Utah Half Race Report

I was very excited for this race mainly because of the competitors that were racing. Going into the race B.J. Christensen was definitely the guy to beat. He has established himself as the top over all Utah triathlete. He wins almost every event he enters and is close to untouchable at the Ironman and Half Ironman distance. Also in the mix to win were Heath Thurston and Dantley Young who both have their pro cards and race professionally. My buddy Casey Robles is another competitor that had a shot if he had a good day.

I swam as hard as I could, when I came out of the water my boy Grant told me I was 9:30 behind Heath. That is a LOT of time to make up on the bike. Heath is a strong biker. (The only other time I have raced Heath was at Ironman Florida and over that 112 miles on the bike I only gained 5 minutes on him.) I got out on the bike and started pushing it. I was surprised to catch Casey within about 5-6 miles. I caught Dantley just before the overpass at about mile 9-11 then I didn’t see a soul until just before the turnaround I caught B.J. I was happy with that. I know that the only way I had a chance to beat B.J. was to have a huge lead off the bike and then have a fast run. I didn’t catch Heath until I got back into town. I caught him on the last turn with just a mile or two to go. He had a faster T2 and so we basically started the run together. We were running right about my planned pace. I ran a 1:27 last year on this course averaging 6:40. I wanted to average a 6:27 and be under a 1:25 this year. Unfortunately I just couldn’t hold that pace. After about a mile I watched Heath steadily pull away from me as he held a 6:33 average and ran a 1:25. B.J. caught me around about mile 8 or 9 on the dirt road. At that point I knew that I wasn’t going to catch Heath or B.J., I had a tendon in my right calf that hurt and I knew that no one else was close to catching me so I didn’t want to risk that tendon so I saw no point in pushing hard to the finish. I ended up having a disappointing half Iron run split averaging 7:00 minute miles. I finished 3rd 5:45 behind the winner which I thought would be B.J. but when I crossed the finish line I found out Heath had been able to hold him off and win by a minute.

The win was great for Heath. He has been a good friend of mine and has helped me with my swim and given me some valuable advice. He raced a smart race and had a lot of grit to finish with his fastest career half Ironman run split. He also had his fastest overall half iron time. It shows that he is improving and is doing some things right.

I wanted to win this race real bad but…..oh well.

Utah Half Testing

I've done my Utah half test workouts:
Bike Friday 13th: I did the Utah half bike course as part of my long bike. I pushed real hard for 30.5 miles of it and was happy with it. I had an average power of 336 over those miles and had good speed as well.
Swim Wednesday 18th: I did a 1000 meter time trial at masters. Diane put me as the first person in the second lane instead of being the last person in the fast lane so "bummer" no drafting for me. I wanted to do between 16:40 and 17:00 and ended up doing a 17:03 so I guess that is OK.
Run Wednesday 18th: I did a 10 mile descending tempo run as part of my 19 mile long run. miles 1-4 at 6:00 pace, mile 5 at 6:27, mile 6 at 6:40, miles 7-8 at 6:53, and miles 9-10 at 7:03. Miles 1-4 were really hard but the rest was cruising. I wanted to do 6 miles at 6:00 pace but didn't have it in me.
Conclusion: I think I have an outside chance at the Utah half. I would love to come in first. But Heath and B.J. are both such awesome, complete triathletes that it makes me a long shot.

Swim lots and lots and cross my fingers

I am a terrible swimmer. My swimming used to fall in the category of "is that person drowning?" but luckily with the help of some of my friends like Keena, Heath, Diane, and others I have drastically improved my form and raised my swimming ability up to the "stinks" level. Without their help I would still be drowning. In an effort to raise my game above the "stink" level I have decided to increase my swim volume. Last week I got in 27,000 meters/yards with 15,000 of the 27,000 being high intensity. I plan to do between 27,000 and 32,000 for the next few weeks and see if I improve. (Previous to this I would do between 15,000 and 20,000 a week). I hope that this will jump start my swimming and boost me up to the "average" level.

Stansbury Triathlon

I raced the Stansbury Tri this last Saturday.
Swim: I was happy with my swim. I came out of the water in 10th place which is new for me (I am usually much further back than that). Time 21:35? I think. It was probably a little short.
t1: My wetsuit came off surprisingly easy so I had a fast transition
Bike: flat course with only 288 ft of climbing, the course did however have a lot of turns and had two around the cone u turns. I was able to catch everybody on the bike and came in to t2 a few seconds behind the leader. The course was short at less than 21 miles. Bike was 46:10? I think. I was happy with my bike speed. It makes me feel like I will have a good Utah half bike split.
t2: With the orthotics that I am using I had to put on socks but despite that tremendous obstacle I had another surprisingly fast transition.
Run: right out of t2 as I went to put on my Garmin it exploded in my hands and fell to the ground, luckily Jameson was close by and I astutely spat out "JAMESON MY WATCH!". He understood and picked it up and had it for me at the finish. Thanks Jameson. Two guys passed me on the run so I ended up 4th. I did a 39:10? I think.
Overall was 1:48:something. I'm happy with the race. I look at it as a great high intensity workout while practicing my pre race routine and transitions.

Utah Half Course Ride

Big thanks to Coach Keena for setting up a Utah Half ride today. It went well. I was able to average 304 watts and 25 mph on the flat fast course, with a heart rate of 148. I hope that when I add the MAGICAL powers of race wheels, aero helmet, a bit of a taper and no slowing down for lights/stop signs that I can have a good Utah half bike split.

Feeling Good, Hoping for a Breakthrough

My Heart rate is completely back to normal, and I am not feeling tired at all. My thyroid problems are long gone. I am able to run fast now in training, and have no calf trouble at all. I am swimming much faster than ever. My power on the bike is on the rise; I did 12 minute intervals yesterday and ended it with 12 minutes at 370 watts. It was a hard effort but when the 12 minutes were up my heart rate wasn’t that high and I was able to continue the rest of my workout doing shorter intervals without trouble. I am feeling good about the direction my training is headed in and I am hoping for breakthroughs in all 3 disciplines in the coming months.

Back to running and Thyroid update.

I ran 3 really slow miles each of the last two days and will try to run another 3 today. This is the first running I have done since injuring my calf a little over two weeks ago. Hopefully I can keep doing 2 or 3 easy miles each day this week and then start some longer and faster runs next week. The doctor thinks my thyroid should sort itself out soon. He thinks that a virus zapped it but that I am on my way to recovery now. I'll have my blood retested at the end of the month to see if I am back to normal. I still feel really tired and my heart rate is about 20 beats higher than normal. It is a great excuse though. I just blame everything on my thyroid. If Megan asks me "why arent the dishes washed"? I just point to my thyroid, give a sad look and shake my head.