Bridgetown CAMTRI Sprint Triathlon American Cup

Nearly one year ago, I raced the Sprint Triathlon Pan American Cup held in Bridgetown, Barbados. Barbados was an interesting place to visit, with some rich English heritage, and set up to be a great race for me ??? after working hard the first few laps of the five-loop bike course, my group caught the leaders and we made our way into transition in one big pack. The race would be decided on the run. That day, however, things did not continue to progress as I expected. Leading into the race I was nursing some very sore calves that were related to returning to intense training after a bike crash with a truck about a month prior, which had sidelined me with some bruised ribs for a while. After heading out on the run with the leaders, I soon began to fade and stumbled home in eighth place. In my post-race email to Coach Paulo, I wrote, ???Feels like a missed opportunity to get on my first podium.??? One year???s worth of racing later, and I still hadn???t??put together a swim-bike combination worthy of a podium finish.

Heading into this year???s race, I had new confidence in some areas of my training, but some doubts remained in others. I went back and forth in my mind as to how the race might play out, and often left myself contemplating scenarios where I would be confronted with those doubts. Finally, the night before the race, I decided that was not productive, especially in the few calm moments that remained. Any challenge I would face would be met with the affirmation, ???Just win the f***ing thing!???

Photo by: Andre Williams
Photo by: Andre Williams

Swim
23rd in 9:16, :20 behind the fastest

I went into the race ranked 5th, which I think is a pretty good spot to be as I can see where some??of the best swimmers are lining up and pick my spot accordingly. The Triathlon Squad teammate Eric Lagerstrom was ranked 4th, so my game plan was to pick a spot right next to him and plan to follow his feet (which I trust and have more experience following than anyone else???s in the field). We ended up near the right side. Another American athlete and solid swimmer, Eli Hemming, slotted in on my other side.

An example of diving too shallow. Photo by: Mark Harris
An example of diving too shallow. Photo by: Mark Harris

The horn sounded and we ran a few steps down the white sandy beach to the water. In my practice starts during warmup, I had dove too early and nearly put my nose into the sand. For the race start, I planned to take one more step than what felt comfortable. But that didn???t seem to workout quite right, either, and by the time my face hit the water, Eric was already a body length up. My plan had been to follow his feet, and I was now at his feet, so there was no reason to panic and gave chase.

The rest of the swim I was in the bunch and didn???t shy away from contact. As I???ve become more comfortable with the mayhem that can be ITU swimming, I???ve learned to put more energy into moving forward and less worry on whether hand is getting the perfect pull or if it???s on someone???s back. Just keep the pressure on; keep moving forward.??

Heading out of the water and back up the beach towards transition there was a steady stream of guys with no distinct gaps. My last race in Sarasota looked similar at the swim exit, but in that race I failed to get into the main group. I was determined not to let that happen again.

Driving the pace on the bike. Photo by: Andre Williams
Driving the pace on the bike. Photo by: Andre Williams

Bike
Fastest split in 30:35??

I mounted the bike and immediately went to work. The graph below shows my power file from the first bike lap. There is a little climb just before the halfway out on each bike lap, and I knew it would be important to be in my cycling shoes by that point, regardless of where I was amongst the field. After getting up to speed, I hopped on someone???s wheel, put one shoe on, then sprinted around, found another wheel to draft behind while I put the other shoe on, and then didn???t look back. Up the short climb the first time I went 496W for 29 seconds. At the top there was a u-turn so I got a chance to see how far ahead the leaders were and if there was anyone behind me. I had put a small gap on the guys behind me, but the guys ahead had consolidated into one group and there was now a sizable gap between me and them with no one in between to help me bridge. There was no hesitation, I put my head down, and drilled it to the end of the first lap. 2:38 and 401W is all it took, and as the group slowed around the second u-turn, I slotted into the back of the group, probably with a grin and a small sigh of relief.

Lap 1 power
Lap 1 power

I took my time the next lap to work my way to the front of the bunch. Jason Wilson, Matthew Wright and Eric were doing most of the work at this point, with the occasional pull by one (or both?) of the Perez brothers from Venezuela and Dillon Nobbs. Looking at the power file below of laps 2-4 you can see that the most erratic riding was done in that 2nd lap. With each lap I got a bit more aggressive and spent more time near the front.

Laps 2-4 power
Laps 2-4 power
Checking to see if anyone is interested in a break. Photo by: Mark Harris
Checking to see if anyone is interested in a break. Photo by: Mark Harris

My cycling training has been going very well, so if I couldn???t get a break going, I wanted to make sure that everyone was going to have to put in some big efforts and hopefully make their legs feel pretty tired going into the run. There were sections with pretty strong crosswinds, so if I was on the front in those sections on the last couple of laps, I rode all the way to the side of the road so the riders couldn???t echelon behind me. (I put them in the “gutter.”)

