US Military Tri Champs

1 June-

The one race that I have been looking forward to all the way since last year.  I had the privilege of being selected last year to the Air Force Triathlon Team and had a pretty solid "debut" at the race.  Once again this year I was selected to the team and was really looking forward to the event as a whole.  This race is an amazing experience as the Air Force, Navy, Army and Marines all bring teams, consisting of 10 men and 6 women.  Canada also makes the trip down as well.  The days leading up the race are great as we get a fair amount of time to train and hang out with our fellow servicemembers.  The whole experience is amazing and a great way to make new friends and spend time with old friends.  My least favorite part about the whole trip is actually the race ;)

Cam Loos did a great job on writing up a report about the race in general, so if you want to read that it can be found here: http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=4598188%3Bsb%3Dpost_latest_reply%3Bso%3DASC%3Bforum_view%3Dforum_view_collapsed%3B%3Bpage%3Dunread#unread

The days leading up to the race I did some easy training.  I can't resist the amazing climbs that are right off the PCH so on Thursday I put on my 11-28 and headed up Yarba Buena and back down Mulholland.  Yarba Buena is a little under and hour climb when taking it nice and easy and if I ride up it at tempo it takes about 45mins.  So Thursday it was easy and such an amazing view.  Then came back to get our team gear issued with a quick team meeting.  Thursday is by far the busiest day, after team gear I got a short swim in followed by bike check.  After bike check was lunch and then the race briefing.  After race brief we headed over for pictures and then came the social and dinner.  Next thing I know Thursday is over, it just seems to be go, go, go.  The good thing about that is that means Friday is a fairly easy day in terms of stuff going on.

Got up early Friday morning and got an easy ride and run in and then headed out to "enjoy" the cold pacific ocean water.  It was in the high 50's, so not quite the normal temps that I am use to.  The rest of the day was spent lounging around and getting the bike ready for race day.  I also managed to get in a nice nap and then it was time to head out for our team dinner and annual James Bales tradition of Dairy Queen Blizzards.

Race morning is always nice because it is a later race start than the usual tri.  This year they actually moved it up since they were not holding the Admirals Cup Sprint race due to sequestration, so we had to start at 0900, instead of the usual 1000.  Had the usual breakfast of oatmeal and a banana.  Got a nice little pre-race run in and then headed down to get a pre swim in with the water being so cold.

Swim-

The swim course was a 2 loop course and was supposed to be in our favor.  Well this year they got that part wrong and we had a current against us on part of the course.  If you look at the strava file below, the portion that paralleled the shore is where the current was against us.  I got a decent start and had some feet to stay on for a while but by the time I started to head back in from the first lap I was all on my own.  I think I did a bad job of sighting and may have cost myself some time.  The second lap the same thing, bad sighting on my part.  I did come out of the water about 5 positions higher up this year than last year, so maybe my swim is improving ;)

Bike-

I had a bad T1 in my opinion and lost contact with a Marine who ended up in a small group just up the road.  I did come out of the water with my Army buddy Eric and we started working together once I got my feet into my shoes.  I really like my S-Works Road shoes, and they have worked great in the past couple of races.  But for the draft legal fast paced stuff I didn't really care for them.  Once I was in though it was just myself and Eric and I started taking some hard pulls and he came around a few times and helped out.  I think just after a lap he wasn't able to help anymore and dropped back to the group behind us.  I was in the middle of two groups but knew I could bridge if I continued to ride hard.  There were 2 groups up the road that became one and that is when I was hoping things would become dis organized and I would make up the most ground.  They started just floating out there and I was a little worried I wasn't going to make it.  Finally I started making up some ground and I finally just put my head down for 2 minutes and made a hard effort to get there.  When I got to the group we had 4 other AF guys, 3 Navy, an Army Guy, Marine, and a Canadian.

I made the bridge just at the start of the 3rd lap and sat in for a few rotations as I was pretty deep in the pain cave after making that bridge.  Looking back on the race here is where I made a tactical error.  I should have sat in a bit longer and recovered for 1/2 a lap or a full lap.  Then I should have made an effort to get away.  The reason I say this is because the Navy had 4 guys up the road to only our 2 guys up the road.  I think tactically I should have kept attacking till I got away and tried to bridge the gap.  This is the only place I am disappointed in my race.  Instead I sat in just made my pulls with the group and tried twice to get away but was pulled back in once by my own team and once by the Navy guys.  Half way through the third lap there was a nasty crash right in front of me involving one of my teammates, Brian, and a Canadian.  Brian touched wheels with Scott and next thing I know bikes and people are flying around in front of me.  I got really lucky and just missed Brians bike.  Going into T2 we just caught the tail end of the group of 4 in front of us. and we were one big group coming into T2 of 13 guys from 8th to 20th.

