Latest TriOdyssey Results

Turning out to be another great season for TriOdyssey athletes, with 4 Kona qualifiers thus far:
Recent races include
Honu 70.3, Boise 70.3, Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon-Alaska, Patriot Half Ironman, Ironman Coeur d Alene

Kona Qualifiers in the past month include: Stacey Stern, Jason Lester, Bob Morris, Laura Matsen

Honu 70.3, June 5, 09
Stacey Stern (5:03 3rd F35, Kona qualifier)
Thomas Wood (5:27)
Jason Lester (5:43, 3rd interisland finisher, Kona qualifier)
Wayne Warrington (5:41)

What can I say....Stacey Stern, who's come within 5 minutes or so in IM events from her elusive Ironman Hawaii slot, the latest being IMAZ April 08. Then came Honu 70.3 a couple of weeks ago. Stacey is coming off her 2nd place in the F35 division at Wildflower this season and on a difficult day in Honu, managed 3rd in the F35, securing her second podium position thus far this year, and her slot to Ironman World Championships. I have watched Stacey, at 39, become a force in the F35 AG over the past year and I believe any girl in the F40 tracking results will be worried about Stacey next year. I firmly believe qualifying for Ironman Hawaii as a female is probably the most difficult thing to accomplish for an amateur athlete. It certainly is more difficult than making the podium, as very typically only 1-2, sometimes 3 slots are allocated. Sure the AG's are smaller than men, thus less slots. But, consider that in my AG for instance, I have 400 and out that, probably 50or so are legitimately have the fitness to have a shot at Hawaii, and there are 10-12slots typically allocated. In the female 35-39, very typical to have only 100 finishers, and there are probably 25-30 that have the fitness to qualify. Yet with only 2 slots allocated, it becomes much more difficult. So, congrats Stacey on facing diversity, overcoming, and you have weathered the storm. Now you get to finish your season with the fastest amateur field in the world. You wont ever forget your first one, or the pain and struggle, of what got you there. Jason Lester, M30 residing in Kona training, decided to compete at Honu in the open division, because he realized they were giving 3 slots for Kona residents. Jason, with the use on only one arm, entered the open division, instead of the AWAD category to compete with the M30 group for a slot. Very difficult day for Jason with the headwinds and limited control on the bike, secured the 3rd slot! This will be Jason's second consecutive year at Ironman Hawaii, after winning his division as world champion at Kona in 08. Congrats Jason! Jason called me a week ago, and decided to fly in for Boise 70.3 yesterday, in which again he entered the M30 open division and despite high chop and wind on the swim, thunderstorms for about 40 miles of the bike with heavy winds, managed a 5:29, a solid performance coming off Honu a couple of weeks back. I think Jason felt a bit strange going into this race, as he had a week of recovery coming off Honu because of the damage to his body in the tough conditions, then went right into a week taper for Boise, so minimal work going into this race. He learned is better to be 10% under "the line" as opposed to 1% over the line when it comes to racing. Thomas Wood M35, a solid 5:27, not his best but Tom being a surgeon has the extreme lifestyle and his schedule is hectic and sporadic with long call nights and many workouts done on tired legs. Stacey is also Thomas' wife and I am sure he's a bit tired sometime keeping up with her in the runs...kidding Tom. Average race for you yes, you'll be under 5 hours again soon. Wayne Warrington M35, is new to the service and I think has that overwhelmed feeling with the radical changes he's made in equipment, training, and nutrition. A 5:41 is again, solid for Wayne. When I write schedule for Wayne, I think, "my God, how is he going to get any good training this week!" Wayne is an ER physician and his hours are extreme to say the least, nights, afternoons, days, 12 hour shifts, completely sporadic, sometimes every other day working 12 hour night shifts, then mid week changing to Day shifts, and so on. Wayne faces tough challenges balancing his devotion to medicine, as Thomas does, and trying to excel in the sport. He'll come around, it will just take some time to adjust to the barrage of information I've unleashed on him over the past few months.

