IRONMAN Arizona Race Report

The week before Ironman Arizona is always great, full of events and get togethers with friends and fellow athletes! I was very happy that I had the chance to attend at local store events and talk about what I like the best: triathlon!

 

Ironman Arizona has been always a special race to me! The race organizers thought the same way because I was honored to get bib #2.

 

Everything was race-ready including my super weapon: the SwiftCarbon Neurogen. I just simply love this set up with the 3T Brezza II aerobars, ISM Adamo Racing Saddle and Continental tires. In one word: fast.

My lucky Halloween gloves

 

In the morning I did my usual ritual: warming up with a rubber bend. Then I put my XTERRA Vendetta wetsuit on and headed to the start.

Photo: muppetdogs.blogspot.com

The start was a key moment: I've always started on the right side of the startline since I first raced here. So I did the same this year. But it turned out that all the faster swimmers were on the other side and I stucked in a much slower group.

Swim:

Photo: One Multisport

Apparently I was the only pro who had his wetsuit stripped. Thank you to all the volunteers!

T1:

Photo: www.jelarsonphotography.com

Bike:

Photo: www.jelarsonphotography.com

When I started the bike I felt great. I realized that I was a bit further from the lead group than I expected but my legs felt good and I pushed it hard.

Photo: Tribe Multisport

Everything went great until the half way point...

9.7 miles

Matt Reed:

Jordan Rapp:

Victor Del Corral:

Me:

Right at the beginning of the bike I was 7:56 min back to the lead group, 4:27 min to Jordan, and 3:05 to Victor.

27.8 miles

Matt Chrabot:

Jordan Rapp:

Victor Del Corral:

Me:

At 27.8 miles I was 5:18 min back to the lead group, 3:35 back to Jordan, and 2:20 to Victor.

Everything was under control, I was happy that I could ride a steady pace, and I had the overall best bike splits through 56 miles. I drank my GSH Ignite Pro Series and IN Refresh systematically with the energy bars. It worked great as always.

56 miles

Jordan Rapp:

Victor Del Corral:

Me:

At half way I was able to close the gap, I could literally see the leader guys in front of me. I was 3:17 min back to the leader, Jordan and only 59 seconds back to Victor, who rode at the end of a group.

We just turned back on Shea and I could see my chance of catching up as I was heading towards the group. But then something happened, something like a sudden burst of a balloon. It was totally unexpected, my legs didn't want to push anymore.

I finished the bike, but I fell back 12 min to the leader and 5 min to the group. And my legs weren't fresh at all.

After the bike I wanted to give another try and I focused on the run mentally. I wanted to succeed so bad that I started to run as hard as I could. But it hurt... I felt that I had no energy at all.

 

ZOOT Ultra Race 4.0 is the best.

I could see and hear all of my friends, family and everyone cheering for me on the course. I really wanted to push harder, run faster for them, and for myself too. It was very special to hear my name so many times during the race! Thank you to everyone who cheered me on!

Finish:

   THANK you to all of my sponsors: 

ZOOT, 

SWIFTCARBON, 

IGNITE NATURALS, 

XTERRA WETSUITS, 

SOUTHWEST REALTY AND PROPERTY MANAGEMENT-AZ, 

3T CYCLING, 

ISM SEAT, 

SPIUK,

CONTINENTAL, 

DC RANCH VILLAGE HEALTH CLUB AND SPA, 

SOLE SWIM SOLUTIONS, 

SERGIO BORGES X TRAINING and 

FITLETIC.

IRONMAN Florida Race Report in pictures

The white sand and blue sky is always a breathtaking view.

Excited to swim in the ocean!

Pre race ride.

Two days before the race black clouds started to come...

We decided to swim anyways. The water was choppy but wasn't cold at all.

The day before the race the thunderstorm arrived. NO swim!

On race morning the weather was calm and not that chilly. Prepared everything in the transition area.

Warmed up properly with the rubber band. This is a MUST for me before every race.

Running into the second loop on the swim. The waves pretty much tore our group apart.

Lucy was waiting at the start of the bike to tell me the time differences. 

I was very determined rolling out on the bike course. Didn't expect to flat down in one and a half hour later.

After I fixed the first flat at around 45 miles with a pit foam I continued to ride but felt something was not 100%.  At around 80 miles the surface was very rough and I flatted again. This time I had no choice but to change the tubular. 

At half mile on the run course. I was very disappointed about the two flats. I lost approximately 2 x 8 min while I was trying to fix them. I started to run...

... but later I decided to save my legs for Ironman Arizona. It was disappointing that I had such a bad luck. I was well prepared and felt strong. I look forward to race in Arizona on November 17th.

After the race we enjoyed the beautiful view while I was recovering.

Thank you for all the support, and cheering, and thanks to all my sponsors for helping me racing and make my dream come true!

SOMA Triathlon Race Report

My first SOMA Half was in 2008. I was 4^th. Then in 2009 I raced 1.5 month after my bike accident and was 2^nd. I raced again in 2010, which was a bad experience: after a very busy season I was very, very tired and came in 10^th.

This was my short SOMA Triathlon history.

This year I planned to do the race as a good “training/tune up” for IRONMAN Florida. I was very happy that it was organized two weeks before the IRONMAN. Local races are the best! It's great to see so many friends and fellow triathletes! Arizona has the most supportive Tri Clubs, Tri/Bike/Run shops and Tri Community!

Lining up before the start.

The beautiful Tempe race venue.

In the morning we didn’t have too much time to warm up in the water before the pro start. In the first half of the swim I felt a little weak. But in the second half I was able to hold a nice and steady pace and finished the swim 20 seconds back to the leader trio.

Running out of T1.

After a quick transition (it was quick compared to my previous transition times) I started to chase down the leader trio, who were riding separately from each other. I passed the third, then the second place rider and rode comfortably in second place.

Pushing hard on my SwiftCarbon Neurogen.

As a preparation for IRONMAN Florida I had some important workouts this week. My legs weren’t too fresh and I just focused on keeping a steady pace behind Lewis Elliot. He was on fire! In the second loop the gap between us increased to more than 1 min. When I started the third (final) loop I also got a “friendly reminder” from my wife that I’d better pick up the pace and go for the best bike split.

I knew I couldn’t let him go. I pushed hard and caught up with him by the end of the bike. When I started to run I was in the lead but I realized that the second and third were very close behind me.

Laurel is like my "good luck charm". When she is the 1st-place-male lead bike I always win!

Then suddenly my role changed: from being a chaser I became the chased one. Because of the two-loop run course I couldn’t see how far they were behind me. I just knew that the one guy behind me was running fast (Later I found out that he was Kyle Hummel.). I didn’t want him to catch me so I ran harder. I held a 5:50 min per mile pace until the 11 mile mark when I saw that I was several minutes ahead of him. On the last few miles I just ran to finish.

It was very cool to run across the finish line in first place! It was the first time I won the SOMA Triathlon!

 

Thank you to Kimo Seymour, John Sellinger and the entire LTT Crew for organizing a great race!

It was a great opportunity to represent my local sponsors: I'm thankful to the Southwest Realty and Property Management - Arizona for sponsoring me. Thanks to DC Ranch Village Health Club and Spa for the best swim, bike, run, strength training, stretching and recovery time!

Thanks to all my sponsors and partners for their support:

Zoot, SwiftCarbon, 3T, Spiuk, ISM, Xterra Wetsuits, Sergio Borges X Training, Continental, Ignite Naturals, Sole Swim Solutions!