2011 Season Recap

I had two goals for this season, the first being to qualify for Kona and the second was to win my age group in the local points series.

My best shot at Kona, I figured, was at the Ironman 70.3 Hawaii (Honu), but I also raced Oceanside, which is another one of the rare half-Ironman races to offer a few Kona spots, and was registered for Ironman Louisville.

I realized that I would be able to participate in all of the local "KOZ" events that make up the San Diego Triathlon Series.  In past years, I've raced the duathlon when available (not eligible for series points) or I've had conflicting events and missed a few of the events.  This seemed like a good year to go for a series AG win.

I also had 3 marathons on the schedule, Carlsbad in Jan, Boston (my favorite) in April and my first NYC in November.

Already suffering at mile 17

Carlsbad Marathon, Jan 23 (3:12 ~ 2nd AG)
My longest training run was 15 miles, so I knew I was going to struggle in the last 10k.  Well, the pain started earlier than that.  For the second year in a row, I started to suffer around mile 15.  Moving up in age helped my AG placing and I wound up with a nice little award for finishing in 2nd.

I decided to try something different for this race and carry my nutrition / hydration, so I ran with two handheld bottles of my Powerade Zero / Carbo-Pro mix.  One thing I didn't count on carrying was my heart rate monitor.  It was a little loose and started to fall down around my stomach during the first 5 miles of the run.  I took it off and carried it the whole way.

I also forgot sunglasses, but my friend, Karen, who I was picking up on the way to the race, had an extra pair and loaned them to me.  Came in handy when the sun came out.

XTERRA 15k medal

XTERRA Black Mountain 15k (1:16 ~ 3rd AG)
Hooray for suffering!  A tough course in Mission Trails: up and over the saddle between North and South Fortuna Mountains, then it meanders around before heading up the "Stairway to Heaven" to the top of South Fortuna.  Bomb back down the saddle and wind along the riverbed and back to the start/finish area.  There was some walking on the first climb, three miles into the race - and then again, of course, on the staircase.  Took a while to regroup and feel like I was racing again.  Took it very easy on the descent back down the saddle and suffered on in to the finish.

Desert duathlon podium

Desert Duathlon & Triathlon (1st & 15th AG)
After racing the international distance triathlon last season, I decided to head out again this year and race the duathlon.  When I found out that the the du and the sprint tri were going to be on Saturday with the longer international tri on Sunday (all events were on the same day last year), I decided to do the double.

Unfortunately, I came down with something on the Wednesday of race week and I was feeling pretty bad when we headed out to Palm Springs at 4:00 a.m. on Saturday morning.  The duathlon had a pretty small field and I ended up finishing 2nd overall  (I think a chase pack just in front of me ran off-course).  The first finisher was in my AG, but he was pulled out of the division to accept the award for 1st overall and I got to take the top step of the podium.  I certainly didn't feel any better after the race (or the next morning)
and was dreading the more competitive event to come.  The swim was tough as I was struggling to breathe and I was pretty slow on the bike.  When I got to the run, I was pretty miserable and slogged to a 15th place in my AG - about 10 minutes slower than the previous year.

 
SuperSeal Triathlon (2:15 ~ 4th AG)
The first event in the San Diego Triathlon Series.  Felt okay heading into the race, but knew that I would give back a lot of time in the water.  Swimming is definitely my worst discipline and in an Olympic-distance event it carries the most weight.  I was around 20th coming out of the water, but climbed back into the top-10 on the bike.  I picked off a few more people on the run, but finished just short of the podium in 4th.

Ironman 70.3 California "Oceanside" (5:02 ~ 52nd AG)
Still not feeling great about my swimming, I took it easy in the water.  At least my goggles didn't fog up too bad and sighting wasn't ever an issue.  Headed out on the bike feeling pretty good and with the tailwind, averaged 23/24 mph on the way up the coast.  Once we headed inland and then south through Camp Pendleton, the cross/headwind cut into the speed and sapped my legs.  I didn't feel great on the run and stuggled to a 1:39, my worst in 3 races at Oceanside.  I stuck around for rolldown, thinking I might have an outside shot at the 70.3 Worlds in Vegas, but just missed out on the last rollover spot from another AG.  Oh well, I definitely didn't deserve it.

Boston Marathon (3:08 ~ BQ-11)
Flew into Hartford on Friday night and drove to my hotel on Saturday after staying with family in Whately, MA.  Checked out Hopkinton and drove the course into Boston to register.  For the first time, I was staying in a hosted house one block from the start.  It was really nice to be able to hang out around the fire with other Tri Club members and head out to the start about 15 minute before the gun.

