Rock n’Roll Arizona Marathon – 2016 Race Report

Gear all set for the RnR Arizona Marathon: (Compressport Visor - 2012 Kona Edition, Rudy Project Agon, CF Singlet, Brooks Shorts, Compressport ForQuad, Compressport R2 Sleeves - Cdn Army Run Edition, Compressport Racing Socks V2 Fluo, and Brooks Pure Connect 2s)

So in order to start getting myself back in race shape for 2016 I decide that I needed an early season race to get me motivated. I selected the RnR Arizona Marathon due to the typical ideal temperatures, the relatively flat course, and the fact that John and Sue Coffen lived in Phoenix. John and I had finished the 2012 IM Coeur d’Alene race together and have remained in touch ever since. 

I flew into Phoenix on Friday the 15^th to allow myself a couple days to acclimatize to the slightly warmer weather. Spending the weekend with John, Sue, and there kids was a blast. They made me feel like a member of the family and I even got to go and watch Jake (their oldest son) soccer tournament. 

Race member was a breeze. John dropped me off right near the start around 0700 hrs. There were no lines for gear check and the Brooks VIP porta potties meant no line-up for the rest room. The race start at 0750hrs and the weather was nearly perfect with the temperature hovering around 6 degrees C with a slight breeze out of the East. 

The race started right on schedule and I quickly settled into a good pace. There were a few other athletes looking to run a ~2:40 so I was thankful for some early company. The opening couple kilometers were run at a little slower than my goal race pace. At around 5km into the race I decided I would bridge the gap up to Brian Folts who I knew from last year’s results had run a sub 2:40. I ran the next ten or so kilometers with Brian. There were a couple more athletes a little ways up the road so for whatever reason I decided I would bridge the gap (in hind sight this was probably a bad move). 

Over the next several kilometers I successfully bridged the gap and proceed to run with Tom Clarke.

I wasn’t feeling great and shortly after seeing John and Chris (a friend of John’s) for the second time around the 30km mark Tom was slowly able to pull away. With about 9km remaining my legs were really starting to hurt and I knew I needed to dig deep. It was at this point that I was planning on taking my second Gu Gel, but it had unfortunately fallen out of my shorts earlier in the race. I opted for a Glukos Energy Gel at the next aid station. I knew if I could hold on and run 4:00/km I still had a sub 2:40. Everything was fine until I made the left turn onto East Van Buren street with 5km to go. It was a slight uphill and to make it worse we had a headwind.  My pace immediately dropped and despite my best efforts I could barely hold 4:16/km.

In the closing kilometer I watched as both Andrew (finished 7^th) and Brian Folts (finished 6^th) passed me.  Clearly they had both paced the race better than I had. I finished 8^th OA and  2^nd in M30-34 with a time of 2:41:09. I was a little disappointed to not go sub 2:40 but I guess I will have to save that for next time. My splits were 1:18:49 (first half) and 1:22:20 (second half).

Post Race Recovery Ride wih John.

The next morning John tool me for a little hike up Squaw Peak. My legs certainly didn't enjoy the hike, but the view was awesome.

Looking out towards Phoenix

John explaining the laydown.

Afterwards I looked up the trail....and this is what it said.

Trail #300 - Summit Trail
Length: 1.2 miles
Elevation: 2,608 ft. - 1,400 ft. (hikers gain more than 1,200 feet in elevation on this trail)
Hiking trail only
Difficulty: Extremely Strenuous and Difficult. Long rocky segments with possible drops and exposure.


And now I am in Tucson for the week (instead of recovering) riding all the awesome routes.

Looking forward to 2016!

Well 2015 was most certainly not what I had envisioned, but looking back it was a great learning experience.  Totals for the year were Swim 347km (110hrs), Bike 6851km (219hrs), and Run 2315km (166hrs). The numbers are a little lower compared to 2014 due to not racing Ironman and focusing more on short course in 2015. 

As I turn the page to 2016, I am excited to set out on another year of training and racing. Besides training and racing, I’ll be the race director for the St Albert Road Race in April, continue as the Long Course Triathlon Coordinator for the Canadian Armed Forces, and continue to coach a select few athletes towards their goals in 2016.

