Huatulco – The Short Version

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The 2009 Huatulco World Cup was seriously hot. The water was 84, and according to Jarrod Shoemaker’s SRM the average temp was 102 degrees during the bike. During the run it only got hotter. I poured so much water over my head on the run that at times I felt like I was running through a shower. And that’s all I’ll say about the weather.

The swim was by far the slowest and easiest swim of my triathlon career. Two guys took off and I stayed at the front of the main group, then pulled ahead at the end. Transition relaxed because I was in front of everyone, and the bike started off really slow with nobody motivated to work hard at all.

The hill on the bike was a wall. It was 75 seconds straight up, we hit it eight times, which destroyed the pack and caused the majority of people to drop out. On lap three I started at the front into the hill then went easy (relatively) planned to be near the end of the group by the crest. Unfortunately, when I crested some guys in front of me had allowed a gap to open – which I figured was no big deal – but on the decent the gap grew, rather than shrinking. I had to TT my way back to the front group and by the time I made it they were already starting up the hill again, with Matt Chrabot pulling off the front. He stayed away for more than four laps, starting the run with a FOUR MINUTE lead! Back in my pack we had decided he was committing suicide, and nobody was willing to chase.

Matt went on to win handily (after a “suicide attempt” he ran just 20 seconds slower than Jarrod), with Jarrod running to third (second was Rudie Wild, who did a mini-version of Chrabot’s breakaway). I ran in a pack with Collington, Serrano, Chacon, and Tutukin. It was the first real running pack I’ve been in, and I finally understand how tactics play into the running race. I stared surging on the downhills after 5k, and we dropped Chacon and Collington. For the last two laps Serrano Tutukin and I flogged each other with everything we had, and every time one of us surged the other two would claw our way back into the draft. With about a 1/4 mile to go I was leading, and thinking my final surge had dropped the other two – then Tutukin came by with a final surge I couldn’t match, and Serrano followed on his heels. It was a really close finish, which put me at 7th place.

The graph above, for those of you wondering, is a measurement of the time gap between Matt Chrabot and each of the other competitors, with each measurement taken at the transition area (8 for the bike, 4 for the run). Take a minute to soak this in – when 50 guys started a race that only 22 were capable of finishing, Matt Chrabot took it to another level, put four minutes on the nearest competitor during the bike, then lost mere seconds on one of the hottest runs in triathlon. That’s not just gutsy, it’s superhuman.

No More Training For 2009

PB070011 Tomorrow is the Huatulco World Cup. It’s my second World Cup, but definitely my biggest ITU race as far as size and quality of field. Plus, this course is going to kill people. It’s hot, for one, but more importantly, there’s a gigantic wall that we ride up eight times followed by a not-so-flat run…

…it’s going to be really fun! And afterwards, 2009 is over for me, which means today’s training was the last of this season.

 

PB070013PB070001I haven’t taken any pictures yet of Huatulco, but I did photograph my bike. I should add that this is the first time I’ve   ever  raced on a bike clean enough to put on my bed. The US Team brought a mechanic for us to use, and he’s doing full-on PB070005overhauls of our bikes. It’s remarkable. I actually just had a tune-up from Speedy Reedy in Seattle (who does a very good job), so I went to Joe the Mechanic asking only for some Quick-Stop break pads (I forgot my carbon-surface pads at home). Two hours later I walked back in to find my bike had been polished, the headset taken apart and cleaned, the cables changed, the shifting fixed – he actually took off my cassette  and washed it in the sink! Seriously, this is the best tune-up anyone has ever given me. Kevin Collington claims he no longer goes to bike shops, he just waits until he’s at a race with Joe, and lets him do an overhaul. One thing is for certain, there will not be any non-essential drag tomorrow from my bike. It’s all on me.

As for my trip – I haven’t had nearly as much practice with speaking Spanish since the all the other English speaking athletes showed up. There are enough fluent-speaking people that when we go to dinner somebody is always taking over the ordering process before I can mutter “quiero”.

Buenos Noches

PB030353 A wise man once said, “a little Spanish will get you a long way.” And tonight that couldn’t be truer.

[Left: My Parents and I are celebrating the delivery of my new fan-club t-shirts – a big thanks to Taigraphx for the printing!]

It’s been a long day of travelling, I left my house at 4pm on Tuesday, and arrived in Huatulco around noon Wednesday, after eight hours of flying, nine hours sitting in airports, five baggage screenings, three flights, several short naps, and one shuttle ride where I had to pretend to be on the French team after discovering that every other athlete on my flight (twelve) had a shuttle waiting for them – but nobody was there for the American.

