Snapple Tri Team

This September 11, support the High Cloud Foundation in a unique new race.  The International Peace Half Marathon will be held:

Saturday, September 11, 2010 – 8:00 am

At the C&O Canal Towpath from Potomac Street NW from Georgetown, Washington DC

to Lock 7 and back

Host hotel • Key Bridge Marriott, 1401 Lee Highway, Arlington VA 22209 (703-524-6400) one mile from start (special rate by August 14)

Pre-Race • Packet pick-up • Georgetown Running Company, 3401 M Street, Washington DC (703-337-8626) Friday, September 10, 2-6 PM

Race Day • Packet pick-up on-site • 1015 33^rd Street NW, Washington DC, Saturday, September 11, 6:45-7:45 AM • No race-day registration

• Race will be held in memory of the victims of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, we ring a memorial bell 184 times at 7:45 AM.  Tax Deductible entry benefits the High Cloud Foundation.
• Course:  Flat, fast, 100% unpaved gravel, scenic views of the Potomac River – starts 250 meters east of Milestone 1
• Water/Aid stations at Milestones 3, 5, and 7, assisted by Capital Area Runners andDC Capital Striders
• Course will be USATF-certified • Presented by the team that brought you Cloud Snapple Half Marathon
• Compete with the area’s top international athletes • Medals for all finishers  • Limited to the first 250 entrants

Post-race • International music & refreshments • Awards to state & nation teams • You are automatically on your state’s or nation’s team, top 3 count

Awards

• $1,000 in prizes • $250 for 1^st • $150 for 2^nd • $100 for 3^rd • M/F
• Commemorative t-shirt and medals for all finishers
• Gift certificates from Georgetown Running Company for top 3 finishers by 10-year age-group M/F

Benefits

• High Cloud Foundation’s international and domestic programs

Register online at Active.com:

http://www.active.com/framed/event_detail.cfm?CHECKSSO=0&EVENT_ID=1870106

The race is filling up FAST, so register soon.

Bart

The Brooks Calvacade of Curiosities is coming to the Georgetown Running Company.  September 11 from 9 AM until 3PM.  Start by running High Cloud’s International Peace Half Marathon and then head to GRC to check out the Brooks bus.  A Perfect Day!!

RUN HAPPY: CALVACADE OF CURIOSITIES

Witness the extravaganza of a one-of-a-kind double decker bus transform itself into an 18’ tall exciting and interactive display showcasing Brooks latest running technologies.  Free gait analysis, product trial and try to walk on water in our BrooksDNA demonstration.  Every visitor will receive a free gift and be entered to win a trip for two to a 2011 Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon event of their choice!

SEPTEMBER 11,2010

9:00am – 3:00pm

Don’t miss

This has seen the blog before, but we’re bringing it back in celebration of Ted’s upcoming Ironman.  After finishing an IM sub-10 hours only to have a penalty push him back over the 10 hour mark, Ted emailed the head ref to ask what the penalty was for.  He received the following response:

—–Original Message—–
From: XXX XXXX [mailto:]
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2009 9:02 AM
To: Waugh, Ted
Cc: Robert Vigorito; Sharon Vigorito
Subject: Chesapeake Man Triathlon

Hello Ted,
I was the head official at the Chesapeake Man Triathlon and I can tell you
what the violation report says from the official that saw the incident.

“#193, female with long blond pony tail, Pint tri top then blue long sleeve
shirt was given long blue sleeve shirt by spectator running alongside her
for more than 50 yards/15 seconds.”

This seems to be self-explanatory. The official saw you take a shirt from an
individual not part of the race.

This is considered Position, Unauthorized Assistance a violation of 3.4d in
the USAT rulebook.  A copy of the rulebook is located at
http://assets.teamusa.org/assets/documents/attached_file/filename/9319/2009_USAT_Competitive_Rules.pdf.
5.10f is located on page 10 of this document if you would like to read it.

If this description of the athlete (#193, female with long blond ponytail,
Pint tri top then blue long sleeve shirt) does not describe you, please let
me and the race director know. Also, feel free to contact me again with any
questions that you may have.