As for my goals:

#1 – Go sub 9hrs at Ironman Arizona (S 59:59, B 4:50, R 2:59)

#2 – Go sub 4:10 at Calgary 70.3 (S 28:30, B 2:15, R 1:20)

#3 – Upgrade to CAT 4 at the Tour of Bowness

My volume goals for 2016 will be Swim 780km, Bike 10,000km, Run 3000km. With the exception of the swim these are similar numbers to what I’ve done in past years racing Ironman. 

I think I’ve finally convinced myself that I need to spend more time in the pool. I just finished a solid month of swimming in December: 31 swims in 31 days for 84km swum during that period of time.

I've been mixing it up a little this winter with some Fat Biking. The kids love being pulled around in the pulk (I'll post a couple articles later this winter on my pulk/attachments and the kids Charge Cooker 20" and 24" Fat Bikes.)

 

Calling it quits for 2015!

Well it has been a bit of a roller coaster ride both mentally and physically the past few months and I have come to the realization that I just need a break. About a month and a half ago I was informed that I would be going to the field with my unit on exercise this fall. That sent me on a bit of a roller coaster ride mentally as I had my season geared to really peak at the end of September and into early October. I had planned to race the ITU Std Championships (Age Group) in Chicago, Superfrog 70.3 in Coronada, CA and finally the Draft Legal Triathlon at the CISM World Military Games in Korea. I had worked my butt off the past 12mths to prepare for the big challenge of making the CISM team and then getting the chance to represent Canada at those games. Additionally I had targetted Superfrog 70.3 as my A race of the year to obtain a Military Slot to Kona in 2016 (though I hadn't decided yet if I'd go back...but it's nice to have the option). So after that decision I simply just lost my mental edge. I resigned myself to racing until early Sep, enjoying the field exercise, and then regrouping and refocusing for 2016.

Well sometimes the body has other plans. About three weeks ago, the week prior to going to Kelowna I had some chest pain on my left side. I went to the Doctor and they couldn't figure out what was wrong. He prescribed some anti-inflamatories and recommended a little rest. The chest pain subsided and I thought I was all clear. While in Kelowna I felt the same chest pain but it felt distant so I wasn't overly concerned. Well this week it came back with a vengeance, but this time on the right side of the chest. I went back to the Doctor and the response was "well it's nothing that'll immediately kill you so let's wait it out a few days". The Doctor recommended not racing this weekend so I decided to wait it out. Well as of this morning its still very uncomfortable and becomes even more painful with exertion. So rather than risk it tomorrow at the Edm ITU Race (Std Distance) I figured it's best to heed the Doctor's advice and rest up.

So I guess that's it for this year. It's been a great year with lots of great results and a lot of firsts (Draft legal triathlon racing, CAT5 Racing, winning the M30-34 division at IM 70.3 Calgary, and of course being a Race Director). It's not how I would have scripted the year, but it's been a great learning exerperience all the same.

Thanks to my loving wife for putting up with my frustrations the last few months you are truly an amazing blessing.

Thanks to the great sponsors/supporters: Argon 18, Element Cycling & Multisport, Compressport Canada, and Z3ROD (Jonathan Kisiloski).

And of course thanks to my family, friends, and team mates for all the support!

Best of luck to the Cdn CISM Triathlon Team as they race in Korea! I'll be cheering you on from home.

Alberta Provincial ITT & TTT Championships

United Cycle Open Team in Action: Me, Kevin, Ben, and James

So this year I decided to do a little bike racing and I decided that the best way to cap it off would be to compete in the ITT and TTT Championships. To be honest I wasn't overly keen to race the TTT as part of the United Cycle Team as I felt going in that I would be the weak link. The other guys on the UC Elite Team are all CAT1/2 and then there is me...CAT 5. (Note: CAT1/2 = semi-pro and CAT 5 = beginner). James Dean convinced me that they needed one more guy to round out the team so I agreed to participate a few weeks back. The UC Open Team would then consist of James, Ben, Kevin, and myself. We had managed over the past couple weeks to organize a few rides but every time only three of the four could make it out. Finally last Thursday night we were all able to make it out together.