Boise 70.3 June 14, 09
Dave Ciaverella (4:27, 1st M40)
Bonnie Jensen (5:05, 4th F35, 2nd Podium in 70.3 in 09)
Dave Lowe (5:19, 1st M60)
Mike Grier (5:11)
Jason Lester (5:29)

Considering the very rough swim with white caps, close thunderstorms and wind, then thunderstorms, hail and wind on the bike and a cool rainy run, I was happy with all performances of my athletes. Jason Lester decided to fly in from Hawaii about 2 weeks after securing his Kona slot at Honu 70.3 to compete at Boise as he wasnt happy with his effort at Honu given the conditions on that day. Jason went from hot humid hell like conditions to wet, cold and windy conditions...he was very happy with his performance at Boise and kudos for giving it another shot so close to his prior race.
Bonnie Jensen has been training hard and even though she was a bit tired going into the taper for Boise, decided to register a week before the race. Bonnie races well in difficult conditions and fared well with her second podium finish this season, first of which was Wildflower 70.3 in May. Bonnie will be strong and ready for IM Louisville in August.
Mike Grier I believe is just getting his feet wet in racing this season and this is his first long course triathlon. This is not a key event for Mike, but rather to gather data for his bike power parameters and to just go out and get back into it as he progresses toward IM Canada in August. Mike fared well in tough conditions with his 5:11.
David Lowe has discovered Duathlon this season due to his swim difficulties, in which he is progressively overcoming. The swim was very tough this year at Boise and Dave still managed to set a personal best, and although he got out somewhat behind in the Age group, that soon ended as he smashed the bike and run splits to win by 9 minutes. Great work Dave! I knew I'd see you at the top of the podium if you just hung in there on the swimming!

Patriot Half Ironman June 20, 09

Kathy Graves (6:37, 3rd in division)
Kathy Graves is a first year athlete of mine who is making modest improvements thus far with about 6 months of base, now going into the 8 week build for IM Canada. Kathy I suspect will post well over an hour PR at Canada independent of conditions on race day.

Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon, Alaska June 21, 09

Wayne Warrington, 4:09
Wayne Warrington, coming off Honu 70.3 2 weeks earlier hasnt been training specifically for the marathon, and has only been scheduled 1 long run over 14 miles this season, about a week before the race. Wayne had a breakthrough as he smashed is marathon Personal Best by nearly an hour. Wayne is registered for IM Florida in November and I suspect will smash is IM Personal best with a PR in both the bike and run this year.

Ironman Coeur d Alene, June 21, 09
Bob Morris (10:14 7th M45, Kona Qualified)
Laura Matsen (10:58, 3rd F25, Kona Qualified)
Aleck Alleckson (9:54, 11th M35, Personal Best)
Jake Barakat (10:24, 32nd M30, First IM)
Jason Kurian (10:26, 33rd M30)
AJ Kemp (10:59, 30th M25, First IM)
Sal Colletto (12:09, 122nd M30, 3+ hour PR, 90 min PR marathon)
Heather Reimann (12:56, 27th F25, 35 min PR, 33 min PR Marathon)