Thank you

Joy Wolf
Head Official
Chesapeake Man Triathlon
************************************************
OId Man Waugh’s response

—–Original Message—–
From: Waugh, Ted
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2009 9:14 AM
To: ‘Joy Wolf’
Cc: Robert Vigorito; Sharon Vigorito
Subject: RE: Chesapeake Man Triathlon

Joy,

Thank you for the information.  I appreciate your time and consideration of my request.

Normally, I would not have even asked the question, but because it was the first time I had ever broken 10 hours for an Iron-distance race, I wanted to find out about the penalty which changed my time from 9:58 to 10:02.  At my age, I may not have any more sub-10-hour races in me.

I am very happy to say, I am not a female.  In fact, I am a tall, 41-year old man with short brown hair.  The penalty was incorrectly assigned to my number which was #193.  I am sure Viggs can vouch for my gender.

Best regards,

Ted

http://reachforthewall.com/2010/07/22/swimming-tips-for-the-new-triathlete/

Swimming tips for the new triathlete

By Julia Lam

For many triathletes, getting in the pool is the scariest part of their training. (Courtesy of Julia Lam)

Bart Forsyth of Arlington was a runner first.  He took up the sport in law school, running several road races before taking up marathons.  Then, while recovering from a running injury, he became an avid cyclist.  And before long, he was thinking about triathlons.  The catch?  He had no swimming experience at all.

Bart’s experience is fairly typical. Among the growing numbers of new triathletes, many come to the sport as runners or cyclists first.  For many amateur triathletes, the swim is the most daunting leg of the race, and the most challenging part of training.  Which isn’t to say that triathletes can’t overcome their relative lack of experience in the water — many do, and learn to love swimming.

Bart is now his fourth year as the director of the Snapple Tri Team He’s also in his first year as a coach, working with the Try-the-Tri beginner training program sponsored by the Snapple team and the Georgetown Running Company. Here are Bart’s swimming tips for the new triathlete:

If a runner or a cyclist comes to you with an interest in competing in triathlons — and no swimming experience.  How should he or she get started?

My advice is to just get in the pool!  There are tons of public pools in the area–the DC pools are even free for DC residents.  The first step is really just overcoming the intimidation and insecurity and getting in the water.  Do some research to figure out the best time and place to swim and then commit to going at least 2 or 3 times per week.

At first, just focus on swimming.  A lot of the non-swimmers we’ve worked with have had trouble swimming 100 yards without rest the first time they swam, but they have all improved very quickly.  Once you can comfortably swim 400-800 yards without rest or exhaustion, you can start to focus on actual workouts and on getting faster, but first, just get comfortable swimming.

How does swim training compare to training for running or cycling?

Every sport has it’s own challenges, but I think what sets swimming apart is the penalty for inefficiency.  In running and cycling you get used to being rewarded for building up your engine–you get stronger, you get faster. In swimming, if your inefficient, the vast majority of your extra strength is just wasted.  For beginners the primary focus should be on form.  This is a hard thing for runners in particular to get used to because they have the mentality of “more miles and more effort means more speed.”  This really isn’t the fastest way to improve in the pool.

In your experience as a coach, what’s the most challenging aspect of swimming for beginners?  The most rewarding?

I think the most challenging aspect is just overcoming the intimidation factor.  Pools around here are usually crowded and it takes courage to get in a lane with 2 or 3 other people when you’re not even sure what it means to “circle swim.”

The most rewarding aspect is how quickly you’ll improve at first.  It’s amazing to watch.  Athletes will go from not being able to swim 100 yards to cutting their 100 yard splits in half in just a few months.  After a few years of swimming, you have to fight for improvements, but when you first start out the progress is visible and it’s very exciting.

Any suggested resources for athletes who are new to the water?

