Four Times as Sweet as Winning

*It only took 4 years to win...

In preparing for Janet Clarkson Memorial, everyday before I went to sleep I would tell myself, “I am going to win Janet’s Triathlon.” On thing that no one knows until know is that I immediately followed that statement with “And I am going to win the State Games.”

Right after winning Janet’s Triathlon I fell apart after everything had caught up with me. I was sick the entire week after, and following the sick week I developed a shin pain while running.  I was lucky I hung on until after Janet's Tri before faultering.  It most likely was attributed to riding the razor's edge for so long in my preparations.

I began to think it wasn’t in the cards to even race at the Games. Well I am very proud of how I handled that, I didn’t train through my little “ouchie” and I was so smart in managing it. Looking back the way I handled that injury was exactly how I should have handled it. I kept a great attitude and focused my efforts on other training. As of the night before the race I still hadn’t decided whether or not I would be racing. My shin was untested, but I had no pain. I decided to sleep on it one last nigh and make the decision on race morning.

I had a dream that night that I was running; well actually it was more of a bounding as each stride felt effortless as I glided along the ground covering 10 feet with each stride. When I awoke at 3:45am the first word that appeared in my mental imagery was “race.” That works for me. I reasoned I would start the race, if I had any pain I would quietly withdraw and prevent any injuries from occurring.

I arrived at the race feeling rested, motivated, and happy to be there. I racked my bike next to Chandler and my sister, Mackenzie. I eased through my preparations and arrived at the start with plenty of time to warmup and relax. I had a great laugh with Mackenzie and Mike as the race director was giving swim directions. As she pointed to one the swim buoys the weights on it came loose and it began to float away, priceless.

*Pre race strategy and laughs with my sister

*Let the chaos begin

I have done this race for three years and all three years Chandler has beaten me out of the water. I make no secret about it; I want his draft in the swim. I lined up next to him. I gave him a pat on the back and said, “I am going to try and draft you in the swim, you try and draft me on the bike.” He replied with, “What about the run?” I shook his hand and smiled, “Every man for himself on the run,” I said.

3….2…..1…Bang! We were off. As bodies bumped into each other, and legs and arms thrashed I fought to get on Chandler’s feet. In my haste to catch his draft I may have gotten a little over zealous as I unintentionally swam onto the back of his legs a few times while getting knocked around by other swimmers. When we made the first turn, I again accidentally swam into him. It was then that his, I don’t know, size 10 or 11 foot whizzed past my right ear and smacked the water. I pulled back, “Maybe I better give him a little more space, I don’t want to take one of those to head.”

The lead group was three and we stuck together for the first of two loops.  The first loop is about 300yds, a 50yd beach run separates the first loop from the 500yd second loop.  Chandler pulled way on the beach run, Amanda and I entered the water together in chase.  I swam the first loop under control and began to open up the throttle for the final loop.  At 400yds Amanda and I had caught back up to Chandler. 

We all swam closely together for a few hundred yards.  Amanda eased ahead and I followed her. When we hit the swim exit Amanda was first out, I was three seconds behind, Chandler was 5 seconds behind me.  If you look at the swim pictures you can see me smiling because that may have been my best State Games swims ever!

*Smiling ear to ear

Despite swimming hard I hit T1 feeling great and not even breathing hard.  I had a fantastic transition and left for the bike in first.  I flew aboard the Murder Machine and my bare feet found my shoe tops.  The key to this course is a high tempo but you have to be patient with it.  There are a lot of hills and if you aren’t patient you’ll detonate your legs on the early climbs.  I slithered my way through the s-bends to the main out-and-back of the bike course.  A duathlon was running at the same time so I had a few people to pass on the bike which is always fun.  Just before the first climb I did a position check, I saw 3, maybe 4 people in chase that were an immediate threat.

 

On the first climb I stayed in the saddle and focused on keeping my cadence at about 100rpm and accelerating over the top. Once reaching the top of the climb I would dive back down into my aero bars and start clicking through gears. There are three climbs each way on the out and back. Actually what I meant was the bike course was uphill both ways, and I was riding in a snowstorm…of killer bees. :)

By the third climb I had ridden everyone off my wheel. I am hesitant to try and describe how great I felt because it sounds like a me-monster bragging blah blah blah and no one wants to hear that. I hit the turn-around feeling great, I made a time check. The chase pack was about a minute and a half. I repeated the process of climbing-cadence-aero-zoom and quickly found my way back to the park. My computer told me I had a fantastic ride. 16.5 miles averaging 23.3mph, which is faster than I have ever been on this hilly course (suppressing me-monster).  For a wimp like me that is a good ride.

I made a quick change to my running shoes and headed out for the run.  Chandler is a local hero in this city and just like last year at least 20 people called my by his name as I ran out.  “Way to go Chandler!”  “You’re the man Chandler!”  “Great bike Chan-man!”  My favorite was a guy who yelled at me, “Chandler, you had a smoking ride!” The guy extended his hand for a high five.  Someone told the guy, “That’s not Chandler.”  The gentleman said, “oh” and withdrew his offer for a five.  I was planning to give him a five and air wiffed as he changed his mind.  I say this not because I am annoyed.  I actually get a kick out of it.  This is the only race that this happens at.  Every time I think about it I laugh.

