Socorro Chile Harvest Tri 2010

This was my second year doing the Socorro Tri, I had fun last year so was eager to do it again and it was one of the first on the calender and it was definitely on there as an A race. Its also the only race I did last year that I'm doing again so was really keen to see how my training has progressed over the past year and a good marker how things were going since getting off the couch two years ago. I had some specific goals this year, mainly to swim around 7mins, take 2 or 3 off last years bike and run sub 7.00m/mile pace on the run. Training had gone really well, I think I've refined my swimming a fair bit, my weekly bike mileage has increased and times have been improving in the Tuesday TTs and I've been trying out the Runners World Run Less Run Faster (it should probably just be called Run Faster....) program which really seems to have improved my run times considerably and I would definitely recommend having a look at it. Since Cochiti I was also concerned about my lack of run performance in that race so I've been getting some good Brick workouts in, doing the Little Boy bike course followed by a 5 mile tempo as part of the RLRF plan - again I think this has also helped out a lot too.

So onto the race - I ended up doing the pickup the morning of the race which was easy and followed by chip pickup and bike check into transition. The transition is a nice set up, racks labeled on the ground by letter which made locating it in T1 and T2 really easy. Managed to get a quick warm-up in and everything felt good and in good shape for the race. The swim is in their outdoor pool which was pretty much the perfect temperature and not heavily chlorinated. The start is time-trial with swimmers sent every 15 second so you have to be pretty much ready to go before you get into the water. I managed to pass a bunch of people in the first 3 or 4 lengths of the 8x50m swim and felt really good even upto the end - I've been concentrating on more arm, less leg which seems to send me much less anaerobic so I can go significantly quicker and save the legs for the rest of the race. I got out and into T1 pretty well, it was my first race having bike shoes clipped in to start with and that saved some time and made getting out to the bike much easier. The bike was pretty uneventful, I just kept it as aero as I could and cranked through it trying to keep as much form as I could. The bike course has a few hills but nothing too evil or too long and it finishes with a quick downhill which is nice although I did take my feet out my shoes about half a mile too soon but don't think it really hurt me in the long run. T2 was also good and went smoothly. I felt really good starting the run and could really feel the benefit of the Bricks paying off. The first mile or so is uphill and my pace seemed pretty good time-wise, then it transitions onto a section of double track before getting back onto the road and a mainly downhill final mile to the finish. The whole run felt solid and I could up the pace a little when I saw the tents and the finish line in sight.

Overall, I was really happy with the race, I managed to execute my plan pretty much as I wanted and hit all my pre-race goals which I was pleasantly surprised at and I came in at virtually the exact time I had hoped for in a very best case scenario. Positives were having my bike shoes clipped which seemed to help in transitions, and I think my Bricks were invaluable - knowing what intensity I could bike at in training and still set a good run pace afterwards definitely gave me more confidence and I didn't have those doubts on the bike that I wouldn't have anything left in the tank for the run. The only downside was a slightly slower bike than I'd hoped for but that's just something extra to work on for the next race! The other thing I need to do is to work out how to slow down everyone else in the 30-34 AG so I can pickup some 2010 silverware!

We had a good Triatomics representation there too - Peter, Nathan, Timbad (LBC reprazent reprazent!), Leland, Nick, Scott were all there and probably some others I missed (apologies!) and between us brought home some well earned awards!

2010 Chile Harvest Youth Race

Denisse and I took Ethan and Natalie down to Socorro to race in the Chile Harvest Youth Race on Friday, Aug 6. Denisse helped to avert a disaster! Just as we were to leave the hotel room for the race venue, I realized that I forgot the kids' bike helmets! Denisse suggested we find a Wal-Mart, and luckily, there was one only 1/2 mile from the hotel. A quick stop to pick up two helmets, and then on to the pool to sign in. The weather cooperated and it was a beautiful evening to race. Ethan raced in the 9-10 age group, and swam 100 yds, biked 2km and ran 1km. Natalie went next and swam 50yds, biked 1km and ran 1km in the 7-8 age group. Both said they were tired afterwards, but had fun and are looking forward to doing it again next year. Ethan's age group was very competitive with the top 5 finishing within a minute. Ethan missed the podium by 10 seconds! Overall, a great youth race, and well organized. Hope to see more Triatomic kids next year!

Ironman Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. June 27, 2010.

