A Delayed Frenzy

So I'm a little late posting this blog...for some reason work keeps getting in the way.  Regardless, it's time to post my last race report for my triathlon season.  The race was a local event...practically in my back yard, the Parker Fall Frenzy.  The race is in its 10th year and for a little town like this, that's pretty good.

Race day started off pretty much as I expected.  I got up early, knowing I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway.  The race officially started at 7:00, but since it was a pool swim, they started in waves based on anticipated swim time for the 500 yards, slowest to fastest.  I was anticipating a 9 minute 30 second swim, so I was towards the end of the swim start.  I figured this would mean I'd start around 9:00.  Needless to say, this gave me plenty of time to get my spot in the transition area set up.

My little piece of the transition area

Not wanting to be late for my swim, I headed into the pool area well before 9:00.  This meant I did a lot of standing and waiting.  I did get to chat with my coaches and wife, son adn mom while I waited so that helped pass the time.  Unfortunately, there were some delays with police forces working traffic so I didn't start until 9:45.  As I finally got up to my wave, the nerves had set in.  Each lane was set up with a group of five sharing the lane.  Since everyone was supposed to be swimming about the same time, this shouldn't be an issue.  We all talked and decided I should lead our group...this ended up being a good decision.  We got in the pool and it was finally time to start.  My plan was to swim a consistent speed that I was comfortable with from training. I was successful with this plan for the most part.  I noticed after I swam the first length, that it seemed too fast.  I trusted my body though and kept up the pace since I felt good.  On the fourth lap, I had to make the first pass.

I was feeling good in the pool!

For the remaining laps, I passed people more than I didn't.  In the end, I passed one person two times.  This was shocking to me!  Could I really have swam that fast, or did everyone in my group severely over-estimate their speed?  Not likely!  As I bailed from the pool and headed out to the transition area, my coach yelled "8:13!"  Are you kidding me!  I knew I felt strong, but come on.  Well, as I found out a few days later, the pool I train at is 25 meters long, not yards.  While this isn't a huge difference, it amounts to about swimming about 1 lap less than what I've trained for.  I sure wish I would've known this before, but it worked out pretty well in the end.

The run to the transition area was pretty long...nearly a 2 minute run.  I ran in and quickly, got my bike and gear and was out of transition in 45 seconds.  I struggled getting my feet in my shoes, which bothered me, but once they were in, I felt strong.  The first mile was on a bike/running path which concerned me with possible crowds.  I lucked out and didn't run into any traffic jams and just had to pass a couple people.  I felt great on the bike (how could I not riding my new Blue Triad in its first race) and everything just clicked.  The bike portion was on roads that I ride regularly, so I felt I had a little advantage.  I didn't get passed at all on the bike which added to my confidence for the race.  I finished the 11 mile bike in 31 minutes 15 seconds...just over 21 mph average.

Wife got this photo right after the gutter and right before the turn to T2.

I sped into T2, which was a short run to my spot.  I didn't forget my sunglasses this time and was out of T2 in 1 minute 3 seconds.  My coach was there on my way out cheering advice and tips.  It was nice to have all the support and it certainly helped my run.  I felt great still, but was starting to feel the legs.  I paced as best as I could hoping that I wouldn't leave it all on the trail too far before the finish.  I made the turnaround and started looking for those that were swimming about the same time I was and in my age group.  I didn't notice any of them for nearly a mile, so I was pretty sure I was in a decent position.  I did get passed once on the run, right before the last hill to the finish, but he was a young guy...nowhere near my age group.  There was a short hill up towards the last 100 yards of the run.  I know this hill is short and not impressive at all...unfortunately, it didn't seem that way this day.  I was beat and could tell when I was at the top of the hill.  My coach was again waiting for me and ran me in, almost all the way to the finish.  It was great to have him cheering me on an pushing me until the end.

Tired, but ecstatic!