Run-

Coming off the bike I was 2'40" off the two leaders and 1'10" off of the first chase pack which had 5 guys in it.  When I got off the bike I ran a 5:50 first mile and most of the group I got off the bike with was running away from me like I was standing still.  I couldn't figure out what was going on other than everyone else was just killing it on the run.  It is a two lap bow tie run course.  So you run out away from the transition area / finish line, through that area, then do another out and back section.  It literally took me till the second lap to get the legs feeling good.  I ran a pretty steady pace the whole time and came on strong during the last 2 miles.  That is where I passed 5 guys and moved my way into 10th.  Three of those guys were Navy guys so it felt good knowing that I made a contribution to the team.

Swim (1.5K) - 24:50 / 25th Male /  (http://app.strava.com/activities/57698674)

T1-0:45

Bike (22.3mi) - 52:02 / 1st Male /  (http://app.strava.com/activities/57595852)

T2-0:24

Run (6.06mi) - 35:54 / 10th Male / (http://app.strava.com/activities/57698676)

Total- 1:53:52 / 10th out of 47 Men

Results: http://raceresults.eternaltiming.com/index.cfm/20130601_Armed_Forces_Triathlon.htm?Fuseaction=Results&Class=Armed+Forces+Triathlon+Individual%7EAll

Overall I am really happy with how my race went, although I finished 10th compared to 8th last year.  I was the 5th AF Male this year, which means our team is just getting stronger and stronger.  We had James Bales back this year, which I knew would bump me at least one spot, but then Jon and Scott both had great races.  Jon had an amazing race and really impressed me.  Great job on executing an amazing race tactically and running for dough, when I was biking for show ;)

On the team side of things we lost to Navy by 1 point, that is really hard to take.  We lost to them last year and we came back and fought this year to take the title back and we failed.  This race is unique with the team scoring and it makes it something special.  So for the next year I am sure we will all remember that one point and hopefully it can get us out of bed and out the door on those tough morning so that next year we can come back and take the title back.

A huge congrats though to Nicholas Sterghos on his first Armed Forces Win.  I have had the pleasure of racing at a few of the same races as him this year (he races pro), and hanging out with him and his girlfriend Heather.  Look forward to seeing him a future races and can see that all the hard work he is putting in is really paying off.  James Bales came back this year after a year off from Armed Forces and took 2nd, our top AF male finisher and Sam Morrison our top female finisher fresh out of the AF Academy took the win on the female side of the house.

Thanks again to everyone for all of the support.  Something big is happening in a few weeks, stay tuned.  Excited, Nervous, Anxious, Blessed, Thankful, yeah I think that all sums up what is about to happen!

Here are a few pictures from the race and the trip.

 Out of T1 with Eric and the chase pack behind.

 Suffering on the run

 Heading down to swim start with Kidd

 All of the competitors including our friendly neighbors up North, the Canadians!

 Our team with our silver medals

Thursday morning ride heading down the PCH, then up Yarba Buena and down Mulholland.  We also did this ride post race on Saturday.

US Military Triathlon Championships

23 June-

I finally did it, I had finally made the Air Force Triathlon Team.  It took me just a little over 4 years from my first triathlon to make it to the starting line, but wow what a journey it has been.  It almost didn't happen due to the fact that I had crashed on some railroad tracks about 10 days prior, but luckily just some minor road rash and stitches.  I couldn't of made it onto this team without some amazing mentors along the way, but there is one person who really looked after me.  So first off I just wanted to say thanks to Kathy Rakel, the now 3x US Military Triathlon Champ, as she helped mentor me over the past 2 years.  I would go to her with questions in regards to the application process and what exactly the team was looking for.  So I owe a special thanks to her for all the help, and wish her the best as she transitions from a full time military member and pro triathlete to just focusing on being a full time athlete.

