Snapple Tri Team

Hi All,

Wow, this summer is flying by! First a quick update on our High Cloud children from Peru. I am happy to report that two weeks ago we received $1600 from a generous contributor to re-build our High Cloud School in Lima! Cheers to that! We have sent $4600 dollars so far and the construction project is going superb! I will have some pictures for you guys soon!

Now, back to the Snapple/High Cloud adventures, this summer we have had so many activities going on that we can barely stay at home! I didn’t want to let the July chapter end before updating you on Vineman 70.3! Let me tell you that it was an amazing experience!

Swim aka “foggy swim along the beautiful redwood forest!”: This swim takes place  in the Russian River, the water temperature is actually warmer than the temperature outside. Some portions were so shallow that with my stroke I was touching the bottom! Really crazy, I thought that I was swimming in a little kiddy pool! Although the river has a current I think this is one of the safest swim of the entire IM 70.3 series. You can literally touch the ground during the whole swim. I saw tons of athletes walking while the rest of us would swim.  The course goes along the river and you swim underneath two bridges, going out against the current, my left leg was hurting a bit, not sure why, maybe because I was already tired from racing the Double MusselMan the weekend before.

Bike aka “Vino paradise!”: This course is simply spectacular! You literally go on an amazing cycle exploration and climb along hundreds and hundreds of vineyards and wineries.  Just beautiful! The first 18 miles were cold and foggy but afterwards the sun came out and it got really hot!

So, one little thing happen during this epic hilly ride: Around mile 35 I saw that my handlebars were a bit tilted to the left side so while riding I tried to straighten them out and while doing that the whole handlebar piece came off  and of course I almost wiped out holding the handlebars in my hands! So, I immediately reacted, unclipped and was able to stop.  I began thinking what I could do and given that I didn’t have anything to put the handlebars back on, I started to walk with my bike asking every single rider that would pass if they had a multi tool. After walking for about 10 minutes (really thinking that my race could be over if I couldn’t get the handlebars back on the bike), one athlete stopped and loaned me his multi tool. Thank you Jimmy! Thank you for stopping and helping me out! This is the true power of sportsmanship!

Once Laila (aka my bike) was fixed I was motorized again and continued enjoying the climbs of this wine country tour. When I finished the bike course I was thankful that the handle bars stayed on.  I was thinking about sharing this scary experience with you guys. Really, the lesson learned from this is that whenever you are flying your bike to race somewhere, make double sure that every single piece of your bike is really tight once the bike mechanic puts it back together.  Another lesson is that you really have the power within yourself to change how you react to adversity. My approached in this case was: Okay, I am going to keep on walking my bike until I get to the next aid station or I meet someone on the road who can help me out.  Never give in! The best way to handle change is through positive thinking and visualization. Definitely the power to change our reality lies within us!

Here are some pics of Laila getting shipped to California (Thanks Pro Bicycle shop!) and some pics of what I saw during this bike exploration at Vineman.

Now, lets talk about the run!

Run aka “Tour through La Crema winery”: This run had an exceptional challenge the whole way. You basically go up and down up and down running through beautiful vineyards and a very famous winery called “La Crema”. I was really enjoying this course and although it was really hot and my left foot was hurting (I have been having this pain since Musselman , ouch why are we triathletes sometimes chronically dealing w/injuries?)

In summary guys, this race is definitely a thumbs up! Although this race was way more challenging than the Double Musselman in NY (which we did the weekend before), I improved my 70.3 time even though I had to walk the bike for 10 minutes and spent 6 minutes in T2 trying to find my shoes. Is this an indicator that my Tri legs like this type of terrain? Or was the wine motivation that pushed me to be a bit faster? Maybe the wine made all the difference! :)

I would like to bring some more of our team members to this race next year! It is definitely worth it. Ah, during this event we met with Arturo, the race director of Ironman 70.3 Puerto Rico.  He was very interested in having our team and age group athletes racing there. More to follow about this awesome opportunity.

These are a few pics of what I saw during the run:

After the race, we went to an amazing Winery called Rodney Strong, we did some awesome Wine tasting. walked through the huge vineyards and bought some of course VINO! (Chardoney, Camelot Sauvignon and Merlot). Then we went to Subway to get an awesome California style sub, went to an amazing bakery that we discovered in the middle of downtown San Francisco and we continued our celebration and High Cloud meetings with some friends and more VINO! Salute to you for reading this blog!

