Pigman Olympic-Final Ironman Tuneup

Pigman Olympic Tri

Swim: 19:49  Fastest split
Bike: 57:47  25.8mph  294w  Fastest split
Run:  37:54  4th fastest
Overall:  1:58:20  Career win #43

Last tuneup race before Wisconsin.  Didn't have any expectations for this, just wanted a hard workout and long run.  Was a little nervous for how I'd feel coming off the training week last week and finishing my workouts yesterday at 6pm.  Swim went great, strong the entire way, I'm far better in calm water than choppy.  Got on the bike and was pleasantly surprised by the numbers I was seeing.  They weren't record breaking but I was stronger than I expected.  Big lead off the bike and then the run legs were never there.  Felt fine, but my 5:45 effort wasn't even getting me under 6min pace.  I knew I had an additional 2 hour run after I crossed the line and with a big lead I may not have been as motivated to push as usual.  Crossed the line, turned around and headed straight back out for 2 more hours of Wisconsin prep.  It was hard but this was a great way to do it, aid stations every mile and lots of others suffering to keep me from stopping early.  Last long run done, accomplished all the objectives today, good day.  Hopefully I can put together another big week.

Steelhead 70.3-First Title Defense

Steelhead 70.3

Swim: 28:33  9th fastest
Bike: 2:08:53  26.0 mph  265w  2nd fastest
Power:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/354712853
Run: 1:16:21  3rd fastest
Overall: 3:57:28  2nd place

Race got off to a rough start.  Did a dolphin dive straight into a sand bar, face full of sand and googles went down in my mouth.  Stood up, got goggles back on but they were full of sand so had to get those clear.  Finally got going and thankfully was able to swim up onto the back of the main pack.  Pretty uneventful swim from there, exited with the same guys I have been all year, 9th place but only a few seconds back of 4th.
Big group out of the swim so I punched the pace hard and went to the front as soon as I got on the bike to try to get rid of some of the stragglers before things settled down.  Could tell right away the legs were not there but hoped they might come around after a bit.  Able to drop a couple guys in the first 5k and when things settled down it was a group of 6 chasing one leader.  After backing off the pace the legs still weren't there and I sort of knew they probably wouldn't ever come around.  Knew I had to ride very smart and be very selective with how I dished out my efforts.  Made sure I wasn't spending any more time at the front than the other guys and sat in the group most of the way.  Wanted to ideally get rid of a few more guys so I waited until the last aid station and then hit the pace hard as I knew others would be busy grabbing bottles.  Struggled to push even 300w, looked back after a few minutes and everyone was still there.  At that point I knew I just had to sit in the pack and wait for the run.  The group ended up just 4 by T2, one guy got a penalty and another a flat.  Recorded the lowest wattage I've seen all year, even lower than what I rode back in April.  The group hit T2 over 5 minutes back of the lone leader, pretty much a race for second at that point.
Thanks to riding smart when the legs weren't there on the bike, I was able to salvage my run legs.  Moved into second in the first mile, held the first few mile splits around 5:40 and slowly grew my second place gap and pulled back the leader.  His advantage was too much though but I pulled his lead back to 90 seconds by the finish with my best run of the year.
Mixed feelings on this race overall.  I was definitely off, so am pretty satisfied to walk away with second when normally this kind of day might barely place top-10.  At the same time I believe an average bike ride would have won the race so I'm sort of kicking myself a little that I didn't rest more since pro wins are so rare and hard to come by.
Time to train for Ironman Wisconsin now, I want to remember this race in 5 weeks, that I potentially gave up a win in order to jump start my Wisconsin training block early.
Random note #1:  Got stung by a bee on the bike, first time ever in a race
Random note #2: My time was nearly identical to last year, just 12 seconds off

Racine 70.3-Second Time in 8 Days

Racine 70.3

Swim: 26:59  15th fastest
Bike: 2:09:15  5th fastest  26.2mph  279 average watts
File:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/346818644
Run: 1:17:24  5th fastest
Overall: 3:57:21  8th place

