2010 Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon Race Report

Professional’s Race – Sunday, June 27^th, 2010

Holden Comeau for the Cadence Cycling Foundation

This week is heavy. I knew it would be. I’ve been through it all a few times before. Every year, Philly Triathlon race week gives me the opportunity to gauge my career’s successes and progresses. I see where I’m at with things. And I see it all at once; which makes things busy. I’ve got my hand in a variety of different places when it comes to my involvement in the sport of triathlon, and they were all on display at Philly. So I’ve got three parts and here is the first...

Part 1 - Athlete

I’m a professional triathlete. And I’m really focused and trying to move forward with it. It’s incredibly difficult. Physically, I’m an almost constantly sore, pained, and fatigued. Mentally, I have not yet been able to nail down my true motivation, and this creates a big, huge, dilemma. It makes it difficult to answer “why?” when my legs hurt so badly but I’m still riding my bike, and I’d really like to be with my wife and family and friends. But I’m very patient, and I have a feeling that one day the “why” will reveal itself. Which I suppose is reason enough to keep rolling!

This year in the race, it was a duathlon. It was also very humid. And very hot. I took both the weather and the format for granted, and made the penultimate athlete mistake of being overconfident. I had trained for weeks in the heat and humidity that has bogged down Philadelphia this summer, where I live happily. But I have given in to it during my training, no longer concerned with the drenching sweat. I’ve drank more liquids in response. Ate more salt to hold the water in. Ran faster in it too! I’ve had PR run intervals. I explored my neighborhood and the woods at an exhilarating pace. I floated like a runner that I’ve never been before! And when the race director announced “no swim this morning” and turned the race into a run-bike-run…I was smiling and inwardly eager.

The gun went off, and for the distance of that first run, I was in the contest and competing. There were Olympians and Olympic Medalists. It was an international field. The strong cyclists faded first. Smartly, I think. The runners ran as usual – very quickly and calmly around 4:40 mile pace. The swimmers did what they always do – take the race out fast. Get to transition first. Great strategy for triathlon. Foolish instinct in a running race. But still instinct. And since I’ve been swimming for a very long time, my instinct was undeniable – get as close to the front as possible.

It worked. I was there at the front. This is a huge success. I have never run so fast. It was the single biggest performance advancement in my entire career. And I’m very excited for what this means for the remainder of this racing season. Unfortunately, it wreaked havoc on the rest of my morning. The riding was uncomfortable and my peak performance had been stifled by the fast first run. The second run was just a jog to the finish, with lots of pain and little delirium thrown in there to make it that much worse. But I hit the line as always. Then the medical tent. Then a hug from wife, and a great afternoon with friends.

It was not the performance I was hoping for, but like every race, it answered many questions and realigned my perspective on the progress I've been making. There were a few glimpses of very good things! And an overwhelming vision of how badly things can go for an athlete. But I'll take it. There's not much sense in getting caught up in performance. Good or bad results, neither fully defines my ability as an athlete, which is too complicated a thing to explain in just a few hours on a Sunday morning! So I'm gonna let this one pass, and wait for my next shot.

Ironman 70.3 Texas

Now that it has been over a week since the race, and I have a quick break from studying for final exams, it’s time for a recap of Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas (formerlly known as 70.3 Lonestar), which took place on April 25th in Galveston, Texas. I had a fantastic result and won my age group, in addition to placing very well overall. The following recap is a more detailed version of my thoughts before, during, and after the race. I apologize in advance if it's not the most glorious thing to read....it's an honest look into my race.

We arrived on Friday morning into Houston, but we had an hour drive down to Galveston Island. First let’s get one thing straight – Jewish girls do NOT do well in the humidity of Texas. Within two minutes of stepping outside to get on the rental car shuttle, my hair went from straight to curly to frizzy to just plain out of control – and that is how it would stay for the remainder of the trip. David’s mom gave me some frizz-control advice on Friday night, but who are we kidding, I was here to race, not win a beauty pageant. Once we got to Galveston, Victoria and I realized that we were in for a different trip than we’d expected. The area is still recovering from the massive hurricane, and the economy is not good. It was actually a bit disheartening.

We had no clue where we’d get food – other than a shady bar or liquor store – on Friday night, but then David called, and he invited us out to a good Italian place he’d found. It took us nearly 24 hours to find a proper grocery store, but within a day, we’d navigated the entire island, and it was easy to drive around. And Victoria did get her beach time – she even convinced me to lay out for a bit on Saturday (I hate laying out in the sun!). The race expo was disappointing, but that was because the truck with all the goodies and gear had gotten blown over by the wind! Hence, when my race laces broke, I couldn’t get new ones and was going to have to tie my shoes on race day.

