"Columbus Race Report"

Last weekend I participated in the Giant Eagle Multisport Festival in Columbus, OH for the first time.  The event was well run.  The course was fast.  The competition was fierce.  However, the best part of the entire weekend was my fan club.  My sister and her family live in Columbus and were gracious enough to host the entire family for the weekend.  We had a lot of fun.  Anytime the family can come to a race and cheer me on, it makes the entire event more special.


Triathlon's greatest fan club!

The Swim
The race started in Alum Creek Lake, north of downtown Columbus.  I chose to race in the elite amateur division, as I continue to challenge myself against the best competition I can.  I knew my swim wouldn't compare to many of the other elites, but what I lack in the swim I always hope to make up for on the bike.

Ready...Set...

GO!!!

The swim was two laps and was close to the shore so spectators got a great look at the entire swim.  As the swim progressed, I saw the elite field swim away from me, but I kept my composure and exited the water with a swim time of 24:49.  Although it was one of the slower times in the elite division, it was a PR so I can't complain. :)

Sunrise on a beautiful Columbus morning

To the bikes!

The Bike
The bike course was a point-to-point course starting at Alum Creek State Park and finishing in downtown Columbus.  The first half of the course consisted of rolling hills.  It was fast, but definitely got the heart rate up.  My goal was to hammer the bike the hole way so I did my best Bradley Wiggins impression (Tour de France and Olympic Time Trial Champion).  I finished with the second fastest bike split in the elite division at 56:48 (this time included my transition time in T1).

The Run
As I started the run, I knew I was in the thick of things.  I had a good transition and left T2 with the same guys I was tracking on the bike.  I quickly settled in to a steady pace that would eventually jockey be back and forth between two of my competitors.  The run course was a scenic route on the paved river trail along the Olentangy River in downtown Columbus.  With a couple of very scenic views of Columbus from river level, it was a bit easier to loose yourself in the run instead of getting bogged down in the high tempo of the run.  As I came down Neil road and heard my dad cheering me on in the distance, I knew I was close.  I lengthened and strengthened my stride to cross the finish line with a run time of 38:44 and an overall time of 2:01:32.

Overall, the entire weekend couldn't haven't been any better.  Congratulations to fellow Pittsburgher Chris Nocera for his 1st place finish and to fellow Ballou Skies teammates Beth Shutt and Jason Jacobs on solid performances.

Beth and Me

Jason and Me

"Eagleman 2012 Race Report"

As I mentioned previously, there was some unfinished business with the Eagleman race course this year as I returned to Cambridge, MD for the third time to Eagleman 70.3.  In 2010, Eagleman was my first half-ironman distance triathlon.  Consequently, it presented many first time physical challenges.  I finished, "the most difficult physical challenge I've ever had," with a time of 5:26 on a blistering hot day.  As Eagleman 2011 approached, armed with the experience of another year of training and racing, I had some very bold goals, but settled for a disappointing finishing time of 5:02 exclamated by a humbling 42 minute swim. 

This year I entered Eagleman with a lot of quiet confidence.  I have worked very hard on my swimming throughout the winter and was hopeful to start Eagleman 2012 off with a number that started with a 3 (meaning a swim time in the 30's).  After that the plan would be to ride strong but conservatively and then finish with a strong run.


Mom, Dad, and Me on Saturday preping for Sunday's race

"The Swim"
Race morning was upon us and I was poised to have a good swim.  It didn't hurt that the swim was wetsuit legal with a water temp of 75 degrees. :)  My swim wave was quite crowded including everyone in my age group as well as the clydesdales (anyone over 200 lbs).  The starting horn sounded and we were off!!!  I quickly found a comfortable pace that was right in the mix.  In fact, there were a couple times, I picked up my head to find a sliver of open water to sneak through the crowd, but found there was no where to go.  So I cashed in on the rare opportunity to save some energy and draft off the crowd in front of me.  As we made the first turn in the Choptank River, the crowd had dispersed and I focused on staying smooth and strong on each stroke.  I knew I was swimming well, but how well?  I told myself that no matter what time was on my watch when I exited the water, I would stick to my race plan.  As we made the second turn, I caught a glimpse of the blow-up arches that are the swim finish off in the distance.  While continuing to swim within myself, I pushed a little harder and quickly found myself standing at the shore line.  As I ran through the arches, I looked at my watch...what?  32?  Let me take my goggles off.  Wait, they're already off.  Let me blink a couple times.  Ok, I'm not blind.  YES!!!!!!!!!  It was a swim split of 32:40 to be exact.  Finally, I was able to produce a good swim time!