I crossed the finish in 24:19 for the run, for a total time of 1:07:28.  That time put me in 5th place for my age group.  I'm pretty happy about that for my second race.  I still have a long way to go if I'm going to place top 3, but I will work on that for next year.  Once the results were posted, I was surprised to find that my time would've put me in first 20-24 as well as the 30-34 age groups.  I guess the 35-39 AG is pretty competitive...as I've been told.

In the end, I had a great personal race and am extremely happy with what I've accomplished this year.  So much so, I can't wait for next year!

I'm fortunate that I had my wife and son support me through this year of learning to tri.  It's a time-consuming sport, but I love it and I hope Teresa and Seth got some joy out of watching me compete this year.  I also am grateful to my mom for coming down to watch me race this last event.  Lastly, I'm so pleased with my coaches, Jeff and Diane at PRS Fit.  They're absolutely the best!  Not only did they coach me throughout the season and prepare me for these events, they came all the way down to watch my whole race!  Not many 'online coaches' will go that extra mile when they don't have to.

Plans are now in the works for 2011.  I've discussed my schedule for the year already and have already made some plans.  I'll reveal all of that in a later post....it's going to be good stuff!  Now to the off-season!

Thanks for reading!

- Brian

Warrior On!

Yes, I am a Warrior!  At least, according to the Warrior Dash I am.  That's about as far as I'll take it though...true Warriors are another blog post saved for Memorial Day.  But this was a different kind of Warrior.  Check out the link above if you haven't heard of this.  It's certainly not like any other race I've run...and I can't wait to do it again.  Below, you'll read about my perspective of the race.  I'm sure everyone you ask would have a different view and certainly each Warrior Dash race is different.  Either way, I hope the description provides half as much entertainment as the race provided for me.

So my wave was at 2:30 in the afternoon on Saturday.  The race was running waves every half hour with about 350 people per wave...in other words, a lot of people.  Arriving at Copper Mountain we quickly realized how serious some people were taking this event.  And by serious, I mean dressing in costume and playing the warrior part...or just ready to party.  I was lame and wore normal running clothes with worn out shoes.

I was running with several friends I work with and went to the designated location only to discover they were already at the start area.  I quickly put on my timing chip and race number and jogged to the start area.  Once there, I was informed that the plan was to wait for the 2:00 wave to go and then file into the starting gate.  This was necessary to avoid clogging up at the start, which was fenced at about 6 feet wide.  The downside to all of this is we were essentially stuck and couldn't get a proper warmup.

After 30 minutes of trash talking (all friendly of course), we were ready to go.  The starting gun for this race is replaced by large shooting flames above your head...the heat is pretty intense.  So the race has begun!  After running on a road for a short distance, we came across the first of the obstacles...two rows of vehicles to jump over.  The first row consisted two smaller cars and I easily leaped onto the hood of one and jumped off.  The second row was an old truck and a Scout...slightly more challenging than the cars.  To top it off, you could really only go on the hood of the Scout, or the hood and bed of the truck and human traffic was backing up.  I was able to follow one of my friends over the hood of the Scout since most were headed to the truck.

After clearing the cars, there was more running; through several ditches and up the hill a little towards the hay bales.  These were stacked neatly, about 10 feet high.  The quads were already starting to burn a little and this just added that much more fire to the legs.

For the next several minutes, the course climbed, climbed and climbed some more.  I heard an estimate of 300 feet elevation gain over this short half mile or so.  Legs were at inferno levels at this point.  Reaching the top, we quickly descended back down towards the resort. Most of the descent was on a pretty good service road, which was good for me as I'm not a very good trail runner.

Planning on the run...and quickly.

At the bottom of the hill, they had placed the one water station...unfortunately it was misplaced.  Right after the aid station, they placed the mud pit (would've been handy, but not Warrior-esque, to have water after the mud to wash out the mouth).  Oh, not just any mud pit, one covered with barbed wire to force you in the mud.  We had heard from others that diving in mud was a bad idea...it was loaded with sharp gravel and would shred your hands, knees or anything else.  I took that advice, and even a race volunteer was standing there yelling "don't dive."  Of course the cheering fans were yelling dive and quickly booed if you didn't.  No worries for me, I'm not that sensitive.