It was truly enjoyable to see so many athletes out there and to support them during the race. The hours of driving around and meeting each individual athlete to go over the race was a bit draining on me because I had just driven 7 hours to the race, but necessary. I think this was the strongest crew I have ever coached for an IM, as evident by the times, PR's and the Kona slots. Aleck Alleckson, one of the most responsive and talented athletes I've every coached, missed Kona by 90 seconds, but threw the marathon monkey off his back with his PR of 3:28 marathon...Aleck is the 5th Ironhead to break 3:30 in an IM (7th year of the team) and he should be proud of his own accomplishment. I remember barking at Aleck to "go deeper, you're not hurting enough" at mile 21, then 22, 24 and with 2 minutes to go. I know this annoyed him tremendously...But...when Aleck turned that corner for the final 400 meter stretch, he was freaking hurting in a big way. I mean, pain, full body pain I could see in his eyes. Yet, he picked it up and caught a couple in front of him. Aleck fell short by 90 seconds, which I think was simply related to a slower swim than he is capable of, but regardless, He now knows what it takes and what level of suffering you have to endure to get to Kona. Slightly short, we've all been there, including my wife Ann who fell short by under 5 minutes in her first IM. But, it makes you stronger in the long run, and you'll get there next time, I would bet heavily on it. AJ Kemp, what can I say. AJ 18 months ago was in the ICU with a brain hemorrhage, and had to go through rehab to walk and speak correctly. Now AJ is an ironman and this race was a giant weight lifted off his shoulders because he was registered for 2008 CdA when his trauma occurred. One of the first questions he asked me in the ICU when I visited him was, "can I still race ironman at CdA". I told him frankly, "no". I could see the blank look in his eyes, then disappointment, then acceptance. I knew there would be another day. Its like climbing a mountain. If you encounter harsh elements near the summit (which I have), you have to turn back and go for it another day. The mountain is always there...you have to pick your battles wisely. So, AJ summitted his mountain another day, and that day was last Sunday. Strong work AJ, although I never had a doubt, and you knew that. Jake Barakat, his first Ironman also, ran a solid race. We all laughed after as almost everyone with a power meter had a slower second bike loop by several minutes. Jake, without a power meter, was the closest first and second half bike split with only a tenth or two mph difference. His conservative pacing, and his run strategy set him up for a sub 10:30 for his first IM, in very harsh swim conditions and cold windy bike. So, yes Jake, you will drop at least 30 minutes on your next one.
Jason Kurian, solid race despite a flat. Loss in momentum cost him not only 10 minutes on the bike, but trying to make up time I am certain cut into his marathon. Very harsh swim resulted in a few mouth-fulls of water with a couple going into his lungs. This resulted in some nausea that delayed his nutritional plan onset by 90 minutes. This set Jason up with a huge caloric deficit going into the marathon, in which he ran the final 16 miles bonked. Jason has qualified for Kona before and will again. It just wasnt in the cards for him on Sunday. Regardless, he was only 10 minutes from his personal best, and that is something to be proud of. You have to overcome adversity in these races and give it your best shot no matter what the race, or life, throws at you along the way.
Bob Morris contacted me last year to coach him, and I remember him telling me he thought he had the ability to get to Kona, just didnt know how. Looking at his past races, I realized he should be going and told him I could at least show him the way. Bob executed a great race and his work, patience, and perseverance has paid off. Bob, hard to imagine you could smash your IM PR and get an outright Kona slot with only a few 80 milers under your belt! Like I said, high mileage isnt as important as many amateurs think, and you've proven that again. Great race! Heather Reimann, set a 30 minute PR in CdA, and not the strongest swimmer like myself a few years back, the very difficult swim conditions affected her more than others. She overcame this and ran her own race, stuck to the plan and managed a 33 minute PR in the marathon and sub 13 IM which I believe was her next goal. More PR's to come Heather, its a progressive process. Nice race, I know you're proud, very happy with this one. Laura Matsen, who I took under my wing about 3 months back showed character and strength Sunday in her first IM. Laura is primarily a cyclist and duathlete, well...yeah, and a runner. Laura has showed up at most of the workouts throughout the spring, as an Orthopedic surgeon intern, after working 24 hour shifts in the hospital. I honestly couldnt stand seeing her show up week after week at workouts and the tremendous hours she puts in, well over 80 in a given week...then trying to train for an ironman. So, with just a bit of guidance on methods, execution, recovery and nutrition, she was able to prevent the over-training so common amongst amateurs, and it showed in her race. After a 30th AG placing out of the water, and left T1 in 1:22 nearly the identical time in which I left T2 at my first ironman at CdA. As in my case then, I knew she would be playing "catch up" on the bike. However, Laura is very strong and it showed. Not only did she come off first on the bike with a 5:42 on a tough 4k ascent course, she was in the lead by about 3 minutes off the bike. Sure, the huge bike split cost her some minutes on the run, but Laura took that gamble. She looked focused and extremely concentrated, not even taking her eyes off the pavement in front of her as she ran. When I yelled at her that she looked great, good form, stong...she never even looked up at me, she just gave me a thumbs up and kept moving. Sure, 2 girls passed her, but still...posting a 3:49 marathon off a 5:42 bike split on this course is fantastic for a first IM. Laura's focus during this race, especially the marathon, and her willingness to go deeper than her competitors was rewarded with a 3rd place podium and Kona slot in her first IM.
Very proud of all of you.

