Elephant Man Long Course -- THE first in New Mexico!

Elephant Man Long Course Triathlon

Well, New Mexico’s first Long Course Triathlon is finally a reality. And, it definitely lived up to all the hype and anticipation. I can say for sure that this is definitely the most difficult long course race course I’ve ever done. I won’t say that it was a death march or anything like that, but it was definitely not for the under-prepared. I really enjoyed the course and felt like it went by fairly quickly, except for a couple of sections. If you’re up for a big triathlon challenge, this one is for you.

I’m pretty serious about challenging our tri folks to take on some of the bigger local triathlons. It’s kind-of frustrating to see so much effort being put into these bigger races, but then have the turn-out be somewhat lighter than it should be because people are either too scared to take that next step to swim in open water, or won’t drive the tiny little bit farther, or are “training” for a “real” triathlon somewhere else. Well, I can tell you that there’s plenty of real challenge right nearby. That being said, this is probably THE best bang for the buck, and the scene at Elephant Man is pretty cool.

We have made the trip down to the Elephant Man 4 times now, and it never disappoints. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take on the first long course race in NM, and after reviewing that course and knowing the terrain in the area, I was extra motivated. Again, this one was the real deal, and if you have designs on stepping up to the Ironman, you should do the Elephant Man long course first.

We have fully subscribed to the “camp right there” plan because it just works with a little one in tow. Not only are we skipping the morning commute to the race, but we have so much fun playing on the beaches and in the water at these open water venues. It’s the best time. Elephant Butte is like a second chance at a real summer time weekend in late September. The water is still warm and the air can even get a little hot. This year was the hottest weather we have had yet, but it still wasn’t too bad.

Camping out was great for this year’s race: my race started at 7:00 A.M. Dina’s started at 8:05 A.M., and Suzie Schillaci was so kind to watch Mila for us. That was a big deal, as I was gonna be out for the better part of 5 hrs and Dina would take nearly 3 hrs. We didn’t have to go far to set up transition and got to test out the water all we wanted the day before. Plus, it’s just nice to camp right next to water. We were luckier with this year’s situation, as the Park limited camping to mostly just race participants. Things quieted down a lot earlier than usual and we all got to sleep with no problem.

The water level was also very low this year, due to the drought. If you compare this year’s pics with those of 2007, 08, 09 and even last year, it’s clear that the lake has lost a LOT of water. It looked like little more than some puddles surrounded by the desert hills and mountains, whereas other years it looked pretty good, especially 2008.

Because of the low water level, they had to make an unusual swim pattern, but it worked out pretty well. It was a “T”, but with the top part the longest and the “tail” the shorter part. With the low light at the start and the color of the buoys, we had some trouble sighting at the front of the race. We rounded the second left turn and it was a long way to the far end of the T-crossing. The kayak volunteers were floating back and forth, and at times they obscured our view to the far end turn buoy. That caused a group of us to get off course for a few minutes. The guys in the big boats (mainly Kori Mannon’s dad, Ron) yelled at us to head left and get back on course. Thanks to him, it wasn’t a long way out of our way, but still added a fair bit of extra swimming. The first two guys didn’t get off as much as my next group of four.

I made it out of the water in 4th and passed the 3rd place guy in transition. I caught the 2nd place guy before we even got out of the park, so I figured 1st (Justin Newcomer) was just up ahead. I pretty much just figured I’d forget about him and ride my own race and quickly settled into a steady and comfortable rhythm. I was actually enjoying my ride and the air was nice and cool, with just a slight breeze out of the northwest. I had actually forgotten about the 1st place guy until I saw him on the two big climbs out of Monticello Canyon. Those are two pretty big hills, so he looked closer than he was. I didn’t catch him until we got to the crossing of I-25. He was going pretty well, so I was happy to catch up to him.

We stayed on the Olympic course until that big aid station at the Sierra County airport, where we made the turn out onto the longest and most lonely stretch of the whole race. This section was like going onto the dark side of the moon. It was a 30 mile out-and-back on a pretty lonely stretch of highway in some desolate terrain. It is pretty out there, but in that desolate, southern New Mexico way.

Soon, that little light breeze began to be a wind. It was picking up steadily as we made our way to the semi-ghost town of Cuchillo. We got a little respite from the steady grind with the descent into Cuchillo, but then were punished with the long climb into the wind out of Cuchillo. This was probably the most difficult part of the race and I was glad I had put on a lower gear on my race wheels than I normally use in a race like this. My speed dropped down to a crawl.

