Spring Classic Triathlon: Part 2 of 2

A big shout out to Jena's friends, and my new followers in Afghanistan, thanks for reading :)

After a great night of sleep, Kevin and I set course for the race.  We were really lucky because Anne made the trip along with us.  Having her was a great treat; it was nice to have her cheers and pictures, her insight into our conversation, and her help in changing my wheels.  A big thank you to her.

*Anne helping me with my wheels, notice the surgical glove

We arrived at the race about two hours before the start, checked-in, got set up in transition, and said “hello” to all of our tri friends.  There were quite a few fast athletes in the field, which was nice. 

*The run-bully himself, Johmark Smith

*Speedos at the last race, full wetsuits at this race, go figure

 Among those fast athletes were my friends Trev Dakine and Johnmark Smith.  Johmark is always the top runner in the field, not near the top, but the top.  He told me before the race that his training was spot on and he had won a winter-spring trail run series.  The guy can run like the wind.  Before the swim I told Johmark (with a smile), “I will see you on the run.”  What that statement meant is open for interpretation.

I made the necessary race preparations, kitted-up in my Hammer Nutrition kit, and put on my wetsuit.  The water was cold, ice cold.  It is, after all, April.  One nice thing about having people take pictures is I get to capture those moments that are impossible to describe in words, or capture when I’m the one taking the pictures.

*Scuba diver water entrance

*Frogman, not my most flattering look

I could not get warm during the warmup period so I switched to doing some butterfly which did the trick.  I was ready for the swim.  The gun went off and we dove in, this is a short swim so the tempo has to be red-line.  Within 50 meters of the start I breached the pack and quickly went off the front.  The water is so cold that your arms begin to lock up from being cold, the trick is to swim fast enough to get out of the water before you get too bogged down.  I could feel the cold-lock starting to set in as my hand hit dirt and I rose up out of the water. 

*Brodacious going off the front

*My swim gap developing nicely

I had a great swim leading the pack by about 3 body lengths.  I made a smooth transition and left for the bike in first place.  The bike was windy with sun.  I am not yet used to the aggressive aero position so I did a lot of shifting around on my bike trying to get comfortable.  I haven’t spent a lot of time on the Murder Machine, as the season progresses I will be able to lock into that time trial position and not move. 

*Headed to transition 1

*About to flying mount the Murder Machine

*Kev and crew in T1

At about the four-mile mark on the bike the eventual winner, Graham Roche, slipped by me for the lead.  Graham is a phenomenal athlete whom I have had some great battles with in recent years.  At any given race, it’s a dog-fight as to which one of us will win.  There have been races when I have had his number and beat him, and vice versa.  Today was his day he had a great race and put a hurting on the field.

*Let the chase begin

I rode comfortably hard the remainder of the bike course and hit transition two.  I heard Anne give me some great cheers and traded my bike gear for run stuff.  I left transition two and took time checks.  Trev was right on my heels, and Johmark was close, too close for comfort.  I entered the run course making mental notes of not starting too fast.  The first mile came and went.

*The Murder Machine awaits the chase group in transition two

*Arm sleeves going on, it's go time

 For the first race, I felt swift and strong.  I ran tough and focused on staying relaxed.  I hit the run turn around and assessed the chase pack situation.  On the first half of the run I was able to run away from 3^rd and 4^th, Johnmark, the best runner in the field, was close but not dire.

*Bring it on Brodacious!

I simply had to run tough for 10 minutes and I would seal up 2^nd place.  In past years I would have run “not to get passed,” now I don’t think that way.  I have tried to shift my focus from “run hard and don’t get passed” to “beat the bully at his own game.” Wait, does that make me a bully?  What that means is to man-up and beat people at their strengths, that makes a statement.  If a guy is a great swimmer, out swim him.  If he is a fast runner, out run him.  Take his power, a tall order I know.

*Finish kick

With about a half mile to go I was really starting to suffer.  Spring triathlon is like a top, you wind it up and set it spinning as fast as you can.  If you make it to the end before the top stops spinning then you might win.  My top was beginning to wobble near the finish but I was fighting to stay in it.  I made a check to the chasers.  Johnmark had run his way up to 3^rd place, but I knew he wouldn’t be catching me. I cruised into the finish line in 2^nd place about a minute ahead of 3^rd place.

