2006 Whidbey Island Triathlon

Saturday, August 5, 2006

This triathlon is held on the beautiful Whidbey Island near Seattle.  I like doing this race for the scenery and a nice get-a-way.  The island is perfect this time of year.  Highs in the low 80's, everything is green.  The first time I did this race was in 2002 and have been back ever since.  The only draw back is that  Seafair (a huge festival with ship tours, air shows, hydroplane races, parades, and street performance...) is the same weekend, so getting to the island can take a while due to the increased traffic.

The race is short, consisting of a ½ mile swim, a 19.5 mile bike with lots of shallow rolling hills, and a flat 3.8 mile run, all shaded with plenty of trees.  The course was slightly changed this year due to extremely high levels of blue-green algae in Lone Lake - the previous location for the start of the race.  This year the swim was moved to Goss Lake, which, surprisingly, had no effect on the bike course except where you entered the 2 loop course (approximately 1 mile clockwise from the previous entrance).

The air temperature was quit a bit cooler than the last race I competed in this year: around 70°F at the start of the event, but the water temperature was quite a bit warmer at 75°F.  With this, I decided no wet suit.  I believe this cost me about a minute from last years time due to lack of buoyancy.

Due to the course change, T1 (the swim to bike transition) was a two stage event, similar to Ironman events.  First, you dropped of your swim stuff and grabbed your bike gear (helmet, sunglasses etc…) at one location, then you grabbed your bike at another.  The bikes were racked on one long rope stretched between two trucks on a gravel road.  In order to exit the transition you hade to travel around this long stretch of bikes, up one side and down the other.  This is to insure a smooth flow of traffic and force every one to travel the same distance.  Unfortunately my bike was one of the first ones near the entrance.  This forced me to run with my bike the entire length, both directions.  Running with my bike, though, was not what concerned me.  It was running bare foot on course gravel for 50 yards that was the most apparent thing on my mind.  Ouch!

Entering the bike course in 6th place, I quickly moved up to 2nd where it would take another 20 minutes to catch the first place biker.  I then managed to gain another 2 minutes on the leader at T2 allowing me to put it on auto pilot for the run.  ...Too much of an auto pilot as I almost made it into the woods with my bike helmet still buckled under my chin.  Quickly ripping it off my head and throwing it off to the side, I disappeared through the trees hiding my embarrassment.  With a 2 minute lead, I cruised in at a comfortable 6:15 min/mile pace, finishing 1.5 minutes ahead of second place for the win.

In the woman's field, Monika Williams enjoyed a great race with a bit of a struggle in the water -fighting a couple of other swimmers with navigation issues.  Making up tone of time, she moved up 9 places on the bike and an additional 11 on the run.

2006 Fiasco in Pasco

It was a chilly start to what would turn out to be a blazing finish at the Fiasco in Pasco. The line-up for male top finishers: Brian Shore, Eric Vozza, Fred Mason and myself. No big names from out of town, so that was it. The big question on everyone's mind - What's Fred been up to and will he finish first? That question was quickly extinguished when I received a phone call from him Friday night at a dinner party with Robyn, Brian, Eric & fam, Monika & fam, Adrienne, Bobby and myself. He told us he would not be racing due to a work related strain on his hamstring. @#!**!?! I had been waiting so long to race with my old training buddy. Needless to say, I was very disappointed and saddened to hear the news. Anyway, I wasn't going to lose any sleep over it. I mean, come on, my chances for an overall finish significantly improved. Race morning arrived, and aside from a few hiccups, it was another textbook finish comparable to past performances. As always, if I was going to have any chance against Brian and Eric, I had to do it on the bike. We pretty much stuck together on the first run including some young eager kid tagging along (as usual). I fell back the last mile or so knowing it would be made up on the bike. Flying through transition in less than 10 seconds, I pretty much gained most of what I had lost. The rest was made up within the first 3 - 4 miles on the bike. I put the hammer down and didn't save anything for the run. It paid off. Averaging 24.5 mph, I had gained over 2 minutes on Eric, most of which was achieved into the wind along Argent during the last 4 miles. ...and it was a windy day. My next transition was "like seamlessly floating on a cloud" as one spectator would put it after the race. After my embarrassing 1+ minute T2 at Rage in the Sage , I swear to myself it would never happen again... so far so good. I hit the dirt strong looking back to see what kind of lead I had. I could not see Eric or Brian anywhere. Knowing their running strength, I didn't let up any. Half way through the run it hit me. The worst side stitch in history. I was immediately forced to walk. I quickly implemented some stomach breathing to reduce the pain. I started running again but it would never be the same. I tried to bring the pace back up only to be forced to walk two more times. I could finally see Eric gaining some ground but still had enough distance to be comfortable. I had to play it smart. If I tried to resume my original pace in order keep the distance on Eric I would definitely be forced to walk again and run the risk of being caught. So I slowed it down hoping I had enough ground to be conservative. Eric made up close to 1.5 minutes on the second run. I squeaked by with a mere 30 seconds to spare for the win. Brian came in 3rd to rap up the overall finishers.

I believe the locals dominated the women's overall field as well...

2006 Rage in the Sage

It started out a little chilly but I quickly warmed up trying to hang with Brian while Eric and Jason creped away. At this point I knew it was going to be a battle 'till the end. My first transition was extremely slow. I paid for it on the bike by killing myself just to catch Brian. Eric had the race I did last year being able to catch and hang with Jason on the bike. Every lap I would see Eric get a little closer 'till the second transition when he was right on his ass. GO ERIC! So, by now, there were two races going on in the front: Eric & Jason; and Brian & myself. Eric and Jason were too far gone to see what was happening there. But the race between Brian and me was definitely the focus of my attention. I also finally caught Brian by T2. I started gaining ground on the second run due to technical difficulties in his calf. I was actually feeling good on the run and thought I had 3rd place in the bag. It wasn't 'till 1/2 of the way through the run when Brian started gaining on me. By the last 200 yards he caught me. I drafted for about 50 and started to accept 4th when I know I would beat myself up if I didn't try. So I picked it up and flew by him with 100 yards to go (again, thinking I had 4th in the bag). Little did I know, at the same time Brian was also preparing for a breakaway, so he was ready for me. He passed me by the last 50 yards and just kept going. For the rest of the field, there was quite a gap between them and the top 4. There were a lot of PRs (mine not being one of them), happy finishers and a few mishaps; Jason actually took out a runner on his bike, no one got hurt. It was a good race and a great battle. It's going to be a though season. Eric is lookin' strong. Brian and I have our work cut out for us.