Last time I traveled over from Korea I struggled with jet leg for the first time.  I normally adapt really quick and typically do not have problems with jet lag.  So with that in the back of my mind I came out 2 days prior to the rest of the team and arrived to Pt Mugu on Monday.  Pt Mugu is located next to Oxnard which is about 30 minutes north of Malibu.  It is an amazing area and I was really happy to show up early so I could enjoy the local roads for some good training.  I woke up on Tuesday and got an early swim in and then headed out on the bike finding some amazing climbs right off of the Pacific Coast Highway.  I came back after training and had to send my coach a message asking him if I was allowed to ride longer the next 2 days as long as I kept it easy and didn't completely smash myself.  He was all for it, so Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I put in some amazing rides.  It was awesome to wake up to overcast weather and then just go out ride up the mountain a bit and then boom the weather was amazing.  It was nice to arrive early and just get settled in and be able to just focus on getting solid recovery and rest after each workout.

The rest of the team trickled in on Wednesday and I played the role of bike mechanic throughout the evening.  The team had a few issues, a few minor ones and then one major one.  One guy showed up with a 10spd cassette while the rest of his bike was 9spd, so off we went to Performance Bikes to get a 9spd cassette.  The major issue was one of our girls somehow went out for a ride and snapped her derailleur hangar and set screw on her derailleur.  She had a Look bike, so it was quite rare but luckily there was a shop in town about 30 minutes away that helped her out.  Other than that everything mechanically was fine.  I had switched my cassette out from the 11-23 to 11-28 to go climb the mountains so other than that my bike was all setup for race day.

The "busy" day of the week was Thursday.  It started out with a 10am team meeting and gear issue, followed by bike check at 1230.  They were pretty particular on bike check since it was ITU Style racing (Draft Legal).  After that we had the race briefing which took place at 1400.  Then 1600 was team pictures followed by opening ceremonies at 1800.  So to say the least Thursday was the busy day.  Friday was a really relaxing day, got my workouts done early then just relaxed.  We went to Olive Garden for dinner as a team and then followed it up with a past tradition from James Bales (who was not able to attend this year due to injury) with Dairy Queen Blizzards.

Race morning was not the typical race morning since our race didn't start till 1030.  Luckily our hotel was within a 3 minute walk of the transition area.  They were actually doing chip pickup and body marking right outside the hotel.  They had a sprint distance race that started at 0800, which my step dad took place in.  He had a good race, minus his swim as he was a little paranoid of the ocean swim, and ended up 3rd in his Age Group.  I just hung out and watched the start of the race and then went about my normal routine.  I got in a short 15 minute run to loosen up the legs and then took a 10 min shower that was nice and hot which really got the body loosened up.

Prior to race start they played the national anthem with all of us on the starting line.  Immediately after that the horn went off and the race started.

Swim- 21:32
The biggest horror stories you hear of this race is that the swim is brutal.  It is brutal in the sense that their are a lot of strong swimmers and then the water is COLD!  Not to mention there can be some surf, although it wasn't that bad.  It was a 2 lap swim and I just swam as hard as I could and tried to remain around someone the whole time.  As I was coming out of the water on the 2nd lap our coach was there telling me I was 30th out of the water (actual results have me at 28th), so right where I expected to be.

T1- 0:57
Nice and fast, but not quite as fast as the others comparing times across the board.  Off onto the bike I went and had my work cut out for me.

Bike- 52:27
With the bike being draft legal it does not play into my favor at all.  I knew I would have my work cut out with my swim time, but was hoping to have some people to work with.  Out of transition I had one guy with me but he didn't want to come along so I just settled in and started to bridge to the first group ahead that I saw.  My tactic was once I caught a group I would sit in for about 15 seconds and then move the front and get the pace going.  Well I would move to the front and pick up the pace and then look back and I would open up a gap.  The first 2 times it happened I slowed up for the group thinking maybe I just accelerated too fast.  Well after those first 2 times I decided that I just needed to ride my own race and moved on.  This happened as I came to 3 different groups.  No one wanted to come with me, except one guy, Brad Pigage, who is on the Navy Team (he is actually in the Coast Guard though), and is also a member of Team RWB.  He came with me right before the start of the 3rd lap, he took a pull or 2 and then I went to the front and looked back and he was off the back.  I was actually kind of happy that I dropped him because he is a stellar runner and I didn't want to take him into T2 with me.  At the start of the last lap I saw a group ahead which had 5 people in it, they had about 30 seconds on me.  I worked hard to catch this group but it took a lot of effort and I didn't catch them till about 1.5 miles to the finish.  When I caught the group it had my teammate Ken in it.  I knew I had already worked really hard on the bike, and figured I would lay it all out there since my legs were pretty shot.  I looked over at him and said "You just tell me when and I will pull you all the way to T2".  He was kind of in shock that I had made it to the group and after about 10secs he looked back over and said "Lets GO".  I dropped the hammer and off we went.  4 of the 5 guys in the group came with, so one less person to worry about.  I liked the tactics there as I felt if I could put some guys into the red right before T2 it might play into my favor.  I think it was a little to late to put them too far into the red, but it was the "lead" group, with 3 other guys solo off the front.