Great wine at Rodney Strong Winery and Yummy bread at Boudin Bakery - Our Favorite!

Now I leave you with the quote of the week: “Wine Opens The Seals of The Heart!” Horace

Stay tuned guys; next week I will tell you about our successful inaugural PeasantMan reaching the High Cloud Triathlon which was this past Sunday! The hard work has paid off and our children received sooo many contributions!!

This weekend I will be riding 108 miles on Sat then working on High Cloud ed. projects and our mission to Kenya.  On Sunday, I will be doing Culpepper Sprint! Send us a note if you will be at Culpeper! I would love to see you there!

Thanks for reading, thanks to our amazing sponsors for allowing to live our dreams, hugs and see you next week with more chronicles!

Adriana Anderson

Snapple Cycling headed to Mathias, WV on Saturday for the Lost River Classic. The team raced there last year and followed up with a trip to the Lost River Barn for camp earlier this year. For those looking for training camp locations, you can’t beat it.

The loop is just over 10 miles, with two climbs, both about a mile long (Garmin data here). The Jenkins Hollow climb kicks up towards the end, right before the finish line, and the climb up Dispanet is more like two kickers back to back. Nothing like Brickyard steep, but just enough to hurt.

Jenkins Hollow Climb (0.85miles, 260ft ascent, 5.8% average grade, 10% max grade)

Dispanet Climb (0.93 miles, 272ft ascent, 5.5% average grade, 13% max grade)

The 3/4 race was decided by a break on the second to last climb. T Blo from Coppi tested the field a couple of times, initially over the first half then again realizing there was a gap. The group didn’t respond, and off he went. It was a great move and he kept it rolling down the descent. Nobody wanted to work all that hard on that flat section going into the last climb, until two Bike Rack Heads jumped (Dennis and I think Tony). The pace picked up along Crab Run road, with one of the Lumm brothers setting a hard tempo. The Lumm brothers are machines, they pretty much pulled the group around all day and Brandon finished 5th. Brigham won the 3/4 race at Reston earlier this year, dude got an engine.

Just as we turned on Jenkins Hollow, I started a dig and made it to those last two parts where it kicks up a bit, I’d say 200m from the finish line. Then the wheels started to come off. GamJams Paul Rades, who mastered the 35+ 3/4 race at Coppi, went around and I could see Ian Spivak making up ground fast. I was cooked. Fortunately the finish line was just up ahead and I rolled across in 3rd, absolutely spent.

Pleased with the result. Blonkowski made a great move and it paid off. He got a flat at the ToWC RR and who knows maybe he gets the win there, glad to see him on top two years in a row.

Top Ten

Men’s Category 3/4
42 miles $300/7 places
1       Thomas Blonkowski, Squadra Coppi
2       Paul Rades, GamJams/Pre-Reg.com p/b Cutaway Clothing
3       Matias Palavecino, Team Snapple
4       Ian Spivack, DCMTB-Family Bike Shop
5       Brandon Lumm, Route 1 Velo/Arrow Bicycle
6       Jordan Cross, Squadra Coppi
7       Dennis Bodewits, District Velocity Racing p/b The Bike Rack
8       Sigberto Garcia, NCVC/UnitedHealth Group
9       Zachary Rogers, 540Cycling.com
10      Bob Gillespie, All American Bicycle Club

Race Stats:

37.6 miles, 1:51:10

Splits – Last three laps

31:09 (20.3mph avg)

30:54 (20.3mph avg)

28:08 (22.5mph avg)

Average pace 20.2 mph, including roll out and first half of first lap

***********************************************************

Looking over the 1/2/3 results, looks like a repeat of last year

2009

1       Nick Bax, DC Velo
2       Keck Baker, Harley
3       Brian Butts, Harley

2010

1       Keck Baker, Harley
2       Chuck Hutch, Harley
3       Nick Bax, DC Velo

And looks like Bax bested the Harley gang at Coppi. Bax v Harley, maybe they’ll battle again at Page Valley.

And check it out, Floyd Landis is entered in the P/1/2 race at Catskills, unattached. Wonder if he’ll sport the Snapple kit.

Every year or so I like to do Mt Evans Hill climb. Its a bike race that starts in Idaho Springs off of I-70 at around 7,000ft. The Finish at the top of Mt Evans and the route is along the Highest paved road in the US. Your finishline is 28 miles of climbing to 14,180ft. Now I am sure plenty of people have hiked a 14teener. But this is different.

