2015 Life Time Marquee Tri Race Report

“The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights” – Muhammad Ali

RACE REPORT: 2015 Life Time Triathlon Marquee

I woke at 4am, three hours before my wave hit the water.  I have always been a morning person, so waking early provided enough time to prep for the day.  Today is about speed!  Knowing this, I took my time and enjoyed the last few moments of my morning when speed is of no concern.

I arrived in Tempe at about 5:30am, giving me enough time to make my final tune-ups to transition.  The key today will be quick transitions.  Time spent in transition will always play a key role in finish times when racing a sprint distance.  After my transition tune-up, I began to warm-up.  Knowing the race will only be about an hour, my warm-up was longer than normal.  It included a run with pick-ups in order to spike my heart rate in preparation to hold my threshold pace, dynamic stretching and running drills, and a G1 packet to get some simple sugars flowing through the pipes!

Just two weeks out from Ironman 70.3 Oceanside, I decided to take on the sprint distance.  I believe in order to build on the fitness I created during the weeks leading up to Oceanside, I must give my body time to recover while still training effectively.  In this case, continuing to race becomes tricky as the season trucks on.  With a sprint distance triathlon race being short and fast, the strategy changes from ‘conservation’ to ‘threshold speed’.  In order to effectively build upon the fitness I had attained for Oceanside, my training sessions were now focused on short distance, high intensity intervals. 

Looking at my 2015 race schedule, I rate each race using a graded scale of ‘A-C’.  Although each race requires specific training building specific fitness, A-Races are the most important.  These are the races where the goals for the year are put to the ultimate test.  A-Races should be approached using race strategies developed throughout the season.  A-Race strength and fitness is constructed using training sessions and recovery time over an extended period of time.  While B-Races are also important, the purpose and goals for these races may be adapted to current season fitness.  C-Races are the least important of all three.  C-Races can be used to gauge fitness for other races, or can be utilized as just another training day with a more specific purpose.  C-Races are the races where you learn the most about your strategy as well.  This is the time to take advantage of race day scenarios such as swim comfort, bike strategy, run speed and strength, and most importantly transitions!

My swim, bike, and run training sessions had to be centered on short intervals at a higher than normal intensity.  ‘You must be comfortable being uncomfortable’ as Carlos Mendoza always says.  In order to create this ‘comfort’, incorporating strength on the bike and run was crucial.  My muscles must be anaerobically charged during each session, being left with a feeling of fatigue.  Just when I think I can’t do another interval, I have one more!
 

In preparation for short course racing through the summer, my bike and run training sessions with Jozsef Major remained and will remain similar to those built for long course racing.  The only change comes with intensity.  Tuesday’s continued to be hill repeats on the bike, again focusing on high gear, low cadence revolutions.  The focus of each pedal stroke must be power in the push and power in the pull.  Instead of using the consistent incline of Dynamite Road, we moved to Pinnacle Peak Road, east of Pima Road.  This particular hill offered a longer distance interval, with a steep climb 75% into the interval.  The goal of this hill was to teach my body to push when pushing felt almost impossible.  Thursday’s again were spent on Legacy Boulevard, between Hayden Road and Scottsdale Road, riding speed intervals.  These intervals were built on a 1-mile stretch of road designed to ride a threshold pace dependent upon race distance.  Where originally the pace was designed at a 40K-type effort, now the focus was on short course pacing, closer to threshold.  Wednesday’s back at the track, each interval type session was shortened to 400 meter and 800 meter time trials.  The goal was to hold a 5K-type pace with each interval, making the first just as fast as the last.  Utilizing the expertise of John Reich, run coach for the Phoenix Free Soles, he designed specific type sessions based upon my progress in the beginning of the year.  Friday’s back at Bell Hill for hill repeats, the purpose of this session remained the same; running hills with a consistent grade while focusing on running mechanics in order to increase strength while battling fatigue.  As always my weekends were spent recovering at an aerobic pace on both the bike and the run. 

 

The Swim: Just like most Life Time events in Tempe, the race got off to a late start.  My wave was supposed to start at 7:06, but was delayed to somewhere around 7:16.  While standing behind the wave sign, wave #9, I saw it was quite large for even the sprint distance.  I like that!  I expected to have a good race, and I enjoy the challenge of other elite athletes in my age group.  I saw Lewis Elliot, local pro from Tri Scottsdale.  I saw Nick Goodman, founder of Durapulse Performance.  And I saw Nick Wirksi, fellow teammate of ONE Elite.  These are all excellent athletes, and I expected to be pushed harder than I ever have before.  These are the athletes I knew I would be chasing.  My wave consists of ages 0-39, which I have always found odd, because you and I both know, there have never been 0 aged athletes………but ONE day, maybe! 