This is a really nice course and well suited for someone from Los Alamos. The bike has some decent hills on it, though none too tough, and the run is mostly flat, but with a decent little hill that you run up, then turn right around and run back down about ¾ into the loop (all three events are two loop). The lake is beautiful, and the bike course not only goes along the big Coeur d'Alene Lake, but also in the woods above Lake Hayden with nice views. The run is mostly along CdA Lake, with a brief part through a very nice section of the town and its beautiful homes.

CdA is easy to get to – fly into Spokane, WA, then rent a car for the half hour drive into CdA, ID. The lake was cool this year, ~61 degrees. This feels cold when you first get in, but once you get moving, you realize this is actually a great temperature to race in. I had borrowed Tina's goofy neoprene cap just in case, but was glad I decided against using it. A number of people had theirs on, though, so it's worth considering if you have trouble staying warm. It stays light out late into the evening and gets light very early, so no need for early morning flashlights, and only the very latecomers required glow sticks to finish. Race day was a bit windy, but at least the wind was blowing from the south which helped bring you back into shore on the swim, and push you up the longest hills on the bike.

The pros started at 6:25, the rest of us at 7:00. Which wasn't great for some of the slower pros, as they were just making the turn to start their second loop when the cannon went off for the age groupers. I had made a serious mistake and started in the middle of the middle of everyone for the mass beach start. This means that as we swam, everybody kept pinching and pinching till I really felt I was being squeezed to a point where I needed a break and could go no further on my own; but when I popped up to look for help, I realized there was no way I could get to the side of the swimming mass even if I tried, so I swam on. It didn't finally open for me until well after the turns at the far end of the first loop. Really scary. Given all that, I swam a 1:10 total and as always was grateful to be back on land – even more so for this race. This was clearly my fault, though, and could have easily been avoided by simply staying closer to one side, and more to the back at the very beginning.

The bike was beautiful. Decent surfaces for the most part, nice terrain to keep it interesting, and not too hot till the very end. Note that if you do this course – nearly every hill has a false summit, so just when you think you've gotten to the top, you really haven't. I averaged 20 mph for the first 80 miles, but there were still 32 to go! Ended up at 19.2mph – good enough for second fastest in my age group, though there were other women ahead of me to catch.

Into T2, I dropped my bike, grabbed my bag of stuff, and headed into the change tent. Looking up as I was entering it, I see Sister Madonna Buder standing at the entrance in a volunteer's shirt. So I said “Hi Sister,” and she followed me and another volunteer in and helped me get changed! (She's the 80 year old Ironman-competing nun who is routinely covered on the NBC Ironman shows for those of you who don't know). We chatted about her season, she wished me well, and I left her and the other volunteer with all of my sweaty bike gear to stuff back into the bag while I got slathered with more sunscreen and headed onto the run course. Yep, I left a legend to deal with my sweaty socks and helmet.

Out on the run course my legs felt great for the first few miles, plus I was happy to be off the bike. Of course, and unfortunately, that was a short-lived feeling, and I was soon plodding along. I was concerned about throwing up in a hot race again, so I really paid attention to the amount of Gatorade I was drinking and tried to focus on drinking for re-hydration only, not to just help me cool off (I think this is what I must have been guilty of at Deuces Wild, with such dire consequences). It was well over 80 degrees by this time, so it was a real issue. I saw Dan and the boys quite a few times during the run, as well as the TriSports.com crew who had come up to cheer a number of TS athletes (including the female co-owner of the company). Around mile 11 Dan told me the woman ahead of me was only 15 seconds in the lead, but in typical Amy fashion, my body decided that was right about the time I needed to find a Port-A-John, and it was time to further slow this silly pace anyway. Ah well.

Thus it was with great surprise that the next time I saw the guys, Dan said “she's right … there” and pointed to the woman I was about to pass. She must have been feeling even worse than me, as I ended up beating her by 17 minutes or something like that. Another 4+ hour marathon, 4:05 – ugh, even slower than Kona's 4:04 last October! Sure hope I can figure that out before Kona this year... Bottom line, I won my age group, though I was able to turn down the slot for Kona as I had already gotten one earlier in the year. I admit, it was nice to start the race without that extra pressure of needing to do well in order to race alongside Dan this year on the Big Island.

It was such a fun race, and great course, that while I stood in line the next morning with Dan who was signing up for next year's race, I thought what the heck, and signed up as well. And that is that ... my 2010 race season is now all caught up.

Deuces Wild Triathlon Festival, Show Low Arizona. June 5-6, 2010.