On the final lap I pushed hard up the hill one last time to see if they???d let me go. That didn???t work, and it was pretty clear that we were going to come into transition as a group. I rolled into T2 on the front of the group with the main players.

Final lap power
Final lap power
Rolling into T2 with the leaders. Photo by: Andre Williams
Rolling into T2 with the leaders. Photo by: Andre Williams

You can see my ride (with power) on Strava.

Run
2nd in 15:44, :08 behind the fastest

Photo by: Andre Williams
Photo by: Andre Williams

The run was going to be a bit of a mystery for me. Part of the reason I was so keen to make the bike hard was because I have not been doing the same volume and intensity on the run as my squad mates. At the beginning of the year I was diagnosed with a labral tear in my hip and had to take some time off to rest it and get some opinions from doctors on treatment. The doctors agreed that I will need surgery to repair the tear, but were unclear as to how soon I will need that surgery and how much pain or discomfort I will have as I try to train through it. Coach Paulo and I have taken a conservative approach over the past few months and I’ve worked with??Gino at Function Smart??to rehab and alter my stride to accommodate my condition. Considering the injury, my recovery and training has gone as well as I could have hoped, and I am nearly training at my previous volume, but now on treadmills and Alter-G treadmills to reduce the pounding that comes with running outside. So while there was some unanswered questions regarding my running, I certainly wasn’t going into the race expecting to not run well. If I did, I wouldn’t have stood on the starting line.

Leading Matthew Wright and Olympian Manny Huerta on the run. Photo by: Mark Harris
Leading Matthew Wright and Olympian Manny Huerta on the run. Photo by: Mark Harris

Out of T2, I found myself in fifth or sixth position. The pace felt fast, but I expected that. Eric had a few steps on me and I gauged my running on him for the first kilometer. When we hit the first turnaround, Eric had built a lead of four or five seconds to me, Manny Huerta and Matthew. The way back we were fighting a stiff headwind, and I knew those guys were just sitting on me. I considered letting up, trying to let them pass, and letting them “break the wind” (as runners like to say), but I knew there were more guys not too far behind. Instead, I kept the pressure on, hoping to break some of the guys behind me and secure a podium finish.

As we began the second lap, I realized Manny and I had created some space between Matthew and us, and I began to think about a 2nd place finish, rather than??just getting on the podium. I really had no idea how much my legs would be able to handle, but at that moment, I felt in control. I knew I wanted to get rid of Manny before the far turnaround so that he couldn’t sit on me the final kilometer into the wind, so at about 3k, I pushed hard to the cone. I could hear Manny’s breathing getting more distant, and I began to think about how special a Squad 1-2 with Eric would be. I made the turn with a gap, and knew that I had it if I could just keep moving forward. The final 500 wasn’t pretty, and everything I had gained on Eric while making that move was erased, but I made it to the finish line in 2nd!

Overall
2nd in 56:31, :08 behind 1st

Photo by: Andre Williams
Photo by: Andre Williams

Standing on that podium next to Eric was special, and something I won’t soon forget. Shortly after joining The Triathlon Squad and beginning to work with Paulo Sousa, Eric and I shared a bedroom with Joe Maloy in Poway, CA. For the first five months of 2013,??Eric and I??slept in beds that were closer together than we were standing on the podium on Sunday. Many of those nights, both of us had dreams of standing on the podium, no doubt.

If you made it this far in the blog, thanks for being a RunPD fan! I’d liked to say a quick a thanks to the friendly people of Barbados (and the ITU representatives) that put on another great event. Special thanks to my training partners, coach, sponsors, family, and fiancee Mo for supporting and believing in me! Next up is Pan American Championships in Monterrey, Mexico on May 3rd!

Results | Facebook Album #1 | Facebook Album #2

Life Time Fitness Oceanside Triathlon

Oceanside, CA. Photo by: Erik Pedersen
Oceanside, CA. Photo by: Erik Pedersen

I capped off my 2014 season at Life Time Fitness series finale in Oceanside last Sunday. This was my first non-draft triathlon since I did Life Time’s Tempe race last September. After racing in Cartagena a couple weeks ago (maybe I will have an update on that race and a few others in a season recap post to come), I dusted off the TT bike and got to work getting used to riding in the aero bars again.

The season has had plenty of ups and downs, but one thing that has remained consistent throughout is my bike leg. In every race I have done this year, I have felt that I was among the strongest cyclists in the pack. At??New Plymouth World Cup and Yokohama WTS earlier this year for example, I worked my way up to the lead group with uber-cyclists like Tom Davison, Richard Murray and Declan Wilson. I thought this race??would be a great opportunity to see how my bike leg stacks up against some of the very best non-draft cyclists in the sport. I also felt my swimming was??coming along in the last four weeks and thought I could put myself in a decent position out of the water to potentially ride with the main group.