There was no relief once at the top of the climb. In fact, the wind was now blowing with some authority and it was right in our face. There is a slight, but relentless grade on that road, as it heads toward the foothills of the Black Range toward the more famous “ghost town” of Winston. It was just a mental test to keep it together on that stretch. I decided to back off a bit and use the time to ensure I was eating and drinking enough. I knew the run was going to be harder than usual, so I figured I would be smart and conserve where I could. I also knew that my closest rivals would likely see me in the distance and probably work too hard to try to pull me back. Another thing I made sure I did was stand up and stretch a lot, despite the stiff headwind, since my back now gets very achy in the aero position for more than an hour. It really affects my run more than it used to.

It was all a very good strategy, but it was a bit scary to see those guys getting close at the far-end turnaround. I kept my head about me and just slowly dialed it up on the way back, not losing my cool and burning out too quickly. On the way back, we had the tailwind with the slight downhill. It was a super fast section and one that took concentration and leg speed. It was also 15 miles, so it got tiring. We got a break, albeit a scary one, on the frightening descent into Cuchillo. The wind was buffeting our aero wheels as we wound down to the base of the canyon and the town. It was fun, though!

Climbing out was actually a welcome relief from the hunched position we had to be in the previous 10 miles. Then, it was back at it with the tight aero position and the super-speedy efficient pedaling.

The final stretch on the Olympic course was fast and fun, and it seemed like the bike wasn’t so bad when I got into Elephant Butte. But, a check on the watch told a different story: 2:32 for the 56 miles is a long time for me. Even on a slow year at Buffalo Springs, I do about a 2:25, so that gives you some idea of how challenging this course is. It was all fun, though.

Into transition, I knew I had a lead, but didn’t know by how much. About 3 guys were pacing together to pull me back at the far turn around, but I knew I had ridden well those last 20 miles. I knew I had gained some of my time back, but didn’t know by how much. The main thing was that I felt quite good and had good energy going into the run and still was in the lead. I felt confident.

I did the transition just like I would have if it were an Olympic. I hit the run and quickly settled into a long-distance rhythm that I think I held the entire way without falter. It actually felt good at first, although it was a burn on my legs to get up that “dam hill” at mile one. I felt the small pangs of cramps, but they quickly diminished once I stretched it out over that dirt dam stretch.

Everything was going GREAT until about mile 4, when I started to notice that the bottoms of my feet were getting hot and quite uncomfortable. I sort of ignored it for another mile, but then just before the mile 6 aid station (where the Olympic turned down that dirt hill), I had to make a stop to loosen my laces. That helped for a few moments, but climbing the long hill off of that dam, they were really getting pissed off at me. The road surface was just too rough for the lightweight soles on my racing flats. I needed beefier shoes (or tougher feet) for those surfaces and the heat wasn’t helping.

I tried lifting my toes when I landed; I tried landing on different parts of my foot and pushing off differently too. It was much more of a problem on the uphills because I needed to land on my forefoot and push off aggressively. It became agonizing by mile 7.

I took only one gel on the whole run, then figured I had enough energy and electrolytes to make it through the race. I started taking on just water, about a cup per aid station. At the 8 mile aid station, I spilled water on myself and when a little trickled into my shoes, I noticed it made them feel better, just a little. I was so happy about that, because the hills just kept coming and there was not one section of that long course run (especially the "extra" part that we did…) that was flat…not one section!

So, I got extra water cups at each of the aid stations and took a few seconds each time to pour it on my feet. It helped a little and kept me from just losing it.

Finally, we had a steep dirt trail/arroyo to climb, followed by a mile of sandy hills before turning onto the long climb back up to the ridge above the lake. My feet were toast, but that was with 3 miles to go, so I just put it out of my mind and tried to push harder. Up to that point, I tempered my running because of my feet. It was like I was trying to run on eggshells. It probably kept me from running too hard, but I wanted to run harder.

With one mile to go (the run down the steep sandy “dam hill”), I kicked it into gear and finished strongly. In the end, I was tired, but it was my feet that limited my race the most. I spoke to 2nd overall, Richard Sena, who had a very strong and smart race, and he said he had the exact same problem and was limping on hamburger feet too. So, I suppose it was an even situation…he still outran me by 3 to 4 minutes. My feet didn't look good after the race -- like a bubbling hot slice of pepperoni pizza on the bottoms. As I write this, they're still very sore and sensitive and dicolored from the blood blisters, etc. Gotta love triathlons!


