Race Time

New tires, new wheels, quick wash and it's time to race again. This time, no flats.

Gray Wheels - First Impressions

I finally got to ride the new Gray all carbon 50 mm wheels. It took a few minutes to get the brake pads lined up with the brake track.

On the road, the Gray wheels were great. They are lighter than the stock Shimano wheels and handle even better. I didn't have any trouble with crosswind and it will be interesting to see how they perform at Rattlesnake.

Year of the Flat

Three weeks before Boulder Peak - 2 flats
Week before Boulder Peak - 1 flat
Boulder Peak - 5 flats on the course, 2 flats after
Biking to work today - 1 flat

Synergy Hybrid

I purchased a Synergy Hybrid wetsuit and I'm really impressed. I'm not experiencing an shoulder fatigue and the suit is fast. I'm exiting the water with the leaders in my age group and I don't feel like I'm working that hard.

Bike to Work

After a few years, I finally biked to work again. I forgot how much fun that is. The van drove down so I can catch a ride back.

Pelican Fest Triathlon

From Tri Buddha

Prologue

After the tornado ravaged Windsor, CO last year, the Pelican Fest triathlon is back with a new venue. The morning doesn't look promising but hopefully the rain will hold off for the race. It's cool, almost cold, it's been raining on and off for days and it looks like rain again today.

Act 1 - The Swim

The swim this year is point to point which seems strange in Colorado. It's only 750 meters across the south side of the lake. I'm swimming in my new Synapse wetsuit, it's a full wetsuit which promises to help on this cool May morning. I've heard that full wetsuits constrict the shoulders and make it actually harder to swim. I line up near the front since it seems no one else wants to and I'm off with the lead group.

The swim is pretty non-eventful until I reach the exit and T1. You have to climb up the bank which by now is wet and slick from the earlier wave. Fortunately there are volunteers to help you exit the water.

800 meters - 13:31, 1:41/100

Into T1, I have a decision to make, to jacket or not. It feels cold now that I'm wet but do I want to waste the time with a jacket? I opt for the jacket since hypothermia isn't my idea of racing. It cost me a little time but hopefully it's worth it.

T1 - 2:20

Act 2 - The Bike

I'm riding the newer P2C. It was the bike I had on the trainer all winter so this is going to be the carbon summer.

I thought Windsor and the Pelican Fest was supposed to be flat. The course is basically a big square around rural Windsor. It starts with a long, steady climb from T1 to the first turn. It's not steep but I can't find a good cadence or rythym. Maybe it's the cold and I'm must having trouble warming up. The most fun part of the course is went it detours onto the bike path. It's narrow and winding so you really have to watch your speed. Speaking of which, I failed to produce any speed on the bike.

10 miles, 26:29, 22.7 mph

I'm glad I grabbed the jacket but it's time to run and lose the jacket in T2.

T2 - :45

Act 3 - The Run

The run is out and back around the lake so it's really flat. The only bumps are little bridges crossing creeks. I settle in early and pace off a man and woman who are running pretty good. After about 3/4 of a mile, she drops him so I pick up the pace to stay with her. She's running strong so I just focus on keeping contact. I hang on for most of the run and she only gets away on the last 1/2 mile so I don't worry to much about it. Overall the run was really good.

5k - 19:34, 6:18/mile

Epilogue

The rain held out long enough for Holly to finish and for me to grab some dry clothes. That was about it and then it started to pour. I feel so sorry for the people still coming in because the temp is dropping and everyone is getting wet. After the race, I meet Steven who won the age group. It was pretty close between us. He had me a little on the swim, a lot on T1 and a little on the bike. I closed the gap on the run but he had too much of a lead. Still, you can't complain about second at a sprint when you've been training for Ironman. Oh yeah, I moved up an age group this year.

1:03:09, 21st overall, 2nd M45-49

2009 Goals

Most years I have a list of goals but this year there are only two: qualify for the Ironman World Championship and help Bob complete his first triathlon which happens to be Ironman Florida.

When I competed at Ironman CdA, I was more concerned with finishing than going fast. When the gun went off, I waited on the beach until the crowd had started the swim. On the bike, I tried to be steady and well within my limits. On the run I stopped a few times to say hi to friends and didn't push myself. At the end, while I didn't feel fresh, I didn't feel trashed either.

This year it's going to be different. To improve upon CdA, there are three areas I'll focus on. The first is transition. At CdA, the first transition was around 10 minutes and the second around 6. I have enough experience to know those can both be safely dropped to around 2 - 3 minutes each.

Over the last three years, I've improved my cycling a lot. I've went to holding 19 mph on the rolling Harvest Moon half-iron course to holding 23. I am going to train to be able to hold 23 for the Ironman distance while still having enough in reserve to have a strong run. This will be my biggest challenge, to ride faster and longer while being more efficient and saving more energy for the run.

Compared to the bike, the run should be easy. Last year at Harvest Moon, I held back on the run and finished in 1:38. As long as I don't go too hard on the bike, I should be able to complete the run in 3:15.

Helping Bob may be the bigger challenge this year. Bob is aerobically one of the fittest people I know. The challenge is that he doesn't know how to swim and he signed up for Ironman. If I can get him to finish the swim under the cutoff time, he should be able to finish without any problems. His cycling needs a little work since he mostly uses the bike to cross-train for running and his run needs no work at all.

Just two goals this year but I think both will be very challenging for completely different reasons.

New Beginnings

The plan was so perfect. Take it easy in October and the start to slowly build the base in November, December and January. October became November and ski season started. Then the holidays rolled around and there were all the social committments.

It's the end of January and the base is just starting to be built. It's not like nothing happened. Fortunately at work the gym crew get going so I did get some exercise in. The volume is a little low but I don't think that will be an issue in another month or two. For now I'll keep skiing on weekends and training during the week.