Getting the ENVE-equipped time trial bike race-ready after about 13 months off.
Getting the ENVE-equipped time trial bike race-ready after about 13 months off.

This was a??very early morning. Welcome back to non-draft racing!??I stayed in Poway the night before, which is about 30 miles away from Oceanside. I was up at 3:45 to have some food (a couple eggs, bagels, and coffee) and make the drive down. This was my first race with separate locations for transition 1 and transition 2, so there were some logistics to figure out that I normally don’t need to do. Transitions were a couple miles apart, so I rode to T2, dropped off my running shoes, and then headed over to T1 to get everything else ready to go.

Swim

16th in 18:28 (1:51 behind the fastest)

Typically, water temperatures in Oceanside at the end of October are about 64F, well below the wetsuit cut off temperature of 68. I think the fabled El Ni??o of 2014 saw I was on the start list, however, and decided to kick up the water temperatures to 71F. So, unfortunately, it was another non-wetsuit swim for me (of the fourteen races I did this year, only two were wetsuit legal!). My roommate and training squad mate Eric Lagerstrom had an extra Roka speedsuit on hand and let me wear that. Thanks, E!

This was an in-water race start. These starts seem to be a little less physical than pontoon or beach starts, but aren’t the most fair. It’s difficult to keep everyone behind the start line as guys start to creep forward. For example, check the video and you’ll see someone in a white cap on the far end with an immediate jump on the rest of the field…

I was in the back half of the field after the first couple hundred meters or so. I could see there was a split in the field a couple guys ahead of me. I moved around a couple of guys, but by the time I had made the pass, the lead group had a pretty big gap. For most of the rest of the swim, I led the “chase” group. We eventually caught one guy that was caught in no man’s land and came out as a group of six. I heard that I was about “one minute down.” After looking at the splits, I see that I was about one minute down from the tail end of the front group, but nearly two minutes behind Tommy Zaferes, who had gone off the front by almost 40 seconds!

T1

18th in 1:01 (:23 behind the fastest)

The run to our bikes was quite short. By the time I got to my bike, I had just begun to unzip my swim skin. I wasted a bunch of time here just standing in front of my bike trying to take off the swim skin. As an ITU athlete, it is embarrassing and unacceptable to lose this much time in transition. I ran out onto the bike course at the very back of my swim group.

Check out some tricky split screen video action thanks to my parents’ camera work!

Bike

4th in 55:43 (1:35 behind fastest)

Photo by: Rich Cruse
Photo by: Rich Cruse

Out of T1 I was just behind Luke McKenzie. I knew he would be very strong on the bike, so I tried to keep him in sight. After five miles or so we moved through the guys just ahead and were working on closing the gap to the main pack. This course had several u-turns, allowing me to keep an eye on the race up ahead. Cam Dye was starting to pull away up ahead with a gap to Ben Collins. Just behind Ben was a strong group all riding together. I knew I needed to get closer to that group to be in the pointy end at the end of the race.

Eric Lagerstrom leading a tight pack.
Eric Lagerstrom leading a tight pack. Photo by: Erik Pedersen
About a minute back. Photo by: Erik Pedersen
About a minute back. Photo by: Erik Pedersen

Nearly 20 minutes into the race I started to hear a tapping noise coming from my front tire. My first thought was I had a nail or some other piece of metal stuck in the tire and it was clicking with each revolution and hitting the fork of the bike. I could see something sticking out of the tire, but air pressure was still good. As I focused on it, I could see it was red, and since my tubular has a red stripe down the center, I wondered if a chunk of my tire was ripping off! Tire pressure continued to hold, however. I finally thought, “screw it,” and kept pressing. During this distraction, Luke McKenzie opened a sizable gap on me. He was riding really well, and I needed to be 100% on to stay with him. From this point on I was pretty much riding solo, catching a few guys that were dropped by the pack ahead, and looked to my power meter to help keep the pressure on.

Luke McKenzie caught the main group and even went through to the front. Photo by: Erik Pedersen
Luke McKenzie caught the main group and even went through to the front. Photo by: Erik Pedersen

At this point, Cam Dye had opened up a sizable lead on the rest of the group. Ben Collins was able to shake the lead pack and get a gap, as well. I’ve seen results the past few years??where these guys put down fast??bike splits, but being in the race and seeing it happen (thanks to the 5 u-turns on the course) was pretty impressive. Maybe with some more time in the saddle…

KEEP THE PRESSURE ON! Photo by: Erik Pedersen
KEEP THE PRESSURE ON! Photo by: Erik Pedersen
A very sticky sticker.
A very sticky sticker.