The ITT & TTT this year was organized by Juventus and the race director was Bruce Copeland. The race was hosted out of Miquelon Provincial Park with the actual route being an out and back course on Spilstead Rd (Township Road 494A) with a small out and back section on Range Road 205. The ITT course was 30km with the TTT course being twice the ITT course less the out and back section on RR205.

Saturday afternoon was the ITT with the first cyclist departing at 1600hrs. I was fortunate to be starting fairly early and at 1631hrs I was off. Going into the race I was hoping for calm conditions but it was most definately not the case with moderately hard winds out of the SE. This meant a head wind on the outbound section and a tailwind on the inbound. The course was mostly undulating terrain, but was relatively flat with about ~300 feet of elevation change over the 30.5km course. I was optimistically aiming for 280W average power but decided I would go out conservative and aim for splits by quarters of 270, 275, 280, and then give it all that I had left for the last quarter. When I realized I would have a slight tail-wind on the return leg I altered that plan slightly aiming for 280W outbound and then aiming to just hang on for the last section of the course.

CAT 5 Awards:  Me(2nd) and Jason Dyk(3rd) (Absent Andre(1st))

In reality I was closer to 290W for the first 10min and then settled into an almost constant 270-280W for the remainder of the course (with slight changes due to the undulating terrain). The resulting output was 275W Avg, 275W NP, a VI of 1.00, and a time of 41:52 for an average speed of 43.7km/hr. Pretty much spot on of where I expected I would be (best case I estimated 40:00 and worst case was 45:00). Even better, after the results were posted, I was 2nd in CAT 5 (20s slower than Andre Ratte) and had a faster time then everyone in CAT 3 and CAT 4.

Stew, Shauna, Rick, Travis, me, Kevin, Ben, and James

UC entered two teams (1 x Open Team and 1 x Mixed Team)

The TTT on Sunday was nothing short of fun, but at the same time it hurt like hell. Having never done one before I didn't really know what type of effort I should be putting in at the front but figured a good estimate was probably 10% greater than FTP so about 300W pulls. (FTP is currently ~270W). There was a slightl breeze on Sunday morning but this time it was more from the SW. We tried to echelon ride for the first loop and it took me a bit to realize that wasn't really working. Just prior to the second outbound turn-around (15km to go) Ben had a flat which left only three riders for the last portion of the race. I was seriously suffering during the last 10min, but we managed to hold it together for a time of 1:11:54 for the 54.6km course which worked out to an average of 45.6km/hr. We were fourth overall in the Open Team Time Trial which we were satisfied with. 256W Avg and 264W NP.

And we are off!

Heading out for the second loop!

Overall a great weekend of racing...if only there was more road racing this year! A bit bummed that I can't upgrade to CAT 4 this year, but I guess that'll have to wait for another year. (Five more points to go!!!)

Photo Credit: Anita 

Ironman 70.3 Calgary Race Report 2015 Edition

Swag from Ironman 70.3 Calgary - Finisher's Buckle + M30-34 1st Place Award

Weekend started out with some very sad news on Friday night. A seven year old, Caleb, drowned Friday night at Auburn Bay (swim site of Ironman 70.3 Calgary). This led into the big question on Saturday being would the race continue, which turned into yes, which turned into Ironman 70.3 Calgary honouring Caleb on Sunday morning prior to the race start. 

My heart goes out to the parents of Caleb. I cannot even fathom the grief they must be going through. It was a reminder to cherish the time I have with my children as I do not know the plans the Lord has in store for them.

Claudia and I headed down to Calgary on Friday afternoon with the kids and met up with my parents at the Best Western Downtown. My parents had flown into Calgary and were in town to see us prior to driving a car back to Ottawa for Juniper Farms (Jill Henselwoods Stable). It was great having them around for the weekend as it makes the logistics of the race easier for Claudia.