The half-ironman race was stacked with great athletes, especially in the pro field, as the race was as US Ironman 70.3 Championships. My friend David was racing in the men’s pro field, and he had told us about all the pros that had been at pro athlete meeting: Andy Potts, Chris Lieto, Terenzo Bozzone, Sam McGlone, Amanda Stevens, Pip Taylor…I was excited to see where I’d end up at the end of the day against these pros’ times.

Race morning began at 4am. We ate breakfast, got coffee from the only place open at that hour (McDonald’s), and were at the race site by 5:30am. We headed to transition. Our bikes were already racked, so I put my water bottles in, clipped my shoes in, set up my helmet/sunglasses on my aerobars, put a visor on top of my shoes and stuck some socks in my shoes. I kept my area neat and uncomplicated so that transitions would be quick.

At 6:45am, the transition area closed, and we headed to the swim start, where our wave wouldn’t go off until 8am. We put on our wetsuits. I knew immediately mine was too big, but I hoped that by pulling it up a lot, I could get it to do its job. Suddenly, I realized that our wave was already in line to go off on the dock. I panicked and got in the shallow water to get in a quick warm-up swim. Here is where things get ugly. Within two minutes, I’m hobbling back to shore with my hands outstretched, looking for Victoria and Kristina. I had gotten severely cut by zebra mussels! I was bleeding profusely from my hands and some from my feet. My thumb was gushing blood, and luckily nurse Victoria had medical staff there within 30 seconds. It wouldn’t stop bleeding because it was very deep. Victoria gave me a look saying “I don’t know if you can race”; then one of the medical guys said the grim statement out loud. Well, sir, I got news for you, I am racing this thing, whether I need stitches or not. In the end, they were able to use Dermabond skin glue to temporarily seal the gash and they wrapped my finger in layers of waterproof bandages, tape and whatnot. Luckily, I had spared my feet from too much damage.

The swim start was just off of the dock. I tried to stay calm; after all, I am a swimmer and feel comfortable in the water, or so I should. I was going to ignore my throbbing finger, I told myself. I tried to find someone to draft off of, but failed miserably. I kept looking up for anyone to draft off of, but saw no one. I couldn’t find my stroke. My wetsuit was restricting my shoulders and I was barely using my stronger right hand to pull because of the bandaging. The water was quite choppy. They’d canceled the swim for the Olympic distance race the day before due to unsafe conditions, and now I knew why. Still, I just could not get my stroke on this day. Needless to say, this was my slowest swim time ever.

Out of the water, and I’m trying to get my wetsuit off, but my right hand is a bit handicapped. I keep running and I see wetsuit strippers – sweeeeet! I promptly laid down and let them tear it off of me. I run into T1 and nearly all the bikes are still there, and now I realize why I couldn’t find anyone to draft off of in the swim. I ran my bike out of transition – with my shoes already on the pedals – and I hopped on. It took me less than a quarter mile to get both feet in the shoes…..YESSSSS…..I successfully got into my shoes while they were on the bike, and no one was hurt in the making! Thank you to coach Greg who spent Thursday afternoon with me at the park working on this....despite all of my frustration and not-so-lady-like words, I guess I got it after all! I’m lucky to have a coach with such patience.

The bike course was a straight out and back, nearly all flat except for the bridges. The headwinds going out were brutal, and the crosswinds both ways were no fun either. I tried to stay on top of my nutrition – a weak point for me. All the male waves had gone off before us, so I spent the entire 56 miles on the left side passing the men. Most were good sports about it, unlike the men last year at Wildflower. I kept seeing the motorcycle guys that penalize you for drafting, so I was very careful to stay away from anyone’s wheel. My SRM computer was taped over – per coach’s instructions – so I was racing by “feel”. I am not good at this, and I definitely saved too much in the first half of the bike. So on the way back, I knew I needed to pick it up, which I did. I had put five vanilla GUs in a gel flask for the race, thinking that’d be plenty. Well, here is where I learn that you MUST practice your race nutrition strategy very carefully – which I did not. The GU wouldn’t come out of the flask! It was stuck in there! Then I remembered – hours too late – that I was supposed to add a bit of water to the flask so that the GU would squeeze out.

Somewhere between mile 40 and mile 45, my hamstrings and sitbones started to scream. I was on a new saddle – the Adamo race saddle – which changes your position on the bike by putting all the pressure on your sitbones. I actually really love it, but I had only a couple rides on it, and had not “built up” time on it, as the instructions dictate. I had only ten days to get used to it, and this backfired, as they suggest you take a few weeks to let your sitbones adjust to taking all the pressure. I love my new saddle, but I wasn’t ready for 56 miles on it….hence I spent the last ten miles standing and squatting, to the anger of my hamstrings.

T2 went a little slower than planned as I was wobbling due to my sitbones. I figured this pain would go away. I grabbed the emergency GU I’d placed next to my shoes, since the gel flask was not working.