I was so pleased with the race overall, despite missing my goal time of 4:40 by about 4 minutes. That’s pretty good for a long-course time estimate. And, I was happy to have accomplished such a tough race finish.

They have an awesome race course there and it would be cool to see more people step up to the challenge. In the end, only 63 people crossed the line. Hats off to all of them. That is a huge accomplishment.

And of course, I want to send out a HUGE congratulations to all of you Triatomics racers who gave it everything to pull in some great results, both long course and the Olympic. I'm always SO impressed with how we do as a group.

Enchanted Forest Trail Festival

Enchanted Forest Trail Festival off-road Duathlon

First of all, a big thanks to those of you who made it out. I know it's tough to commit to something with family and on such short notice. But in the end, it was a great weekend for camping, hanging out and especially for doing this type of event. It's something that any of you who like off-road and mountain adventure should do.

I’ll spare you all the details of how we worked on getting this together and everything that I had to do to make it happen. Suffice it to say that I now realize that a day of chainsaw work is not all that detrimental to preparing for a ½ Ironman the following week =) A big thanks to Dina, who kept encouraging me and filling in the gaps left at home during the time that I was working on this race. It actually turned out to be a great course.

Speaking of the course, I thought it was beautiful. It was also challenging, especially at that altitude. I will admit that the run was a bit long: probably about 2.5km per loop instead of the advertised 2km per loop. Throw in the forest and mountain obstacles, and that turns out to be a pretty tough addition. The bike course was not much over the 10km per loop, but some thought it was longer than it was. Again, chalk it up to the challenge and altitude. I patterned these courses after what I’ve seen at XTERRA events, and in particular, the XTERRA Indian Peaks at the Eldora Alpine and Nordic ski areas. My bike time was exactly the same, but they do say their race course is 12km per loop, if that gives any reference.

The runs took in both wide and open xc ski trails, along with some very forested terrain that serves as the snowshoe trails in the winter. It had been raining a lot in the weeks before the race, so everything was green and wet.

Running at altitude is tough and takes a lot of people by surprise. I think we triathletes are especially surprised, but that is what makes doing these types of events great. They’re different! Even though I ran a grand total of only 51+ minutes at this little event, it served me well the following weekend at the half-IM I did at the Elephant Man because it was so tough.

The bike course was also very interesting and required a variety of skills. There were never any LONG sloggy climbs, but there were plenty of tough hills and slow stretches to make it a very hard workout. The return leg on the “Northwest Passage” xc ski trail had plenty of fast and fun riding, with just enough technical challenge thrown in to make it interesting for the real mountain bikers. This was a very ride-able course and Dina even enjoyed it. That’s saying something from an arguably non-mountain biker.

The cool gray weather, wet forest and green environment made for a beautiful day of racing. I was a little bummed that we weren’t able to see Wheeler Peak out on the “Piece de Resistance” (pronounced with a French accent) trail at the far end of the course, but the low foggy clouds and cold air made for a real Pacific Northwest experience. The course and challenge was hailed (almost universally) as awesome.

That afternoon, the GetOut!NM team hosted a cyclocross clinic that actually had an impressive turnout. I was pretty psyched to see how many people were interested in the clinic and the camping.

The next day, there were two (actually advertised as four different races) consolidated practice cyclocross races. These were a lot of fun and there were just enough guys and gals from around the state to make them interesting. We found a GREAT ‘cross course that had lots of real cyclocross elements: grass, grassy run-ups, boggy areas, really muddy corners, fast sections, wooded downhills, etc. It was a lot of fun.

I jumped in at the last second just to add to the mix. It was fast off the start with some quick-starting juniors, but the altitude probably got to them quickly and I was able to capitalize on the high concentrations of lactic acid coursing through their bodies and ended up on my own after the first lap. I worked on finding good lines and speeding up where I could, especially over the barriers. It had been a while since I’d done a ‘cross race, but I’ve done a lot of them in my life and the XTERRA racing I’ve done helped me to handle the run-ups and barrier sections. It was a blast.

Hopefully, this event will grow in popularity. We’ll likely attempt it one more time and see what kind of turn-out we get.