My Boise 70.3 Race
4:27...3rd fastest HIM since taking up the sport 5 yrs back

The Good: Secured the top M40 spot and 17th amateur, dropping 9 minutes off my run split from Orlando 70.3 a few weeks back.
The Bad: Sub optimal swim, again. Choppy waves and stormy weather. I just dont have my swim down as well as last year. Followed by a 1 min run uphill to the transition, where they decided to place the timing matts. I got out of the water by 32:20 on my watch but the run 150 meters uphill then across the "swim finish" matts added a minute onto my swim time. I assume this is to decrease the transition times. But, it leads to a falsly long swim. The swim should be 1900 meters or so, not 1900 meters plus 150 meter land run.
The Ugly: Thunderstorms on the bike course, raining for about 40 miles with wind. Just not good conditions at all. Lost most of run nutrition in T2 transition but didnt realize until time to take it. Thus, I ran the entire half marathon on a total of 50 grams of carbohydrate.

Pre Race Transport. Pay the 15 bucks to take the bus up to the start. Even though the pre-race instructions told us we could drive up and drop off at the start, but couldnt park, they failed to notify us that the drop off is 600 ft below the start with a half mile walk up a gravel road to the transition. They would not allow us to drop off even near the start, as they would not allow anyone to walk across the damn on race day (except the pro's I noticed).

Swim Start
This race June 13, has an unusual start of 2pm, which turned out to be a bad call this year. As we sat there at 10 am looking at the windless 70 degree near perfect conditions, then traveled to the swim start at noon and over 2 hours watched the weather turn from bad to worse. The pros went off in minimal chop and winds at 2, and by the time it got to M40 age group at 2:50, a storm had brewed up with high winds producing 2 foot chop and white caps. The second buoy tore from its base and floated across the lake right before my wave at 2:50 so while in the water, I had realized this and swam toward the orange marker bouy. I remember smiling as I swam down the back stretch though, looking off into the distance where I knew the pros were biking...and seeing a huge thunderstorm with the sky falling with torrential rain. I was thinking, "finally! the pro's get a taste of crappy conditions!"

Bike:
OK, I was eating my words an hour later laughing at the pro's getting dumped on..my God! Braking and looking straight down on the descents as pounding stinging rain smashed my face. Wind knocking my bike half way across the lane too many times to count due to my decision to ride a disc. Pedalling through 6 inch deep "streams" flowing across the road from the run off from the desert hills, ect ect. This was truly the most difficult conditions I have ever raced in on the bike. Not even a close second. At the 45 mile mark I decided to bag my run split and just hammer in, at which I was able to hold above my Sprint Tri wattage for the final 40 minutes. Mainly motivated by racing a band of black clouds and lightning I saw off to the east as I was traveling North toward the finish. I out raced the storm and just when I realized I was in front of the leading edge, we turned East. Yep, right into a wall of pouring rain a mile later. Regardless, I really just wanted to get the bike finished as I was shaking with chills and cold. Flying down a 2% grade for 3-4 miles at the end of the bike is truly exciting and was fun to have the right lane of a busy road open for us, wide open. It feels great to fly in at 30 mph toward the finish, mentally, got me hyped up for the run.