Sunday morning came quite quickly and I was awake prior to my alarm going off at 0415hrs. Despite tossing and turning for a small portion of the night (and another edition of James falling out of bed) I felt quite rested. I had a quick breakfast and then headed out the door at 0510hrs with my Dad. We arrived at Auburn Bay at ~0540hrs and easily found a parking spot a couple minute walk from the race venue.  I setup my transition area and started putting on my wetsuit when Mom, Claudia, and the kids showed up.

Swim

Swim Start (photo credit - Ironman 70.3 Calgary)

The pro-men started at 0645, the pro-women at 0646, the relay teams at 0647, and then my wave (M30-44) was off at 0650. The first section of the swim course was great and I quickly settled into a good solid effort. The swim course last year was off; well, this year was even worse. On the return section of the course they had you do another out and back section which no one was really expecting. Least to say it turned into a complete mess - swim times were 5+ minutes slower than last year. Last year I had the course measured at 1920m while this year I had the course measured at 2281m. Granted the Garmin 910xt isn’t the most accurate but it tends to be consistent. The 350m+ of additional swimming clearly explained my sub-par 35:51 swim – 6min slower than 2014.

The great Andy Potts was 5min slower than 2014 and had to repeat sections of the course twice! The swim course in 2014 was bad; the swim course in 2015 was just atrocious. If Pros can’t even figure out the course then the age groupers have little chance.

(L) Actual Course Setup (R) Course athletes told they would swim. Note: the actual course swam is not from my Garmin 910xt but my course looks very similar.

Bike

I set out with the mindset that I was going to try and push the bike this year with the goal of riding 2:15. I settled into a good rhythm early on the bike and by the half-way point found myself with virtually no company. At times I even wondered if I was riding the right course though the occasional pylon and volunteer assured me that I was indeed headed in the right direction. I struggled on the later section of the bike and battled through some cramping of the quads. Bike time 2:15:17 rocking my Argon 18 E-118. Power output was 237W Average, 240W NP, with a variability index of 1.01. There is still definitely room for improvement but I was very satisfied with the effort as it was a little over 3min faster than last year.

Alone on the bike! (photo credit Ironman 70.3 Calgary)

Run

Onto the run and well I knew it was going to hurt. My quads were very sore, more so than usual. I could feel the onset of cramping but I was prepared to battle. The opening kilometers were a tad fast and much like last year I reigned in my pace by about 4kms. 

High fiving my buddy James prior to heading down into Glenmore Reservoir.

As I headed past my cheering squad (Dad, Mom, Claudia, Ruth, James, Klara, and Abigail) and headed down into Glenmore Reservoir I heard my dad yell something like the top age grouper was 3min ahead (or did he mean top age grouper in my category) and I was in 7^th place (or did he say 17^th) and 1^st in my AG (or was I hearing things). As I wrestled through what he said over the next few kms it quickly became clear. As we approached the turnaround at ~10.5kms I saw the first age grouper (his lead was now down to 1:30) and the second age grouper was not far behind. Shortly after km eleven I reeled in the second age grouper. (I was really racing the age groupers in my wave M30-44 as M<30 and M>44 went off 5 min behind my wave). By the time we had climbed back out of Glenmore Reservoir the lead was down to ~50s with about 4kms to go (thanks to Dad calling the split). I tried my best but my legs were on the verge of cramping and despite being able to see the top age grouper in M35-39, Antonio Ferreira Da Silva Neto, I couldn’t close the last 37s. Run time 1:22:31 a few seconds slower than 2014. Top Amateur Run Split in my Brooks T7 Racers!

Final time 4:17:47. About two minutes slower than 2014 but that can be attributed to the chaos in the swim.  The kicker is I missed being the top amateur by 47s. That being said no complaints from me and my 1^st Division win (M30-34) at an Ironman 70.3 race.

1^st M30-34, 4^th Amateur, 18^th Overall. And a ticket to the 2016 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Australia (which I didn't take) - figured it was time to let someone else have a slot.

M30-34 Podium L to R: 1st Me, 2nd Les Friesen, 3rd Amr El-Azhary

We concluded the weekend with post race treats at DQ with the family, a dinner date with domestic niner, and a trip to the Calgary Zoo on Monday. All in all a great weekend racing and spending some quality family time together. 

Post Race Nutrition Stop at DQ!