Stroke It, Ride It, Pound It, Drink It!

“Pain is temporary.  It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place.  If I quit, however, it lasts forever” – Lance Armstrong

 

     For those that have never raced, what I like to call, ‘The Party Tri’, in Rocky Point Mexico, you’re missing out!  Not only do you get to swim in a section of the Ocean right in front of the Las Palomas resort on Sandy Beach, bike on a private paved road, and run on a private golf course, you finish on the beach……all after a nice morning of sleeping in because the race doesn’t start until 8:30am!  In 2013, I raced the sprint distance and ended up 3^rd Overall, after they discovered two athletes ahead of me cut the course.  My prize……a nice large bottle of tequila!...oh yeah and a finisher’s shirt and medal.  But you can’t drink the medal!

     Since 2013, I know the race had picked up some popularity, so the field would definitely be deeper and more challenging.  I love a good a challenge!  My goal for 2015 was to leave it all on the beach and see what happens………

     The stage: A 500 meter open water Ocean swim in the Gulf of Mexico.  A cool water temp of about 70 degrees; a 9.4 mile bike on a private flat and fast road with possible head winds on the turnaround; and a challenging 3.1 mile run over a hilly private golf course ending with a 100 meter beach finish.  As participants cross the finish line they will be handed the appropriate hydration……A CERVEZA!  The 2015 motto: Stroke It, Ride It, Pound It, Drink It!!

The Swim:  What a beautiful morning it was in sunny Mexico!  The days leading up to the race were actually a little chilly and windy.  Friday night at our condo, the wind was so bad we were forced to move the patio furniture off the patio in fear it would literally get carried away.  By Saturday morning the chill in the air was gone and the wind was much more reasonable.

     Unique about this race was the start time of 8:30am.  An earlier start than years prior, but I was able to sleep in just a bit!  Leading up to the race, the open water was unforgiving and the morning prior to the start was no different.  The white caps on the waves were visible and the break in the water stretched about 100 meters off shore.  The swim course for both the sprint and Olympic course was slightly adjusted due to the possible danger the water posed, but the overall distance for each remained the same.  For the sprint course it remained one loop in the shape of a triangle covering 500 meters.  For the Olympic course it was a two loop swim with a short run in between. 

     I lined up on the front line next to, fellow ONE Multisport competitor, Maurice Khoury.  Despite knowing my swim was my weakness, I was confident the swim would be a challenge for all competitors.  3…2…1…GO!  We ran our way to the shore line.  The coast of the Gulf is unlike most other Oceans in that the water level doesn’t drop as quickly.  Knowing this, I ran out at least 50 meters even before I began swimming.  Fighting through the waves, I could see others starting to swim and finding the ground was still just knee deep.  Once I began to swim, I was graciously greeted by, what felt like 10 foot waves!  Holy shit!  

     Although, it felt like I was being pushed back faster than I was moving forward I kept moving and spent most of my time focused on the change in wave structure.  Swimming in the ocean, you must understand when the wave forms a white cap, you are better to swim under the wave rather than fight to the top.  When the wave no longer forms a white cap, you simply swim over the top trying not to let the momentum of your stroke be affected. 

 

     Once I reached the turnaround buoy, I was definitely struggling for a good breath.  Unfortunately, while swimming in this type of environment I was breathing whenever the opportunity presented itself.  Once I sighted the shore from the turnaround, I knew the waves were now on my side, and I used the current to recover and pick up speed.

     As I neared the shore, I could see the Ocean floor.  As soon as my hands began scraping the bottom, I stood and began to run out towards transition.  I could see three athletes ahead of me, one of them being Maurice.  As I exited the water, I passed one of the athletes still struggling to gain momentum to begin running towards the hill that leads to T1.  I made my way out of the water as I stripped the top part of my wetsuit down to my waist.  

     Unique about this race, I chose not to wear my Garmin on my wrist leaving it on my bike for ease of transition.  So, all I knew at this point is I was in third place out of the water!  My heart rate was already elevated by the time I reached the bottom of hill leading into T1, but there was no time to recover. 