The following pictures are some of my favorites because they show how hard I ran.  I was in a CPR class and the instructor said, "If someone assumes a position of being bent over, with their hands on their knees, and struggles to breathe, they are totally fatigued and need to go to the hospital immediately."  His words, not mine.  It is my favorite position because it means I raced hard!  Thank you to Anne for capturing those "struggling to breathe, get me to the hospital moments." :)

*Hurt locker pic #1: "I am not taking another step past the finish line."

*Hurt locker pic #2 "Nope, still not moving."

*Hurt locker pic #3 "Seriously..."

*Oh psych, after a couple minutes it's all better.

For the first race of the season it went incredibly well.  Compared to the same race in 2011, I took nearly three minutes off my time, and moved up three spots, including moving ahead of two racers who beat me at this race last year.  That’s rewarding.  I know that "killing" myself with hard training (more figurative than literal) during the winter months when everyone else was having fun is what got me here.  It was fun to share the day with Kevin, he had a great race with frequent battles.  It was a great day.  Thanks to Anne for the pictures.

*Kevin in the finishing stretch

*Team Hammer Nutrition boys!

*We left loaded down with awards and feeling accomplished

Thanks for reading, rock on.

Spring Classic Triathlon: Part 1 of 2

If I were to tell you that I drove 280 miles on Saturday, and then rode in a car for another 180 miles with Kevin driving, raced, and then drove 280 miles back home, you might call me “nuts.” 

Well that’s what I did, over 740 miles over and back in less than 30 hours.  I consider it a small sacrifice to live my dreams.  I didn’t do it because I love to drive, I did it because I love to race and I love to share adventures with Kevin and Anne. 

 I have driven more for a race, and will do it again if it means a good day of triathlon.  I have gotten up at 2am to drive to a race and thought nothing of it.  I love to race that's all part of it.  It doesn't phase me.  There has always been great satisfaction in doing the things that other people don't want to do to succeed.

*A group ride developed at the gas-n-sip I fueled up at

This lifestyle isn’t right for everyone, it certainly isn’t the dream life for 99 percent of the population, but it’s my dream, and I am living my dream.  Driving my sweet car is a small price to pay to live my dream. :)

Despite the uncharacteristic short stay, our group was able to squeeze in a lot of great adventures.  Kevin and I had a pre-race warmup ride on Saturday around Seattle.  Being a Montana boy, riding in Seattle was an experience, or should I say sensory overload. 

 Montana has (what I naively presume to be) the most epic cycling on earth. Seattle cycling, albeit strikingly different, is beautiful in it’s own ways.  The early season green, the large man-made infrastructures, the city views, the winding bike paths, and the bustling cycling scene were new to me. 

*Sweet bikes

*Kevin looking sharp

*Rockin' the Triathlete Magazine kit

*My twin turbos

It was great to share that adventure with Kevin, we had a great pre-race ride of about an hour and half before Anne cooked us an amazing meal.  Anne prepared a delicious dinner of healthy and nutritious items.  Anne’s sister and her boyfriend joined us so we had a great little dinner party. 

*The two chefs, Kev and Anne. I diced the tomatoes and that wasn't easy either

*Saturday night NASCAR!

The nutritious and delicious meal left us satisfied and fueled for the race the next day.  A big thank you to Kevin and Anne for the great tri suite and gourmet meal.  

*Kevin won the award for best presentation

*If you never know where the road will take you, get navigation.

Inland Northwest Swim Championships

Last weekend was the final swim meet of the spring season, it culminated in the Inland Northwest Championships. The event was great, I had a very fun, rewarding, and challenging meet.

*My fastest swim times ever!  

I am a triathlete who is branching out into competitive swimming. This is my first full season of swim meets and I’m quickly becoming familiar with the swimming scene.  Much like triathlon, it seems that swimming, no matter the meet I go to, has the same group of people.