The run did not go as planned. It was four loops – all unshaded – but with lots of fan support. I had never felt that pain in my sitbones and groin area before. I knew it had to be from not being used to the saddle. I could not find my normal run stride, and was just praying the pain in my groins would go away. I totally underestimated my caloric needs, and I blew up/bonked (whatever the “technical” name is for it). I stopped at every aid station (every mile) for water and gatorade, but I was too behind at that point; I needed my GU, which was stuck in the silly flask. The aid stations were superb for Gatorade, water, and sponges. I chose not to take any Powergels from the aid stations, as I had not trained with them, and I am very sensitive to new flavors/brands. My biggest problem was probably not getting in enough salt. It was 90 degrees out there and humid, and after the long, cold winter we had in Philadelphia, I was not prepared in the least for such conditions. Victoria had warned me, and she’d told me to use endurolytes/salt tabs, but I didn’t….and I regretted it (Victoria ended up taking in 20 endurolytes…smart girl!)

I saw Kristina on loops 2 and 3 of the run – she is an amazing Sherpa! Despite the 90 degree weather and being pregnant, she stayed out there the whole time….even though I know she was itching to be racing too. She really lifted my spirit when I wanted to throw in the towel because my run wasn’t going as I’d planned. But, so is race day. Things don’t go as planned. You make mistakes. You learn lessons. You persevere. And so, knowing that no one in my age group could catch me, I just tried to run the best my sitbones would let me. After all my work during the off-season to improve my run, I was frustrated. But I would not DNF….after all, Greg said his “athletes don’t DNF”.

The last two loops of the run were super hot. I was dehydrated and my legs were cramping badly from lack of salt and calories, but I tried to trick myself into thinking I was enjoying it by having a smile on my face. Lots of spectators commented on this…..it was really my own mental game with myself to help me ignore the legs cramping and dizziness. I always have a sprint finish (soccer player style), and this race would be no different. I crossed the line, and looked at my watch. This led to immediate disappointment because I was off of my goal time; but I would think about this later. Now it was time thank all of the volunteers, congratulate those around me, cheer on my friends, and be thankful for what I’d just done. I am grateful for by body’s abilities and so very thankful for the opportunity to race.

In total, my first race of the 2010 season taught me a lot. From a results standpoint, I did well: 1st in my age group (by 25 minutes), 12th overall, and top 25 including the pros. And it was still a PR time for me. I am proud that I never gave up mentally, which is something I have struggled with before. It would have been easy to DNF when I was cramping up on the run. Instead I hung in tough on the run, staying patient, and my legs did loosen a bit for me to pick up the pace for the final lap. I come out of Galveston having learned many things about racing, strategy, and nutrition…and many more things about myself. With this bittersweet ending, I am even hungrier to race again, and I know that these are all valuable lessons for my ultimate goal to win 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater this season.

Up next is the Tempe International Triathlon in Arizona on May 16th, Ironman 70.3 Mooseman on June 6th, and then the Philly Tri at the end of June. I can’t wait to see the CCF Mastery Tri Team race the Philly Sprint….I hope they have as much fun as I do!

Train hard and have fun,
Michelle

Congrats CCF Cycling Coach Nathan Jacobs!

Congrats CCF Coach Nathan Jacobs for finishing a FULL Iron Man this weekend in Utah!

St. Anthony's Triathlon 2010

With still some soreness in my legs offering a reminder of what happened, here's an account of racing this past weekend in St. Petersburg, Florida at the 2010 St. Anthony's Triathlon...

St. Anthony's is regarded in the professional triathlon world as a "spring classic." It's an early season, warm-weather race, outside of Tampa, Florida, and every year is magnificently organized by some of the best race promoters in the sport, and raced by many of the fastest athletes in the world. 2010 was no exception. This was my 4th year competing in the race, and it has been one of my favorites since 2007, when I was a rookie pro and had no idea what I was doing!

Toeing the start line this year was triathlon star and American Olympian, Matt Reed; Australian Olympian, Greg Bennett; 2 time Ironman World Champion, Craig Alexander; and many other of the world's top athletes. I knew it was going to be fast day, and with training so far this year going exceptionally well, I felt more prepared than ever, and couldn't wait to get going.

Race morning began at 4am, and I woke pleasantly from a fantastic night's sleep. In the days leading up to the race, I was hard at work coaching a few members of the US Marine Corp triathlon team, for whom I was there to prepare for race. The extra work left me pretty tired at the end of each day, but made for some heavy sleep, which I was happy to get! Though these lead-up days were somewhat taxing, coaching my athletes always gives me motivation and energy to be strong, and on race morning I was energetic, rested, and ready to rock.