I'm not going to say too much about this one, as I wrote a race report last year and for the most part it is the same – the swim in the lake is fine, though seemingly long; the bike isn't bad – a few hills, especially a long uphill around mile 40 that is always a pain; and a run that you wish was shorter, and cooler (another puke-by-the-side-of-the-course experience for me. Needless to say, orange Gatorade never looks good coming back up). Awards are great for the first five finishers – decent sized gift certificates to TriSports.com. Too bad I was 6th overall. At least I got something for winning my age group.

The nice thing about the weekend is that there is essentially something for everyone: a long course, a long course aquathon (half iron distance without the run), Olympic distance, kids' race all on Saturday; followed by an XTERRA on Sunday. I tried to tell a lot of the story with captions of the photos on the Photos web page, so go have a look there if you're interested. The kids race is only for kids ages 6-12, so that population between 13 and ~15 is sort of out of luck, unless your kid is a real stud and can handle the Olympic distance race.

A lot of Los Alamos people raced this year: Chuck Farrar, Greg Geoffrion, Tina Behr-Andres, and I did the long course; Max Light and Joaquin Gutierrez did the Olympic; our son Ben - the speedster / overall winner – did the youth race; Dan Rees, Clay Moseley, Laurie Goddard, Kim Meyer, and Paul Graham all did the XTERRA. Did I leave anyone out? Probably – sorry about that. Kudos to Laurie and Clay for pulling off a two-fer this weekend, having competed in Farmington the day before. More kudos to Greg and Tina for finishing their first half iron distance races.

Another great raffle this year, although even with all of the extra tickets we bought, we got NOTHING. Greg picked up a nice commuter bike light and a wetsuit, though!

As Clay's blog indicated, the last part of the XTERRA run was actually a swim which was a real hoot to watch. You saw lots of people enter the water, thinking it's just a little high-stepping section they had to get through, only to realize it was too deep to walk, and they'd end up swimming. Right near the transition area, so we all had a great view.

Ironman New Orleans 70.3, April 18, 2010

Of note to those experienced with Ironman and 70.3 series races filling fast - registration for this race was open till about 3 weeks prior to race day.

This is an interesting one, as they also allow relay teams. I met my sister in New Orleans so that I could race the entire race, and she and two friends could compete as a team (of course, my goal was to beat them...). I was able to fly in Saturday morning, but post-race logistics make it tough to get out Sunday afternoon, so I caught an early morning flight back Monday morning, back into ABQ before noon. You might be able to do it Sunday afternoon / night, but it would take some good planning.

Packet pick up is at the downtown Hilton; it included a mandatory pre-race meeting (couldn't get the packet till you had a “I was in the meeting” stamp on your hand). Meetings occurred every half hour, so it was not as constrictive as it sounds. You need to drop bikes off Saturday afternoon at Univ of NO, which should be noted, is NOT near the Hilton (at least not near enough to drop your bike off, and then conveniently walk back).

The swim was in Lake Pontchartrain, thankfully not nearly as murky as I had expected – I could almost see my hand as it entered the water. I sure couldn't see any nearby competitors or feet to follow, though. They started in waves which was good and bad – seemed like the waves went on forever... My wave was 5th to go, and they were still heading out when I came back into T1. There was a decent wind from the East so the first half of the semi-U-shaped-course-parallel-to-shore wasn't bad but coming back in was a bit rougher. There were enough swells to make it kind of choppy. The worse was the last turn in towards shore, as the wind/water/current made you have to swim almost diagonally. The buoys weren't many so sighting was that much more difficult. It was funny that at the pre-race meeting they made such a big deal about the large number of police / emergency / safety boats that would be out there. With the conditions, though, it was nice to know they were there.

The bike ride is FLAT. The two bridges you cross are the only two hills on the course. The course follows along the shore of Lake Pontchartrain for quite a while, but there are levies built lakeside, so you don't really get the views I was hoping for. Some houses you pass are beautiful, others still Hurricane Katrina-damaged (this was prevalent throughout town – just intermittent trashed houses, interspersed with nice homes, or homes in a state of repair). The headwind was sort of from the side so I never got the help on the return that I had hoped for. Still managed to average ~20 mph, though. We rode through a bayou district, and a National Wildlife Refuge which were interesting. I thought it was pretty cool to see herons hunting in the swamp.