I had been concerned about covering the distance as, again, my long runs were limited.  I only ran one 15 miler (technically only a medium-long run).  I felt pretty good through the first half, but as expected, I started to struggle around the 15-mile mark.  I maintained effort and slowed through the hills of Newton, but wasn't able to pick up the pace in the last 10k.  Once again, I suffered on in to the end.  The last two turns (right on Hereford, left on Boylston) are the sweetest in the sport.  I saw my aunt Jackie and uncle Russ along Boylston and met up with them afterwards for a ride back to my hotel.  I love the Boston Marathon!



Spring Sprint Triathlon
The next race in the series.  Last year, I raced the duathlon and finished 5th overall, 2nd AG.  This year, I fell off on the swim, but came out of the water in the top 10 of my wave, which consisted of two age groups.  I caught a few people on the bike and thought I passed everyone else on the run.  I was a bit surprised to see that there was someone else who had been way off the front.




Ironman 70.3 Hawaii "Honu" (5:05 ~ 33rd AG)
When planning out the season, this was to be my "A" race.  Not sure exactly what happened, but I came into this race feeling unfit and afraid of the run.  I had focused so much on swimming that I was looking forward to what I had heard is one of the most enjoyable race swims in the world.  I stayed with family in a condo and several friends were also staying in Waikoloa Village.  It was a short trip up to the T2 / finish area, but the swim start and T1 were farther up the road at Hapuna Beach.

Well, things took a turn for the worse as soon as I arrived on the Big Island.  After passing a few of my friends who were out for an easy run (and completely soaked from the humidity - great), I headed up to the Fairmont Orchid to see if I could check-in and claim my gear bag (I had shipped my bike through Tri Bike Transport and paid an additional $35 for the bag).  Unfortunately, my helmet did not make the trip, but, fortunately, I had decided to bring my road helmet along with me, just in case.

This was my first non-wetsuit swim and I wore a TYR swimskin.  There was a lot of contact - I was dunked twice intentionally (and then cursed) by another athlete about 200 meters into the race.  My goggles were fogged up the whole swim and we all battled chop and crowded conditions.  I still think I ended up swimming pretty straight and I felt good coming out of the water.  The bike was great!

Riding on the Queen K and then up to Hawi was awesome.  There was a nasty crosswind coming on the last stretch up to Hawi, but it was mostly a tailwind all of the way back down to Kawaihae.  I remember seeing the 40 mile marker and thinking, "Only 16 miles to go?  Cool!"  It did feel pretty hot on the bike at times and I made an effort to get as much water in me and on me as I could.  I also took in extra salt to help in humid conditions.  Still, coming off the bike, I felt pretty hot and my legs were cooked.  I shuffled along for a few miles, but before the aid station at mile 3, I could tell that this was going to be the end of anything that resembled racing.  The goal was now survival.  The miles miserably passed and before long I had made it to the long out-and-back stretch and on to the finish.

A disappointing race, when I had hoped to go faster than ever before, but I had gotten a bit burnt out from all of the early season racing and let the run fall off.  I came into the race a bit heavy and undertrained on the run.  The 1:48 was the worst half-marathon I have ever run off the bike.  I also missed the Vegas rolldown spot by one again.  And the rollover spot went to the wrong AG.  Again, probably a blessing as I didn't deserve to be racing at Worlds.




 
San Diego International Triathlon (1:47 ~ 8th AG)
Probably one of the most miserable swims I've ever experienced.  Fortunately, it wasn't all that long.  I think I was hurried in getting my wetsuit on and didn't get it up and over my shoulders enough and I was struggling the whole time.  I felt gassed before the turn and the last 500 meters were not good.  The bike was fun and I suffered on the run.  Having such a poor swim put me in a bad position.  I had hoped to finish in the top 5, but fell to 8th in the most competitive event of the series.

Solana Beach Triathlon (56 min ~ 6th AG)

On the bike in Solana Beach

Another competitive event.  After racing the duathon for the past three years, this was the first time racing the tri (although I did do the swim portion of the relay last year after finishing the du).  The swim was fine and I pushed the pace on the bike.  I didn't feel great on the run and for the first time that I can recall, I was passed on the run in a local sprint.  Not a great race,  but I picked up more points in the series.


Surf Town (Imperial Beach) Triathlon (58 min ~ 2nd AG)
A good swim, a bit of a struggle on the bike (following a pretty hard training session the day before) and a solid run put me in 2nd place in the AG.  The leader was well up the road.


Ironman Louisville (11:01 ~ 50th AG)
See race report on this blog.

Noble Canyon 50k (5:22 ~ 6th AG)
See race report on this blog.

Mission Bay Finish

Mission Bay Triathlon (58 min ~ 2nd AG)
Needed a 5th place to wrap up the series.  Turns out my closest competitor didn't even enter, so I had clinched before even showing up.  Still it was a fun local event and a good way to wrap up the tri season.

I may still enter some local running events, but I'm keeping an eye on the NYC Marathon and Carlsbad again in January.  More to come...