3rd Overall Pro/Elite

Ever since I started racing triathlons 16 years ago, there has always been one race that I have always wanted to do in the 200+ triathlons I have completed.   I never thought the day would come where I could be so fortunate to race at the Nautica Malibu Triathlon in Malibu, CA but this past weekend was it!  Furthermore, I was so fortunate to not to not only race in both races on Saturday and Sunday, but to do it as part of a work trip with PowerBar and Nestle.  It was the 25^th anniversary year of the race and the venue was nothing short of spectacular!

I stayed with Timex Team Member and newest celebrity resident of Santa Monica, Mark Vermeersch and had a great time.  On Saturday I raced in the pro division for the Olympic Distance race.  It was a point to point ocean swim with a fantastic 25 yd. beach running start, something that I just don’t get to do very often in triathlon races.  When the gun went off, we all sprinted at full tilt to the first buoy, and swam parallel to the beach  -did I mention how great my Orca 3.8 wetsuit is?  Well, it’s a great suit and one of the better ones I have ever used!  I quickly found myself in the first pack and slowly edged up to the front.  There was one other ITU pro there that took the swim lead and I exited 2nd, just about 45 seconds behind him.  The bike was a quick out & back up the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) and couldn’t have been more scenic!  I had one other person pass me and just kept pushing onto T2.  When you are used to racing ½ ironmans the shorter races go so quick!  I started the 10K run that went right along the beach and felt great considering I raced Ironman Vegas 70.3 6 days earlier.  The legs felt better than I thought and ran a 35:14 to hold onto my place and got 3^rd overall.   It was a great time and I appreciated all the cheers from my friends at K-Swiss, Ben & Matt!

Myself and Ed Helms - The Hangover and The Office

 

Dwight and Roy from The Office

The next day was the “classic” distance race where the fun really began.  There were about 3000 people that raced, local celebrities and all, including several corporate relays.  I was on one of the Male Open Nestle relays where I was the runner and a co-worker swam and my boss did the bike leg.  It was a lot of fun and I got to meet and get some pictures with the crew from the NBC sit-com “The Office”. 

Jay Leno cracking up the crowd at the awards

Sheena Easton sang the national anthem and after the race Jay Leno announced the awards!  During my run, I ran up behind Tiffani Thieseen (you may know her from Saved By  The Bell, Baywatch, Beverly Hills 90210) and chatted with her a little bit and asked her if it was hard to escape the cameras.  It was a race like no other and I felt so lucky to be a part of it.  If you ever want to a race where you get a little brush with fame and love to be by the ocean, this is the one! 

Aloha!

Tim

Trying to pass at mile 8ish. Thanks for the picture Bo Parrish!

I have raced a lot of ½ ironman races in my 16 year career but never a world championship until now.  When I heard this race moved toLas Vegas,NV, I had to come because of the location and it also didn’t hurt that I was able to drive instead of fly.  Any race that you don’t have to fly with your bike always makes it easier.  I was very excited to race as I used it for a final tune up before Kona on October 8.  Furthermore, it made it more exciting to have many of my Timex teammates there plus the incredible support of Keith, Tristan, and Doug!

The day before the race I did a short swim in Lake Las Vegas and a run around the Lowes Hotel.  My body was feeling pretty good since I rested a lot the week prior.  I checked in and hung out with Tristan and Doug at the team truck – always a nice sanctuary at races!  I was loving Doug’s new motorcycle! 

On race day, my mom, dad and I left the Venetian on the strip at 3:30AM and drove to the start.  I could not believe how many people were out on the strip when I was leaving to race.  Most of them were with stumbling down the street, had a drink in their hand or both!  Welcome toLas Vegas, right?

After a warm up, I put on my new Orca Speed Suit – which absolutely rocks by the way -and eased into the water once my wave was called.  I was the 9^th wave and had a fair amount of people ahead of me.  Once the gun went off, I sprinted as hard as I could to the front which is something I always do no matter what the race distance.  I led the wave and exited the water in a little over 26 minutes, not too far off my good buddy/teammate Bruce Genarri’s time of 25 min (BTW -Bruce was first out of the water in the 1997 Hawaii Ironman).   I felt great after the “climb” out of T2 and saw my parents right after I passed the mount line and was on my way into the desert.  Right away the bike course went into Lake Mead National Rec Area – and reminded me a lot of the lava fields inHawaii.  The course was fantastic and the rolling hills suited me pretty well.  I had a couple people pass me but as usual I just did my thing and kept pushing on.  We hit the turnaround at mile 23ish and headed back into town.  Although I never raced in Clearwater, I did notice some drafting, but not nearly the amount of packs that I heard about in Florida.  I rolled into T2 with feeling great and headed out onto the 3 loop run course.

Finishing up the day!