After the race I had a look at the tire, and it looks like a race sticker was stuck to the tire. Initially it had a big piece flapping off, which is what was making all the noise and tapping the fork with each revolution. As the race went on, the sticker was worn away. This is what was left by the end…

For you guys interested in power and data, my ride file is up on Strava. I averaged 330W and 26.3 mph (42.3 km/h). Going into the race I thought I could be a bit higher than this, maybe as high as 340W. Luke McKenzie rode 54:25 compared to my 55:43. The extra 10W probably wouldn’t have been enough to ride quite as fast as he did, but maybe it would have been enough to get to the tail end of the lead pack that he rode straight through. I learned in this race that in this high-level non-draft racing format (for Olympic distance, at least), there is still a racing dynamic on the bike and knowing when to put out the big efforts is more important than just riding the highest average power you can hold throughout the 40 km.

T2

:34

Photo by: Ralph Anders
Photo by: Ralph Anders

Run

8th in 33:15 (2:15 behind the fastest)

Coming off the bike I was in 10th place with at least a minute gap to the next guy. Oceanside Tri was the final leg in a three-part race series that included an ???equalizer??? event between the women and men. The women started the race 10 minutes and 13 seconds before the men, and we had to try to catch the women before the finish to ???win.??? This was nice for me at this point in the race because there were a few women in between me and the next guy for me to focus on and help me bridge the gap.

Oceanside Tri run course goes up and down the boardwalk near the pier. Photo by: Erik Pedersen
Oceanside Tri run course goes up and down the boardwalk near the pier. Photo by: Erik Pedersen

The course was flat with some short, steep hills every mile and a half to break things up. After a couple of miles I finally caught some of the guys that were ahead. I first caught David Giardini and then Luke McKenzie about a mile later. I was running OK, but my legs were definitely tired from the hard bike.

With a couple miles left, I saw Joe Maloy running the opposite direction, LEADING THE RACE! I was really pumped to see that, and I???m pretty sure I told him so. 🙂 This was his first big win of his career, and it was nice to celebrate with him after the race.

Overall

8th in 1:49:01 (3:14 behind the fastest)

I finished in 8th place with, I think, a satisfactory performance. Going into the race, I thought I could be closer to the podium, and I certainly put everything I had on race day into accomplishing that, but I made some mistakes (T1 and dealing with that tire mishap) that were too much for me to overcome with the quality of the field out there racing. A podium or top-5 finish would have been really nice going into the off season, but instead I am settling for a??solid result and learning experience.

Results

Thanks to??Hypster.com??for their support all year. Thanks to??ENVE for putting me on the fastest equipment out there, including the SES 8.9’s and 110mm stem I used in this race. I’m off racing until some time in 2015. More updates surely to come on ending 2014, what I’m doing on my time off, new sponsors, and looking forward to 2015.

Photo by: Ralph Anders
Photo by: Ralph Anders
Photo by: Erik Pedersen
Photo by: Erik Pedersen
IMG_5906
Photo by: Erik Pedersen

Mid Season Update: Making up for lost blogs

I began writing this blog over five years ago to share my experiences training, competing and living as a student-athlete at Northern Arizona University. I had always been a deligent recorder of all aspects running in my personal running log, so I thought I might as well put this stuff on a blog to allow friends and family (mostly Mom, Dad and teammates looking for a shoutout, originally) to see what I was up to. After a couple years had passed, I realized that I had created this great resource for??myself??to remember what I had done in the past, mistakes I’d made, decisions that had worked out, and perhaps most importantly, things that had previously motivated me to be my best.

I had great expectations for myself for the 2014 season. With the exception of a couple bright spots (New Plymouth WC and Yokohama WTS),??results have been fairly disappointing this year. This, in addition to the time committed to training, travel, life, etc., has created an excuse for me not to continue documenting my experiences along the way. It’s August now, and looking at my blogging for the year, I see that I have left a few holes, which kinda upsets me.

There are some great views on the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner.
There are some great views on the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner.

I am now sitting on a train travelling south along the coast from Simi Valley back down to San Diego. I went on a short trip to Tucson (via plane) to help my girlfriend move out of her place in Tucson and over to Simi Valley (via truck/car). I have learned taking the train is quite relaxing, but can be??very slow — my departure from Simi was delayed over an hour, and then I sat at LA’s Union Station for about an hour and a half until continuing on. Anyway, all that to say that I had some time + Wifi on my hands, and thus: this blog!

My last good race update was from my first three ITU races of the season back in March. Those races were highlighted by my 18th place finish at the New Plymouth World Cup against some very good competition. Shortly after returning from that trip, I had a bit of a cycling accident, crashing into a fairly large commercial truck. I was lucky in that I??came away with just some bruised ribs and my bike only suffered a few scratches. My front wheel took the brunt of the impact and was totalled. Turns out carbon fiber makes for a pretty good one-time-use bumper, though not a very cost effective one. ENVE took care of me and sent me a new SES 3, and I was back ??on my bike in a couple of days. Swimming and running took a bit longer to come along, but after a few weeks, I put all that behind me.