The weather is perfect!  High 60’s and overcast with no chance of rain.  The water temperature was a reportedly 69 degrees.  The conditions are set for, what I expected to be, a fast race!

The horn for wave #8 sounded and the MC directed my wave to the stairs.  As I hit the water, I immediately am bombarded with athletes to my left and right.  As I swam to the buoy line, I shifted to the right next to the boat dock.  In years past, I have found staying to right during the start creates a funnel that leads to the center buoy line as I breach the turn around, regardless the distance.

I positioned myself just behind two other athletes at the front.  I’m confident in my swimming, but I also knew my swimming is a weakness.  The sound of the music drowns out the announcer, and at this point I have no idea how much time we have left until the horn.  The camera man seated on the dock to my left says 30 seconds.  I looked eastbound and saw the large orange buoy, designated as the turnaround point for the sprint race.  It seems closer than I originally thought it would be.  Fifteen seconds……I close my eyes and take one last deep breath.  As if a movie of the course is fast forwarded through my mind, I visualize the speed of the race.  Fast is smooth and smooth is fast!  ‘You must be comfortable being uncomfortable!’.

The horn sounded, and an audible of splashing water sent my mind into a deafening focus.  The key to the swim will be position to the turnaround, and increased speed to the finish.  I found the two swimmers in front of me underestimated their speed, and I am forced to split them in order to get ahead.  Just a 100 meters in and I found myself with nothing but open water.  I quickly settle in and began to sight.  My large wave quickly turned to just a lead pack and whoever is chasing me.  I already knew my swim would be weak, but I hold my own until the turn around. 

As I breached the turnaround, I found myself intertwined in the Olympic distance loop.  Luckily, I had little difficulty navigating around these swimmers, but ultimately I knew my average pace was slower than normal.  Mentally defeating myself this early in the race would be detrimental, so I continued to focus on my pull and hip rotation………anything to take my mind off the fact I’ll be more than a minute down upon exiting the swim.  Under the Mill Avenue bridge and I sighted the final turn buoy.

As I made the final turn towards the swim exit, I increased my kicking cadence in order to flush blood into my legs.  No matter the distance of the swim, you must understand when you change your body position from horizontal to vertical, several adjustments occur.  The first is blood to the legs.  The second is equilibrium to the head.  Both are challenging, and both have different effects on the body.  I reached for a Vol-ONE-teer, and he fishes me out of the water with ease.  I get pulled onto the base of the stairs, and immediately feel tightness and cramping in my right hamstring.  This is normal……don’t panic!  The blood in my legs is changing direction, and cramping is not only normal, but expected.

I stripped my wetsuit off my upper body, and pulled it down past my waist.  I approached a wetsuit stripper and took advantage of his assistance.  Quickly, he rips the wetsuit from my body and I was up and running towards T1.  My Garmin reads 12:35.  A slow swim, but the game is still ON! 

        

*Swim Time: 13:19*

T1:  I entered T1 and looked for the Kettle Corn Food Truck just outside the fence of transition; they are conveniently positioned in front of my row.  The sweet smell of kettle corn filled the air as I made the turn to my rack.  ‘I’ll be back shortly, save me some corn boys’, I say to myself.  With no other athletes in my row retracting their bikes, I found my aero helmet and sunglasses had been knocked off my aero bars……really??  A small adjustment I didn’t expect, but there was no time to pout.  Transition is everything in a race like this, and just the slightest pause could mean the difference between first and third.

The bike was prepped, the helmet and sunglasses were secure, and T1 slowly became a blur.  I reached the mount line, bike shoes clipped and banded in place.  With one fluid motion, I placed my right foot in my shoe and continued to roll forward.  T1……done!

*T1 Time: 0:55* 

The Bike:  Just outside the parking lot, I strapped my shoes and began to pedal, using a low gear to spin out my legs.  As I rounded the corner to head west on Rio Solado, I saw Nick Goodman sporting his Durapulse race kit.  I yelled to him, ‘I’m on your ass Durapulse!’.  It must have lit a fire under his tires, because Nick soon became another biker in the distance.  Nick went on the finish 3^rd Overall.  That’s why he is the coach and I am the student!

The road was smooth and fast as I settled into pace.  After taking a sip of some Skratch Labs, I shifted into the big ring and laid into aero position.  My bike speed easily hit 26 mph as I reached one of the first turns to head south onto Priest.  I was familiar with this course after having ridden it several times prior in other races.  The course was riddled with turns, but I was comfortable with bike movement at race pace.  The only dilemma I had to be aware of would be the other athletes ahead of my position.  Prior to my wave start, all athletes competing in the Olympic distance were set off in their respective waves.  This would present a challenge, but not a problem given the course layout.  