I checked in and called my mom, Victor Plata and Courtenay on Skype. That’s about when the sawing, hammering, and mowing started. I was planning to nap, but it was like sitting inside a machine shop while the boss is making rounds. I asked to change rooms, only to find that my new room has no internet, and the old AC fan was almost as loud as the hammering in the other room. They said I couldn’t change again until tomorrow, and – since it was already digging into my nap time – I didn’t have the desire.

After a wonderful nap, I snuck in a ride before it got dark outside. It was about 3km in that I started thinking about how gorgeous it is here – and that’s when the dogs started chasing me. There were no less than a dozen stray mutts – who obviously thought I was intruding – chasing me over the crest of a short hill. I hadn’t planned more than an easy spin, but I got in a good sprint as they chased me downhill at 40mph. Those dogs can run fast! (but luckily not for very long). It took me a while to turn around, for fear of passing those dogs while trying to go up the hill I’d just sprinted down. When I finally did work up the courage, the dogs just laid at the side of the road and watched me pedal by – no barking, no chasing, no nipping at my feet… I think I wore them out!

After a run I had some fajitas at the hotel, then went walking to find more bottled water. Everything on the street was closed, but a guy outside a snorkeling tour shop started speaking to me in Spanish. Now – I own the Rosetta Stone Spanish software, and I tell people I’m learning Spanish, but the truth is I use it to pass the time on the trainer every-so-often and really didn’t think I had learned enough to squeak out an introduction – let alone a conversation with a non-English speaker. I asked him to repeat himself several times before I figured out he was asking if I would be racing in the Triathlon on Sunday. We talked for a little while, and I exhausted my limited vocabulary to tell him when I was racing, where I’m from, my name, and that I was looking for a store to buy water. He told me where it was, and when I asked if it was within walking distance, he told me to borrow his bicycle while he waited there for me. I couldn’t believe it – a total stranger, who I could hardly converse with was just blindly letting me take his bike to the supermarket.

I did, and when I came back he told me to go to bed and sleep well so I could race well. And he said he would have his family at the race and they would cheer for me! My fan club is growing – if only I had more T-Shirts…

Voy a Huatulco en la semana que viene

image It’s finally here: taper. My last taper of 2009. Plus, I’m at the most physically and mentally healthy state of being in my athletic career. Now you might ask, “How can anyone even know that?” To which I would respond, “By reading my blog.” Obviously, if it says it on here it must be true.

I took my bike to Speedy Reedy for a quick tune up. I’m back to using a Dura-Ace crank after wearing out my FSA Team cranks in just one year. I love my Quarq Cinqo powermeter, (and I love my FSA bars, stem, seat post, etc.) but I would recommend the SSRAM S900 or the Specialized FACT cranks to anyone buying a new powermeter.

image Speaking of ant+ gear, I just got one of the Garmin Premium Heart Rate Monitor Straps (it’s soft, unlike any other ant+ compatible HRM) and an FR60. The strap is nicer than its plastic predecessor, but after a couple of uses, I really can’t say there’s a huge difference in feel during a workout. However, unlike the plastic strap, this one is guaranteed waterproof (oops, I’ve been wearing the old one in the water for years!). It does seem to slip down less, but then the elastic is much newer than on my old strap.

The Garmin FR60 watch is definitely cool. Instead of GPS, it relies on a foot-pod to measure pace and distance. When ordering I didn’t realize that the colored version lacked the foot pod accessory, so I have only used the older foot-pod, which is quite a bit larger and slightly less accurate. The reason I wanted a running watch without GPS is because the FR60 is waterproof, and slim enough to wear during a race where GPS is less important than light-weight and swimmability. I’m also hoping that with the foot-pod I can keep a better log of my miles when I’m running through thick forest, like Saint Edwards State Park near my house.

Tuesday I leave for Huatulco Mexico, where hopefully there will be somebody to pick me up and take me to the host hotel. Right now I feel like crossing my fingers is the most proactive way for me to ensure a safe and successful trip – I’ve already done everything else.

Klepto’s Getting Greedy

image It’s definitely approaching winter in Seattle, as demonstrated by the lack of students at the track. It’s nice that I don’t have to dodge anyone, but now that my special admirers have taken to indoor activities I’m forced to share the track with something much less pleasant.  Klepto The Crow came to the track today. It was before I had finished my first lap that I caught him pecking at my stash of two vanilla Clif Shots and a Clif Bar. I ran over and scared him off, but not before he took the entire Chocolate Chip Clif Bar! Seriously, there’s a lot you can say about Klepto the Crow (several expletives come to mind), but he’s certainly not stupid. Those Clif Bars are delicious.