No diving for me!

Climbing out of the mud pit was a challenge.  First, you started heading uphill.  Second, shoes and clothes gained ridiculous amounts of weight...or so it seemed.  This was tough and many walked for a bit...including me.  Ahead, were the tunnels to crawl through.  Honestly, I thought this would be a very easy obstacle.  Wrong...and it wouldn't be Warrior-like if it was.  The tunnels were placed on a hill, so you had to crawl through and up.  Not too bad normally, but after being caked with mud all day, all you do is slide back down.  The trick for me was to grab for the joints in the tunnels and pull myself up.  This worked out quite well, but wasn't too kind to the knees.

After the tunnels, there was a short run to the cargo net...about 10 feet tall.  Again, ropes covered with mud = slippery.  This was a tough obstacle too.  After climbing down the net, there was about a 4 foot jump down...and downhill on rough surface.  I took this slow so I wouldn't trash already delicate ankles.

The flames sure seemed higher than that.

We were almost done now.  There were some planks to cross a ditch and a creek crossing, which only seemed to add more weight to the shoes after I started getting used to the mud weight.  And then, the end was near.  We ran for a short time and then you could start to see the smoke...Warrior sign for Finish.  Coming around the corner, I saw the two rows of fire (Duraflame logs) and thought it looked quite a bit higher than what it looked like online.  Nevertheless, you have to jump it to finish.  Of course there's very little concern for burns...mud on the legs provides quite a bit of insulation from the heat (besides the fact that my legs are shaved so there wasn't any hair to burn).  The finish was shortly after the fire and I was ready to cross the line.  I was tired.

The Warrior Crew

In the end, everyone I was with survived, mostly uninjured and with smiles on our faces.  We were officially Warriors now...with hats to match.  As a post race note, my hips were pretty sore for a couple of days...much more so than any other training/races I've done, including marathons.  No matter, I plan to go back next year if it's around and would recommend it to anyone with a Warrior spirit...or with a lack of common sense.

My son looks much better in the Warrior hat than I do.

Thanks for reading.

- Brian

I'm Blue

That's right...I'm Blue.  It's been a busy summer and I've struggled to keep my head held high.  Not because of work or anything like that, but because of my desires.  Yes, it's true, my mid-life crisis is hitting and I confess that I've acted on those urges.  You see, since spring, I've been desperately thinking of something new...a change in my life.  I've been faithful to the same machine for almost 20 years and I just needed a change.  So, after a great deal of searching, testing, reading, researching and yes...much dreaming, I've given in to my weakness and I've paid for my mid-life crisis.  Yep, you guessed it; I bought a new bike (certainly you didn't think anything else, right?).  Not just any bike, a Blue Triad TT/Multi-sport bike.

Isn't she pretty?

I've patiently waited most of the summer to finish at least one triathlon to decide if I liked the sport before purchasing a bike.  Obviously, I'm addicted already.  Had I not felt this way, I still would have purchased a bike, but it would've been a road bike.  Well, triathlons are the way for me right now so I decided I wanted the proper equipment.  I rode several other makes/models but ultimately chose the Blue for several reasons.  First - the bike, even though a relatively new manufacturer on the scene, has proven to be fast by many of the top triathletes in the world.  Second - Good warranty, lifetime frame, as well as a crash replacement program.  Hopefully I won't ever need either of these, but it's good to know they're available.  Third - I love the look and design...sure it was designed for speed and reduced drag, but it looks pretty sweet too!  Forth - full carbon frame.  Not that unusual here, but I've had my Specialized Allez (carbon) since 1991 and it's a great bike and I love the carbon frames. Fifth - Okay, I could go on so I'll stop at 5...purchase of this bike gets me an hour of free (yes, free) wind tunnel time at the A2 Wind Tunnel in North Carolina.