I think the single most important resource is other swimmers.  You’ll learn so much more and improve so much faster from a local coach and swimming group than you will from any book or online resource.  We encourage everyone to join a masters class or join a swimming or triathlon club and start swimming with other people.  This is true with biking and running as well.  With other athletes you pick up the vocabulary of the sport, you get feedback on your form, you see what’s possible, and you get encouragement and support.

The infamous swimming class for triathletes is at [Hains] Point weekday mornings in the summer, but almost every pool has a masters class, so people should ask for information where they swim.  The DC Tri Club is also an invaluable resource for both information and training partners.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 22nd, 2

Halfway through the first of six laps, I remembered advice on how to ride cobblestones from when I was watching the Tour de France on tv.  I had no idea it would ever be useful information.  ”Keep a loose grip on the bars, let the front of the bike go where it wants to go,” I remembered hearing.  I opened my hands, relaxed my arms, tried to follow the bikes flow, and was amazed by how much smoother it felt.

Having been too slow to pull the registration trigger for the Giro di Coppi, but itching to race, Zack and I decided to race the Oxford Road Race in sunny southern PA (it was 900 degrees at the race start).  The race had limited entrants, so the race director decided to combine all categories into a single field.  The course was 6 10K laps with a roughly 2K lollipop stick for the start and finish.  There were two decent-sized climbs per lap, but more significantly, there was a 2 mile stretch where the PA Department of Transportation had ripped up and milled the road surface.  Hands loose, teeth rattling, body shaking worse than it did in the area’s recent earthquake, I imagined I was pounding the cobbles in Belgium as we attacked the milled roads.

2 miles, 6 times of PA-style cobbles

My legs had been slow to recover from the three races last week during the Lord of the Flies races, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  Zack and I had time for a brief warmup before the race, and I was glad my legs seemed to be responding.

As always seems to happen, I found myself losing a lot of ground in the pack during the supposedly neutral rollout (neutral rollouts, I’ve decided, are really just racing while you’re pretending to not be racing).  On narrow roads, I had little choice but to hold my position and move up incrementally through the first few flat to downhill miles of the course.  When the race first hit the unpaved road, the group collectively seemed alarmed by the severity of the road surface.  The diversion caused a split that divided the field into nearly equal halves.  I found myself in the back.

I sat in hoping the back group would organize.  Several miles later–with the gap only seeming to grow–I decided to bridge.  I jumped across.  One rider followed.  The rest of the back pack fell off the pace and never recovered.

I more or less sat in this group until the fourth lap when I decided to test the field with a few attacks.  I attacked solo and got dragged back a few times.  Finally I got away and had a strong break partner with me.  We rolled hard into a climb.  A quick effort over it and I was confident our break would stick.  Then I looked down and my chain was wrapped around my bottom bracket.  I screamed obscenities.  My break partner rode away.  A chase group road away.  What was left of the peloton rode away.  I screamed more obscenities.  Finally, I got things sorted out.  Took a push from neutral support, and started turning myself inside out to chase.

(Incidentally, I hope I corrected this problem for good.  The Bicycle Pro Shop in Georgetown set my bike up with a chain catcher that will hopefully keep the chain wrapped around the gears where it belongs).

I chased for several miles before finally catching back on to the main field.  Once there, I sat in and recovered a little, but my former breakaway partner was still up the road.  As we moved through the 5th lap, I worried he might stay away and started to get annoyed that no one would chase.  Finally, I came around.  I tried to bridge, but didn’t have the legs to get away and wound up pulling the group back together.

Once back together, I was pretty fried, but a little inspired by the fact that no one chased the other guy at all.  So I decided to attack again.  This time a strong looking riding came forward and pulled me back.  When he caught me, I was like “What the f*#k?  you didn’t help at all when the other guy was up the road.”

“That guys my buddy,” he said.  The two riders weren’t on the same team–subtle politics of local bike racing.

The rider who bridged stayed on the front as we came through the unpaved stretch.  He set a hard tempo up the unpaved climb and was keeping it rolling through the flatish stretch on top.  I was sitting comfortably behind him–honestly pretty glad at the work he was doing because he was shredding what was left of the field.

