on the bike, adding two minutes to my time.  To this day I still have no idea what I did, but (save one) every single person in the Elite wave ending behind me ended up with the same penalty.  Not sure what the ref was seeing, but oh well.  It only cost me a place.  There are bigger tragedies in the world.

I ran pretty well, picking off several people and throwing down a 35-and-change 10k off the bike.

Net, net, a 2:07 and 5th place finish in the Elite wave.  Acceptable, but unfortunate given my 2:00 bike penalty and horrendous swim (literally the worst swim since starting racing).  A quick picture of the Elite podium (I’m the super-tiny dude on the left):

Onto the following weekend…

Manhattan Beach 10k

Boom.  An open 10k.  A race distance I have never run, so it was guaranteed a PR.  I was hoping to crushify my prior week’s 10k time from the LA Triathlon.  The plan was to make it my long run for the week, running 30-40 minutes before-hand then tempo the first 5k and then rip it through the last 5k.  Simple right?  WRONG.

The first three miles went as planned.  With splits between 5:35 and 5:45, a nice tempo pace.  And at slightly over 3 miles, it was HAMMER-TIME.  Commence play-by-play…

Mile 3

Legs…not…responding…to…HAMMER-TIME…

Okay.  I’ll wait a mile, then we’ll amp it up and throw down the pace.

Mile 4

Sputter.  Bang.  Clank.  Waiting another mile.

Mile 5

Giant hill.  Shuffle.  Saunter.

Mile 5.5

Look around frantically.  Think “Where is Paul?”

Mile 5.7

This straight-away sucks.  It goes on forever.  “Where is Paul?”

Mile 5.8

See Paul.  Commence mimosa hand-off:

Mile 5.9

Turn.  It.  On.

Mile 6.0

Blazing speed.  I would estimate it at ~3:30 per mile pace, give or take about 3:30.

Mile 6.1

Yes.  I’m really running at 0:00 seconds per mile. 

Mile 6.2

Cross finish.  Even with the last 0.1 miles at 0:00 seconds, I managed to get housed by ~1:00 by my 5k time from the prior weekend.  Ahhh, the sweet taste of defeat…and mimosas…

Now, as is tradition…

MULTI-RACE MAD PROPS!!!

Haha you six fans…I DID NOT forget my super-uber-sweet mad props…

• Bike-Tech Guy from LA Triathlon weekend (name is escaping me at the moment) for fixing my disc wheel
• Tower 26 Coach Gerry Rodrigues for telling me I need to show up for swim practice more frequently (I agree Gerry)
• Paul M., for the epic (and successful!) in-race-mimosa-hand-off
• Friends Janelle and Kevin Nerison, for letting me store my crap at their house pre-MB10k and for taking me to the beer tent after

That’s all I’ve got for now.

Until next time, peace…

…and from what I heard…it was even “cool” for Vegas at that time of year!  I was looking forward to my second time at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships with a goal to end up on the podium for a second year in a row; alas, it was not to be.

The new Vegas course was a fantastic venue for a half…swim location was great (albeit with a looong run after the swim into T1) and I really enjoyed the opportunity to swim under a hotel / bridge…siiiick!  The bike course was smooooth with little danger of getting shaken by bumps (as is typical at most races / rides).  The run course was awfully tough, with temperatures rising into the mid-90s, a welcome respote from the more common 100-110 degree heat!

Now, for a “quick” race recap.  I put “quick” in quotes because it will most likely NOT be quick.  I am a rambler…fitting that I went to a high school nicknamed the “Rams”…bahahahahaha…and clearly I’m also “hilarious”…

The swim went reasonably well, which is excellent given the fact that I’ve spent a lot of time in the pool and the surf attempting to suck less.  With a 28:53, I was slightly disappointed, but according to my boy Bruce Gennari (former swimmer at the University of Alabama that dropped a low-25 minute swim) the swim was slightly long, so I’m hoping my “true” time is a little quicker, perhaps even in the 27s.  Still need to suck less.

After plowing over some dudes in transition that weren’t running fast enough I headed onto the bike.  Timex Teammate Bo Parrish there to take my picture right as the bike started:

I have to thank Bo for the great race support; he was originally planning to race Vegas but wrecked on a recovery ride following his AG victory at the Hy-Vee Triathlon the week following and broke his collarbone and a couple ribs.  Bummer-fest.  Fortunately Bo was able to scream our pre-determined phrase at me during the run (“Don’t be a b*tch Vermeersch!!”) which I subsequently ignored.  Check out failblog.org…you’ll likely see detonation on the run course by yours truly…but I digress…more to come on the run below…

The bike was reasonably hilly but the grades were nothing that required standing and mashing the pedals; a welcome relief from my recent rides in Santa Monica on Topanga Canyon and Mulholland Highway (I moved in July to start a new job with Twin Haven Capital Partners in LA) which are epic suffer-fests.  I raced the entire bike conservatively, planning to hammer the last 8-miles up the longest grade on the course.  With a bike time of 2:27 and change I moved to within 3:00 of the lead and had my strongest discipline remaining.  I was stoked.