T2- 0:23
I had the fastest T2 time along with one other guy.  I was really happy with that as my T1 time wasn't all that great compared to others.  I got in and out of there and was out on the run with the guys I came off the bike with.

Run- 35:58
I knew I worked hard on the bike and it was just going to be a matter of how hard I worked to how bad my run would be.  I was confident going into the race that I would be able to hold low 6min pace if not sub 6min pace.  I came out of T2 and just tried to stay with Ken, but he set a blazing pace out of T2 and I just couldn't hang.  I settled in and just ran my race.  The interesting thing about this race is they take the top 6 to Military Worlds, and then for the team competition it is Cross Country Scoring (meaning you just add up a said amount of finishers placings and that is your team score, it was 7 men and 4 women, scored separately as a male and female competition, no joint overall winner).  I was running to protect my position as well as trying to move up to the top 6.  Once I realized the 2 guys in front of me were running quite well I just settled in and wanted to make sure I had some energy if I had to protect my position.  About half way through the 2nd of 2 laps, Brad Pigage had caught me.  I knew he had to put in a solid effort to catch me but I still had roughly 1.5 miles to run with him till the finish.  When he caught me I just stayed with him and realized he was breathing pretty hard.  I felt under control and was able to briefly talk here and there.  We ran stride for stride for about half a mile, then I started playing games.  I wanted to see what he had left so I would put in a surge then just float out there.  He would come back up to me and then about 30-45 seconds later I would do the same thing.  I did this about 3 times and then with about 400m to go I put in one final big surge and held him off to finish the race 8th Overall.

**A couple key points about this race that I want to address be for going further.  The course is SHORT, everyone has to race the same course so it DOES NOT matter that it is short.  So when looking at the above times realize that the bike is 22.8 miles and the run is 5.9 miles.  Also, the Canadian Armed Forces Team races in the race as well although they are not counted in the scoring, 1 Canadian was ahead of me, so technically I was 9th Overall, but among US Athletes I was 8th.***

Swim- 21:32 / 28th
T1- 0:57 / 17th
Bike- 52:27 / 1st    Strava File:http://app.strava.com/rides/11659563
T2- 0:23 / 1st
Run- 35:58 / 16th   Strava File: http://app.strava.com/runs/11658991
Total: 1:51:17 / 8th Overall US Finisher (9th w/ Canadians)
Link to Results: http://raceresults.eternaltiming.com/index.cfm/20120623_Armed_Forces_and_Admirals_Cup_Triathlons.htm?Fuseaction=Results&Class=Armed+Forces+Triathlon+Individual~All

Male Team Finish:
1st Navy
2nd Air Force
3rd Army
4th Marines

Female Team Finish:
1st Air Force (Also swept individual podium)
2nd Marines
3rd Navy
4th Army

Overall I was extremely happy with my performance as well as our teams performance.  Although we did not defend the championship, we had a great time and have an amazing group of athletes.  I was honored to be part of such a great team.  I came into the race with low expectations and ended up shocking myself.  I had no thoughts of going to Military Worlds, but missing that opportunity by 55 seconds is what will fuel my training over the next year.

I can't thank everyone enough for all of the support.  The race atmosphere was awesome down there with some great fans and all of the teammates on the course cheering each other on.  A special thanks to my Mom, Step Dad, and sister Madyson for coming down for the race and cheering me on.  Also, a huge thanks to HED Cycling for the great wheels that helped me achieve the fastest bike split.  HoneyStinger for the great support of the military and great products, and FRS for the awesome products.

Here are some pictures from the race and time down there  

Out on an easy spin day prior to the race.

Prior to Steve's swim start

 

The team, minus Stephanie, Erin and Scott

 Last minute pep talk from Mace and then a short prayer

 

 Hammering the bike Solo.

Out on the run course

 Finishing up the first loop

 The post race ride which happens every year up some random road that climbs up the mountains, great time with great guys.  Check out the strava file! http://app.strava.com/rides/11659574