Wind tunnel???  Seriously? For an old age grouper like me?  Yes...and why not?  No, I won't be in the tunnel like Lance Armstrong was to test some top secret equipment.  No, I won't spend several hours there like George Hincape to help me compete in the Pro Tour races.  But I can improve my speed, and reduce my drag...for free...in a wind tunnel!  I may be a dork, but that's way too cool!  Blue's claim states that nobody has gained less than 10% improvement in aerodynamic wattage.  For long distance races (I'll talk about those plans in a later post) that can save serious amounts of time.  And 10% is the minimum...I'm guessing they could shave a lot more than that off of my form.  So, no...I have no aspirations (or talent) to go pro.  Yes, I am serious about these ridiculously crazy events and still have a competitive spirit.  I will be aiming for age group placements...not sure if I'll get any, but I will try.  Did I mention the wind tunnel is free?!?!  Oh, yeah...I did.

When it comes down to it, the most important part of the purchase was that I was happy with the bike, fit and what I think it will do for me.  As part of the purchase, I received a full certified fit that took over 2 hours.  This was a totally new experience for me, but I could see (and feel) quickly why it is so important to not only increase power, but also increase comfort.  That's an important thing when  you're going to be on the bike for several hours.

Drive train

Another view of where the work gets done.

Just looks fast, doesn't it?

So, for now i will be enjoying every mile I can put on my new ride.  Sure, I've given in big-time to my mid-life crisis (not really having one, just makes it easier to justify such a purchase) and I'm a little guilty about that.  Uhh wait, no I'm not.  Doesn't matter, I feel like a kid getting his/her first bike.  Or like a kid when they first take off the training wheels and head down the road on their own...hopefully paying attention to their direction of travel instead of those cheering them on.  Yep...I'm Blue, and I've never been so happy about it!

Thanks for reading!

- Brian

Tri and Catch Me...But Don't Pass Me

Well, I am officially a triathlete now!  And, as many of those veteran triathletes had suggested, I'm feeling an addiction coming.  What a sport!  The week before the event, I was traveling to Midland, TX.  Not a great place to train, but luckily it was an easy week to just keep the legs loose.  When I flew back into Denver Friday morning, I headed to Runner's Roost to grab my rented wet suit.  Walking out with that suit really kicked the nerves into high gear.  I then headed over to Campus Cycles to pick up my race packet.  Sure, I could've picked it up the morning of the race, but I wanted to be as prepared as possible so I didn't have to think too much the morning of the race.  I knew my pea-brain would be a little scattered with nerves so I was trying to avoid missing something in the preparation.  As it was, I double-checked my race bag that night a ridiculous number of times...may have even shortened the life of that zipper.

The transition area opened up at 6:00 a.m. and I made sure I was there right on time.  It's crazy to sit around for two hours before a race, but I felt it would reduce my nerves in the end run to not have to rush getting ready.  Plus, I was able to steal ideas from those who actually had a clue what they were doing.  My preparations went better than I had expected so all that was left to do was race...and I was nervous  As we all lined up for the start I could feel my stomach sinking.  Choosing to do this race in the traditional triathlon order (swim, bike, run) we had to start the swim with a 250 meter run to the lake.  This was to make it fair for those choosing a different order.  Running 250 meters in a wetsuit was not horribly easy, but I quickly forgot about that when I hit the water.  Keep in mind, this is my first triathlon and first open water swim.  Unfortunately, something triggered in my and I struggled to get a relaxed breathing pattern in the lake.  I'm not sure if it was nerves, the wet suit, cold water on the exposed skin, anxiety, the run to the water or what.  Didn't matter, I had a hard time the first 350 meters of the 750 meter swim.  By the time I got to the buoy at the halfway point, I was starting to calm down and get my swim groove on.  The rest of the swim I felt pretty good and I feel like I finished strong. Total time for the 750 meter swim (including about 500 meters of running) was 18:02.