Then he found some paved road and instantly opened a gap.  It was impossible to cover the move on the shredded pavement, so the 5 riders left in the main group just rode for damage control until we turned back onto a paved road.

One rider tried to bridge.  I followed and we wound up with a 3 man chase group.  I tried to get people to work to pull him back, but no one would.  I thought I could get him, but if I was the only one who worked to do it, I knew the result would be me finishing 4th in a four man final sprint.

Instead, our 3 man chase more or less soft pedaled as we jockeyed for position.  The least patient man in any group, I of course wound up in front.

About .5K to the line

I tried to jump, but there wasn’t a ton left in my legs, and one rider wound up coming around.  I took 3rd overall and promptly proceeded to drink every ounce of water I could find.

Soon after, the race director handed me an envelope full of cash.  I won’t be retiring any time soon, but it covered gas and lunch for my teammates (Zack riding, Mindy cheering and snapping pics).

I hate to say it, but it’s almost a shame that PA will ultimately pave the roads.  The milled asphalt made a tough race epic, and I’m glad I had a chance to race it.

Thanks for reading.

Bart

Triathletes who can swim are called “fish.”  In Waterville Valley, where the Black Fly Triathlons are held, we were all like fish.  The mountain walls encircling the small town made me feel like I was at the bottom of a giant green fish bowl.

The sensation adds to what is already an immersive experience.  Black Fly has quickly become one of my favorite tris.  With 3 races in 3 days—a stage race featuring a Friday night cycling Time Trial, a Saturday modified-olympic distance race, and a Sunday sprint—your weekend is literally consumed by racing.

More than that, the town is consumed.  As you drive into the fish bowl on the one road into town, a sign reads “Welcome to Waterville Valley – Population 324.”  I can’t think of any other race where the number of racers outnumber the local population.

The transition area and start/finish lines for all 3 races are near the town square, which is surrounded by the area’s lodging.  Everyone who is there seems to be there for the race and they’re all staying in the same place.

For races, you literally roll out of bed and walk to transition.  Porta potty lines are long?  No problem, my room was just as close.  After the race on Sunday, I went back to my room to shower and watch the Tour de France.  I kept the window open so that I could hear the announcer when the awards ceremony started.

In terms of the actual races, I finished 3^rd overall for the 3 day-long competition.  I came into the race confident in my cycling, but unsure of my running.  I’ve been doing a lot of riding on my road bike with local roadies and I felt like I was riding well.  By contrast, I’ve only been running 20 miles or so per week with virtually no speedwork.  As it turned out, my run legs almost seemed better.

In the TT, I wound up 4^th overall, 1^st age.  As I came down the start ramp, I got the speed up fast—red-lining almost instantly.  The course heads down before coming back up and I was balls to the wall the whole way.  I was definitely disappointed to finish 4^th.  I lost a fair amount of time to the top 3 and I’m not sure where I left it.  Maybe I paid for the lack of time in the TT saddle?  Or maybe the other riders were just uber-studs?

Saturday was a similar story.  In the Olympic distance race, I was 5^th overall, 1^st age.  A lot of athletes skipped the wetsuit for the roughly 400 meter swim.  I think of my Xterra Vendetta as a secret weapon, so there was no way I was leaving it off.

The race is a time trial start, and I was the 37^th athlete in the water with athletes going off every 5 seconds.  The swim was great.  I got around a few huge groups and got on the bike with only about 15 people in front of me on the course.  I could tell early that it was hard to turn over the big gears I’m used to pushing.  I tried to compensate by rolling easier gears and keeping the cadence up.

It was a good, but not great ride.  That little bit of extra pop just didn’t seem to be there.  Still, I had caught a lot of riders.  Going into transition, a volunteer told me there were only 2 athletes in front of me.  As it turned out, they were comfortably in front of me.  I didn’t see them until the run course folded over.  At that point, I was already almost 5 minutes behind the leaders and both were moving at a dead sprint.  They finished the hilly 5 mile course in 27 minutes.  Maybe I can get there, but for now I was honestly pretty excited with my 30:31.

