Santa Barbara Long Course Triathlon: 28 August 2010

The week prior, we had traveled to Boulder, Colorado for a training camp at altitude. Both of our coaches, Mark Allen and Luis Vargas, Danny Abshire (founder of Newton Running) and other members of the Mark Allen elite team, were there to motivate, guide and push us. We gained some quality training, fine-tuned our technique, but frankly were a bit tired coming into this race (check out this video featuring the beautiful Rockies).

Mark Allen elite triathlon team

Jami’s race: Santa Barbara features odd distances (1-mile swim, 34-mile bike, 10-mile run) and would accentuate triathletes who were strong swimmers and could run well off the bike. The swim, though, is short enough to be taken at redline and with sub-60◦ ocean temps, the less time in the water the better!

In the cool, foggy conditions with mid-50◦ temperatures, I put on arm warmers in T1 which could pay dividends later in the race (as at Auburn earlier in the year) by keeping my core temperature up and muscles warm. We had started in the elite/masters wave and as I left T1, there was one masters woman in front of me! I had a lonely bike, but soon would find company on the run.

My run off the bike has become my main weapon. Maybe it’s the Newton shoes or my improved efficiency but I’ve been able to manage my pace to negative split (go faster the 2^nd half) on several occasions. This is key in a longer run in which most competitors fade and the 10-mile run at Santa Barbara is approaching a half-ironman distance. On the outbound segment of this out-and-back course, I held back just enough to have “another gear” in reserve, but I still was able to pass people to my delight. Sadly, none of them were women. I caught my first sighting of a woman just before the turn-around. As she ran towards me, I could tell she looked tired and I could sense my pace was faster. Like a predator, I couldn’t wait to go for my “catch”. With two miles to go, I made the pass glimpsing “24” on her calf! Not only was this girl an elite, she was almost 20 years younger than me! I think that energized me for the remaining miles where I focused on finding more prey. I managed one more, but it was a man.

Sherwick’s race: My race did not go as well as Jami’s as I was perhaps a bit more fatigued from the previous weekend. I enjoy the challenge and rhythm of the ocean but my swim did not start off so well, getting kicked in the goggles and shuffled to the back of the small elite/masters wave as a result.

The bike was technical with one climb at the far end of the circuit, short but steep hills on the return and several fast sections interspersed. The climb was over quickly but my legs would not respond on the hills and I struggled to keep up with the elite women in my wave. I knew I had to do something special on the run.

My mistake was charging out of T2 trying to make up time instead of letting the race come to me. The hypoxic state in which I found myself never really subsided as expected and by mile 6, I had to back down in order to recover on the downhill. My splits showed a steady upward progression resembling a mirror image of Jami’s run!

Results

Jami: 2^nd, Female Masters

Sherwick: 5^th, Male Masters

Team JaS at Santa Barbara

We enjoyed wine tasting with friends and Danish pastries in nearby Solvang

Pacific Grove Triathlon: 11 September 2010

It was ten years since the last time we journeyed to the “Triathlon at Pacific Grove”, featuring an ocean swim affectionately named as The Kelp Crawl and multi-loop bike and run courses along the scenic coastline between 17-Mile Drive and Cannery Row.

Jami’s race: With the olympic distance (1.5k swim/40k bike/10k run) race starting at 7:30am, I expected very cold water and air temps similar to Santa Barbara, but fortunately my wave would start two hours later providing three main advantages: 1) the temps would be warmer, 2) the fog would lift and 3) earlier waves would hopefully clear a path through the kelp! I sprinted the first 50m to put as few swimmers as possible between me and my vision through the kelp. Even so, I found myself at times pulling on the kelp like a rope or holding onto large leaves as paddles. I stayed near the front of the pack and exited 4^th in my age group!

The chilly water numbed my feet which felt like blocks of 2x4’s as I ran up the cement path to transition. After registering the fastest transition in my age group, I headed onto the 4-loop bike course which is always a magical ride, but also quite windy. Each outbound trip got windier and windier with a headwind on the outbound but a welcome tailwind on the return.

I was in 5^th position heading onto my favorite part of the race: the run which took us on a path along the beautiful Pacific toward Cannery Row then back to Lover’s Point three times. This can break an athlete mentally as they run past the finish line multiple times- so close to home, but yet so far! Instead, I used it to my advantage as a method to build each lap. My splits showed my build, but my effort always felt the same- just on the edge of losing form. It was enough to score the fastest run in my age group and 5^th fastest of all women on the day! A decent day at the office.

Sherwick’s race: Two weeks later, I was fully recovered from both the intensive training camp and Santa Barbara. This time I would let the race come to me and truly enjoy this classic event which I had done four times, all ten years ago! My swim wave started more than an hour before Jami’s and I would be well on the bike before she even got in the water. I shadowed two guys the entire swim using techniques useful in only this race – I was chuckling to myself as I thought, “this is where pulling on the lane lines during swim practice pays off”! I managed to pip one of them at the exit coming out of the water in 6^th place.

Jami was standing by my transition spot which helped greatly as both my feet and mind were equally numb from the frigid waters. The four-loop course was an appetizer to the run and I pushed each lap as a gradual build, matching the increasing intensity of the winds. My P4 was flying on the return as I consistently saw 25-26mph but I noted that my speed on the outbound was slowing as I struggled to maintain a high cadence against the headwinds.

With the 6^th fastest bike, I started the run in a good position and eager to boost my effort. However, I did not want a repeat of Santa Barbara and let patience temper desire. I was passed by two competitors right out of transition and managed to repass one as his enthusiasm faded along with the crowds which thinned away from Lover’s Point. I did not let the other one get too far ahead either. He came into sharper focus as I built each of the three loops of the run and I noticed that he was no longer accelerating away with zest after the turn-around as he did on the first lap. So on the final lap, I pushed the pace right before the turn-around and was able to drop him. I then leap-frogged past two more runners that were on their final lap, not bothering to see if hey were in my age-group. I registered the 6^th fastest run and crossed the line in 5^th!