I am a triathlete riding Cat 3 a pretty competitive group just under the Pro1,2 guys who just ride. They  are not training for 2 other sports. I knew what to expect and as we gradually climbed I wiggled my way from last place to the front. Made some small talk with a few I knew, and from there on No one wanted to help with the pull up the hill, around mile 5 it kicks from 4% to 6% grade and thats usually where some fun begins. Around mile 7 I made a slight acceleration just to see the response. Everyone responded. Then another kid made an acceleration and so I picked up the pace and road his wheel I looked back and I was the only one to go with him. About 300 meters later he asked me to come around him and help out. I came around and put the pressure on. Every tree lined turn I would gently accelerate. Out of sight out of mind. Within a few miles I would no longer see any of the Cat 3′s. I applied pressure whenever possible consistantly pushing the pace. Because I know at some point the altitude will start to hurt. Every switch back I would take a glance back and see no one. I was flying up the mt catching other categories. I would pass people in the citizens category who would be talking with a sudden change in their discussion to Holy …. I flew on. Higher and Higher until tree’s and plants can no longer grow. I was floating above the clouds and now I was burning my fuel and was beginning to reach where the blue skies above turn dark blue almost black because the ozone is just so thin. I hit summit lake, a false flat with a down hill before it really kicks back up. I looked back and saw them, the hunters and I was being hunted. Mile 22 came and so did 13,500 ft hit me like I was pedaling through sand. I was hardly breathing and hardly moving, I felt sleepy, and light headed. I took a quick drink of water and my muscles, my entire inner core freaked with lack of Oxygen. The kid leading the charge said I “I Finally got you”, good I had to make him work for it. His last US race before he goes to Belgium. I climbed and climbed and the final few kilometers are just ridiculous with switchbacks. You see the top straight above you but you cant get there, you just keep pedaling telling your body to breath. Any response any pick up is dearly paid for with agonizing energy loss. I finally made it. I had beat my previous best time and I was ever closing into that mark of under 2hrs. But this time it was 2:03.55 a 6 minute improvement. 6th in the category.

Jim Hallberg, Longmont CO

Next race is Boulder 70.3

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

1st road race…Giro di Coppi.  I had no expectations.  Well maybe not to get dropped.  I actually prefer “dropping out.”

The CAT 4 women would do 3 12.5 mile loops…for 37.5 miles total.  We went off at 1pm.  WTF.  This would be a dripper for sure.  I woke up at 7am and went for a warm-up swim.  Cycling just would not seem right without getting wet first and I was a little anxious and swimming is what I do best in those circumstances.  Headed out to Barnesville, MD around 10:30am.  I arrived with plenty of time…registered and got ready to warm-up.  I found Matias who had just crushed the Cat 3/4 men’s race (6th place).  He went for a warm-up/cool-down with me.  My legs felt stale as ever.  It was HOT.  Rode EZ for about 20min.  Then the ladies started to gather near the start.  There was maybe 30 women in the Cat 4.  I hung with Shauna and Meg while waiting for the go.  And we were off.  I was told to position myself on the outside but closer to the front.  And was told the pace would feel slow.  I held a decent position a few rows back on the outside.  I am never too comfortable on the inside or middle.  Hmm about the first 2 miles were slow and then the pace began to quicken.  And this was NO flat ride.  14 or so might have gotten dropped.  There was only a few behind me now.  I felt like I could hang on.  Felt strong on the climbs.  But then all of the sudden on a climb about mile 10 got the hurt dropped on me.  I “dropped out” at that point.  BEEP.  guh.  junk.  Soo bust.  3 other had also “dropped out.”  The 4 of us played yoyo for the last 2 miles of the 1st loop.  One of the women was done at the start.  The other 2 and I kept going.  What the heck…I may as well get a good training ride in.  I was so HOT.  One of the other women, Melissa Tallent, and I were going back and forth…I pass on the uphill and she pass on the downhill.  She told me we should work together.  I agreed so we rode together for the 2nd loop and chatted a bit.  We wondered if we should continue on for the 3rd loop or not and decided we would unless they pulled us off.  Which, we were not supposed to be pulled unless we were lapped by the field.  No one had passed us or caught up.  We could finish 12th or so?  Coming into the 3rd loop I was hoping Matias was in site with some water.  Saw him and he handed me some water.  A ref told Melissa and I we were done.  Later found out this was not because we had dropped out BUT because I had gotten water outside of this “feed zone.”  DQed!  Big time BUST.  At least I made some new friends   What a BEATER.