   

*Swim Time – 8:49*

T1:  As I crested the hill that led to T1, it felt like my heart was going to beat right out of my chest!  I entered T1 and quickly moved to my bike rack and stripped my wetsuit and strapped on my helmet.  Another fellow ONE competitor, Garey Bryant, was racked right beside me and jokingly asked if he could draft off of me for a few miles.  I laughed with the little breath I had, and said ‘sure, let’s go!’.  I grabbed my bike and was off!

*T1 Time – 1:08*

The Bike:  I slipped into my shoes which were already strapped on my bike and quickly fastened my feet into place.  I took a quick drink of my Skratch, leaving a little better taste in my mouth than salt from the Ocean.  

     The first two miles of the bike were over rough road and extremely technical.  Given the condition of the road in combination with the turns that lead out to the smoother part of the bike course, I was unable to settle in to top speed right away.  I used this time to spin out my legs and prepare for my game of catch up with my fellow podium thief’s.  Right out of T1, just before the roundabout, I passed Maurice.  I now was in second place and looking for the lead spot!  Maurice went on to place 17^th overall and 3^rd in his age group……good job buddy! 

     After I cleared the first two miles of rough road, the bike course turned north onto a smooth straightaway with the wind at my back.  I now saw the lead rider about a mile ahead of my position.  I settled in and used the tailwind to my advantage knowing I would be battling it at the turnaround.  So many weeks I spent on Legacy Boulevard doing mile repeats at threshold pace……this was just another workout and my legs were responding perfectly.  I topped out just under 27 mph as I saw the gap between the lead rider and I quickly decreasing.

     With the road being marked every mile, I passed the 4-mile marker and I saw a set of arches in the distance signifying the turnaround.  The distance between the lead rider and I had disintegrated to just a few 100 meters, and just as he slowed to negotiate the sharp turn, he looked back and saw me coming in hot!....I have you now!  We both slowed our speed to almost a walk due to the fact the turnaround was a sharp U-turn providing room for only one biker to turn at a time.

     As the lead rider made his turn, I could see the last name on his custom race kit; RAMOS.  Luis Ramos was first out of the water with a phenomenal swim time of 7:58, and an even smoother T1 time of less than a minute.  Luis went on to finish 3^rd overall and 1^st in his age group (M20-24).  I had made up almost a minute on him just in the first 5 miles of the bike.  Now, came the trek back to T2 into a slight head wind.  The real question would be if Luis could hold his pace despite the resistance.  About 50 meters after the turnaround, I passed Luis, moving into 1^st place.  I tucked in and dropped a gear to keep my cadence around 90 rpm in order not to burn out my legs.

     As I made my way back towards the Las Palomas Resort, I could see there were about three other athletes nearing the turnaround right on my ass!  One of them was Garey in 3^rd place……there was no time to recover; I now pushed the pace to see if the others could hang.  Garey went on to finish 7^th overall and 1^st in his age group (M35-39).

     Despite a slight headwind, I was still able to manage a 22 mph pace, and after a few minutes I turned to see how Luis was riding……I saw NO ONE!  I couldn’t believe it, but still there was no time to recover!

     Into the last two miles of the bike and back onto rough road, I neared T2.  I again, turned to see where the other riders were, but I saw no one.  Onto the resort property, spun out my legs and unstrapped my shoes loosening my feet.  I prepared to dismount.   

*Bike Time – 24:42*

T2: Without any loss of movement, I hopped off my bike barefoot and hit the ground running.  I racked my bike, slipped into my running shoes, and grabbed my signature orange colored ONE Elite Bondi Band.  I turned to make my way to the running path and could see the 5K and 10K run crowd preparing to be let off onto the course……shit!  I had to get out ahead of these runners before the slower runners clogged the golf cart path.  As I turned to the run-out, other athletes were exiting the transition, as their attention was drawn towards the announcer prepping the Rocky Point run crowd.  After dodging a few athletes out of T2, I hit the golf cart path just as they started the run……jackpot!  Now, I had nothing but open path ahead.  T2 done!