IMG_2161In April I went to Barbados for a Sprint Pan American Cup race. I swam well enough to get into a group of some strong cyclists that were willing to work together, and we caught the lead pack about halfway through the race. I struggled on the run and finished up 8th. Disappointed that I missed a good opportunity to get on the podium, but happy to collect some ITU points. Results

In May I jetted off to China with training partner Joe Maloy for the Chengdu World Cup. This was my first time to China. I was happy to be travelling with Joe; it helps to have a bit of familiarity when in such a new place. I missed a very large pack on the swim and ended up time trialing the whole race on my own. My 57th place finish in Chengdu is probably one of my worst races of my career. Results??Facebook Photo Album (Chengdu & Yokohama)

Best swim of my life! (Photo by: Delly Carr/ITU Media)
Best swim of my life! (Photo by: Delly Carr/ITU Media)

I had a second chance the next weekend in racing my very first World Triathlon Series race in Yokohama, Japan. This race was wetsuit legal, and I took??complete advantage of that. I swam in the middle of the field the whole way, coming out ahead of some very accomplished athletes. I hopped on the Davison-Murray-Sissons train and we made our way up to the front of the race. This race was without a doubt the most??fun I have ever had racing triathlons! I was riding right next to guys that I’ve been watching on TV since I started the sport — Brownlee, Gomez, Brownlee, etc. It was a small affirmation that my career is moving in the direction. I held on with a decent run off the bike and came in just behind Joe in 20th. A top-20 result in my first WTS race had me??very excited for what was ahead. Results

My next race was the Pan American Championships held in Dallas. I finished 5th in this event last year when it was held in Vila Vehla, Brazil. I ended up in the second chase pack on the bike, and the gaps were just too big for me to mix it up in the front end of the race. I was 33rd. Results

We made it out to Buffalo Park in Flagstaff, Arizona a couple of times each week.
We made it out to Buffalo Park in Flagstaff, Arizona a couple of times each week.

Right after Dallas, The Triathlon Squad packed their bags and headed to one of my favorite places in the World, Flagstaff! We were there for about four weeks getting in an altitude training block. I saw a few friends that I went to school with and put in a lot of training hours.

From Flagstaff I went to Chicago for my second WTS race. We were looking forward to another wetsuit swim, as the water in Lake Michigan had been quite chilly. The weather leading up to the race was pretty warm, raising the lake temperature to just under the wetsuit cutoff. The ITU and medical staff decided to ignore the temperature cutoff, and went with a nonwetsuit swim. I was well off the back on the swim, but fought like Hell on the bike. I bridged up to several guys, rode with them for a couple laps, and then ultimately broke away to see if I could cut the gap a bit more. A lot of friends commended me for my effort on the bike, which was nice to hear, but it didn’t make up for the hole I had dug myself on the swim. I finished up with a 44th place finish. Results

IMG_2633

My most recent race was a week ago in Jiayuguan, China. Yep, two trips to China in one year. Like Chengdu this was another World Cup, but this time at about 5,500 feet of elevation. The lake that we swam in can be quite chilly, as it is fed from the local mountains (with some peaks reaching an impressive 18,000 ft!), so my hopes were that we would have a wetsuit swim. Jiayuguan is right on the border of the Gobi desert, and the days before the race were very warm. Temperatures in the lake shot up to 23C by race morning, making it a nonwetsuit swim. I hate that swimming with a wetsuit gives me such an advantage, as I want to be an athlete that can perform in all conditions, but the reality is that, at this point, it makes a difference for me. I ended up with a very similar swim to the one I had in Chicago. Again, I rode well, this time actually pulling back some time to the front pack with a 4th best bike split. I picked off a few guys on the run, but still only finished 45th. Results

(Photo by: Darryl Carey / ITU Media)
(Photo by: Darryl Carey / ITU Media)

Up next for me is a Sprint Pan American Cup race in Kelowna. I raced there two years ago, and fell in love with the area. I’m very excited to head back, this time with good friends Heather and Trevor Wurtele (they live there part of the year) and Eric Lagerstrom (also plans on racing).

I will most likely be racing the Super Sprint event in Las Vegas on September 11th. This is not an ITU event, so no points up for grabs, but it is fun, fast racing with good prize money available.

I will finish up my season with a couple World Cups in October, most likely Cozumel, Mexico and Tongyeong, South Korea.

Thanks for everyone’s support and words of encouragement this season. The highs and lows of 2014 have been very polarizing, and the phone calls, emails, and little messages I have received from many of you help me keep a level head and remind me to enjoy the pursuit.

#JiggyWC Tomorrow

My second race of the year in China is tomorrow at the ITU Jiayuguan World Cup. The trip has been surprisingly smooth, and I am ready to go for tomorrow. I just had a sitdown with Coach Paulo (it’s nice having him along the trip this time, along with The Triathlon Squad teammates Joe Maloy, Eric Lagerstrom and Chilean Felipe Van De Wyngard) and we highlighted what it will take for me to be successful tomorrow. More on that after the race!