After the race found out the Cat 4 women lead group had caught the Cat 1/2/3 women, who had gone off 5 minutes before us.  Some very FAST ladies out there!

Up Next: Lost River Classic, July 24, 2010

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

Hi All,

It has been too long since our last post! So sorry, I has been crazy busy this week coming back from a Double MusselMan in Geneva, NY, coordinating a quick trip to San Francisco this weekend, a mission to Africa and Peru in Sept and Oct and finishing the last touches of PeasantMan reaching the High Cloud Tri which is next weekend (July 25th).

So to give you a quick update on recent news, these past few weeks have been full of work and excitement!  On June 19^th, High Cloud gave a $1,000 grant to provide triathlon training camps to unprivileged children here in the DC area. The grant was given to Achieve Kids at a nice reception held here in DC.  High Cloud loves helping these wonderful children – here are some pictures of this great event:

This is us with some of the kids who will benefit from High Cloud’s grant

This pic is with Mayor Fenty, a great friend and triathlete!

For our 4^th of July weekend, we had a nice bike ride with Mindy on Friday (50 miles), went on a 93 mile bike ride on Sunday and finished with an amazing BBQ at our friend, Jason’s house! Whew! What a great way to celebrate our Independence.

This is Mindy! Super happy after our nice bike ride! Thanks Jason for the BBQ, it was delish!

Last weekend, we went up to Geneva, New York with more than 20 of our closest friends to race at Musselman! I raced the Double MusselMan which consists of the Sprint Tri on Saturday and the Half IronMan distance 70.3 on Sunday.  We had a blast and here is a quick race report of this DoubleDeal!

Swim: Was a beach start. Really nice and organized.  I was a bit tired from racing the day before so it took me a few minutes to find a good rhythm.

The worst part of the swim was the seaweed and the water that kept getting in my goggles. The best part of the swim was seeing the little mussels swimming underneath the water. Very nice!

Bike: Windy and rolling! The worst part was the accident that I had to witness in front of my eyes at mile 20. This freaked me out so bad that I literally stopped twice to refuel. I was really in panic mode after seeing that bike accident.  The best part of the bike was the amazing scenery with beautiful vineyards, farms, and lovely lakes!….oh and I got to see tons of cattle) and we rode for miles and miles along Seneca Lake.

Run: Hilly very hilly!

The run flew by even though it was full of rolling hills. This race was definitely a thumbs up!  I placed 7th on the Sprint and 10th on the Half Ironman in my age group!  Oh, and big Kudos to my Team Mate Chris for winning the Musselman!  What a weekend!

I can’t wait for the amazing wineries and vineyards that I am going see while riding and running this weekend at VineMan!

Now I leave you with the quote of the week: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.” Mark Twain

Stay tuned for more updates!!

Cheers and Hugs,

Adriana Anderson

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

It was time for Boulder peak triathlon and a time for me to defend my overall amatuer title from very stiff competition. I was requested to “bring my A game” to Boulder peak. A lot had happened in my eyes from last year and even from last month. I made some changes on my bike to help me bring back the Power I had known and relied on last year that was missing earlier on up tell last week actually. With the Help of a Phenominal fitter I was back in the Game. Nothing remarkable about pre-race other than I was the last wave of 13 to go off. Wow, would it be busy out there. The swim was directly into the sun and I had a few difficulties sighting bouys but none the less I got out in just over 22 minutes. Out on the bike I put the hammer down and chewed up ground passing what felt like thousands. I made it hurt, it was all or nothing. I arrived back into T2 posting a bike split that would be hard to rival at 61minutes 27sec for 42k wicth included a climb 2/3mile long at 15% grade. Out on the run I quicly found my legs and tried to push the pace, without going into the asthmatic state. I realed in a few people and crossed the finish line in 35:49 for the 10k, and 2:01. 21 total time.  Nearly 4 minutes faster than last years time.   Now the waiting began. I finished 2nd overall by 2 seconds. By the time you read this sentence, was the difference between me and another age grouper in wave 12. The nice thing is I had the 2nd fastest 10k in the amatuers and I had a faster bike split than Tim Deboom, Matt Reed, Stephen Hackett, Joshua Rix and all but 2 male pro’s Tim Odonnell and Tim Reed and the 1 guy who got me by 2 seconds.

Next up Boulder 70.3 August 8th. And its Payback time.

Jim Hallberg,

Longmont CO