*T2 Time – 0:47*

The Run:  As I hit the path, I looked back into transition and saw none of my followers.  I didn’t know it at the time, but I had built about a three minute lead on second place.  Despite not seeing any other athletes breaking into T2, I pushed up the first of many little hilly turns.  After cresting the first of these, I looked back and saw the lead 5K runner about 200 meters behind me……he’s moving pretty good I thought.  It appeared he would catch me within the first mile, so I reeled him in gradually in order to use him as my carrot for the run!  I figured I would let him settle into his pace and then see if I could pace him.  Ultimately, the lead runner passed me, and I ended up pacing him all the way to the finish.  

     The run course was not necessarily a course where I would set a run split PR, but it had its speedy sections!  A lot of little hills and a lot of little turns…not my favorite, but I was able to maintain a sub 6:30 pace.  As I reached the last mile of the run, the course turned back towards the resort, and this was my first opportunity since T2 to see who was on my tail.  As I looked across the golf course, it became difficult to visually search through the crowd of runners for any type of triathlete.  I kept seeing waves of athletes wearing running singlets and t-shirts……but no race kits.  I kept looking for Luis in his bright blue custom race kit, but still nothing.  What I would come to find out is that the race for 2^nd and 3^rd place was still three minutes behind me.

     Just as the path began to level out, the course turned onto a nearby putting green.  I could see the swim-out inflatable arch just over the green and zeroed in on the finish chute that led to the beach.  My body was screaming for relief but my legs kept turning over.  

     Just as the lead 5K runner breached the swim-out arch, he stopped and started looking around.  I closed my distance on him almost instantly, but didn’t even have enough breath to tell him to keep running!  Luckily, a nearby spectator directed him towards the beach where the finish chute turned onto the sand just on the other side of the resort.  He turned and began sprinting.  I followed him into the finish chute and made my turn onto the beach.  

     As I made the final turn, I hit the sand.  I could hear the roar of a thirsty crowd awaiting the intake of finishers!  The sooner the race ends, the sooner the kegs are cracked!!  As always I crossed the finish line sporting my signature race pose……’And here comes Branden Turley from ONE Multisport finishing 1^st overall in the men’s sprint race!’.

*Run Time – 20:23*

**Finish Time – 55:50**

***1^ST Overall, 1^st in Age Group (M30-34)***  

               

     For the first time in my racing career, I felt what it was like to have the overall lead, even if it was for a short amount of time.  The question always becomes, ‘who can endure more?’.  I knew from the start of the swim, I could not stop.  I had confidence I could play with the lead athletes, but today I even amazed myself.  A sprint race requires not only the ability to push your threshold, but to understand time is everything and every movement on the course remains vital to the finish.  As with all my races, I took away new experiences and valuable data.  I learned today, I could play with the big boys!

      At the top of the podium, I was given a basket filled with two large bottles of tequila, Dick’s margarita mix, and several limes to complement my race day margarita!  Thank you to all my ONE Elite sponsors; Endurance Rehab, Destination Kona, Fuel to the Finish, Biotec Wellness, Scottsdale Health Magazine, Lifetime Athletic, Lush Burger, Integrated Orthopedics, Pei Wei, and John T Dean with Realty ONE. 

     Thank you to John Reich, run coach extraordinaire of the Phoenix Free Soles run club, Jozsef Major with Major Tri Coaching, and Valerie Grosso RD with Nutrition by Val.  Each of you were incremental in my success and very first overall first place finish. 

     I would also like to thank Human Movement for putting on another awesome race weekend in Rocky Point, MX.  Thank you to Bettina and Gus with Race Lab for supporting ONE of the best races south of the border.  Thank you to Under Armour for branding the most awesome race shirt I have ever worn post-race!!

     

     Even though the pre-race festivities quickly, the post-race fiesta stretched well into the day and night.  We enjoyed a hill top view as the sun set during dinner with friends and family at La Casa De Capitan.  After dinner we ventured out for a night cap margarita at Wrecked at the Reef.  Our Rocky Point weekend was filled with friends, family, and a little bit of racing!  What better way to make our race-cation memorable?  Ultimately, we all decided this would be an annual event, as Joszef and I were almost required to return to defend our 1^st place titles!! 

     Next up on the racing agenda I move to the pines!  Deuces Wild Triathlon Festival coming up at the end of May!  Join the ONE Multiport family and friends as we have a blast racing fast in Show Low!