I had checked my bike into my transition spot the night before, so navigating through the 3000 race competitors before the sun had come up wasn't too difficult. I found my bike, and went to work with my pre-race ritual set up. Over the years, I've gotten pretty good at setting up my equipment for the race. My bike shoes are clipped into the pedals, so I can put them on while riding. My run shoes have elastic laces so I don't need to tie them. My bike helmet is un-hooked and easy to slip on. No sun glasses. No socks. No extras. It all adds up to speed, so I don't need to slow down a bit when I change from swim, to bike, to run. Everything this year was quick and easy, and I was happy to be away from the lime-light of the Olympians, who drew quite a crowd while setting up their own equipment!

Next up was the warm up. With the race start at 6:50, I gave myself a half hour to get in the water for a warm up swim. The ocean was pretty choppy and windy, with white caps and some good sized waves, but I felt fantastic. My arms and shoulders were loose, my lungs were open and getting good air, and the water was the perfect temperature for racing. After some easy swimming and kicking, I did a few race paced accelerations, got my arm turnover spinning quickly, and finished my warm up feeling confident.

After just a few minutes standing on the beach waiting to begin, we were called to the start line. The swim course was shaped like a horseshoe, with the start and finish in two different places. Most of the field lined up close to the left hand side, so that they set up a straight line to the first left-turn buoy. I stayed out of that group and lined up towards the right, alongside a few of the stronger swimmers in the group. When the cannon went off, we charged into the water, and I immediately settled into position behind a super-strong swimmer, who I knew would be fighting to finish the swim in first place.

By the first turn buoy, I felt as though I was working a little bit too hard to stay close to the leader. My swimming fitness is good right now, but I was more concerned with riding my bike well for this race and wanted to save some energy. I eased off the effort, and allowed a few guys to swim around me. They all kept pushing hard, and I drifted back into a chasing pack that was swimming about 30 seconds behind. Though I would have preferred to have stayed with the leading group, I knew I would have over-extended myself to do it, and will need to train a little harder in the water for my next race.

Onto the bike, I quickly began pushing hard. The first 5 miles are always really tough, as every competitor is trying to either catch up, or distance themselves quickly from the athletes they had been swimming with. I felt terrible. I've struggled recently with the initial miles on the bike. The shock of exiting the swim and immediately getting up to race pace on the bike is tough for me, but is something that I'm working on in training. I need more work! Though I caught a few of the swimmers who had been ahead, a few more rode away from me. Though it was frustrating watching them go, I tried to stay focused on myself and thought about my pedaling form, my position on the bike, and my ability to produce power. By mile 10, I had settled into the effort, and really started to push. The wind was strong, but the course was completely flat, and my 25mph course average was a good result for me.

As soon as I got off the bike, things quickly went downhill. The final stretch of road on the bike course is made of brick, and as I was bouncing along coming into the second transition, I quickly became aware of how heavy my legs felt. As soon as I stepped down off the bike, I knew I was in trouble. Running through transition to switch to my run shoes was painful and very difficult. I just tried to stay calm, got my shoes on, took a big swig of the sports drink I had left for myself at the transition, and headed out onto the run course.

My colleague Jack, who was helping coach that weekend and watching race, yelled out to me that I was in twelfth place overall as I left transition. And though I tried to get going, my legs weren't responding. I contented myself to struggling through the first mile, and ran through my mental check list of the micro-adjustments I usually make in order to "find" my form. Nothing was working. I ate some food. Drank at the aid station. I couldn't relax my arms and shoulders. My hips were tight, and my leg turnover was slow.

But I kept at it. A few guys passed. I responded every time, making the most out of the extra motivation by sticking with them, and racing. My first three miles were very difficult. I forced the pace, and could find no rhythm or fluidity. And at the halfway point, I was slower than the pace I was training for, but not completely out of the picture. The last three miles, however, took everything I had. Mile 5 was a minute off pace, and with 2 more guys chasing me down, the last mile of the race was brutal trying to hold on to my position.

One of the focuses of my training this year has been working on the ability to cope with the pain and discomfort of racing at a peak output. I've been an athlete for a very long time, and I've found that my motivations to push and compete are constantly changing and evolving. Winning, which once was enough to motivate my efforts, no longer is my sole pursuit (though it is very much still in focus). Right now, I am most motivated by simply the joy of participation. I am so happy to be capable of doing it. That my legs work. That my lungs work. I'm so happy to continue to go faster, and to get stronger. And to then share my experiences with the athletes that I coach.

It was a great race. I finished 16th overall, and was closer than ever to the leaders. And I can't wait to go at it again in a few more weeks at the Columbia Triathlon in Maryland. On Monday, when I returned from Florida, I shared some highlights and pictures of the race with the CCF Mastery Triathlon Team, who I'm training to race to success later this year at the Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon in June. It will be their first race ever, and I'm sure they'll enjoy it all as much as I do.

Be well!!

Holden