Also like triathlon, one of the highlights of the swim meet is continually seeing those friends that I have made throughout the season.  Swimming and triathlon have great people, maybe the dedication and commitment to training draws a certain type of person.

I was lucky to have many swim friends to share the meet with, Diana, Beat-up-the-beat Brown, Donn, Charlotte, Flora, Gabby, and many more were all a big part of the swim success.  Thank you all for sharing it with me.

My amazing swim friends attending were:

*Montana buddy Donn L

*Beat-up-the-beat Brown

*Charlotte of Montana Masters

*Jack from Team Wenatchee

*Idaho swim coach, Christine

*Brown's lady friend, Gabby

This meet was very important to me; I had trained my brains out the last four months getting ready.  For the meet I planned to swim a tough program modeled (somewhat loosely) after Michael Phelps’s 2008 Olympic program; 400, 200, 100 individual medley, 500 freestyle, and the 200, 100 butterfly.  What made this task even more difficult was the separation of the two hardest events, the 400im and 200 fly, by only the 50 freestyle.

*Championship venue!

Being the final meet, and the BIG championship, I wanted to swim my best.  Lucky for me I had three things going for me in my favor.  

1. I have been receiving some great swimming tips from a gorgeous Olympic hopeful (lucky me).  

2. I trained hard, harder than I have ever trained my alternate strokes in my preparations for this meet.  

3. My good friend Evan gave me a very…unique…racing suit as a pre-championships gift. 

If you find my suit eccentrics offensive, then send a thank you to Evan. Lol.  I actually received a lot of compliments on it.

*Yeah buddy

My first event was one of my favorites, the 400im.  I swam pretty well; I held back just a little bit knowing I had the 200 butterfly in just a few minutes.  I had Diana and Brown cheering for me at the pool ends, which was nice, I appreciated their cheers.  Despite holding up just a little, I was able to match my personal best from last week in the 400im. 

*Calm before the chaos

*Mixed final, let's go!

The next event was the “killer,” the 200 fly.  I held up the first half with the hopes of bringing it home in a hurry.  I swam well, felt great, and with more cheers pushing me, I went just under my personal best time.  Awesome.

*Unleash the mean face

For the sake of humility, I will summarize my remaining four races by saying, “I have no idea what came over me.”  I lowered all my personal bests from the Montana Swim Championships the week before. I dropped 3 seconds in the 100im, 7 seconds in the 200im, 7 seconds in the 100 fly, and 25 seconds from my P.R. in the 500 free.  

Like I said, I don’t know what came over me.  Attribute it to the grueling workouts I did all winter, the help Diana has given me, and the motivation to open it up and see what I had.  Anyway, I wound up winning the 25-29 year age division in all 6 events, that’s going out in style.  

Not to be out done, Diana swam very well breaking two more master’s records in the 200 backstroke and the 50 fly.  Before the 50 fly she told me, “I want to go low 27s (meaning she wanted her time for one lap of butterfly to take 27 seconds).”  I replied with, “I think you can go 26.”  When all was said and done, she went a 26 and broke the record, just like I said she would. J

*Psyched after smashing the record, told ya.

Beat-up-the-beat Brown also swam very well in his races.  He was sporting some stylish new jammers and some loud cheering arm charm.  It was nice to have Gabby join us.  His times were very respectable.  We won’t mention that little DQ for the one-hand touch in the 100im…oops, too late.

*Brown getting ready to rock

*Brown in his 50 fly final

*Brown and Gabby after his race.

*Gabby striking a pose

*Donn cooling down after his 200 free final

The two day event was a very special weekend for everyone involved.  It was great to spend time with Diana, Brown, Gabby, Donn, and all my swim friends.  My new swim friend, Christine, gave me some great workout ideas that I can use to get better.  I am a little sad that I won’t see them until the fall.  Now it’s time to reconnect with my triathlon friends, I have missed them.

*Christine gives the weekend two thumbs up

My first swim season was a huge success! How could so many adventures, awards, and special moments not be a success?  Winning my division in all my events at the Inland Championships was incredibly satisfying, pure icing on the cake.  That just goes to show you what a person can do when they believe in the power of one.

Just wait until next year…