K-Swiss Has Some Cool New Stuff

imageEvery time I get a new shipment from K-Swiss I get super excited to find out what new products they’ve released. Since I started working with the company at the beginning of 2008, Kalifornia-Swiss has gone from a one-running-shoe brand (the Ultra-Natural Run) to a full line of innovative and performance-geared running shoes. In that same timeline, the athletic clothing has expanded from a few shirts and some tennis socks, to a full line of running apparel, including shorts, running pants, shirts, running jackets, and even right/left specific running socks (which are incredibly comfortable).

Most recently I got a pre-production pair of the new K-Ruuz 6.5oz racing flats. I’ve never run in shoes that lightweight before, and it’s awesome. Dallas was my fastest 10km time, 32:00, and I’m sure part of what let me run so fast were my new kicks. (As an aside, I probably wouldn’t recommend the K-Ruuz to your average triathlete – the risk of injury when racing in such a minimalist shoe is much higher. Make sure you have some miles under your feet and that you have the body type for a true racing flat. The K’Ona is plenty light at 9oz and still offers great support and stability.)

image I also got a running top – which according to the tag is called a “half-zip top” – that I can only find on k-swiss.com for women. It’s made of a super-thin fleece, which has proven to wick my sweat away from my body. It beads on the outside of the shirt, so my clothes never get damp and heavy as  I run. It also has thumb holes, so my hands stay warmer. This is definitely my new favorite cold-weather running top (my previous favorite was a rowing top I stole from my mom’s closet), and if I could find the men’s version on the website I would link it, then buy a few more before they sell out.

Courtenay also just got a new set of kicks from K-Swiss. She went to My K-Swiss and designed her own custom shoes. You can pick your own colors for the fabric, laces, and sole, then you can put your name on the side – all for just $70. Below are the shoes I made with Columbia University in mind, and I’m assuming you’ll get an error message if you try to make shoes for Dartmouth or U. Penn.image

Toyota Cup US Open Triathlon

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On Sunday I completed the coveted, little-known triathlon trifecta. I have already been the star amateur, and the fearless guide to Aaron “Megawatt” Scheidies. This weekend I came back from a season-wrecking injury to prove that my transition to professional status was no mistake.

Forty kilometers south of Dallas, miles from the nearest street lamp, the beat of 80’s pop music sent out a homing signal to the best multisport athletes from around the world. Tour busses probed the black roads bringing hoards of athletes from the nearby metropolis. By 5am the transition area was already brimming with energy. A light drizzle fell upon the thousands of bicycles sitting next to an eerily silent Joe Pool Lake.

I arrived on a bus with 40 other professional triathletes from around the world. My rear wheel had a flat tire, which was creating an unwanted stress in my morning plans. After having my tire fixed I set up transition next to Matt Chrabot. I made sure my equipment was perfectly set up, then started walking toward the swim start. I made it just 10 meters before I realized I had left my chain on the wrong gears. I went back and switched gears, but when I started pedaling the rear tire exploded. Crap – was it luck that I figured this out before the start, or was something irreparably wrong with my rear wheel? Fighting panic, I carried my bike back to the mechanic. He popped off the tire and started inspecting the tube – meanwhile I inspected the tire. There was a gash in the sidewall which was the obvious culprit, and the mechanic happened to have a less-ruined used tire he was willing to give me – Continental 4000, which is by far the best tire for wet and slippery conditions like we were facing – it was a blessing in disguise.

By the time I made my way to the pro tent the rest of my field was already in wetsuits waiting for the sky to provide enough light for them to start a swim warmup. It would be a non-wetsuit swim – 70 degree water temperatures – but with the air temperature it was best to warm up in my Blue Seventy Helix. The flat and green horizon provided very few landmarks to sight off of, so I figured the swim pack may not follow a straight line between buoys.

After the National Anthem and introductions we lined up at the water’s edge. I tried to be on the left side of the start line, but ended up dead center – not a great place if you lack get-out speed. TYR was offering a $1,000 swim prime, and I wanted it (if not for the money, to prove that last week’s terrible swim in LA was just a fluke), so when the gun went off I kicked hard to get ahead of the pack. Within 100 meters there were three Vs, the group to my right was falling back, the group to my left staying even and being led by Paulo Miyashiro – a professional open water swimmer and triathlete from Brazil. I started moving left hoping to grab Paulo’s feet, but moments later he surged, dropped his entire swim group and was soon a splash in the distance. After a long struggle trying to catch my South American friend I finally gave in and found Matt Reed’s feet – widely recognized as the best feet in the business – where I stayed until the end of the 1500m swim.