I worked hard to mentally prepare for the transitions and my first one was 1:16.  That included shedding the wet suit.  It felt pretty fast to me...so fast in fact that I didn't even feel like I caught my breath while getting ready for the bike.  Off I went on the bike...feeling good to be doing an event I felt more comfortable with.  I got in the bike groove pretty quickly and started passing people which made me feel pretty good.  As a side note, I had a couple of co-workers (Shaun and Adam) racing that day too and was really hoping to have a chance to beat them...unrealistic really, but still a goal.  Back to the bike...after about 1 mile, the first of my co-workers, Shaun, passed me.  Being a collegiate level cyclist a couple of years ago, I knew I had no chance of catching him on the bike...he was gone.

The course was pretty hilly, (781' elevation gain according to my Garmin) but I felt like I was holding my own, feeling good and pushing hard.  The turnaround of the 12.4 mile course was at the top of a hill.  Turning around for a long downhill ride was great.  About  a mile past the turnaround, I saw Adam pushing up the hill.  He was closer than I had hoped as he's a much better runner than I am (and 8 years younger).  I pushed on, hoping to gain some valuable time.  Total time on the 12.4 mile ride, 36:22 or just over 20 mph average speed.

As I got into the transition area, I stripped the bike gear off and got ready to run.  I started out of the transition and realized I forgot my sunglasses.  I'm sort of a freak about running with sunglasses...don't know why, but it forced me to run back and grab them...probably lost about 15 seconds there.  Anyway, this second transition was a little longer at 1:30

Now the run.  my preparation bricks resulted in me running just over 7:30 minute miles.  For me...that's super speedy.  A year ago, running a 9:00 mile would make me happy.  I wasn't able to hold that pace for long in this run though.  First, my legs were shot from the ride.  I was a little too confident on the bike and pushed too hard given the hills and I should've backed off a little...rookie mistake.  Second, the run was pretty hilly.  Mostly short hills and probably not very steep on any normal day, but I was tired by this point so they seemed steep.  According to my Garmin, total elevation gain was 512 feet over the 3.5 miles.  Regardless, I was here to race (and learn) and I pushed as hard as I could.  Just before the 2 mile mark, the course headed back towards the finish and down a hill.  As the course turned, I looked up and saw Adam...about 1/4 mile behind me.  It wasn't looking good for me.  Well, the inevitable happened and he passed me at about the 3 mile mark.  Kind words (but of course) were exchanged and he too, was gone.  The finish included running back through the transition area out again and about 200 meters to the finish line.  It wasn't ideal to race through the transition area when others were still there moving on to their next event, but it didn't slow me down too much. Total time for the 3.5 mile run...29:19 or about 8:32 minute miles.

Finally, I crossed the finish line and I felt like I was going to collapse.  I didn't...but it was close.  It was great to be surprised by Teresa and Seth at the finish...even though I had told them to stay home because it was so early and Seth had baseball shortly after.  They came anyway and at least got to see me lumber across the finish line.

Wow...sorry, I should've warned you before posting that picture.  You should now scroll down far enough to hide that photo from view.  Total race time for my first triathlon:  1:27:52...a number I'm pretty satisfied with.  This put me in 7th in my age group for those who chose the traditional triathlon order.  Wow...top 10!  I like that.  Of course, that was only out of 24, but still.  My friends, Shaun and Adam both did great in their respective age groups too (both are many years younger than I am but obviously good athletes in their divisions).

What's next?  Well, I'll be continuing my training for my next triathlon, the Parker Fall Frenzy in September (suddenly that seems too far away and I want to sneak another one in).  Before that, I have the Warrior Dash coming up in 3 weeks.  Adam will be running that with me too, along with several other friends.  It's a completely fun race/obstacle course and we'll be racing strictly for bragging rights...and maybe beer.

After those two...well, I'll be preparing for racing season next year.  I see longer distance tris in my future...maybe (okay, probably) even a 70.3 next year.  Crazy??? Yeah!  Fun???  Yeah!  Oh...and the bike shopping has begun.  Yes, a triathlon/time-trial bike appears to be in my near future!