Alas, the heat of Vegas (on an air-conditioned-esque day) chewed me up and spit me out.  Detonation city.  Running a 1:27, this was my slowest half-marathon to date (excluding Steelhead in 2010 where I had to visit the port-o-pot 4 times and walked all the aid stages; talk about epic…!) which is disappointing.  I felt solid coming out of T2, dropped a 5:38 on the first mile and slowed to 7:00 on the ensuing 2-mile uphill.  Coming back down I rolled back-to-back 6:00s but from there out, survival was the name of the game, fighting back-and-forth with a K-Swiss dude for the entire run, as can be seen here:

That’s my boy Stefan Holtkotter of Germany, who wrapped up 5th place for our Age Group, M25-29.  Taking me down by 20 seconds, I just didn’t have it in me.  29 seconds separated me from 4th, with 4th – 7th all finishing in 4:28!  I really have to hand it to Stefan for a great effort up the final climb, where I knew the race would be won or lost.  We were back-and-forth for approximately 8 miles and he really showed me how to finish a race!

As I’m clearly giving Stefan some mad props, it only makes sense to bring back the tradish:

• Podium finishes by Timex Teammates Chris Thomas, Tim Hola and Bruce Gennari; excellent stuff boys
• Timex Teammates Shannon Coates, Hannah Freeman, Wendy Mader and Brian Boyle for great races (especially Brian for beating his Clearwater time from last year by 6 minutes!)
• Timex Teammates Ian Ray, Bo Parrish, Denny Meeker and Daniel Brienza for cheering hard-core during the race
• Team Manager Tristan “Thor” Brown and Mechanic Doug “Stove-top” Berner
• Corporate Timex folks Adriana Espinosa and Keith Brown for making the trip out and sitting with us during the awards ceremony; great stuff
• Buddy Morgan Anderson who managed her second-consecutive podium finish in W20-24 while ripping through her second year of med school!
• The sickenly-fast European boys of M25-29..all 5 dudes ahead of me hail from across the Atlantic with FOUR being from Germany…needless to say I would warm the bench on the German Triathlon Team…!

Though a disappointing finish, I can’t complain for a lack of effort, as I enjoyed respite from the heat in the med-tent post race (I’m guessing heat-exhaustion rather than dehydration).  Unfortunately, some days you don’t have it, and I picked the wrong day.  Last year, I managed to end up in 4th place in my Age Group, with 10 seconds separating me from 6th!  It’s amazing how close these races can be when everyone is in phenomenal shape and feeling fast; small differences can make or break your run…today I drew the short straw…but I suppose that’s what draws us back to the sport…the battle against yourself…and the challenge to become your best…

That’s all for now.  LA Tri on September 25th.  As per usual, the goal is to compete for overall amateur title.  I will (obvs) blog RE: said finish when the race is complete.

Until next time…peace…

Shortly after receiving my “stamp of approval” from my business school (I graduated on June 11 from Chicago Booth) I headed back to work for my last three weeks of employment at The University of Chicago’s Investment Office, ending my time as a full-time student, full-time employee and “part-time” triathlete (if there is such a thing).  Following that I would be embarking for a new job at Twin Haven Capital Partners, a distressed debt hedge fund in West LA (where “triathlete” will still remain a part of my life).  Naturally, I figured the best way to celebrate these accomplishments was to spend the final five months of my time in Chicago training for an Ironman.  So, shortly after graduation, I headed off to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho to tackle my first full Ironman.

Leading up to the race, I felt well-rested and was looking forward to the challenge.  My only complaint is that I think I headed to Idaho a day too early, being “over-exposed” to the triathlon scene, almost psyching myself out pre-race; lesson learned and noted.

Race morning was pristine, with water temperature in high-50s and the high temperatures for the day right around 70.  No wind.  Absolutely beautiful.  Jumping into Coeur d’Alene Lake on race morning, I had a solid swim, coming through the first lap in about 28:30.  Executing another lap slightly under 30:00 had me pegged at 58:07 for the swim.  Perfect.  On to the bike.

The bike was rather hilly but I was able to find a solid rhythm, riding through the first 56 miles right about 2:34 – 2:35.  Unfortunately I was called for a 4:00 drafting penalty in the first half so knew I had to serve that at the tail-end of the bike.  I was going to have to run FAST.  I made the (what I now know as stupid) decision to push a little harder on the second half of the bike because I had some “rest” in the penalty tent.  Dumb dumb DUMB!  Lesson learned.  Still, a 5:19 bike split.