The race moved me into 3^rd overall in the 3 day competition with a pretty big cushion to fourth and an equally large gap to 2^nd.  Other than feeling like my bikesplit was a minute or two slower than I expected, I was pretty happy with my race and position.

Sunday was a different story.  Holy crap.  Talk about heavy legs.  I swear I was racing through JELLO.   I got a massage after Saturday’s race. The masseuse told me, “You’re muscles are so tight, there’s no way you’re going to be able to race tomorrow.”  I told him bullocks.  I thought I felt fine.

My posture at the end of 3 days of racing says it all . . . everything hurt

Even waking up the next day, I thought I was ok.  My legs were sore, but I thought they’d loosen up as soon as I got going.  Instead, things went wrong from the start.  As soon as I hit the water, my breath was gone.  A few years ago, asthma was a real problem for me in cold water swims.  I got in the habit of always getting in the water before starts to give myself a chance to acclimate.  I should have done that this weekend.  It’s a scary feeling to be stuck in a lake fighting for air, but I’ve learned to just not panic.  I kept moving, but I had to stay easy to regulate my breathing.

I knew my swim was worse because there were a lot more athletes in front of me than there were the day before.  Still, my breathing felt good and I felt ready to start reeling people in.  Things seemed to start well on the bike, and I told myself I was going to go for it, leave it all on the course.  Maybe I did, but honestly, I thought there would be more to leave.

About 5 miles in, I just couldn’t turn my legs over.  I noticed the gears I was riding weren’t nearly as big as the ones from the day before and that day I felt like I was spinning.  More than anything, I just felt like I couldn’t get my Heartrate up.  My legs just couldn’t turn over.

The run was the same story.  While my legs hurt, I really wasn’t suffering much because I couldn’t suffer.  I literally couldn’t push my legs hard enough to get my heartrate up.  The 4^th and 5^th place athletes in the stage race were both able to make up time on me, but fortunately I had a large enough cushion from Friday and Saturday to retain third overall.

On the whole, an amazing experience.  Thanks for reading.

Bart

On Saturday, September 11, at 8:00 AM, High Cloud Foundation hosts the 4th Abebe Bikila Day International Peace Half Marathon, starting at the eastern end of the C&O Canal Towpath, near the Flour Mill building at 1015 33rd Street NW in Washington DC.

Registration is now open at www.highcloud.org/20100911

This race is unlike any other in the world.  When you run, you represent your country or USA state of citizenship.  You are automatically on the team for your nation or state, top 3 count.  We present awards for both individuals (top 3 M/F and top 3 by 10-year age group) and for members of the top 3 nation/state teams.

In past years, teams have spanned the globe, but Virginia has dominated.  In 2006, VA men won, ahead of Ethiopia, Maryland, DC, California, and India; and VA women beat MD, DC, and New York.  In 2007,  Virginia won over DC, MD, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ethiopia, and Pennsylvania.  In 2008, Virginia repeated ahead of MD, DC, PA, and France.

Maybe this will be the year for Ethiopia, or Kenya, or Cameroon, or Ireland!

We also offer a one-mile fun run for young athletes, details TBA.

Pre-race packet pickup is at Georgetown Running Company, 3401 M Street NW, Washington DC (202-337-8626) on Friday, September 10, 3:00 PM to 6 PM.

Race-day packet pickup on Saturday, September 11, 7:00 AM to 7:45 AM, is on site at the plaza east of the C&O Canal Towpath at the end of Potomac Avenue.  Park at Washington Harbor or along Water Street and walk to Potomac Street, between Wisconsin Avenue and 33rd Streets.  Walk up the big hill, and there we are.  You may also park in Georgetown and walk to Potomac Avenue, cross the footbridge over the Canal to the plaza.

In memory of the 184 victims who died at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and the thousands more who died in New York and Pennsylvania on that day, we will ring a memorial bell 184 times before the start of the race at 7:45 AM.