Ironman 70.3 World Championship 9/11/11 by Tamsen Schurman

I never raced in Clearwater, Florida where the 70.3 World Championship race has been held in the past, but a decision was made by the WTC (World Triathlon Corporation) to move the race to Las Vegas, Nevada for 2011 (and beyond) with hopes that the course would be much more challenging with hot temperatures, tons of climbing/descending on the bike, and a hilly run. I would say that the race organizers met their goals because the water was 80 degrees so the swim was non-wetsuit, the bike was very challenging, and the run was never flat and it was hot, though not the 105 degree hot that Vegas had been experiencing up until the day before the race. We were told at the pre race meeting that the course had over 5,000 feet of climbing, most of which was on the bike. I pondered that for a bit, and though I bike plenty in the mountains, I hadn’t done any transition runs after my hard mountainous bike rides. Too late to worry about it now and at least I had a few hilly races under my belt for the season.

Qualifying for the championship was not my main goal this year, but going into Ironman 70.3 Boulder I figured that IF I won a slot to the championship race I’d take it. I’ve raced the Boulder course about 6 times and it is truly a great triathlon venue. The swim is beautiful in Boulder reservoir, the bike is a fast and fun 2 loop course north of Boulder, and (this is the reason I really like the race), the run is on a DIRT path around Boulder reservoir. It is a very eco friendly race, and the former race director, Barry Siff, who still has a big role in the success of the race, is just an all around great guy.

I didn’t win my age group in Boulder, but the woman who beat me just happened to be the 3 time 50-54 70.3 World Champion so she automatically qualified by winning the championship race last year. At any other 70.3 race I would have to win my age group to qualify since there is only 1 slot allotted for women age 50-54 at all of the 70.3 races. So, I took the qualifying slot in my age group after finishing well behind the winner in Boulder, and made plans for Sept. 11 in Las Vegas. My good friend John Brown from Tijeras also qualified in Boulder and planned to race at the World Championship but had to withdraw a couple weeks before the race.

My trip started off on Friday morning with snow on the peaks above Taos where I live. That had to be a good omen since skiing is my favorite activity besides triathlon. The flight to Vegas was fine except the plane reeked of alcohol and was quite a rowdy party scene. I suppose this is standard for flights to Las Vegas. I even recall lots of cheering when we landed. The race expo and registration were at the Henderson Pavilion just southeast of Las Vegas. This was also the sight of T2 while T1 was located at Lake Las Vegas, about 15 miles away. The WTC races always seem to require racers to arrive well before the actual race to “check in”. I did the required check in and settled in to watch some US Open tennis on TV at the hotel in Henderson. Talk about amazing athletes, but that is another story.

On the Saturday before the race there was an organized practice swim from 6:30 to 8:30 AM. A 650 yard course was set with buoys and only those of us registered for the race were allowed to swim. The water was somewhat murky but the practice swim felt good. I arrived about 6:45 AM and had a relaxing swim. It looked like many more people were arriving after I’d finished my swim, so I was glad to have gotten up early.

Later in the afternoon on Saturday we had to drop off our bikes and gear bags at T1. There was ample parking near T1 and I never got caught in any traffic jams throughout the weekend. As we entered transition with our bikes there were about 30 people sitting along the sides of the check in line with clipboards and pencils checking off everything from bike brands to wheel sizes. I guess keeping track of bike related statistics is important at the big races. The whole bike and gear bag check in process went very smoothly and quickly. The steep winding walkway from the road down to the bike racks would be an uphill slog on Sunday morning as we left transition.

Race day began very early with the transition area opening at 4:30 AM, though I arrived more like 5 AM. All the women 45 and older started the swim right after the pros at 6:35. I’m sure there were other important announcements on race morning but I only remember hearing that the water temperature was 80 degrees. We were lining up by waves and I chatted with quite a few of the women in my wave, all of whom seemed very friendly, and quite happy to be starting a race at 6:35 in the morning. There were many swim waves following ours, the last of which was the 18 to 24 male age group at 8:00. Andrew Templeton from Albuquerque was the youngest male competitor (he’s 18) in the event, and I chatted with him for a bit at the airport on the way home on Monday. What a great kid and super fit!

Lake Las Vegas is a small manmade lake with smooth, somewhat murky water, and some fancy hotels and golf courses surrounding the lake. It is an attractive setting for a triathlon. The race organizers put together a very safe, easy to follow course for the swim and the race started precisely on time after an emotional moment of silence in remembrance of the 9/11 tragedy.

