New Jersey Devilman Race Report......

Just a quick race report as the Giro starts on Universal in a few minutes and so need to go watch that....oh, the joys of being between jobs. It's like being a pro triathlete at the moment....get up, swim, chill, eat, ride, run, eat, chill, sleep...not a bad life! It's only for two weeks and so I need to make the most of it!

Anyway, this past Saturday was the triathlon season opener at the New Jersey Devilman. The trip up I-95 was surprisingly uneventful for a Friday night but the night's sleep was poor and it felt like I only slept for a handful of hours....nothing unusual prior to big races but for a non-A race not a great sign. Due to the change in race distances this year the field was a little smaller than prior years (only 130 in the Half-Lite) but there were a few big hitters who provided a good test. The swim went by quickly....yes I was fast :-) but the course was marked way short. It was suppose to be 0.9mile but from the time I did I reckon it was closer to 0.6mile. I came out in 12th and set about the bike.



The bike was pretty odd from the start. It was a two loop course of about 20.5miles and from the get-go I didn't feel particularly comfortable. It just felt like I was fighting the bike the whole time and couldn't get into any kind of rhythm. I wasn't smooth and perhaps that came from riding the road bike a little too much lately. More time on the tri bike is needed! In the end I averaged 23mph on the bike (which was actually closer to 42 miles rather than the stated 40.3 miles) for the 10th fastest and was in 6th entering the run.



The trouble was that the leader off the bike had totally blitzed the course and had a 10 minute lead over 2nd place and about 12 minutes on me.....over a 8.8 mile run that was going to be hard to pull back. The run started well as I was rolling along at just over 6min/miles but again it felt a struggle and I was working hard to keep at that pace. By the half-way point I had moved into 3rd and the leader was now only 7mins ahead....I had pulled back 5mins in 4.4miles. Over the remaining half of the run I was hanging on and but moved into 2nd as the leader who had blitzed the bike just fell apart and was walking....Unfortunately I couldn't hang onto 2nd and was passed with just 1.5miles to go and ended up in 3rd. My run time was 2nd overall (1hr) and I finished just under 4minutes behind the winner in 3hrs 6mins.



Not a bad start to the season, managed to get onto the podium in the first race, which is always good. There is plenty to work on in the next few weeks prior to Eagleman, primarily getting on the tri bike more and running off of the bike. Got another race at Columbia Triathlon this weekend......All paths lead to Kona!

Season Opener......(Triathlon)

This has been a long time coming, the triathlon season opener finally! Tomorrow I am racing at the New Jersey Devilman "Half-Lite" triathlon up at Cedarville, NJ. This race last year was my breakthrough race, I finally put it all together and had a major PR. The race this year is slightly different in that they have had to change the course and as such it isn't a full half-ironman distance and is somewhere in between an olympic and half distance race.

The swim is 0.9miles, the bike 40.4miles and to finish the run is 8.8miles. It should be somewhere around the 3 hour mark for the race. Besides the course changes, it should be a good opener to really test the body and see where I am, as we are only 6 weeks out from the first "A" race of the year at Eagleman 70.3M. Hopefully the weather will hold....

I feel ready to rock but I never know until I actually get down to racing. It's the age old question that most athletes hate "how do you feel?"....you get it at all races whether it be running, cycling or triathlons, and the answer is always the same. It must be something about endurance athletes....the standard answer is either "don't know, lets wait and see" or "man, I feel so tired". Generally, the people who say the latter go out and blitz the field and are just sandbagging! Hopefully I'll be the one saying that tomorrow morning :-)

In other news, I resigned from my job yesterday. I have been looking for alternative positions in the traffic engineering/transportation planning field for a while and I found one that really fits with the specific area I wanted to move into. More news soon......

NJ Devilman Race Report......

Well this was the first big test of the season as it would show how the winter/spring training had gone. From my last post I had listed a few goals for this race....swim a PB, ride strong and run to my potential, all of which would probably lead to a new overall PB. After a long and arduous journey up I-95 on Saturday afternoon we took care of the usual pre-race business of registration and carbo-loading (at Marcianos in Vineland, NJ). Fortunately we were staying only about 20mins away from the race site and so the alarm was set for a relatively leisurely (for triathlon starts anyway) 6:00AM. Waking up in daylight always helps in my opinion and after a quick breakfast (the usual bowl of oatmeal) we were off to the race site in foggy conditions, but no rain as had been forecast. The swim at this race is in a local "lake" and due to the size constraints it is actually a 3-lap swim. After a slight delay waiting for the sprint competitors to finish, we were off in the 2nd and last wave of the 1/2 Ironman race. Trying not to swallow any of the swampy water (esp. after last years stomach issues early in the run at this race! no wonder they don't normally allow you to swim in there) I got into a strong and steady rhythm. I have worked extensively on my swimming this past winter and I was hoping it would pay-off. After the three laps I exited in 25mins 21secs...a new swim PB by 4 minutes. It was a good start which always gives you a boost as you run to transition (over grass and sea shells of all things!) First Goal accomplished Now out onto the bike and try to catch all those people ahead in the earlier wave...that's the good thing about being in the last wave you have lots of people ahead of you to chase. Last year at this race the wind was blowing a gale but fortunately it was nowhere near as strong and the first half of the lap was either a crosswind or a tailwind. The second half of the lap was tougher as we turned into the headwind but it certainly wasn't a major issue and you could continue to plow through it. The 56 mile bike was two laps and I went through the first lap in 1hr 10mins.



