Whaling City Sprint: July 3, 2016

Two weeks after racing The Patriot Half, I had the second leg of the Sun Multisports Triple Dog Dare, The Whaling City Sprint in New Bedford, Ma. The race took place at Fort Tabor park, with the swim in Buzzard's Bay. I wasn't sure what my short course speed would be like after a long winter and spring of training for long course, but was really looking forward to a fun race.

Swim: 7:50 (1:47/100 yds) 8/9 AG, 100/310 OA

Even though the swim was very short at 1/4 mile I decided to wear my wetsuit along with nearly everyone else. I felt I swam ok, but made a dumb mistake at the end of the swim when I tried to stand up too soon (twice) and lost time struggling in deep water. This was a very silly mistake, and certainly cost me some time on the pack.

Bike: 32:23 (22.2 MPH) 2/9 AG, 17/310 OA

The Bike was all on closed roads which was fun, but was two loops with lots of 90 degree turns and a 180 degree turn that slowed things down a bit. Having started in the first swim wave after the elites, the first lap of the bike was relatively clear, but the second loop was very congested. I spent most of the ride yelling to folks that I was on their left, and trying to avoid getting blocked. Overall a fun ride, but I felt the course somewhat limited my ability to push harder.

Run: 21:02 (6:35/mile) 4/9 AG, 20/310 OA

Decided to run sockless in order to save a bit of time in T2. Unfortunately this plan backfired slightly as my toe get caught in a piece of elastic that holds the tongue of my Newton Gravitys and forced my to have an annoyingly slow transition. The run itself was relatively flat, but pretty warm. I ran most of the run by myself, which I think led to a slightly slow time. 

Whaling City Finish: 1:03:56, 3/9 AG, 18/310 OA

Cranberry Trifest Olympic: August 21, 2016

The Cranberry Trifest Olympic was the third race of the Triple Dog Dare and a great opportunity to asses my training by comparing with last year's splits on the same course. Following Patriot and Whaling City I made a big upgrade to my bike with the purchase of a Power2Max Type S powermeter. With this purchase I also moved to 165mm cranks (from 172.5mm) and lengthened my stem to accomodate the higher saddle height and "lower" front end. I also started training using TrainerRoad to make sure I was getting the most out of my power data and optimize the time spent on the bike. Cranberry represented my first race pacing with power, and my goals for the race were to have an improved swim over last year, and ride harder using power as my guide. I was hoping to have a similar run to last year, where a big goal of my race was to run sub-7 pace, but was more concerned with a better overall result. 

Adding additional awesomess to the race weekend was the fact that some good MIT friends Leah Mendelson, Tom O'Grady, and Jacob Izraelevitz agreed to do the mixed team relay, with the winner buying BBQ. They raised the bar a bit higher by setting a goal to beat me in each individual leg, which provided some great motivation!

Swim: 28:09 (1:47/100yd) 3/10 AG, 73/395 OA, (0:55 faster than '15)

The swim was non-wetsuit again this year, and was changed to a two-loop course to accomodate low water levels in Loon Pond. Overall I was pretty happy with my swim execution, feeling comfortable throughout, and sighting pretty well. According to my garmin I swam a bit faster than the official split, likely due to the location of the timing mat and the sketchy rocky stairs at the swim exit. Huge thanks go out to Mike Espejo who lent me his HUUB swimskin which was awesome to race in!

Bike: 1:10:54 (22.2 MPH) 2/10 AG, 26/395 OA, (4:58 faster than '15), NP=201W, AP= 192W, VI=1.05

My goal for the bike was to ride between 200 and 205 Watts, or an intensity factor of ~0.9. According to Best Bike Split this would give me a speed of ~21.8 MPH and a time of ~1:11. I ended up exceeding that speed at the low end of my power range, giving me hope that my new position is relatively slippery. The bike at Cranberry is mostly flat with a few rolling hills, allowing for good practice trying to keep variability low. I really focused on controlling my power on the climbs, and pushing the downhills and flats. I frequently refer to my powermeter as a truth-o-meter, and this is very true while racing. Starting in one of the last waves I passed a lot of people during the block leg and had to sit up a few times to stay legal. Overall the bike course at Cranberry is a lot of fun, and I had a really great time pushing the pace and sending it hard through corners! I may have slightly overbiked as my run suffered slightly compared to last year, but I think a 5 minute gain on the bike leg really demonstrates the amount of work I have put into my riding this season.

Run: 44:13 (7:08/mile) 4/10 AG, 26/395 OA, (1:08 slower than '15)

As expected my run suffered a bit from pushing the swim and bike. I also think the 14.5 and 15 hour training weeks I had in the two weeks prior to Cranberry started to catch up with me. My run training has been focused on building strength for the final 5k of a half, and I haven't been doing much speed work this summer. At about mile 5 a runner passed me at a much faster pace, and I noticed he had a 25 on his calf. There was no way I was going to stay with him, but it turned out he finished 2nd in our age group, beating me by ~10s overall... o well! I have to give huge props to Jacob who did the run leg for the relay team with an awesome 41:13, catching and passing me in the finisher's chute!

Cranberry Trifest Finish: 2:25:43, 3/10 AG, 23/395 OA (5:18 faster than '15)

Keuka Lake Vacation and Kait's Wedding!

The weekend after Cranberry, Lianne and I travelled to Penn Yan, NY on Keuka Lake for Lianne's sister's wedding. We stayed in a house right on the lake with some of Lianne's family, and I had a chance to do some great riding in the hills around the lake, and swimming with Lianne and her Uncle Paul. Most importnatly, the wedding was gorgeous! Congratulations Kait and Dan!!