I felt very comfortable in the WTC legal swim skin that Amy Regan lent to me, although the swim seemed to go on forever which is never a good sign. There was definitely some body contact in our wave, and though I’m used to this, I became somewhat annoyed with the woman who kept tapping my feet on every stroke. Finally I stopped to fix my water filled goggles, and she swam on past me. I continued on towards the next buoy and the next and the next and it seemed like forever before I actually got out of the water. I managed to get through transition without tripping on anything or anybody. I don’t really remember the winding steep uphill walkway to the bike mount line, so I guess it was uneventful.

The bike has been my favorite part of the races that I’ve done this year. I felt great as I started up the first of many climbs right out of transition. One nice thing about going to low altitude to race is that you just don’t breathe as hard on the climbs. The pavement was smooth and the course went into the beautiful Lake Mead National Recreation Area for about 40 miles. There was never a flat section in the 56 miles on the bike so we were always climbing or descending. There were no grind it out tough steep climbs, but lots of medium pitch longer rollers and I really enjoyed the entire bike course though the last climb back to T2 seemed long and since we were back in town it certainly lacked that remote desert feel of the Lake Mead part of the course. All in all though, the bike course is spectacular, and a good course for those of us that ride in northern New Mexico.

I thought I was pushing reasonably hard on the bike, and I passed some women who obviously swam faster than I did, but there was a never ending stream of men passing me throughout the bike. I expected this because all the men except the pros started after the women’s 45+ wave. The race organizers hoped that this much more challenging bike course would curtail all the drafting and pack riding that occurred in Clearwater. I did see a few guys drafting but not in huge numbers. I also caught glimpses of the pro men and women flying by on their way back towards Henderson after the turnaround at mile 20 something.

The bike ride was very quiet (ie: no chatting, no spectators cheering until near the end) except for some strange noises coming from my bike. Nothing serious I figured but slightly annoying. And it served me right for not having the bike tuned up all summer! The green powerade from the excellent and well stocked aide stations was starting to taste way too syrupy by mile 40 and I noticed the temperature was rising a bit as well. And had I actually only consumed 3 packets of Gu on the entire bike leg? Most races I am pretty careful with timely nutrition intake, but for some reason I mostly paid attention to drinking on this course, probably because I knew the run would be hot, and I thought getting more fluids was important.

It turned out I was in 3^rd after the bike. The previously mentioned world champion was right behind me and was running so fast I literally did not even see her pass me right after transition. In fact I think the top 7 women in my age group were all in T2 within 2 or 3 minutes of each other. I haven’t done many races where T1 and T2 are not in the same place. It definitely makes for some logistical challenges, and it also meant the bike course gained quite a bit of altitude by the finish in Henderson. One of the obvious logistical challenges is transporting gear bags. The race organizers handled this very well since we dropped off all our run gear the day before the race at T1 with our bikes and bike gear bags. The run gear bags were all transported and nicely arranged at T2.

As soon as we dismounted from our bikes at T2 they were whisked away by friendly and efficient volunteers. That was very nice, and unexpected. Now my only concern was changing shoes, grabbing a hat and some Endurolytes, and getting on the run course.

I actually felt ok as I headed out onto the run. For the first few miles I settled into a rhythm quite well, though the pace felt pretty slow. The run was quite busy (actually very busy) with racers, spectators, and aid stations and the course continued to be hilly, but gently so for the most part. The run consisted of 3 “repeats” of an out and back circuit near T2. It started out gently downhill for the first mile, then uphill for 2 miles, and then gently downhill for another mile plus. Because each little segment of the run course was out and back, there were always runners going the opposite direction. It was definitely hot and the ice and cold drinks were welcome relief at the aide stations. I had no idea where I was in my age group throughout the whole race. One guy said something like “I haven’t seen many women your age come through here yet” at T2, but I didn’t pay too much attention since people seemed to be flying through transition and flying through the run course as well.

I thought I was running a smart race because it never felt like I was working too hard, and I hoped to pick it up on lap #3. But somehow, probably because I never run on pavement and I don’t really run very many miles in training, by lap #3, my legs felt like lead and I wasn’t moving well at all. I tried a little more Gatorade (at least it was orange and not green!) and my legs picked up a little for the next 5 minutes and then I was back to survival slog mode. Temperatures were close to 90 by now so it felt pretty hot and seeing so many amazingly perky runners fly by me was a bit discouraging. I wanted to run like that but just couldn’t! I was surprised that only 3 women in my age group passed me and I finished 6^th in 5:23. I was very happy with the race, and though I knew I hadn’t had my best race of the year, it was still a good effort at an incredibly competitive race.