For now, I’d like to let you know how to follow the race and share a few photos/instagrams/tweets from my adventure so far. There should be live timing tomorrow at http://triathlon.org/live. My race goes off at 9 am local time on Saturday, which will be 6 pm Pacific on Friday. The start list can be found here (I’m wearing #18 tomorrow) and results will be posted after the race here.

#TheTriathlonSquad singlehandedly created the #JiggyWC hashtag.

@worldtriathlon listened.

First look at the race venue. It’s a two lap swim, eight lap bike, four lap run. Of note: we are over 5,000 feet of elevation here. While this is my first time racing a triathlon at altitude, loyal RunPD followers know that I am no stranger to altitude as I spent six years running and going to school in Flagstaff, AZ at 7,000 feet.

As I’ve said, the trip has been quite smooth, much thanks to the great group we are travelling with from USA Triathlon, including Coach Greg Mueller and athletes Jarrod Shoemaker, Will Huffman and Jessica Broderick in addition to my squadmates/coach.

But that’s not say we’ve encountered some interesting items (or just bad translations) in the buffet and around.

"The dainty cyclone is coming." Right; sounds like no cause for alarm.
“The dainty cyclone is coming.” Right; sounds like no cause for alarm.
Some good words in there. But what does it all mean???
Some good words in there. But what does it all mean???

And finally, I did get to see the Great Wall of China a couple times while out riding. Jiayuguan is the furthest west point (“first pier”) of the Ming Dynasty portion of the Great Wall. I’ve had fun researching the area and the Great Wall in general on Wikipedia and Google Earth (which requires a VPN to get pass the Great “Firewall” of China).

P.S. Check out this article my local paper, The Ventura County Star, wrote on me a few days before I left for China!

Off to the races!

jason joe eric Tritonman
Like 2013, I will continue living, training and racing with Eric Lagerstrom and Joe Maloy in 2014.

Welcome to 2014

I believe this is where I???m supposed to tell about all the changes I have made over this off-season, and how that is going to translate into newfound success. While I have made a few changes in equipment (thanks to USA Triathlon and ENVE Composites??? more on that below), by and large, much is the same as last year. You may recall that last year I joined Paulo Sousa???s The Triathlon Squad, began working with them in November of 2012 and then moved to Poway to train full-time in January. Similarly, this season???s training began in November and I continue to live in Poway, training full-time with the same guys under the same coach. The reason for my success in 2014 won???t be due to changes, but consistency.

Winter training was good. We put in a lot of hard hours, enjoying most of them, surviving some, and staying engaged always. It???s always great for a few months to pass and realize you haven???t missed any training due to injury. Kudos to Paulo for training smart. 🙂 I???m excited to translate this fitness into results.

IMG_0857

Preseason

I actually had a bit of a false start to the race season already. On February 16, I ran a local road race, the Coronado 10k. Some pretty quick guys in Scott Bauhs and Ben Bruce came out and led the race up front. I was in a pack of a few guys most of the race and ended up finishing 5th in 31:32. It was a fun event and a good way to stir the dormant pre-race butterflies a bit. As Paulo put it, it was a ???good tempo run.??? Results??Strava

Last weekend I was down near Fiesta Island for the UCSD Tritonman Triathlon. This was a collegiate draft legal race that let some of us from The Squad jump in. It was a sprint distance race, and a great opportunity to have a test run before races start to count. I made a few mistakes, highlighting some things to focus on and fix this past week in training. I ended up 5th (6th if you count Greg Billington, but officially he was disqualified for not serving multiple penalties!). Thanks to the race organizers for giving us the opportunity to race locally. Results Photo album

Clermont

Back in the day. I miss those shoes...
Back in the day. I miss those shoes…

This weekend I am in Clermont, Florida for a sprint distance ITU Pan American Cup. This race was my second ITU race of my career back in 2012, where I finished 17th. I remember my excitement after the race, knowing I???d earned my first ITU points. Goals are a bit higher this time around. Here is the start list. (I???m ranked 10th)

Australia

A few days after returning from Florida I will be heading off to Australia with training partner Joe Maloy. USAT will have a small camp where we will stay and train before racing the Mooloolaba ITU World Cup on March 15. There is a possibility for me to race in the New Plymouth ITU World Cup a week later, but as of now, I am not on the start list. There is a chance I will roll on to the start list, so I will be keeping an eye on that. This will my first time to Australia and I???m obviously looking forward to it very much.