Me & Mom



Me & Dad



Talking with Matt Crummy as we prepare to enter the water


"The Bike"
I was so excited about my swim, it almost didn't matter what happened on the bike and run.  I knew I would finish with decent splits in both of those.  I was playing with house money!  But hey, let's make those winnings a little bigger.  Just as I settled into the 56 mile ride, I saw my life flash before my eyes.  Or atleast a Chevy pick-up.  As I approached an intersection where the course made a blind right-hand turn, the posted police officer waved a stopped vehicle on, as if to say the path was clear of bikers, and he could proceed through the intersection.  Of course, the officer was mistaken and I came face to face with the Chevy pick-up.  I squeezed my brakes to avoid rounding the turn too wide and was able to keep my balance as my back wheel skidded across the road.  "Whew, that could have been bad," I thought to myself.  "Don't wanna' waste that good swim."  I glance over my bike, while still riding, and found that I had lost a water bottle and my seat readjusted to a slightly lower position.  "Oh well," I thought.  "I can deal with this."

The rest of the ride was quite uneventful.  I was passed by 3 or 4 riders in the first half of the course.  This usually motivates me to hammer the bike even harder, but I stayed focused on my race plan and ended up passing a couple of these riders in the second half of the course as they became fatigued.  I pulled into T2 with a bike split of 2:23, about a 3 minute improvement from last year.

"The Run"
I entered the run feeling good about the position my swim and bike splits had put me in.  I wanted to have a strong run so I focused on staying hydrated and cool at each fueling station.  I was keeping about a 7:15 pace through the first few miles, but could feel the pace slowing as the miles went by.  As usual, there was little refuge from the sun.  Once you leave the partially shaded residential area around the park, you are left to bake in the sun for the next 10 miles.  I tried to embrace this by thinking of Superman.  Yes, Superman.  Any superhero fan knows that Superman gets his powers from the sun. :)  Well, there was plenty of it on the run course.  When I hit the turnaround at the halfway point, I knew I wanted to pick-up the pace.  I continued to focus on getting good hydration at each station, but also tried to quicken my pace.  As I neared the 11 mile mark, I realized there was an outside chance of breaking 4:40.  I had to go for it.  I red-lined it for the final 2.1 miles blowing right through the final fueling station.  I'm sure my rhythmic grunting was pretty embarrassing, but I didn't care.  My legs were tired of the pounding they had taken, but there was no feeling of cramping or dehydration.  Under the circumstances, I felt really good.  I passed a few familiar uniforms of competitors that had gotten the best of me during the bike and/or the first half of the run and ended up crossing the finish line in 4:41:09, 21st place in my age group.

Starting the 13.1 mile run

Finishing!

Eagleman 2012 was a 21 minute improvement from last year.  It matched my personal best half-ironman time from last year's Amica 70.3 Rhode Island, and I finally posted a good swim time.  Of course there is room for improvement.  After looking at the race results, there were many athletes that swam and rode like I did, but were still able to run much faster.  That's all the motivation I need.  I'll build upon a great race to get better. 

Congratulations to all my Ballou Skies teammates and other Pittsburghers that conquered Eagleman!  A special congratulations to Joe Vallese who had the fastest bike split (2:07) and finished 15th overall with a time of 4:11.  It must have been that good night's sleep. :)

"Columbia Race Report"

The 2012 Columbia Triathlon was a great kick-off to my season.  Hats-off once again to the people at Tricolumbia who put on a wonderful weekend of triathlon.  For me, this weekend was a chance to put all the winter training to the test on one of the most challenging Olympic courses in the country.  Furthermore, it was my official race debut as a member of the Ballou Skies Triathlon Team.