The post race massage and food tents were both a welcome sight. I made the decision to go with massage first since the line wasn’t very long. It was a nice relaxing 15 minutes or so, and I highly recommend seeking out a post race massage when it is available. I next made my way over to the food tent and was eyeing the pizza slices on other athletes plates, but when I got to the pizza, it was gone. That was somewhat disappointing, but I found plenty of pasta and fruit and chips instead. I joined some women from Colorado at a table and, as most post race discussions go, some of them felt pretty good about the day and others not so much. I didn’t pick up on the details, but I think the difficulty of the course had surprised many of us.

There were plenty of shuttles to take us (and our bikes and gear bags) back to Lake Las Vegas where the race started. It seemed like quite a few racers stayed at the hotels around the lake and those that didn’t parked cars in the parking lots near the lake. My shuttle ride was very pleasant and I talked with a nice Colorado man getting ready for Kona (his first time). I recall hearing him say that his biking is a bit weak but he was a bigger guy so he probably won’t even notice those winds on the Queen K!

Amy Regan told me that the 70.3 world championship is not nearly as big a scene as Kona and now that I’ve done both, I agree. This race was extremely well organized on a fantastic course (except for the murky water for the swim), with an amazing field of athletes from all over the world. The pre race hype was nothing like Kona and best of all for me, the race is half the distance and not nearly as painful. Hopefully I will return!

Becoming a “true” triathlete

2011 marks the start of a comeback of sorts, after running cross-country and track both in high school and collegiately I was burnt out and needed some R&R before returning to competitive athletics. Rewind to fall 2010 when I began seriously training again for the first time in about 2 years. After suffering through minimal length workouts for about 8 weeks, I finally began to feel like my former self. After a very consistent winter of training I felt that it was time to begin racing again. After looking at the NM race schedule most of the winter, I decided on several races: Little Boy, Jay Benson, Milkman, Santa Fe, Cochiti. This is a report of my race experiences for the 2011 season.

Atomic Man-Little Boy

In about mid March I finally felt mentally ready to race and decided that my season opener would be Little Boy. After mostly doing easy runs and longer swims, I had begun to add in some intervals and some bike workouts. Race weekend finally arrives and as is typical for Los Alamos, Snow is predicted for the first week of May. During the prerace warm-up temperature were in the 20s and I kept going back and forth between using tights or not. It seemed to be warming up, as race start got closer, so I decided to use only arm warmers and gloves.

As the race goes out, I find myself out way to fast and way to close to the front, especially for the shape I was in. About a quarter in I had the unique experience of getting past by my younger brother for the first time in a race. As it turns out he takes the race lead and pushes the pace the rest of the way. I am content to wait and stalk the lead pack of 5 or 6. Coming into the last half mile I still was able to see the lead pack of guys. Entering T1 I was in about 6^th place and was very happy with my run split.

I managed to catch 3 people in T1, including Alexander and left in 3^rd. During the bike leg I had planned to maintain until the turnaround and crank on the way back. I felt that the way back the hills were easier and you could make more time coming back. I held until the final hill before the turn and was feeling good so I decided to push a little more up the hill. Right before the turn I saw the two leaders within about 30 seconds or so, so I really started pushing. I occasionally caught a glimpse of them until about 2 miles felt, then, I began to feel the lack of bike work and my mph dropped. I hung on until I got to Monterey S and then I was past by Marty. Him passing me woke me up and I was able to finish the bike well.

T2 went smoothly and I was able to overtake Marty early in the run. The second run was pretty miserable; I ended up being content with my place and just held pace.

Overall it was a fun race and a great first race of the season. I was very excited about a 3^rd overall result and excited about the upcoming races.

Jay Benson (ABQ World Championships)

I was particularly excited about Benson since the run course is first, and also quite fast, it would be a very good indication of my current run shape. Alexander and I started in the second wave 2 minutes behind the elite wave. I had planned to go out conservative since the first straight is uphill, and to my surprise Alexander stuck with me on the whole first stretch. We begin catching the end of the first wave. As we crossed roughly the mile he tells me, he was going to go from here and takes off. It was nice of him to wait for me during the first part. I thought about going with him but thought better of it. I kept catching more and more people from the first wave and was able to see Alexander about 30 second upfront. I finished the run and had a smooth T1.