New bike

Bike build
Bike build

Thanks to Litespeed???s support of USAT, I will be racing on a new Litespeed L3 this year. I was on my previous bike, a Blue RC6, for nearly three years and it was time to upgrade. This was the first time I have had to opportunity to build a bike up from just the frame myself. With two mechanical engineering degrees (I finally finished my Master???s of Engineering degree in December!), I thought that if I can???t figure this out, I might want to ask NAU for a refund! Thanks to a bit of help from training partner Eric Lagerstrom and Paulo, I finished the build in a couple of days. The bike rides and looks great, thanks in large part to ENVE. They sent me a fresh seat post, 40cm road bar and 100mm stem to go with the SES 3.4 Clinchers that I train on and SES 8.9 Tubulars that I race on.

Race Schedule

I have a??tentative race schedule posted. There are a lot of World Cups on there, and with Olympic points qualification beginning in May, these races will be more and more difficult to get into. It’s likely I won’t know whether I am racing until a couple of weeks before the event. The only way to really guarantee the races I’d like to do is to BE BETTER!

F1 Fearless Pro Super Sprint on Universal Sports

universal sports f1 fearless pro

Last night Universal Sports aired the F1 Fearless Pro Super Sprint. This was my last race of my 2013 season, about two weeks ago. The race took place in Mission Bay, home to the very first triathlon almost 40 years ago.

I thought the coverage of the men’s race was pretty good. They did a good job showing how the race for the podium unfolded. I had barely any race coverage. The issue here isn’t that the television cameras didn’t capture??enough of the race, but rather that I didn’t race fast enough. Had I been in the mix, I would have had lots of air-time, like my The Triathlon Squad teammate Eric Lagerstrom. Eric, Joe Maloy and I did get some one-on-one time with the camera before the race. At this point in my pro career, it’s still pretty neat to see your face on tv. I plan to get over this feeling as this becomes more common… 🙂

A face made for television.
A face made for television.

In case you missed it last night, the race will re-air a few more times this week.

  • November 12 at noon
  • November 14 at 5 pm
  • November 15 at 1:30 am

(All Eastern Time)

The Competitors Radio Show

In studio with Bob Babbit on The Competitors Radio Show. Photo by: Eric Lagerstrom.
In studio with Bob Babbit on The Competitors Radio Show. Photo by: Eric Lagerstrom.

Last week Eric Lagerstrom, Joe Maloy and I were on Bob Babbitt’s The Competitors Radio Show. We briefly went over our humble beginnings in triathlon, the recent F1 Super Sprint race, and the dynamic between the three of us as we eat, sleep, train & race together. We had a great time with Bob and look forward to more of these types of media requests after kicking ass next year!

You can listen to the interview here.

San Juan Pan Am Cup & F1 Super Sprint

A couple short race recaps from my last two races of the season:

Coming off of a big race at Cozumel World Cup, I was looking forward to returning to the Caribbean for some more warm-weather racing, this time in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I stayed with some friends from high school, Chris Baird and Brianna Blanchard, in a great condo that was just a few kilometers from the race site. This was only my third Continental Cup race of the year, but with a 5th place finish in Brazil back in June, I felt that finishing on the podium was a realistic goal.

San Juan ITU Pan American Cup swim start. Photo by: Allan Torres.
San Juan ITU Pan American Cup swim start. Photo by: Allan Torres.

I probably swam at a similar level here that I did a week prior in Cozumel, but with twice the distance and less quality swimmers to fill in the gaps between me and the leaders, I came out of the water with a lot more work to do. Early in the bike, Travis Johnston from South Africa and Graham Leitch from Great Britain rode strong and we were gaining some time on the leaders. The course was flat, but really rough road conditions with lots of potholes and cobblestone. Though this was my first experience racing on these types of roads, I know this isn’t uncommon in ITU racing, and I think the experience I gained here on the bike was worthwhile. My trio was unable to bring the group back in, and eventually began losing time to the larger lead pack.

Always looking ahead after the swim to see who I am going to work with on the bike. Photo by: Allan Torres.
Always looking ahead after the swim to see who I am going to work with on the bike. Photo by: Allan Torres.
Some of the cobbles we hit twice per lap.
Some of the cobbles we hit twice per lap.

Heading out on the run I could really feel the heat. We got a few minutes of rain, which felt great until the sun returned and turned the puddles on the road to steam. I knew people up ahead would enjoy these conditions even less than I was, and I was able to pass a few guys to at least salvage some ITU points out of the race.

Once I had stopped gaining time on the lead group on the bike, this became more about surviving better than the rest than really racing. Which sucks. I don’t do triathlons because they are difficult — I want to race for the top of the podium and on this day I wasn’t able to do that. I ended up finishing 14th in the race of attrition.

Brianna Blanchard and Chris Baird
Brianna Blanchard and Chris Baird

Quick congrats to Brianna on probably her best race yet, finishing 3rd here. I also want to say thanks to her and Chris for helping me find a bike shop to repair my tubular flat the day before the race. I got to the start line with no excuses and nothing on my mind but the race in front of me.

As I said I grabbed a few more ITU points, putting me at 146th now in the world. This ranking will become more and more important as we creep closer to 2016 and the Rio Olympics.