First 70.3 double ever.  After racing overly aggressive last week and with this being the second race in the double I knew I wanted to race much more steady and conservative.  But with a deeper field and flat bike course I knew the swim would be critical.  The lake was pretty rough and it really separated the swimmers from the pretenders and unfortunately for me I was further behind than normal out of the swim and with nobody to ride with.  Stayed positive and knew that people would come back to me.  Promised myself after last week that I wasn't going to pull people around the bike course all day, they were going to have to work if they wanted to ride with me.  But as I caught riders one at a time nobody was actually strong enough to stay with so I ended up in a solo effort the first 35 miles.  At 35 miles I caught the same guy who I caught last week at mile 40.  This time though I wasn't giving him a free ride back.  We took turns pulling but I was the stronger rider and I really had to back off to let him come by.  I'm sure we were slower overall than if I had just lead the whole way but I thought it'd be worth it to see how I could run after this way.  287w the first 30 miles which dropped to 271 the second half working with someone else.  Finished the ride feeling so much better than last week, 13w less for the ride felt like a world of difference.
However, for how fresh I felt finishing the ride I wasn't seeing run splits as fast as I expected, perhaps from last week?  Felt great though, started out much more conservative than last week and it showed as I felt my strongest the entire race miles 7-10 of the run.  Ran hard the entire way just waiting for the usual blowups to occur but with cool weather nobody fell apart.  Felt like I raced pretty well so am disappointed with the finish place, my swim really hurt me today.  Can't say I ever felt any lingering effects from last week which surprised me, pretty pleased to run what I did the second race of the double.
Only good news about my disappointing finishes the last two weeks is that it made my decision whether to race 70.3 World Champs or IM Wisconsin an easy one.  IM Wisc it is, 7 weeks to prepare.

Muncie 70.3-Back Home Again

Muncie 70.3

Swim: 25:17  8th fastest
Bike: 2:06:01  26.6mph  292w  2nd fastest
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/342274157
Run: 1:19:24  6th fastest
Overall: 3:54:01  4th place

The swim pace was really casual which was a surprise to me given that there were several guys who normally drop me.  The water was barely wetsuit legal so I think people were afraid to push the pace for fear of over heating.  I swam pretty comfortably in the lead pack the whole way, easiest swim I've had this year, just the fourth time I've ever swam lead pack in a pro race.

Pretty big group out of the water, I had a really good T1.  Pressed the pace pretty hard right away on the bike, my biggest fear with a flat course like this is that I'd get stuck towing a big group the whole way.  Thanks to a quick T1 and pushing 313w the first 5 minutes of the bike I was able to ride clear of the main group and ride my own race in 4th place until mile 40.  At mile 40 I caught second and third place, sat behind them for about a minute and then made a big move up a small incline in an attempt to get away.  Rode the next minute at 347w, they stayed with me.  Rode the next 10 minutes at 309w, they stayed with me.  On a calm day flat course there is such a strong draft, even at 10 meters separation.  Finally after my 10 minute effort I decided I would 'play the game' and let off the pace to let the other two come around and tow me into T2.  Neither guy would pass me.  I thought maybe they were both fried so I hit them with another big effort, but again couldn't get away.  So I backed off, neither guy would come by.  This pattern continued all the way to T2, I hoped my efforts on the bike would cripple both these guys for the run, it didn't.  Probably hurt me a lot more than them.  Bike split is a new PR, finally beat my 2008 Clearwater split

Started the run in second, got passed in the first mile but stayed within about 20 seconds all the way to the turnaround.  37:30 for the first half, the most aggressive I've ever taken out a 70.3 run.  Unfortunately fourth place was only about 10 seconds back at the turnaround and I gradually began to slow the second half.  Slipped to fourth at about mile 8, still on pace to run 1:15.  Fought through mile 9 but then knew that a comeback probably wouldn't happen.  Also knew that I had a 10 minute lead on 5th place and I'm racing another one of these in 8 days.  Conceded the race in favor of jogging in and saving what I could for quicker recovery.

Disappointed with the result, but reality is I raced very well.  Swim couldn't have been better, bike was 8w better than I did in Kansas.  Had the course had hills like Kansas I imagine I would have had no trouble dropping the two athletes I towed.  I think this is just a case of a course last month that played perfectly to my strength (Kansas) and a course this day that did not.  Yet I probably raced better in the second, the course just didn't allow me to utilize my strength.  Looking forward to my first 70.3 double in 8 days.

Decatur Tri-Midwest Gem

Decatur Lakeside Tri  1200m/19 miles/4.5 miles

Swim: 15:38  3rd fastest
Bike: 41:42  27.6mph  317 watts  Fastest split
First half: 324w 27.0mph 115ft elevation gain  cross/tail wind
Second half: 309w 28.2mph 115ft elevation loss  cross/head wind
Power file: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/339555955
Run: 24:53  3rd fastest
Overall: 1:23:33  Career win #42

Swim was pretty average, by myself entire way, out of the water in third, minute down.  Got to work on the bike, had good legs.  Wanted to push 320w for the ride.  Was at 324w at the turnaround but couldn't quite sustain it the second half.  Took the lead just before halfway and pulled away pretty quickly.  Lead moto was staying way too close and I was catching a bit of a draft and getting some of the cross wind blocked.  Doubt it made any difference in the race outcome.  Fastest bike split by nearly 2 minutes and onto the run course with a 2 minute lead and the only real runner threat 5 minutes down.  Legs took first 5 minutes to recover then were good.  Ran an honest pace but without being pressed never went to that last gear.  Good win, racing well right now, especially on the bike, never had legs like this before.  27.6mph my fastest average speed ever.  Perfect tuneup for Muncie, excited to see what I can do there.  Thinking my 3:52 PR from 2008 should be going down.