On the bike I started out at a good pace and caught my brother about a mile in. For the first time I had the experience of mostly catching people on the bike instead of being caught. I hit the second turnaround feeling strong and was maintain a good pace. Once again my lack of time on the bike caught up with my and I suffered the last 3 miles.

The swim was also painful. I was out of gas due to lack of training and I couldn’t go. I managed to catch two people but was overall disappointed with my swim.

Final impressions from the race were overall positive but showed that I was out of gas after about 50 min. I needed some longer workouts. I finished with my best time ever at Benson, at just over an hour and just outside the top 10.

Milkman

Milkman is one of my favorite races in NM. The course is a fun, and more difficult then you would think. A lot of the really good guys from down south came out for it this year. My good friends Matt Gonzales and Rance Irving were there also. The lake/pound whatever you want to call it was the clearest I had ever seen it, you could actually see the bottom. I had the advantage of youth during this race, being in the first wave. This I found key because temperatures were supposed to climb to the mid 90s by mid morning. Matt, Rance, and I were all in the same wave. Rance took the early swim lead and never looked back. I swam along side Matt for most of the swim and came out about ten seconds back of him.

On the flip side of being in the early swim wave, they gave all the under 24s the worst transition spots. We had to double back on ourselves to get our bikes and get out of T1. The bike leg was going great. Going up the long hill towards the turn around I noticed I was doing close to 30 going uphill. This of course was due to a great tailwind. The return trip was brutal and the rest of the bike I was suffering. Read: lack of time on the bike.

Coming into T2 I passed my Dad who was just going out on the bike. T2 was uneventful and I went out on the run. I begin passing people as soon as I hit the dirt around the fish hatchery. On the backside of the fish hatchery I began feeling lousy and was light headed. I had been getting water at every aid station but I needed more. I took two glasses of water at each aid station, drank one and poured the other on me to try to keep my core temp down. The heat was getting to me bad. Then I hit the two-mile marker and suddenly felt better and was able to finish strong.

I ended up with a top ten finish and a very good time. I was quite happy with my overall race.

Santa Fe Triathlon

After milkman I had 6 weeks to put in quality training before my next race. I took advantage and added some longer rides and some track work. This was once again a stacked field. The run was first, and it was going to be a fast start. It was completely downhill from the start all the way to the mile marker. Once again I overestimated the shape I was in and started out way to fast chasing the leaders. The next mile was mostly flat and I just tried to hold a solid pace. Pat caught me shortly before the 2 mile marker and I tried to hang with him in the last mile that was all uphill. I couldn’t hang but finished with a solid run time.

T1 went super smooth, I caught multiple people during it and right after the transition. The start of the bike leg I tried to push a little bit and get into a good groove. We made a turn and the rest of the way out was uphill, I put my head down and cranked on it, which worked to my advantage, I had closed to within about 30 sec of my friend Matt. After the turnaround was all-downhill and I gave it everything I had. I finished up the bike leg pretty happy with my effort. Then entering t2 I was able to keep my momentum.

Santa Fe is interesting in the fact that you have to run about 400M to get from transition to the pool. The swim I felt much better than I had late in any race earlier in the season.

Socorro

Socorro is another of my favorite races to do. The only problem with Socorro is the pool can be a little crowed with the time trial swim start. I was lucky and when I started I found myself with clear water both in front and behind me. I had a better swim then I was expecting. I got out of the pool and after passing a small crowd of people I made it to T1. I had a spot on the other side of the transition so I tried to make up some time running without my bike.

I got on the bike and started to push the early portions of it. I was rolling on the bike until we got to the guard shacks to go on the back portion of the bike. Mentally I feel sleep from here to the turnaround, but from the turnaround all the way in I was flying. I finally felt I had some bike legs and was feeling great. Despite raining the night before the course was mostly clear of debris. Coming into t2 one of my shoes got caught on the ground as I dismounted and came off so I had to go back and get it.

Getting out of the run it was surprisingly still overcast and I felt great. I loosened up rather quickly and soon caught several people. Then we turned onto the ditch bank and I really begin moving. I reached the second turnaround and tried to increase the pace. Then with about a half left I started increasing the pace more and for the first time, this season, it felt like I was actually getting up and running. Triatomics overall had an excellent showing, with Pat and Jeff both being in the top 3.

Overall I could not have been happier with this season. The “comeback” is in full force and I can’t wait to see what next season holds now that I have some good races and good base under my belt.