I came into T2 and felt good right off the bike so was pleased with that. Started the run feeling good, thinking I had finally run a smart race, as I slowly picked off women one per mile for the first four or so, though it was tough to tell who was in my age group, who was a relay member, ...who was I really racing. Then around mile 8, I just sort of lost my mental edge and was feeling tired and hot and sloooowed down. I finally got my act together again, but not till the very end of the race. The run goes through a large park (I think it's an abandoned golf course, post-Katrina), and then just down a boring road to the finish. However, the last bit was fun – like Kona, you run the last portion up a signature road lined with people to the finish line – this time it was in the French Quarter, complete with wrought iron balconies. Crossed in 5:08, good enough for second place in my age group (first place crushed me by 13 minutes!). Went to the awards ceremony and was pleased to find out the top two got slots to Clearwater so I took mine, and started planning another trip in November. There was a post-race party in the park which was kind of cool, as you watched GIANT ships moving up and down the Mississippi behind the band. More free beer flowed, which was nice as we waited and waited for the last friend to finish.

The finish line is at Jackson Square, nowhere near transition so you do need to plan ahead as to how to get back to your gear at the end of the day. One of my sister's friends did the race in its entirety and took an eternity to finish, for which we waited. It was nice to see that bikes were still being guarded when we finally got back to UNO (after friend's post-race IV).

The problem with being a relay is that it seemed that relay team members had to hang out in transition while waiting for their team mates – meaning the runner roasted... On the course they did a very good job of keeping the aid stations well-stocked with ice, drinks, etc. I had heard that they had run out the previous (inaugural) year. Supposedly lots of first-timers showed up with no / empty bottles, so there was a larger need for supplies than they had anticipated.

Lavaman, Waikoloa, Hawaii. March 28, 2010

OK, Andy, I'm sitting on a plane and have some time to write a few race reports. I am going to enter them into the blog separately just to make it easier to find should someone be contemplating the race and wants to search the blog for possible entries...

Lavaman, Waikoloa, Hawaii. March 28, 2010
This is a very nice Olympic distance race that often coincides (though not always) with the Los Alamos schools' spring break, so for all of you parents thinking about a Big Island vacation, I highly recommend this race. It is held on a Sunday, and there is a kids race the Saturday morning prior such that you can get the whole family involved. It's also nice for those of you intrigued by the Ironman World Championship videos of riding along the Queen K highway in the wind and lava – most of the Lavaman bike course is along a portion of that same course. One more important planning note: Bike Works Hawaii rents high-end tri bikes, so no need to lug yours over on the airplane. It's something like a 3-day minimum rental period around Lavaman, but training rides early in the morning before the rest of the family gets up is a great way to spend part of your vacation.

The race is put on by the WTC (you know, the Ironman guys), so they know what they're doing. Even down to the India ink block-number body marking in the morning, although that actually took a while so people who showed up last minute started to worry about actually getting to the starting line on time. Timing chip pickup is on race morning as well. Registration is Saturday afternoon at the Hilton Waikoloa. The race starts at a civilized 7:30, and there were 5 waves: elite, young guys, old guys, young girls, old girls. This is a huge Team in Training destination race, so never feel like you will be last one finishing – there are plenty of people to pass along the way. The swim is in the ocean so the visibility is quite nice, and the buoyancy from the saltwater compensates for the fact that it is typically not wetsuit legal (last year it was actually cool enough to be legal, though very few people wore one). And you get the bonus of seeing coral, colorful fish, and occasionally a turtle swimming by. I got lucky this year, and ended up following a woman wearing those goofy white compression socks who swam just about the same speed as me, and more importantly, in a straight line. My need to try to sight buoys was thereby greatly minimized which helped a lot. It's a decent little run from the beach to your bike, but not too bad. The bike course is well marked and straightforward. There are definitely some rollers, and the wind seems to be squirrelly, but that's part of racing in Hawaii, I think. The road surface is good, and it has a nice wide shoulder.

Back into transition for the run and here's where it gets a little more challenging. You run out on a brief rocky lava trail and then onto black top. Easy to follow but the footing on that first trail makes you pay attention. The run loops around the Waikoloa Beach Village area and then enters the Hilton property. Here you run by their golf course, lagoon, and swimming pools, and get cheered on by your luxuriating family, too busy having fun in the water to really come watch you race (at least, this is what Dan and the boys have done every year, but who can blame them?!). Then the really tough part, but much more fun – you run the last mile on a sandy, rocky trail right along the ocean side back to A' Bay and the finish line. It is a really nice little stretch, but loose footing at the end of a race is always a challenge.

I have done this race at least three times now, coming in second in my age group for the first two, and finally winning the AG this year. They have very nice lava-based ceramic awards for the top three in each age group, and an EXCELLENT post-race beach party for all. Kona Brewing Company is one of the title sponsors so free beer flows along with live music and a good buffet, all right at the beach park. Need I say more?