Mile two and three into the bike and my average speed remained consistent just above 24 mph.  My legs were burning from the output, but this pain is normal and expected.  There is a fine line between discomfort and over exertion.  You must know where that line is drawn and stay as close to the breaking point as you can get without cramping.  ONE Elite Athlete Nick Wirksi passes me on the left like I’m slow rolling on a beach cruiser.  He goes on to finish 4^th Overall, and 1^st in his Age Group (M25-29).

Back onto Rio Solado eastbound towards McClintock, my bike speed remains high as does my output.  My heart rate reaches 160 beats per minute.  I am uncomfortable at this point……good!  I can still see Nick ahead of my position pushing the pace, but he is slowly creating a larger and larger gap between us.  I continued to pass several other athletes and found my average bike speed had increased to 24.7 mph.  I was still uncomfortable, but not over exerting.

With a circus of turns to negotiate throughout the course, I was only able to settle into a comfortable pace for just a few minutes before I reached the next turnaround at Rio Salado and Mclintock.  Back westbound onto Rio Salado, I knew this was the part of the road that seems to have just a slight decline.  I took advantage of the speed of the road and began to push my pace.  With just about five miles left, I was still uncomfortable. 

I made the northbound turn onto Mill Avenue and briefly came out of aero position to regain momentum over the first 100 feet of the road that slightly climbed.  The next mile fought back as the elevation changed just enough to drop my real speed to about 22 mph.  I tucked tightly into my aero position and focused on a high pedal cadence with an even amount of power output.

After I made the final U-turn, turning south on to Mill Avenue, the road leveled out and began to descend.  Over the next two miles, I used the slight descent to spin out my legs knowing T2 is just around the corner.  Still tucked tightly into aero, I reached the final turn onto Rio Salado and unstrapped both my shoes and loosened my feet.  I still continued to pedal and took one last sip of my Skratch Labs and prepared for my dismount.

*Bike Time: 30:48* 

T2: With no loss of momentum, I straddled the side of my top tube and hopped off the bike.  My legs let me know they were fresh despite the burning and I used the first few steps of my dismount to test my cadence.  Under the bike-in arch, I unstrapped my helmet and loosened the straps from my ears.  I ultimately reached my bike rack and zeroed in on my run gear.  Zoot shoes, race belt, and Bondi Band……that’s it!  Just as I entered my row, I saw Nick turn towards the run out.  I still had him in my sights! Just as fast as I entered T2, I slipped my shoes on and grabbed a hold of my race belt and Bondi Band.  T2……done!

*T2 Time: 1:02* 

The Run: With my race belt and my orange ONE Elite Bondi Band in hand, I hit the run-out arch and took to the sidewalk.  I am immediately overtaken by Oscar Nishiz, as he ran by me like I was standing still.  I could see his running form and cadence were in total sync and much smoother than mine.  He goes on to take 2^nd Overall, just behind Lewis.  There is no time to spare, so I must do what I can while I’m still moving.  Anything more than slipping my shoes on in transition would be wasted time, and wasted time would cost me at the end.  Just 100 meters outside of transition and I came across the Clif Shot Zone.  Fellow athlete and awesome spectator, Laurel Darren, yells to me.  With a quick nod of my head and wave of my hand, the Clif Shot Zone soon became a blur.

The sound of my feet turning over against the gravel of the path drew my focus.  I quickly glanced at my Garmin………6:37 pace.  Today, the goal was a sub twenty 5K run split……could I do it?  I sighted the Rural Road bridge in the distance and could see a faint picture of another ONE Elite race kit.  I then saw Oscar quickly closing the gap as he continued at a brutal pace. 

Onto the Rural Road bridge northbound, and I saw Oscar overtake Nick, just as they both made the westbound turn onto the path beneath the bridge.  This is essentially the half way point.

Just onto the same path off of the Rural Road bridge and I looked up to see another athlete running northbound nearing my position.  I could tell he was a stronger runner than me, but the true test of strength would come at the base of the Mill Avenue bridge.  I knew there was slight hill I had to clear before Mill, and this always seemed to be the part of the run where other athletes would hold back……wrong!  This is the part of the course you must push yourself past the point of discomfort.  I settled into my pace as I sighted Mill Avenue in the distance.  The runner behind was not my focus. 