Run
I remember putting my bike up on the rack in T2 while putting my shoes on, water pouring out the rear vent of my aero helmet down my back, I look over...and water is literally pouring out of my bike frame through every small hole and cable housing. Who knows, maybe the extra weight of my frame being filled with water helped me on the downhills. Had some problems with my race number as it ripped off on the bike so had to fasten a new number on my belt in T2, which I always keep my 2nd race number in my run bag in case it tears off on the bike. This slowed me just a bit, but out of T2 and got on my goal of 6:30-35 pace immediately. I ran the first 5 miles with another in my AG, guy with pink visor. I tried to pass at mile 1 but he stayed with me, so we chatted here and there to mile 5. First 5 miles run down river and as such is about a 1% grade down, which makes for a fast course because it establishes a good strong pace for nearly the first half of the run. Yes you have to then run back up river, but momentum is established early on, and that means alot in a race. Even though it was raining and in the 50's, we held pace. At mile 5 I turned the corner for the out and back and decided to run about 6:15 pace for 1 mile and this put him away. I rolled back into town with a ton of screaming spectators, very cool. Ann yelled that I was 4th off the bike, so I knew the guy I was running with earlier was 3rd, and now I was. Man, 2 more people to catch? I held back to my 6:30 pace which was becoming more and more difficult to hold with each passing mile. Mile 7, then 8, then 9, still no M40 to pass. At mile 8 my shoe became untied, which typically is not a big deal as I can run with some annoying loose shoe with no problem. However, with the soaking wet rain, I was actually almost coming out of my shoe and at mile 9 marker I decided to take 20 seconds and tie the shoe. I did this, resumed pace. Mile 10 at 7:20? What the?! Hard to believe you can lose 50 seconds by a shoe tie, but with the loss of momentum, that was the reality. I still saw no M40 and realized my short stop will likely cost me the AG win I wanted. I hit my split at 10 and told myself, "no more looking at watch, heart rate, or pace...just go now". I just ran, hard. Harder. As I approached a M40 running about 7 min pace I realized he was likely on his second loop given the quick pace..he was likely a strong athlete. As I passed an oncoming runner on his team yelled to him he was 2nd. That was excactly as I flew past him on the left. I still dont know if he saw my leg M44 marking because he looked to the right to acknowledge his teammate. I didnt give him the chance to see me, as I immediately stepped in front of the next runner in hopes to block him from seeing me sneak by him. Mile 12 I pushed to the point where every 45-60 seconds I had to let up the pace because my legs were aching and I was breathing anaerobic and just had to slow down. I would do this for about 15 seconds and right when I caught my breath, I would go hard again. I did this for what seemed like a long time but was only about 6 minutes or so. Every single person I saw in front of me I tried to catch, telling myself they are the AG leader. At the same time, I was desperately trying to catch my teammate Bill Thompson, who back at mile 10 yelled at me, "come on Dave, catch me". I was running hard, in pain, numb legs, you've been there before I'm sure. I could see Bill up a minute ahead of me on the final stretch, man, fighting every single breath. With a minute or so to go, I realized I flew past a M40 who wasnt moving very fast. I figured he was on his first loop, and in retrospect he was the leader. My pacing partner turns out took 2nd, and he also caught the leader on the final stretch. I still never caught Bill who was running on a calf injury and despite his adversity, ran a great race. He was just not catchable as I think we were running similar pace toward the end. Bill executed the right strategy in being a bit conservative on the calf as the race unfolded, until his confidence increased. Sure it cost him AG positions, probably a podium spot, but he finished fast and strong, faced his adversity and overcame. This is where the respect comes, at least from me. Grant Folske had a great race with a 4:21, smoking fast but the top AG racers were tough...Grant still made the podium. I did however make sure to show Grant how much bigger the first place trophy is compared to the other trophies in the division. Hang in there Grant, you'll get a big trophy some day! Yeah, he had about 7 minutes on me in this race...thats a huge lead and I know it. Strong work Grant..I love it when you kick my ass, even more so when you PR.
So, all in all happy with my sub 4:28 and a 9 minute improvement in my run compared to Orlando 70.3 a month earlier. I wont disclose my run workout strategy that I knew would work for me....if I didnt get injured in the process. I would be very reluctant to train an athlete with my regimine of 102 miles in 13 days (9 runs)leading up to Boise, every single run of which had speed work..because of the very high risk of injury. This is the chance I took, and accepted the risk that I may re-injure my calf/soleus for Boise. However, it was worth the risk for me. I signed up for Boise in Feb, while I was injured, with the hope and expectation of winning the AG in the second 70.3, and sometimes the gamble pays off.