Saturday morning started early as I left my house at 4:26 to start the drive down to Columbia.  I was looking forward to meeting up with Chad and a few others to ride the bike course.  Driving before sunrise is the best!  First, NO TRAFFIC.  Second, it's cool.  Not hip or popular, but temperature cool.  Third, by the time the sun rises, it's like your trip has just started and its that much shorter.  I'm sure some people would disagree with me on this, but that's how I see it. :)  I arrived at Centennial Park about 8:30 and met up with Chad, Brandon, Eric, and Darren (who was doing his very first triathlon).  Chad and I ended up riding for a little over 2 hrs.  I was happy to get a longer pre-race ride because most of my rides this spring have been on the trainer due to a busy track coaching schedule (riding on the trainer is efficient and can be done in the dark at 4 am).  We followed the ride up with lunch at Noodles & Co.  I got the chance to formally congratulate Chad and Jen on their first pregnancy.  I felt very useful as I answered their questions with my abundance of parenting experience (almost 13 months and counting).  I know the challenges of finding the time and energy to fulfill work, family, and triathlon responsibilities.  I know Chad and Jen will be great parents.  My best advice to them was, "change them, feed them, and love them and you're doing a good job."  After lunch it was race registration, drop the bike off at transition and check-in to the hotel for an afternoon nap. zzzzzzzzzzzz... :)

Race Morning:
Of course I awoke 10 minutes before my alarm went off.  I swear alarm clocks (or alarms on your phone if you're like me) are overrated.  All you really need is a young child (Luke) or a dog (Porter) and you're body will know exactly when to wake up each morning.  The morning race preparations went according to plan and it's always nice to walk to transition with Beth and Oscar.  Since I was racing in the elite amateur division, I didn't have to wait long start racing.



Eric, pull up your wetsuit for goodness sake!

 Swim:
As many of you know, the swim is usually my weakest of the three disciplines.  It was no different on this day.  However, I'm going to blame it more on a tactical error than a poor performance.  I have worked hard over the winter to improve my swimming, but I know I cannot keep up with the better swimmers, especially in the elite division.  Well, I tried to...  After just a couple minutes, I found my self on the verge of hyper-ventilating and had to revert to the breast stroke for several minutes until I could catch my breath and find a rythm I was more accostumed to swimming.  I'm sure I cost myself several minutes, but did feel good once I found my rythm.  Believe it or not, I swam slightly faster than last year.  Perhaps the winter swim workouts have paid off!


Elite Division entering the water for the swim start.

 Bike:
I love the bike leg of a triathlon!  Especially at Columbia, with all the hills.  It plays to my strength and power on the bike.  I rode most the way by myself this year since the elite division starts earlier, you don't have to contend with all the other age groups before you.  It's the other elite athletes and the pros.  So if you're catching someone on the bike, you are moving.  I passed several of the female elites, but didn't manage to pass any males.  This didn't bother me.  It was my own little time-trial.  I finished the bike with a split of 1:05:38.  A rate of 23.3 mph.  I'll take it!

Run:
The Columbia run course is tough!  Lots of hills.  It is a nice course through Centennial Park and the nearby residential area, but there really is no flats for any relief.  Again, I ran the course alone.  No one up ahead and no one behind.  I tried to stay as comfortable as possible on the uphills and as relaxed and smooth as possible on the downhills.  When it was all said and done, I finished about two minutes faster than last year with a split of 40:54 (6:36 pace).  I am very pleased with this considering the challenging course.

The Columbia Triathlon has once again kicked off the triathlon season.  Overall, it was an enjoyable race that provided a lot of feedback for what's next.  It is an Olympic distance that served as a good reminder of how physically hard it is to go fast and the training that is necessary to keep up with the elite amateurs in the field.  Next up is Eagleman and some unfinished business with that course.  More about that later...