Following Matt Reed out of the first transition we set off on the 40km point-to-point bike leg. Bouncing across cracks, potholes, and wet roads that seemed to be revolted by our presence, we rolled over the hills of South Dallas. (If only my Garmin Edge 705 would warn me of upcoming potholes!) Matt Reed pulled away and I found myself in a pack of Olympians, World Cup Champions, and general badasses. With so many strong men surrounding me I had no choice but to work hard. The 50 degree rain would have to be ignored. Every hill we encountered made my muscles ache, and the cold made it impossible to eat and drink, and my 705 showed that my heart rate was struggling to keep me warm. I wanted to hold back a little for the run, but I had to maintain position. By the time we charged into Downtown Dallas the rain had finally begun to subside. I pulled on my K-Ruus racing flats from K-Swiss and found myself on the heels of Bevan Docherty – one of the great runners in the sport.

“Stay with him no matter what” I told myself. Frankly, I’m sick of being dropped in the first mile of the run. Exploding at the end seemed likely, but I was willing to find out. I felt lighter on my feet than ever before, and by the end of the first mile I was still in the mix. I ran ahead of Matt Chrabot for another three kilometers before he took over fighting the wind. We rounded the turnaround together and I stayed on his heels until the last 2 kilometers. He started pulling away, and I fought to bring him back. I was already having the run of my life, but with 300 meters left I tried to surge and bring Matt back. It was too late – Matt expected it and accelerated down the final meters to the finish line. Matt crossed in sixth, with me following six seconds back for 7th place.

This finish is my best at this level of competition. I had three strong legs, and fought hard until the end. Next up is the Huatulco World Cup, and I’m definitely excited for a great race there.

Finding a Pool to Train In while Traveling

image This week I decided to stay in LA for a few days before heading to Dallas for the Toyota Cup Lifetime Fitness Triathlon this weekend. It was either that, or head back to Seattle right after the race, train at home for a few days, then fly to Dallas. The extra travel time would probably negate the benefits of being at home for training, and since I was able to stay with a former roommate / teammate / lab partner (current friend) in Los Angeles I figured it was better to enjoy some California Sun. Training away from home can be logistically challenging, but I have a few pointers for making your travel training a success.

Finding a pool is pretty easy. Look at the swimmers guide and find the pools closest to where your staying. The search will tell you if the pool is public or private, and often will have admission fees and lap swim schedule. Sometimes the pool is at a health club, which can be costly, and gym pools are not normally the greatest aquatic facilities. When I was in Miami I swam at a Bally’s Fitness Center where my host was a member. He gave me a free 7 day pass and I used their 2 lane 25 yard pool for four days without any trouble. In Austin I scored a 7 day membership to Life Time Fitness, where the pools were all really nice. In Hollywood last week I used another 7 day free pass to 24 Hour Fitness, but had to put down a credit card deposit because they were going to charge me if I didn’t cancel after 5 days. When I called to cancel I was given a new number to call four times before talking to a “membership cancelation services” person, then the conversation went life this:

“How can I help you?”

“I was using a 7 day free membership while I was staying in Hollywood, but I’d like to cancel it because I”m no longer in Hollywood and I’m not going to be using that pool anymore.”

“I’m sorry to hear that sir, can I ask why you are canceling your membership?”

“Really? Like I just said, I’m not in Hollywood anymore and I’m not swimming at a 24 Hour Fitness anymore.”

“I’m sorry to hear that sir, is it alright if I put your account on hold for 6 months instead of cancelling it?”

“No, I would rather cancel it now.”

“I’m sorry to hear that sir, your membership will continue for 30 days, and will be cancelled after the next bill.”

And so on until the guy finally gave in and gave me a confirmation code and said I would not be billed for my free pass.

When I do these passes I’m always up-front with the gym employees. I tell them I’m only in town for a race, and I would really like to use their pool for the week. Then I ask if they have a 7 day pass I can use, or if there’s a way I could use the pool for less than the standard $15 – $30 day pass fee.

Here in Dallas I went into the Downtown Dallas YMCA where there’s an eight lane 25 meter pool. When I called it seemed like it was unlikely that I could use the facilities for less than their $20/day, but since it was my only option I rode my bike over to check it out. When I came in the lady at the front desk, Gracie, recognized my voice from the phone and – seeing me walk in looking like a beach bum, wearing board shorts and a yellow Rudy Project backpack, sporting an afro under a helmet and carrying my bicycle – offered to make me her guest for the three days I would be using the pool. Now that was unexpected and wonderful!