Kansas 70.3-Dueling Crowie

Swim: 6th fastest split
The times on the results are screwed up, I don't know it.  This was a good, not great, swim for me.  I didn't swim awful like I have most races so far this year, and I hung on the back of the lead group until the turnaround which was good.  It wasn't great because I got dropped at the turnaround.  Still I came out just a minute down on the lead 5 guys, I'll take that.  With a challenging bike course ahead I knew I was in good position.

Bike:  2:09:54  25.6mph  Fastest split!
Got on the bike and my HR was over 170 following the swim.  I knew I had to chill and let that come down to something sustainable and was forced to ride easier than planned first 10min.  Finally after 10min or so the HR got down and with that I found my legs and was off.  Solo TT for 40min when I made up the minute from the swim and caught the group.  As I caught them I realized Crowie was already off the front.  It took a pretty good effort the first 40min and I wasn't confident I had the fitness to sustain that so I hung in the back of the group for the next 38 minutes or so and conserved.  Crowie was putting time into all of us but I wasn't even thinking about racing him, just waiting to make a move on the group in a bid for second place.  Finally around 35 miles I made the move up the biggest hill on the course and had no trouble separating, then it was off after Crowie 3 minutes up the road.  All out solo time trial those last 20 miles and in that span I rode over 3 minutes into the chase pack and brought Crowie's lead from 3 minutes down to 45 seconds by the time we hit T2.  I knew I was riding hard enough those last 20 miles I was hurting my run, but I thought it was worth it to get as big a gap as possible on 3rd place starting the run.  If you can beat them mentally you don't have to beat them physically.  Grabbed fastest bike split on the day by 14 seconds over Crowie.

Run: 1:16:38  4th fastest split
Hit the run just 45s down on Crowie and truth be told I didn't think I had any shot, I ran entirely trying to fend off 3rd not even taking splits to Crowie.  First 10k of the run my lead on third only grew and finally midway through the run I knew there was nobody running me down from behind and I turned my sights ahead where surprisingly Crowie's lead was only about a minute.  Tried to dig deep, but just didn't have it.  Still a very good run for me and truth be told I think Crowie probably had plenty more fight in him than he showed.

Overall: 3:52:54  2nd place.
Great result for me, had over 6 minutes on third place and just 1.5 back from the win.  Got WAY more attention from this result than from winning Steelhead last year, guess that's what happens when a 5x world champ is in the race.  Really excited for this season, will not allow myself to be satisfied.  A great race does not make a great season.  Onto the next.

Pigman Sprint aka Iowa World Championships

Pigman Sprint Triathlon   500/25k/5k

Swim: 6:26  8th fastest split
Bike: 37:01  25.8mph  313 average watts  2nd fastest split
Power file: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/322085522
Run: 16:45 4th fastest split
Overall: 1:02:51  2nd

The swim wasn't good, but it was much better than my first two races this year and showed promise.  But with it being just a 6 minute swim I'm not going to pass too much judgement, anyone with any type of fitness can fake a 6 minute swim.  Came out right in the middle of the action, first 6 guys all out of T1 within about 15 seconds.  Pace was all out start of the bike and good thing I got going cause top 3 guys separated from next 3 within the first 5 minutes, then the whole bike it was myself, David Thompson, and Dan Hedgecock together.  I'm pretty confident I was the strongest on the bike, I lead a lot of the way but am not strong enough to overcome the 3 bike length draft zone of an age group race in order to drop the other two.  In hindsight maybe I should have sat in the back more, conserved, and then launched a big attack.  Leading into the headwind wasn't the smartest, I just allowed the other two to rest.  Dan ran a 14:09 5k on the track in college so I knew it was a tall task trying to win starting the run with him.  Managed to split just 20 seconds slower than him on the run, was able to drop DKT at 2 miles to bring home second.  I wanted to win, but this race was definitely a step forward and my best performance of the year.  Excited to see what happens next weekend, I think the fitness is there for a good race.  The competitive side of me can't help but wonder if I had raced different could I have gotten away on the bike and been able to win today, a little disappointed I admit.  My Iowa win streak is over, since 2007 I've raced 10 triathlons in Iowa, I won the first 9, today I didn't.  Just have to start a new streak.