I reached the Mill Avenue bridge and fellow ONE Elite Athlete, Teri Kelley, gave me a shout out and directed me towards the hill under the bridge.  I was in the last mile of the run, and now was the time push the pace.  176 beats……178 beats……heart rate numbers I rarely saw.  At the base of the hill, my training took over as my body just followed along.  For weeks, I chased Jozsef Major up Bell Hill focusing on the strength of my turnover with resistance through elevation.  This hill was no different, and just for a moment I could see the faint image of Jozsef just ahead of me cresting the hill! 

I made the turn on Mill Avenue and gave a quick glance to my right just before I hit the road.  NO ONE!  My chase runner was nowhere to be seen.  There was no time to celebrate……keep moving.  My average pace dropped to 6:26.  

As I reached the final turn entering Tempe Beach Park, I could hear the muffled sound of the announcer.  Breaking the edge of the finish chute, I pushed it as hard as I could.  Just like turning the volume knob on a radio, the sound of crowd turned to a roar.  As I neared the finish arch, I gave the crowd my infamous finish pose.  “This could be no other than Branden Turley with ONE Multisport!”, the MC exclaims. 

As I reached the final turn entering Tempe Beach Park, I could hear the muffled sound of the announcer.  Breaking the edge of the finish chute, I pushed it as hard as I could.  Just like turning the volume knob on a radio, the sound of crowd turned to a roar.  As I neared the finish arch, I gave the crowd my infamous finish pose.  “This could be no other than Branden Turley with ONE Multisport!”, the MC exclaims. 

*Run Time: 20:25* 

**Finish Time: 1:06:27**

***1^st in Age Group (M30-34), 6th Overall***

Up on the podium, I was fortunate to sport my new ONE Elite Podium Polo.  A special thanks to Kirk Howell with the ICO Store for working diligently to get these polo’s distributed prior to Marquee so The ONE Elite Team could be smilin’ and stylin’.  Also, a special thanks to all our ONE Elite Sponsors Endurance Rehab, Destination Kona, Fuel to the Finish, Integrated Orthopedics, Life Time Tri, My Oatmeal, Pei Wei, Biotec Wellness, Lush Burger, Scottsdale Health Magazine, and John Dean Realty Group.

Today, I was humbled by the abilities of my fellow competitors.  I love the thrill of the unknown that racing brings, I love how the adrenaline pushes me farther and farther each time, and I love the challenge of competition.  No matter the event, it is important to me to look back and analyze the day.  Short course may be fast, but there is always enough time to assess the output.  I PR’d by over 3 minutes improving in all three disciplines.  Of course, with a new PR comes new expectations!!  My road to the Ironman 70.3 World Championship had just begun.....

The 2015 continues to roll on………next up, FIESTA AT THE BEACH!!  Rock Point Triathlon, here I come! 

   

Getting My Game Face On!

There is a pretty simple fact that will keep every triathlete humble on any given race day. There are always going to be individuals that can show up at any competition that are faster than you. That is why age group results are so interesting because you can end up not making podium in your own age group but if you were 10 years younger you could've maybe won your AG. It all depends who shows up on any particular day.  

This thought process came into my head many weeks as I prepared for the first real local triathlon test of the season; the Marquee Tri put on by LifetimeTri Events. This year, there was no Leadman or half Ironman distance to complete in; only a International/Olympic and Sprint/Super Sprint distance option. That means athletes like Todd Witten, Greg Stelzer, and newly aging up phenoms like Kris Milobar would be racing with me. 

It's no secret that the Olympic distance gives an advantage to strong swimmers. I cannot put myself yet in that category.  Being a decent cyclists and strong runner sometimes does not allow enough terrain or territory to make up for some of the swim deficits provided by people like Greg and Todd. 10k is usually not far enough to make up 3 to 5 minutes! But what's an old guy to do but give it my best shot and go for it. Game face on!

Race conditions this Sunday were perfect. Overcast skies and cool temperatures and hardly any wind. I am continuing to work with Frank Sole at Sole Swim Solutions this season. I have to practice what I preach and that is good triathletes are always trying to improve on their limitors. Swimming is my limitor! I can't believe it's April already and I had not yet been in my wetsuit.  I have so much to work on including stroke and hip rotation but felt that this race would be a good indication just to see how much work I have ahead of me in the swim.