"It's Actually Hot."

Is it official?  If it's not, let me be the first to jinx it.  WINTER IS OVER!  The high temperature predicted for today, March 19th, is 76 degrees.  Students are wearing shorts, tank tops, and sandals, and we're all fighting the anticipation of summer that usually comes in May, not March.  Track season has started and I'm coaching the sprinters and hurdlers once again.  We have our second scrimmage today and are continuing to take advantage of the warm weather.  It sure beats doing stair workouts in the stairwells of the high school because of 30 degree temperatures and snow on the ground.  I mowed the lawn for the first time this weekend and Laura went to the mall to get Luke some shorts and short-sleeved shirts.  As my dad would say, "This is Hilton Head weather."  In case you're not familiar with the Erdeljacs, Hilton Head is the destination of our annual summer family vacation.  Yes, we're kind of like the Griswald's.  Every year we pack-up our cars and caravan to H.H.I. for a week.

Like all Pittsburgh Triathletes, I abondoned my bike trainer this weekend and took to the roads on Sunday.  More about that in a minute.  After a Saturday morning track practice and lunch with Luke, I got outside for an afternoon run of just over an hour and a half.  No hat or gloves needed.  It was actually hot!  Porter accompanied me for the first 30 minutes, but was happy to take a spot on the kitchen floor, while I finished.  It was good to train in some heat, but there's no doubt things felt a little more sore than usual.  My body definitely needs to get used to the higher temperatures. 

Despite sore legs, I took to the roads Sunday morning.  After putting new tires on my Cervelo P3 and running through the checklist of essentials in my head, I was ready for my first ride outside since last fall.  Traffic was light, and it felt good to use all my gears as I tackled the Pittsburgh terrain of hills and flats.  I went on my normal 3 hour venture down to Oakmont and back via North Park.  By the time I returned to North Park I had time for one lap around the lake (5 miles) before the 15 minute ride home.  North Park was hoppin' with cyclists, joggers, and walkers.  Everybody shaking off the cabin fever.  I exchanged shout outs with Matt Crummy as I passed him.  He was in the middle of a training run, and it reminded me of the triathlete community that is looking forward to the challenges and successes the upcoming season will bring.

Let the Racing Begin

The racing season has begun!  Well, not triathlon yet.  The 37th Annual Spring Thaw run at North Park was this past Saturday.  There was a record turnout, and despite the mild winter we've been having, it snowed!!!  Several Lebo teachers laced up their running shoes.  Heather, Oscar, Veronica and I weathered the snow and wind and each turned in fantastic performances.  Heather did an easy 10 miles mentoring a few runners from her running group, while Oscar, Veronica, and I each managed 20 miles.  I was very happy with a finishing time of 2:32.  More importantly, this was a significant step in my preparation for September's FullREV ironman.  Prior to Saturday's run, I had never gone over 15 miles in one clip.  This 20 miler posed a physical and mental milestone.  I told Oscar afterward, "I could have gone another six if I had too, but I'm glad I'm not."  The other six being the six more miles to complete the marathon that concludes an ironman triathlon.  Of course, I'm disregarding the 112 mile bike ride that precedes the run.  Oh, and the 2.4 mile swim that precedes the bike.  Oh well, we'll save those struggles for another day.

Oscar and I in the cabin after our 20 mile run.

Saturday night had more triathlon in store as I participated in my first BallouSkies photo shoot.  It was a lot of fun to be together as a team for the first time in 2012.  I must thank Ryan Ballou and his father, Ty, once again for inviting me to be a part of the team.  It is a pleasure and an honor to be part of such an important cause as raising awareness and money for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) research.  Ty's enthusiasm is contagious, and I will wear the BallouSkies uniform with a lot of pride this season.  As for my teammates, they provide plenty of motivation to live up to their tremendous accomplishments.  What a great group.

The 2012 Ballou Skies Tri Team (minus Kim) 

Ballou Skies HOPE.  I'm the post in the "P."