The YMCA pool is really neat. It’s a converted parking garage, so it’s 9 lanes wide, but only 8 lanes are usable because there are big rectangular pillars in the center lane. Out the windows you can see the Dallas Skyscrapers, and rather than giving me weird looks for my pink splish suits, the lifeguard gave me a ticket to the Texas State Fair! She told me if I went I could get just about any kind of fried food I want: fried butter, fired snickers, fried banana, fried ice cream, fried marshmallow, etc. Makes me wish I were staying another night after the race!

Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon Presented by Herbalife

Please excuse all my typos. I’ll fix them when I’m not posting via iphone. My predictions for this race were right on. I had decisively the worst swim of my career, despite outsmarting the surf and getting to the first buoy third. I followed Andrew Starykowicz and Chris Foster (wish i has his swim coach, a year ago there’s no way he could have made the first pack, let alone lead it) and when they turned a buoy too soon I followed. After all, the kayakers and life guard boat were directly in front of us. We swam 50m off course, and I was the only one to catch back up to what became the lead pack. I stayed in the back of the front pack, which set me up perfectly to miss all three waves in a set that took everyone in front of me right to shore.  I really should know better than to miscount buoys.

(photo: hanging our with Triathlon Lab and USAT after the race)

Perhaps the fastest bike split would make up for a bad swim? I grabbed my bike and set my sights on the lead police escort, about a quarter mile up the road. I started passing people pretty quickly, and by 10km in I was leading the race. At the turnaround I misread the directions while trying to look into the sun and read signs inside a tunnel. I turned 5m too early and did a full 360 back to the correct cone. I can be so stupid! Back in 5th I passed back up to the front and settled back in. At 30k Greg Bennett surged past. I kept him in site but couldn’t keep pace. When we got to the tunnel again it was even harder to see than before. We were supposed to go through the tunnel and then turn right to go to transition, but I passed the turn before I saw it, and again the pack behind me went right by while I did a 540 degree turn to the left. What made my stupidity feel worse were the volunteers shouting, “you need to pay attention!” Thanks bra. I still managed to have the fastest bike split.

Coming out of T2 I started the run having already lost the gap I’d put on Javier Gomez I hung on for 30 seconds, which felt like 3 minutes, then found myself running in 7th with a large gap behind. I lost a lot of ground on the hills, which I just don’t train for, and with a mile to go I was passed, then Chris Foster caught me (with the fastest run split) at 1/4 mile to go, putting me in 9th.

I’m really happy to have raced, despite a few small mistakes. My cycling ability was a big question mark coming in, but it looks like I must be doing something right. I know I can swim well when I don’t have a broken wrist, and I definitely will run faster when in not at the end of a tough training block. Next week I’ll be racing the Toyota US Open Triathlon in Dallas.

Kaiser Permanente Presents

image Tomorrow I’m racing in my first premier triathlon since May. I’m surprisingly not nervous, despite a world class field of athletes, like Javier Gomez, Greg Bennett, and a dozen other elites from overseas. Perhaps my lack of nerves is because I’ve been training hard leading into this race, and I’m not rested at all. My sights are set on the last World Cup of the year in Mexico next month, so how well I race tomorrow is only an indication of where my weaknesses may be. (spoiler alert) My guess is that 10 weeks in a wrist brace will mean my swim is definitely not where it needs to be.

The 10th Annual Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon Presented by Toyota is the penultimate event in the Life Time Fitness Toyota Cup, which wraps up in Dallas next week. This series has more prize money being handed out than any other series, aside from the World Championship Series and Hy-Vee World Cup (which isn’t a series). It’s also the premier non-drafting Olympic Distance race series in the world. So a big time thanks to Life Time Fitness, Toyota and Kaiser Permanente for presenting us with world class triathlons like the Los Angeles Triathlon.

I arrived in Los Angeles late Wednesday and stayed with a friend in Hollywood. As I discussed in my last post, LA is much bigger than I previously thought. To save myself some time and allow for a little more down time, I decided to come stay by the airport with Rory. I’m now just 20 minutes from the race site, instead of 80. I’m deathly afraid of riding my bike in LA, so I rode a trainer at the USAT Endurance Mobile Tour booth in the race expo. It actually drew quite a bit of attention from passers by, and my Clif Bar Jersey inspired quite a few training and racing nutrition questions. It also got Timothy Carlson, the sport’s premier journalist and photographer, to come ask me a few questions, like why is my hair so big.