Thanks for reading!

- Brian

Tri and Stop Me

First off, it's been a long time since I've blogged.  It's not so much that I didn't have anything to say...just didn't have the time to write.  Well, I still don't have time to write, but I need to anyway.  I'm not even going to get into the work time constraints except to say that work is burying me.  Enough said about that.  Since the marathon (seems like so long ago) I've been continuing my training, but with the triathlon approaching next week, I've obviously incorporated much more swimming and riding.

The riding has been going very well...but I spend most of my time on my 20 year old bike dreaming about a new one.  By the way, it's a little dangerous to daydream on a bike at 20 mph. Regardless, I have a great desire to obtain new wheels!  I'm struggling though...new road bike or new tri specific bike.  I honestly won't decide until I finish my 2 planned triathlons this year (well, maybe one).  Of course, right now I would lean towards a tri specific bike, but I want to make sure I'm going to enjoy these tris before I spend the $$$.  Bikes, after all, are an investment.  I'm sure there will be more updates on this in future posts...hopefully near future.

After the marathon, when I really started hitting the pool, I had to go through some swimming growth.  Those that know me, know that I've never been a strong swimmer.

I didn't grow up swimming...could barely even get a lap in the pool in high school.  A friend of mine, Rich taught me to swim (for exercise) in my early 20's.  As much as that helped, I only swam then for about one year.  Now I'm in my 30's...okay, late 30's and I'm trying to take it back up, with no help in the pool...for triathlons?!?  Now, I'm jumping in and cranking out 2800 yards at a time.  Okay, it's been a struggle at times though.  For example, I've had several instances where I've tried to concentrate so hard on my swimming, that I forgot to turn my head out of the water to breathe.  Not good, when you don't have gills.  Luckily, I was able to work through those issues.

Now that I'm getting pretty comfortable in the pool, I've decided to try and improve by implementing flip turns.  This is actually, quite funny to me...the thought of me doing flip turns.  I have very little coordination in the pool and if you could see my attempts at flip turns now, you'd laugh.  So far, out of the maybe 20 turns I've done, I've had maybe 4 where I thought "hey, that was pretty good!"  Of course, those were followed by ones where I thought "wow, that was really not good and hopefully nobody was watching."  Usually these are the ones where I've turned much earlier than I should (you really have to get pretty close to the wall to do it right, but I fear cracking my heel on the concrete) and go to kick but my feet find nothing but water...this is a disappointing feeling.  So far, I've learned one very important lesson for those attempting to learn flip turns on your own.  Make sure you've completed your rotation before you kick off the wall.  If you don't, you push off the wall and drive your head right into the floor of the pool.  I don't recommend this method.  Fortunately for me, I had two advantages in this particular situation:  1) the floor of this particular pool is smooth and designed for lap swimming; therefore, it hasn't been left rough like many public pools.  Had it been that way, I would have lost approximately 16.2% of the hair I have left.  2)  I have a very hard head.  My dad and brother will back me up on this.  Sure everyone's skull is pretty tough, but the Taylor boys seem to be a little more so...either that or we've been hit so hard so many times that those portions of the brain no longer recognize the pain and simply sacrifice a few more brain cells.  Still, hitting my head was not that pleasurable and I will try to avoid this on all future swims.  If I'm unsuccessful, I'll be the guy in the pool wearing my bike helmet...makes for faster transitions anyway, right?

I'm now down to one week until my first triathlon...a sprint distance (750 meter swim, 14 mile bike and 3.5 mile run).  I'm nervous...but in an anxious way, so I think that's good.  I've rented my wet suit (water temps of high 60s...well, maybe not after this week's heat wave) and have all the gear I need.  Now I just need to get to the race and give it all I can.  My next blog should be my race report...I know you're waiting to read it.

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." - Steve Prefontaine

Thanks for reading.

- Brian