Results

After the race I went to Simi Valley to celebrate my dad’s 60th birthday. I had a great time visiting with family and friends. It’s fun sharing my adventures racing around the world with them. They are all very supportive, especially my parents. This makes it so much easier to pursue this crazy life knowing that the ones I care about want me to succeed.

After the birthday celebrations I headed back to Poway to finish up the season. My last race was the F1 Super Sprint race at South Shores Park in San Diego. The race was 300m swim/8* km bike/2.5 km run/300m swim/8* km bike/2.5 km run. With eight laps on the bike and five on the run, the race was great for spectators and it was great to see some familiar faces comes out to watch. (*I measured the bike to be 6.4 km)

F1 Triathlon race start. Photo by: Erik Pedersen
F1 Triathlon race start. Photo by: Erik Pedersen

Before the race we were told lapped athletes would be disqualified. With such short loops I knew that falling more than a minute behind would probably mean getting lapped out. I had a great swim, right on the feet of the lead bunch. I flopped my swim exit a bit, tripping on the carpet laid down to the water’s edge, and missed the very front group out on the bike. Ben Kanute, Tommy Zaferes and teammate Eric Lagerstrom were too strong on the bike to bring back in. With the lapped rule in mind, I went to the front of my group and did most of the work knowing there was no time to sit up and play it tactically. Heading out for the first run, my other teammate from The Triathlon Squad, Joe Maloy, flew by me and I just couldn’t respond to his move. I dropped the other guys behind me, and got to the second swim with Derek Oskutis.

Tommy leading Eric and the rest out of the water. Photo by: Erik Pedersen.
Tommy leading Eric and the rest out of the water. Photo by: Erik Pedersen.
IMG_9913
Chasing close behind. Photo by: Erik Pedersen.
Leading the chase pack, trying to limit losses to the front trio. Photo by: Erik Pedersen.
Leading the chase pack, trying to limit losses to the front trio. Photo by: Erik Pedersen.
Joe flying out of T2. Photo by: Erik Pedersen.
Joe flying out of T2. Photo by: Erik Pedersen.
I was able to run down Derek Oskutis before heading into the 2nd swim. Photo by: Dan Frost.
I was able to run down Derek Oskutis before heading into the 2nd swim. Photo by: Dan Frost.
On Derek's heels. Photo by: Erik Pedersen.
On Derek’s heels. Photo by: Erik Pedersen.

Diving back into the water I was right behind Derek. I knew what I had to do — stick to his feet — but I just couldn’t do it. After a short, fast and hard swim-bike-run, getting your face back in the water is tough. Eventually John Dahlz came by me, and I was able to ride his draft through the rest of the swim. We rode the second bike mostly together. We were holding the gap to the leaders at around 1:00, so we were close to being lapped out, but I knew with no mistakes we should make it to the finish line.??John got a gap on me heading out for the final run leg, but I was able to run him down before the finish, leaving me with 6th place.

  1. Ben Kanute
  2. Tommy Zaferes
  3. Eric Lagerstrom
  4. Joe Maloy
  5. Derek Oskutis
  6. Jason Pedersen
  7. John Dahlz
Keeping the pressure on during the 2nd bike. Photo by: Erik Pedersen.
Keeping the pressure on during the 2nd bike. Photo by: Erik Pedersen.
Moving past John Dahlz on the second run. Photo by: Erik Pedersen
Moving past John Dahlz on the second run. Photo by: Erik Pedersen.

After the race there was a little relay action. I was partnered with Dan Feeney. Most people didn’t have much left in the tank by now. The two 1st losers however, Sara McLarty and Tommy Zaferes, found some extra energy and pretty much dominated.

Overall it was a??very??tough race and a lot of fun. Thanks to Lars Finanger, F1 and Fearless Races for putting on this great event. Looking forward to more super sprint races in 2014. Also thank you to sponsors??ENVE??and??Hypster.com. More blogs to come on 2013 thoughts, offseason plans and adventures, and the upcoming 2014 season.

Joe Maloy, Jason Pedersen and Eric Lagerstrom (l-to-r). I owe a lot of my success to these two. Photo by: Dan Frost.
Joe Maloy, Jason Pedersen and Eric Lagerstrom (l-to-r). I owe a lot of my success to these two. Photo by: Dan Frost.

EDIT:

Alan Webb watching the F1 Super Sprint triathlon in San Diego.
Alan Webb watching the F1 Super Sprint triathlon in San Diego.

I forgot to add that Alan Webb was in attendance! With runner-turned-triathlete Lukas Verzbicas also there, exactly 40% of all US high schoolers that ran under 4:00 for the mile were spectators at the race. Of course I went up to him and reminded him that I met him in 2004 at Nike Team Nationals… and got his autograph… which is hanging on my wall at home…??Did I mention I was a fan?