Heading into the run, I was rolling along solidly, consistently throwing down 6:15 – 6:30 per mile for the first few, slowed down some on an uphill but maintained a pace that was just under 3 hours (~1:29) for the first half of the marathon.  Enter the pain zone.  I was NOT ready.  The second half of the marathon was a disaster.  I grabbed my special needs bag at mile 14 and pounded a Red Bull, unfortunately today was not my day.  I spent the second half of the marathon doing a walk-run, mentally defeated (and obviously exhausted). It led me to this realization:

Ironman ≠ 2 x (Ironman 70.3)

rather…

Ironman = (Ironman 70.3)^2

An Ironman is hard.  Much harder than a 70.3.  A whole new ball game; one I was not expecting pre-race.  But for a first effort, I can’t get too down on my performance (10:05, 11th in the M25-29 Age Group and 75th overall) but rather take lessons away that make me a stronger athlete (and person).  I’m already looking forward to my next attempt (time and location TBD).

As is usual, mad props:

• Tristan Brown and Doug Berner, Timex Team Manager and Team Mechanic, respectively.  I spent some good quality time with both folks at the Timex Truck and Doug had my bike in pristine condition for the race.
• Timex Teammates Stu Fitch (2nd in his Age Group!), Luis Alvarez and Hannah Freeman who got across the finish line.
• Timex Teammates Roger Thompson (props for the cookie and the condolences at mile 22 of the marathon!), Phaedra Cote and Ali Fitch for great fan support!
• My coach Mike Lavery for putting me in the position to complete an Ironman, something I would not have considered 12 months ago.
• Roommate Sam Mazer, who put up with my crap all weekend and was gracious enough to accompany me on a post-race candy run (which ALWAYS makes me feel better!)…

That’s all I have for now.  As I said, I’m very much looking forward to my next attempt at this race distance, as my potential is far greater than the result showed.  Hopefully I can improve my mental game and pacing before attempt two?!?  Much work to be done.

Until next time, peace…

A long overdue blog post on Florida 70.3, a race I had been looking forward to for months.  For the first time in my triathlon career, I had actual goals going into a race rather than “meh, I’ll simply race hard and take what comes my way.”  My goal was to compete for the Top 10, win the amateur title and throw down some solid splits, somewhere in the 4:05-4:10 range.  Certainly a new realm for me to enter, but an advance in my maturity as an athlete that was only natural.

Arriving in Orlando on Friday, my man Andrew Hodges met me at the airport and we headed off to meet up with his family, who was gracious enough to house my rambunctious self for the weekend. Nothing too eventful happened leading up to the race and (for once) I slept well for the couple days prior to the race; I felt ready.

On race morning it stormed once we arrived in transition, apparently an oddity for a spring Orlando morning.  The showers passed by race time and we were prepared to start the race on time.  With only a slight delay, the race went off as planned, with a couple thousand insane individuals beginning the swim at slightly after 6:30am.  Being the last wave of 25-29 (of three waves!) I was looking forward to tracking down folks all day.

I felt pretty solid during the swim, having spent much time working on it this season.  However, exiting the water, I glanced at my watch and saw a high-29.  #(*&$!!  Unhappy me.

Clearly I looked far to rested exiting the swim, likely doing a lackadaisical job of pushing the pace.  Oh well.  As is typical, I moved on and prepared to crush the bike.

The bike went well, though I eased up too a couple miles earlier than I should have, which probably cost me about 30-seconds or a minute.  Error number two.  But on to my strength, the run.

Enter damage control.  Living in Chicago, the weather had not cooperated well (from a warmth standpoint) and I felt crappy during the entire run.  Fortunately, the weather was not too hot (only low-80s) but with my solid run last month in New Orleans (about 5-10 degrees cooler) I expected to be ready to crush the run course.  Alas, I crossed the finish line with a 1:24 half, a disappointment.

Overall, I ended up finishing in 4:15, good enough 2nd in my age group, 3rd amateur and 19th overall.  Certainly nothing to be ashamed of but a new experience in this sport for me, a disappointing finish.  Again, a natural evolution in athletics (and life).  Inevitably races go well and races go poorly and it is important to take away learning lessons from the race (and other life lessons), executing in a superior fashion in the future.

“I’ve missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot…and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
—Michael Jordan

Keeping my head up and learning from my mistakes is crucial to succeeding in the future.  Entering a “new realm” of disappointment presents two choices:

• Curling up in the fetal position, feeling sorry for myself and talking about everything I “could have been” for the years to come
• Looking critically at myself, identifying the weaknesses and improving for future opportunities

I choose the latter.  Every time.  No hesitation.

After the diatribe above (and a look into the craziness going-on in my head), I’d like to (as is tradition) end with mad props:

• Timex Teammates Kirill Kotsegarov and Andrew Hodges, finishing 6th and 8th Pro, respectively.
• Timex Teammates Kelly Fillnow and Shannon Coates, finishing 1st and 4th in the Female 25-29 age group.
• The Hodges’ family, gracious enough to host my rambling self over the weekend.

To end, here is a picture of the awesome (and extremely good-looking, save the bald dude) Timex crew that housed the race…

Until next time, peace…