I could probably describe this run course simply as up/down/up/down/up/down.  The good news was that you could find a good rhythm running since the hills were gradual and about a mile long if not shorter.  I could feel that all my hill repeats in training were paying off as I started to pass some of the people that passed me on the bike.  My teammate Chris Thomas pulled up to me at mile 12.5ish and we cruised into the finish together.  Just as I was about 25 meters from the finish, I saw a guy ahead of me with a “36” on his calf.  I tapped into the PowerBar High Intensity Beta Alanine that I have been taking and let it do the rest.  I crossed the line in 4:26.40 and he finished in 4:26.42.  I placed 3^rd in the Age Group and was pleased!

Chris and myself on stage - 2nd and 3rd in the World! Go Team Timex!

Overall it was a good day and I was happy with the effort.  It was fantastic to so Keith, Tristan and Doug at the finish line as well as my parents.  Special thanks to Timex, Orbea, PowerBar, Tri-Swim, and Native for making my 1^st 70.3 World Championships a special one by getting a podium finish.  I’ll be back here again for the ITU Long Distance World Championships on November 5. 

Just a few more weeks until Hawaii, but I am going to squeeze in one more race this weekend for a work trip in Malibu for the Nautica Malibu Triathlon on Saturday and then a relay for the classic distance on Sunday with my co-workers!  Should be fun lining up next to all the celebrities.  

 Train safe and have fun!

Tim

The boys just after our pre race pep talk.

Words cannot describe what a proud father I was to see my twin boys finish their first triathlon last weekend.  At age 4, Connor and Spencer had a lot of fun and I am already hearing from them about when they can do another one. 

 It was the day before the Ironman Boulder 70.3 in which I was racing but to be honest, I was way more excited to see my kids race at IronKids.  Setting up their Huffy 16” bikes in the transition area and explaining to them what all their gear was for was certainly the highlight.  

No aerobars yet, but the Huffy's served them well.

The horn went off and they were on their way completing the 25 yd swim in lightning speed.  It was onto their bikes for a very quick .35 mile bike and then off for a speedy 250 yd. run.  Our very own Barry Siff was announcing and he gave them a great shout out at the finish!  They did great and all I kept thinking was how this sport has came full circle for my family.  First my dad teaching me, now I am teaching my kids.  It was very special.  I encourage all of you who have kids try it once, you just never know when they’ll find a new skill!  Besides, it’s better than playing with an iPad right?

Connor running up the beach

 Sunday soon came and now it was my turn.  I really enjoy Boulder 70.3 and I was excited to see how things would go.  Last month, I enlisted the help of an athlete named Dave Scott to assist me in my Hawaii preparation and he gave me some really good specific workouts.  I started in wave 11 and was on my way.  The swim was uneventful other than feeling great in my Orca 3.8  – such a fantastic wetsuit!  As I started the bike, I remained as focused as possible just trying to complete the 2 loop course the best I could. I had one other person in my wave catch me and we rode together into T2.

 The run was quite dramatic.  Myself and one other person ran side my side for virtually the entire time.  I am rarely in that situation, but I liked it.  I just did my thing as I always do and focused on my race and how I was feeling – the rest was out of my control.  My stellar Timex watch was also doing it’s thing, telling me that I was running quite fast.  We were together until the last 100 meters or so into the finish and finished 2^nd by just a couple of seconds.  I was completely spent and dunked my entire head into the ice bucket under the 94 degree heat several times.  My time was 4:10 and I was happy with how things went. Of course, there is always room to improve, but overall it was a good effort. 

 Thanks to Timex (as always), PowerBar, Orca, Orbea, Shimano/Pro and also to Rudi at Compressport for the awesome calf sleeves!  These things felt great  on my calves and I highly recommend people try them out.  Also congrats to my teammates, Christine Anderson and Brian Schaning for fantastic efforts out there as well!!

Train safe and congrats to all the 1^st time 70.3 finishers out there!

Tim

Last weekend I decided to test out a little speed and do a sprint triathlon.  It was up in Steamboat Springs, CO, and the venue couldn’t have been prettier at over 7,000 feet.  It was the first time a triathlon had been held in Steamboat Lake since the 1980’s and the race organizers did a fantastic job.  I was already up there for work so I gave it a go.

I had the family there so that makes races always more fun.  The gun went off and before I knew it the 750 meter swim was over.  I was in the second wave so I had a little fun with it to see if I could catch the first wave.  I felt pretty good on the super hilly 12 mile bike and got into T2 with just 3 guys ahead of me.  The 3.5 mile run was so scenic and I caught all but one other athlete who was 40 seconds ahead.  Luckily the waves were spaced 3 minutes apart so I got the overall win!  It was a good time and felt good to get a little speed work in.  Big thanks to Lance from Without Limits who put on such a fun and well organized race!

Train safe,

Tim