The wind had started to pick up on the 2nd lap and the front of the field had begun to spread out....there definitely were not as many people to pick off and so I knew that I must have been relatively close to the front. My 2nd goal of the race was to ride sensibly and strong on the bike, not go out to fast and blow, but yet to still push the pace. My 2nd lap was pretty much the same as the 1st and I came into T2 after a 2hr 20min 54sec split (23.8MPH), which was good enough for the 9th fastest bike of the day. At this point in the race I was lying in 13th place but we knew that some of the these people had a 9 minute head start from being in the first wave.



T2 was quick and for the first time in a triathlon I decided to run with my garmin to give a better idea of pacing etc etc. I knew that if I ran well I would be under 4hrs 30mins and a new PB. Running well in this race was the MAJOR goal and I started out at 5min 55sec/miles and held this for the first 5 miles.



I had already run down three people in front of me and I was sitting in 10th with 6 miles gone. The weather however, was dramatically different from the forecast...so much for the clouds and 65 degrees. It was now blazing sunshine and mid-70's, the run had no shade and amongst the Garden State's endless fields it was getting hot. The run is an out and back Y shape course and so you get to see the people both in front of you and behind you....going through 7 miles I was still holding 6mins 10secs pace but it was feeling much tougher and through till mile 10 it was real hard. You always go through one of these spells in every race and you just have to push through until you begin to feel better (well hopefully until you feel better!). Getting to mile 10 I was now in 8th place on the road and I was gradually reeling in the 7th place runner. Also at mile 10 I begun to feel slightly better and was just telling myself that there was less than 20minutes to go...that always helps as you know the pain and suffering will shortly be over!

I never managed to catch 7th place but ended up about 20secs behind him....after all that though he was in the earlier wave and so I was already close to 9 minutes up on him! So coming into the finishing straight I had ran 1hr 22min half marathon for the 5th fastest run of the day (and a new 1/2 Ironman PB run split by 7 minutes) and I ended up with a 4hrs 12mins 47 secs finish....a new PB by 18minutes. Finally the run had come together like I knew it could and the training has paid off....all the race goals were accomplished and now it is onto Eagleman to try and challenge for one of those coveted Hawaii spots! Funnier things have happened :-)



Overall I was 7th and 2nd in age group.....the 30-34 age group were studs at this race, of the top seven finishers five were in the 30-34 age group and three were in the top five! (Fortunately only one of them will be at Eagleman!) If anyone is looking for a ideal warm-up race to Eagleman then the Devilman is certainly it.....the bike courses are almost identical in character (flat, windy and fast) and the run courses are both flat and open to the power of the sun! And on that note I have probably the worst sunburn ever from a race after yesterday....thinking it would be cloudy I went without suncream and now my arms and shoulders are a devilish run!

The Devilman Cometh......

It's that time of year again to head up to Cedarville, New Jersey on Sunday and race the first 1/2 Ironman triathlon of the season, The New Jersey Devilman. I did this race last year and know what to expect....a swampy (pretty murky) swim, a flat fast bike and a windy run. I wouldn't exactly call it a picturesque race course but it serves as a great warm-up/early season race to get an idea of fitness and status for races to come.

It should be a leg-ripper

Unlike last week where I raced off the back of a big four week training phase, I have had a recovery week these past few days and feel rested prior to Sunday. So what am I looking for at this race?

1) Give myself a good first test of the season. Compared to last year training has gone amazingly well this winter/spring.

2) Swim hard and post a swim PB. Dedication to swim more this winter should pay-off. It will either mean a faster swim time or at least feeling fresher out of the water.

3) Bike at a consistent pace. Build through the bike, don't go out too fast and blow. Start strong and get stronger......

4) Run to my potential....I feel that I have only ever run to my potential once in a race and that was in the North East Olympic race last year. With my stronger bike base this winter and a 2hr 40min marathon this spring, I should be running in the 1hr 25min range in the 1/2 Ironman. So guess what.....that is the main aim for this race, a solid PB run in the 1hr 25min range.

5) Post a sub-4hr 30min time. This race last year was 4hrs 32mins and in two other races I missed the 4hrs 30min barrier by less than 30secs. I know that to be competitive for a Hawaii roll-down slot at Eagleman I need to be in 4hr 20min area. This race will give a good idea of how close I am.

Fortunately there are some guys registered for Devilman that are always contenders at Eagleman and I will be able to gauge where I am in relation to their times. We only have 5 weeks to Eagleman so most of the hay is already in the barn, now it's all about execution.

Duathlon Nationals.........

Sunday brings the first "multisport" race of the year at the Short Course Duathlon Nationals down in Richmond, VA. Obviously Short Course is a relative term but in this case it means a 10km run, a 40km bike and a 5km run. It should be a good race and a great test of fitness as I head into the "money-making" part of the season with THE BIG RACE in less than 45 days.

The course is based on the World Championship course from last October (read race report here) and as such should be quite a fast and technical race. The first run is 2 x 5km laps and then the 40km bike is 4 x 10km laps. The final run is a single lap of the 5km course. From a spectator perspective it should be amazing as they will be able to see the race plenty of times over the 2hours (or so). Due to the nature of the bike course I will probably go with the HED 60 wheels rather than the disc on the rear but I will have both with me and will make a race day decision after pre-riding on Saturday.

In addition to the "on-road" championships, the off-road duathlon nationals are also taking place on the Saturday and Sarah and I will probably try and catch some of that and re-live my mountain biking days!

So how do I feel going into the race? Well, training has been great the past month, I am just finishing up a strong four-week build phase and have posted both monthly and weekly training bests in terms of time and mileage. Fortunately the training has been quality as well as quantity with no junk miles thrown in! So that being said I am not exactly rested but feel ready to race and to see where the training has got me. I have my first triathlon next week at the New Jersey Devilman (1/2 Ironman) and after Sunday the week will be taper time.