*"Looking good Chandler!" Bryan!"  Ha ha ha

I had a small entourage, but they made their presence known.  Corrie, Autumn, Cheryl, and Kevin Sr. were snapping pictures and giving me encouragement the whole race.  I knew it was them cheering because they were the only ones calling me by my correct name. J  As I left T2 the race director, Jennifer, shouted at me to have a good run.  I quietly gave myself a “let’s do it” as I left.

*I understand some may see my shin sleeves as "dorky," they are not fashion, they are medical devices.

Once on the run I knew I was going to win if I kept everything together. I was silently pleading with myself not to have shin pain. At this point if I did develop any I would have run through it because I was living a dream 4 years in the making. I won’t keep you in suspense; I had no shin pain the entire run. The run wasn’t that adventurous, I ran strong and smooth and ticked off the miles. I saw my friend Mike on the course and cheered him on. I entered the park for the final loop around the lake.

The loose rocky footing began to take its toll on my legs but I knew I was almost done. I saw the finish and the fans. I had ripped off my best swim, bike, and run. As a result I shattered the course record. It took 4 years to win this race. The first year I did this race I was 3rd, the second and third time racing I finished 2nd after getting passed on the run. After 3 years of “knocking on the door” I was so happy to finally be the first one to the finish. Again, ask me to describe how it feels to feel indescribable and this is what you get.

I have the winning combo: Arm raise to fist pump. 

*First you do this...

*Then you do this!

*So close I can almost touch it

*It's finally mine

A very special thank you to Corrie, Autumn, Mackenzie, Mike, Kevin, and Cheryl for their cheers and pictures.  I appreciate the support I had.  I am thankful to have them share one of my greatest days.  I am very thankful to finally win.   

*My sister, Mackenzie, did awesome in the women's race!

*Two dogs, neither of them mine, but everyone likes a nice puppy. Zula (the yellow one) was my partner at the Tri Pad.

  Thanks for reading.

 

Road Race

  

*I have a perfect plan, thumbs up

 Going into the race I had a clear strategy in mind.  I pride myself on being a race tactician; this plan however left me excited with the feeling of “I have a secret.”  The plan was to let the peloton dictate the pace.  I planned to sit in for as long as possible while conserving energy.  My strategy included riding near the front, and matching any attacks if they were put in. 

*Happy to be on a bike

The race director had told us to “take it easy” until we reached approximately the quarter mile mark. This would allow all the racers to safely make it up to speed and the peloton to develop.  There was a variety of cyclists in the race, some fast, some slower, and everything in between.  Starting slow allows everyone to find their pace sort themselves out. She must have been speaking French because as soon as she said go people were on the front and going full tilt…did you not hear a word that she just said, fools?  Luckily there were no crashes.

At the point the “racing” should have started, the quarter mile mark, I found myself about 8 or 9 bikes back from the lead with a 10 second deficit. It was time to implement my strategy. I accelerated around a group of about 5 riders and bridged to the group of 4 that was on the front riding tempo.

 

*Rollin' out

 Safely back within the confines of the lead group I settled back into a comfortable pace. At about the one-mile mark the guy leading us out, Ken, eased back his tempo as we started up a small hill. I briefly thought we were going to ride together, that was until another racer, Dylan, made a move to go off the front.

Dylan went quickly and formed a gap on our group. I didn’t want to risk him going free so I had to leave the small group and chase up to Dylan’s wheel. This was the race. I had to stay here on his wheel.

*Dylan making a break off the front

Within 2 miles Dylan and I had put about a minute into the peloton and about 30 seconds into the chase group we left behind.  My strategy was to sit in so I am not embarrassed to say I didn’t go to the front to help our break.  Dylan was riding very hard, I wasn’t sure if he knew I was on his wheel or not.  He never looked back and continued to mash his pedals.  It was strategy, not capacity, that kept me in his draft.  Dylan and I were flyin’ down the road, at one point on the flats I saw my bike computer at 22 mph, which on a road bike is hauling.  I, of course, was sitting in and under no exertion.  My plan was working perfectly.

*Here we come

*There we go

Dylan was a workhorse and we continued to put time into the chase group. I am not sure if we beat the volunteers to the turn-around, or we were engrossed in the race and didn’t pay attention, but we blew through the turnaround. We rode for about a minute before a support car told us, “You missed the turn-around, go back.”

It wasn’t anyone’s fault, and I wasn’t mad at all. I did feel bad for Dylan. He just rode really hard and now the gap that he broke was gone. In fact, after missing the turn, Dylan and I had about minute deficit to the new race leaders that did make the correct turn-around.