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Abebe Bikila’s historic victory at the Rom Olympic Marathon on September 10, 1960, and in recognition of Ethiopian New Year’s Day on September 11 each year, we host an international cultural exhibition in the area all around the race start / finish line.  Exhibitors and vendors may contact Kuki Balcha Tadesse (kukitadesse@yahoo.com, 703-928-0591).

After the race, we host international music and dance, and we welcome you to demonstrate your native cultural dance.  More info TBA.

Please join us for this unique historic race!

See
www.highcloud.org/20100911
to unite with us.

It’s not too late to test your legs on a fast course this Sunday.  The Georgetown Running Co. is hosting an 8K this Sunday at 6:30 PM.  Great chance to do a rare evening race.  Proceeds benefit GRC’s elite running team, so please come out and support.

Run with Dad!

The Georgetown Running Company Father’s Day 8k is a flat, fast out-and-back race run on the Capital Crescent Trail in historic Georgetown. This PR 8k will be held on Sunday, June 20 (Father’s Day) at 6:30pm in conjunction with National Men’s Health Week. Race proceeds will benefit the Georgetown Running Company race team (specifically uniforms and travel assistance to national caliber races). Bring your dad/son and support this cause.

Registration and Additional Details are available here:

https://www.signupandrace.com/signup.php?rid=34

I’m going to pile on with the posts about Rev3 because, honestly, it deserves it.  I literally flew directly from Taiwan to get to CT in time to race, and it was worth it.  What greater endorsement is there than that?

Dan Hicok was up for the race and got some great shots from the pro race.  A chance to see how some of the best athletes in the world look when they swim, ride and run:

http://www.danhicok.com/Rev3/Favorites/12497385_8GUug#895980620_qzfUx

And here are a few great shots of Team Snapple:

Jim Hallberg making short work of the beautiful (and hilly) CT roads

Chris Martin with a solid finish in the Pro Race on his Elite Custom Frame

Virginia Run was one of the first triathlons I ever raced.  It’s early in the season, close to home, well-run, and a lot of fun, so I’ve been back almost every year.  The familiar course and competitors make for a nice benchmark as the season ramps up.  This year, there was some disappointment but plenty to be happy with–I guess that’s what keeps us coming back for more.

The swim is obviously my weakness, so I’ve spent some time in the pool.  I can’t say I dread the swim any less, but at least the dread isn’t lasting as long.  This was my fifth time racing here and this was the best split I’ve posted, so iI’m encouraged that the work is paying off.  I’m also confident that yesterday was just a single point on my general trend of swimming improvement as these plenty more hard work in the pool to come.

The bike legs just wouldn’t go at first.  It’s a two loop course and by the second loop I had things rolling, but I wasn’t surprised to see a slower time than I posted last year, even though I’ve, in general, been riding much stronger this season.  Transition closed at 6:25 am, so my only warmup was a 5 minute run and I felt it.  I talked to another athlete who said he brought his road bike so he could warmup after transition closed.  A smart move.  I’ve got to try something like that for these early races.

The run is where I think I saw my improved fitness.  Final run split was 17:16 for the 5K.  I know Zack looked at the fast splits and wondered if the run was short, but we both agreed that as far as we could tell the course was the same as it had been for the past 5 years, and I emailed the race director who said she was confident the course was the both the same and the right distance, so I’m going to say I think it was legit.

Would my hair look so ridiculous if I hadn't just ran a full 5K??

In either case, the results are a bit hard to figure out, but as far as I can tell, I had the 2nd fastest bike, the 3rd fastest run, and the fastest bike/run (by less than a second!!).

I finished 3rd overall–under the previous course record and only 30 seconds from first.  My biggest frustration is that transitions literally decided the race.  The gap between me and each of the 2 guys in front of me is exactly the same as the difference in our transitions.  Every second counts the same and there’s no excuse for giving up so much time.

A huge congrats to Jason McKay and Ken DelRaso for putting together great races.  Both are racing better than ever, and as much as I hate not winning, I’m excited to see everyone racing well.  The two go head to head again in Lake Placid, so I’m excited to see how they stack up on the long course.