Even with almost 30 years of open water swimming experience, I still tend to be very conservative in the beginning of a race. When the blow horn blew for Wave 5 (Males 50+) I stayed to the right and focused on my long stroke. I must've been thinking too hard because I drifted way to the right of the lake - too far from the guide buoys and too close to the wall. I guess I was enjoying my new Tyr Goggles I just picked up at Destination Kona Friday afternoon. Nothing like seeing so clearly even with overcast skies  - even when you realize you have to swim diagonally to get to the yellow turn buoy! No issues for the second half of the swim and (as usual - this has to change) I picked up my pace to make up for the slower first half swim. I knew I had my work cut out for me when I exited the water steps to be wetsuit "stripped" by our One Multisport wonderful volunteers and saw 26 minutes and change. 

Post race, I was teasing my crossfit friends at Power in Motion that I had a hard time getting my wetsuit off over my arms now. Ha! 

My Carmichael Training System coach, Nick White, made it clear that this race was to be done at time trail mode. An all out speed training day. I was excited to see what I could do on the bike with many indoor trainer watt interval sessions this past month. I want to acknowledge Cyclologic and their expertise for setting me up with race wheels and my tune up. Ron does a fantastic job making my Valdora PHX2 fast and race ready. 

The bike course was a fast and flat 2 loop journey with a good share of 180° turns. I picked off many on the first lap and felt strong on the 23-24 mph average range staying at an approx 140 bpm Heartrate. I need to replace my cassette soon and was warned it is needed by Ron at Cyclologic. I now may need to do it before St. George 70.3 on May 2nd since I seemed to skip gears once and a while during the race. The last thing I want (besides a flat) is to lose my chain! I came into T2 at just over 1:04 and saw Kris Milobar's bike already racked and resting. I didn't know where Todd and Scott were on the course, but I was sure there were other 50-54 males I needed to chase immediately - and I only had 6+ miles to do it!

I hardly ever have issues running off the bike. In fact, in Ironman distance races, it is very hard for me to slow down to conserve energy and pace for the long marathon ahead. Today, that was not going to be a problem. I hit the crushed granite on the south lake with a vengeance and when I looked at my Garmin Forerunner 920XT. (product placement plug!) I was running at a 6:10 pace. I doubted that I could hold that kind of pace but I did decide a sub 6:30 average was possible. I am pretty sure I passed a couple of guys I didn't know that might have been in my AG but after crossing the Rural Bridge to head west on the north side of the lake, I recognized the Trisports Trikit of Billy Oliver from Tucson. Dang! I forgot about Billy. He had an awesome bike and as I approached him, I said hi...and bye. There was a good chance I am still in 4th or 5th place. I love my Zoot Team buddies and their neon green uniforms are easy to track. (I mean spot) On the 2nd of 2 laps, I saw another Billy, Billy Jones. For one more season, Billy is still USAT age 49. As I came behind him and passed he said, go get Dirk Ross, also with Team Zoot.  Billy also asked me, "Why are you going so fast, you're too old for this?" He was right but I was on a mission! As I came to Dirk, he said "Kris is just up ahead." Just over a mile to go and I really couldn't see him. But then, right before getting on the Mill Ave Bridge for the turn home - there he was. Before I could think about it too hard or long, there were no other triathletes between us. The last climb was enough to put me right behind him. As we came to the peak of the Bridge, we were side by side. (Photo above thanks to Paul Keller) I am the first to tell anyone and everyone that I am a slow twitch animal.  Fast twitch muscle fibers elude my DNA. I could only assume I had one shot and as the downhill on the bridge began, I picked it up and didn't look back. Well, until I hit the grass just before he finish chute. There, I turned to the right and saw no one. A sprint finish to hear Garrett Grossi, race announcer, remind everyone that I sang the National Anthem a few hours before as well as proclaim my arrival. My run time was 41:14 for an average pace of 6:28 on the (little long) 6.46 mile run.

Total Time: 2:15:24 

Todd Witten was first Scott was 2nd and I got 3rd. I honestly hated the fact that our finish put Kris off the podium but as awards were announced, they pulled Todd to the overall top three male amateur finishers so that put Scott in first, me 2nd and moved Kris up to 3rd in this 50-54 slugfest!

It was a great day! Special congrats to my fellow ONE Elite teammates, Nic Wirski,  Michael Whitesides, Branden Turley, Maureen Needham, Lauren Krueger and Jenni Marshall who all podiumed in their race! Of course, thank you to One Multisport, our wonderful club, other sponsors like MyOatmeal, and MDrive which are a big part of my daily and race day maintenance plan. Again, Frank Sole and Sole Swimming Solutions, Destination Kona, and Cyclologic for equipping me to be race ready! Valdora Cycles and CTS along with my friends at PIM! 

Onward to St. George 70.3 in a couple of weeks! I plan on traveling with my middle son, Nathan on the trip and am looking forward to the time together!

Until next time, get your game face on and go for it! You might surprise yourself!

Dan