*Dylan riding tempo, I am just sitting in and enjoying myself  :)

Well so much for the plan, we had to chase down the new break away. I told Dylan, “Get on my wheel, I will pull us up to the break.” I gestured my thumb towards by back wheel as Dylan nodded.

I rode a high tempo in an attempt to get back to the lead…this wasn’t part of the plan going into the race, but I wanted to win. After about two miles of riding tempo Dylan fell off my wheel. I wish I could have pulled him all the way to the front but I think he began to suffer from his early efforts. 

*Making my move to catch the leaders

I continued to ride alone. With two miles left I caught second place. I didn’t have time to sit in and rest so I continued to move up and passed. I set my sights on first place. I could see him up the road. The distance wasn’t insurmountable. I rode my last tempo effort to close the gap. I knew the leader, Ken, was capitalizing on his break because I could see his back bobbing with the effort he was putting into the pedals as he rode in his big chainring.

I was on the leader’s wheel and we could see the finish line in the distance. It is a hilltop finish that was easily seen from what I estimated to be about a half mile out. I sat in on Ken’s wheel resisting my constant urge to “go” and try and jump a gap. Last year Ken out sprinted me on the last climb and beat me by a few seconds. This year I planned to repay the favor. “Patience,” I kept telling myself as the speed increased. Riding closely behind Ken I was monitoring his gear changes in anticipation of him making a move to sprint.

 

 

We hit the base of the climb with a quarter mile to go. I saw Ken’s chain drop two gears lower as he made a move. I was all over it and closed the small gap that developed. This was my chance. No longer able to contain myself I stood and hit the pedals with about 100 meters to go. I torqued my carbon crank for about 5 seconds before sitting back on my saddle. I made a quick check over my shoulder, the gap was busted open and Ken looked content to ride for second place.

*Making my final move, Ken is just outside the picture

 

*Cut the power, shut 'er down

I cruised across the finish line for the win. Ken and I had a good laugh about the race and “paybacks” as we slowed down. Dylan came in for 3rd place. He was a workhorse, I told him that he did an excellent job and that I felt bad for him because we blew the turn-around. He seemed happy after the race so I didn’t feel too bad. I again told him good job and thanked him for the work he did earlier. Regardless of where each of us finished, we all had fun, that’s all that matters in the end. Thanks to Corrie for the pictures!

Time Trial

*Mike and I after the "Race of Truth"

As a pre race activity I decided to punish myself, just a little, by racing at the Saturday night TT (time trial). I have never raced it before, but I have heard that it was pretty fun. In crunching the numbers I thought that my triathlon cycling would hold up fairly well against the TT specialists. However, I didn’t have any time pressure, I was just going to have fun and enjoy being healthy and fit.

The race, although at 6pm, was very hot and windy. Those two things work to my advantage, most people hate the hot-windy two for one special. While I readied my bike and kitted up I received the course low-down form my friend Mike. The course was 7 miles out and back. 4.25 miles would be into the wind and 2.75 with the wind back to the finish. The remaining distance back to the start line was considered the “cool down” area.

*Hot and Windy :)

The TT is a race against the clock. Each successive rider starts at one-minute intervals and rides alone, no drafting, no hiding, no wimps. In races like the Tour de France, the TT is called the “race of truth.” The rider starting ahead of you is considered your “minute man.” My minute man was in my age group so I knew if I could catch him before the end that would give me a minute lead. My friend Mike started just behind me so I was his minute man.

It was pretty sweet to have a full on TT start with race officials holding my bike while I sat clipped in, and giving me the official TDF style finger countdown. I rolled out and prepared for the wind that would soon be opposing me. The course rolls slightly so I kept my head down, my cadence high, and everything under control. I was there to loosen up for the triathlon, not shred my legs by getting too TT crazy.

At mile one I was right in my zone, not hurting but still riding fairly hard. At mile two I counted my minute man at 35 seconds. I continued to pedal at about 100 rpm while trying to hide from the wind. At mile three I was 15 seconds off my minute man’s wheel. Just before the 4.25 mile turn-around I went by my minute man with a, “good job man, keep it up.”

Happy with my efforts I settled slightly as the wind went from my front to my back. I was able to catch my minute man’s minute man (the guy two minutes ahead of me). As I rode I concentrated on getting in my fuel because in less than 12 hours I was hoping to race the triathlon. I cruised through the finish line with the wind at my back and stopped the clock at 19:26.

As I rode easily back to the car, and start line, I had a pretty good chat with some of the other racers. It was very fun, regardless of the outcome, I was happy to be there. Everyone was very nice, the race was well run, and I always like doing new things. After getting my Hammer Recoverite and discussing the race with Mike, it was time for the awards.

After everything was sorted out I finished 9th overall and won the 25-29 division. There were some serious riders at the race so I was happy with that. One of the racers from Billings, Kevin, told me that the TT was a perfect prologue to the triathlon. I wasn’t so sure, but we would know soon enough.

Thanks to Mike for giving me his insight into the race, and thank you to Autumn for the pictures!