Starting a blog for my 2015 ONE Elite season.

Hey everyone,

On this blog I'll be posting my race reports, training, and things triathlon related during my first year on the ONE Multisport Elite team.

This year started off great for me. I was offered a slot on the ONE Elite team, and I was in the best shape of my life. To say I was excited was an understatement. I wanted to try something different this year, so I started racing road bikes in road races, crits, and time trials. My season started off with a lot of cycling racing where I gained some experienced, but not without some difficulties along the way. I had a few crashes, and when I was racing crits I was always out front, typical triathlete feeling the need to TT, and I would always get swarmed when it came time to sprint for the finish. I had a couple of good results, but that first win was still elusive.

This past weekend I traveled with my girlfriend to Duncan, AZ, where the Javelina Chase road race was taking place. Still being relatively new to cycling racing I raced in the Collegiate C wave. Our wave was mixed with the men cat 4/5 riders, which made our start pack a decent size. Although this is the "beginner" wave I knew of a couple of fast people that I would be racing. The course was two 25mi loops with mostly gentle rollers and a steep hill for a couple of miles. Being a heavier guy I like flatter courses like this one. When the race started we went a pretty casual pace until the first climb at mile 12, where my main rival, Conrad, and myself began to push the pace. We shrunk the pack from around 30 people to around 12 riders. The next part of the race we kept a pretty consistent fast pace line going to share the work at the front. Then we hit the hill again. Once there Conrad, a rider from the cat 4/5 wave, and myself kept the pace pretty high up the climb, and we further shrunk the pack to just under ten riders. From there a few attacks happened, but no one was able to breakaway because of the high speeds we were traveling and the headwind. Knowing it would be a sprint finish, I decided to be conservative for the last few miles and cover any attacks that happened. With about a half a mile to go I was mid-pack and we could see the finish line in the distance. The pace accelerated, and when I saw my opportunity to sprint I went for it. I gave it everything I had, and ended up crossing the finish line in first. I also beat the guys in the Cat 4/5 race, which made me very happy.

Conrad finished second and was still out riding his bike when awards happened. I can't wait to do more cycling racing. It's so much fun!!!

I have done a couple of triathlons this year and they have given me mixed results. My first triathlon of the year was in San Diego, where I raced the draft legal sprint race on saturday and the non-draft legal sprint race sunday. On Saturday I got kicked in the face so hard my goggles flew off, and it hurt a lot. After recovering from that I was pretty close to the back coming out of the water. I did my best on the bike, but being one of the last ones out of the water I was with a slow group of riders and couldn't make much time up. Knowing I wouldn't finish well I took the run at tempo pace. I was pretty disappointed, but knowing I was racing the next day I focused my energy on that. The next day I had a much better swim, and my bike and run went very well. I ended up running a 17:26 5k, which I was very pleased with.

My next triathlon was in Lake Havasu, where I competed in the Collegiate Olympic race. By this point in my season I had raced a lot, and was unsure how my body would respond to the work load. Unfortunately on this day I just had no power. My bike time was ok, but once I started the run I knew it wasn't going to go well. I struggled my way through and once I finished, I was pretty disappointed. I knew I was stronger than that so I needed a confidence booster to get me back on form. Luckily the next weekend was the Duncan road race, which I won (see above), and gave me the confidence boost I needed after the disappointing result.

In two weeks I have the Marquee Triathlon, and two weeks after that I'm racing in Collegiate Nationals in Clemson, SC. I'm really looking forward to these races, as I'm feeling very strong at the moment.

Getting the Race Juices Flowing

Every season, it's always hard to get the mindset and focus going to be in race mode. After Rock and Roll AZ, the my successful age group win and new PR, I found it a little difficult to get on the bike and start the interval work and longer rides needed to be a Triathlete again.

The best way to shake the demons is to just get out there and race. 

Since last year's Desert Classic Duathlon was rained out, we were given automatic registration to this year's version on March 1st. No swim and the Run/Bike/Run format is a perfect way to get out there and push it a little. 

Race morning now always started with "Dan's Kona Blend" Oatmeal specially blended for me by our One Multisport sponsor, My Oatmeal www.myoatmeal.com. I am also trying out UCAN sports drink www.generationucan.com for race day nutrition. It's available at Destination Kona www.dktristore.com and is all natural. I have a sample of  the Orange mix and added it to my aero bottle for the 25 mile bike ride. I also took three tablets of MDrive www.MDrive.com ATP for race day energy. I swear by the product along with my daily Elite Formula and the Joint formula for recovery post workout/race.

The run legs were set as bookends at 3.6 miles mostly single track trail. Not too technical but challenging. I was chasing Steve Rink and Paul Beckert who alhave now joined the USAT ranks of the 50-54 AG. 

My settled into 3rd place of the second (old man's) wave getting on the bike. The ride and course was a time trial setting with the turn around at 3 miles up 9 Mile Hill. I was gaining on both of my age group rivals and caught my 6'2" 185 lbs peers actually on the downhill! I get strong and fast and came off the 25 mile bike leg with the best AG split of 1:05. 

My first run split was at a 6:58 average pace and I didn't gain anytime on the guys but stayed consistent at a 7:05 pace average for run #2. I came in 3rd to podium with my buddies with a well fought race!

It was a great day and a good way to check in on my race fitness. I was especially happy with my bike with a 24 mph average since my bike fitness has been harder to dial in post marathon training and racing this winter.

A big boost was taking my bike for a complete tune up at Cyclologic www.cyclologic.com pre race. Ron is a great mechanic and with a new chain and a clean up, my Valdora PHX2 www.valdoracycles.com felt fast and fresh! 

This past Sunday was my second Mountain to Fountain 15K. My ONE Elite Team put together a group to defend our beer win from last year in the Open Mixed Team competition. Nic, Maureen and I added Russell, Pat and John from our One Family to go for it! Team Zoot was out to get is and with their Ironman Champion Pro Jozsef Major wrapped up the win this time! 

I know this course is extremely fast for the first 5 miles. I was amazed to see mile splits at 5:58, 6:00 and 6:01 before the 10K mark. Then...the hill. I focused on lifting my knees and keeping my short cadence and felt strong this year for a mile 7 split at just over 7:00. It was there that in came along side of my age group friend and rival, Todd Witten and was just steps behind Bryan Dunn. For miles 7-9, I held up strong very close to both men with splits under 6:30. Their kicks are better than my slow twitch body and I held on for 2nd in my AG with a 59:05 time. Almost 2 mins faster than last year! I just took in water and Gatorade at every aid station and pre run again, I took MDrive ATP Formula.

I am so pleased with these first races and results. 

I am not going to race a whole lot this year due to training and preparation for Kona. Next up will be Marquee in April and Ironman St. George 70.3 in May. 

I look forward to training and continuing my work in Crossfit at Power in Motipn to stay strong and explosive. 

I want to thank One Multisport and my fellow ONE Elite Team for their support. 

Also, major kudos to my bike sponsor, Valdora as well as Endurance Rehab.

Until next month and more racing! 

Dan