13th place overall
2nd place men 30-34
I have been so busy with work and training that I haven't had the opportunity to do much blogging lately. Fortunately, last weekend I did my first triathlon of the season which gives me the perfect excuse to update my blog with a race report.
After a once over of the bikes, we headed for our traditional pre-race meal of pizza and back to Travis' house for an early bed time. On race morning we woke up at 4:30 and I had breakfast consisting of 2 packages of instant oatmeal, one pop tart, and a banana. After breakfast we headed over to transition to pick up our timing chips, get body marked, and set up our transition areas.
The race was scheduled to start at 7:00 a.m. with the elite/open athletes. Justin Moyer and Bob Flanigan were racing with the elites. My wave was scheduled to go off at 7:03. The swim was a two loop triangular course at the KOA campground lake. The lake is usually home to alligators, but the park service comes through and does a sweep the week before the race to make sure we don't became an early morning snack. After a quick jump in the water, I was ready to go. I shared a few laughs with the boys as we prepared to start.
SWIM- 27:56
The water was cool and crisp and the swim was wetsuit legal. I chose not to wear a wetsuit and instead raced for the first time in my new Xterra Speedsuit. In hindsight I should have done a practice swim as the speed suit was a bit constricting on the shoulders and took a bit of time to get used to. After the gun went off, there was the usual craziness of the swim start. There was a large contingent of fast swimmers and it took about 5-10 minutes to find open water. It took me quite a while to get into a good rhythm. About the time I started feeling smooth, we rounded the buoys for the second lap and caught up to the later waves. The rest of the swim was a bit more congested and I had to carefully pick my lines to avoid contact. I never felt great in the swim but I didn't feel terrible either. Overall I would say it was an average swim. My time was better than the previous year, but I still feel like it was a bit slow for the distance and may have left some on the table.
T1- 1:29
The Xterra suit is well engineered and comes off easily and quickly. It has a break away feature when you flip the zipper up and it peels right off. The transition was wet and muddy and my feet and legs were covered in dirt. Initially I tried to towel off but quickly realized it was futile and just put my bike shoes on mud and all. I got my my bike gear on, took my bike off the rack and headed out toward the road for the 56 mile bike course.BIKE- 2:20:39
AVG HR- 145
AVG Power- 246 Watts
AVG Speed- 23.6 mph
As soon as I crossed the timing mat, I hopped on my bike to begin the bike course. In typical Danny fashion, I managed to screw up and fumbled getting my shoes clipped in. As a result, I probably lost 15-30 seconds screwing around before I actually got moving. My dad got a shot of me struggling to get going.
Once out on the bike course, I started out a bit too aggressively. The first couple miles I went too hard and finally settled in at about the 5 mile marker. There is not much to say about this bike course except that it is BORING and mentally exhausting. After the race the boys and I joked that our favorite part of the course was the section that was "flat and straight". I did not feel good on the bike and the whole ride was a struggle. The ride was labored and grinding. I really struggled to keep my power dialed in and struggled mentally with the long flat straight aways. My goal was to ride between 240-250 watts and I struggled to stay in that range. I much prefer a bike course with rolling terrain as there is at least some opportunity for a mental break. I did most of the ride in close proximity to Hauserman who had an unbelievable performance. In stark contrast to me, he looked strong and smooth. In fact there were long sections where I really had to hammer to maintain contact with him. I really have to take my hat off to him as he had a truly unbelievable performance.
My bike nutrition consisted of one bottle of Gatorade Endurance (160 cals), one bottle of Gatorade Endurance with 2 scoops of Carbopro (360 calls) and one honey stinger waffle (160 cals). I also had one 20 ounce bottle of water. This seemed about right for the conditions as I only had to pee once. The weather during the ride was cool and foggy. I would guess that the temperature was in the 70's and the fog didn't burn off until the end of the ride.
This was the first time I rode my Zipp 808 FC front wheel and 900 clincher disk. This is a fast setup. Once you get these wheels up to speed they don't want to stop rolling. It seems like the faster you go, the more benefit you feel. At 25mph they want to ride themselves. At about mile 35 I was already thinking that I wanted to get off the bike. Needless to say the last few minutes were a grind and I could not wait to get onto the run course.
T2- 1:29
The second transition went a lot more smoothly. I pulled into the transition area just behind Hause and made a quick transition from my bike to run gear. There were no hiccups or missteps.
RUN- 1:33:49
AVG Pace- 7:10/Mile
The beginning of the run started off shaky. I almost immediately began experiencing significant quad cramping. Typically I have found that if you just keep moving the cramping will subside and your body will remember that it's time to run. The cramps continued for the entire first mile. When I hit the first aid station I had an "uh oh" moment where I needed to decide whether it was time to walk. Fortunately the salt tabs I had popped a few minutes earlier seemed to kick in and a few minutes later the cramps died down and I settled into a strong run pace.
After initial cramping issues, my run was a stark contrast to the bike. I felt strong and confident for the entire run. My pace was strong and controlled. This is where I have made my biggest strides this year and I am really excited about my run progress. It was amazing to feel like I was running up through the field as opposed to being hunted down by the stronger runners. There were only two runners that passed me during the entire run course. I was able to keep my paces within a tight window with my fastest mile just under 7:00 and my slowest at 7:22.
The run course was an out and back that you had to complete two times. I liked this particular aspect as it gave me the ability to see my CVE teammates out on the course and exchange words of encouragement. It was also nice to see my dad at the halfway point of the run and exchange a fist pump. The fog that was prevalent on the bike course had burned off by the time we started running. There were times when the the sun would come out, and it would get pretty hot. Fortunately there was occasional cloud cover which was a welcome respite from the heat.
For nutrition, I ate one package of powerbar chomps. The rest of my nutrition was acquired on the run course. I had two cups of coke, 2 cups of heed (gross) and water as needed. There were a few times during the run when I thought the cramps would return but fortunately they did not. Overall, I was extremely pleased with my run and this was the strongest segment of my race.
This race was a huge breakthrough and confidence builder for me. I set a PR at the distance by 23 minutes (set the previous year at this race). I am really excited about my progress and I am really pleased with my coaching from Bob Flanigan. I am putting in the work on a daily basis, and really reaping the rewards. Bob has put together a great training plan thus far, and I really feel like he has me on the right track to achieve my long term goals. A big thanks to coach Bob for my early season success.
It was also an unbelievable day for my CVE teammates. There were PR's across the board and multiple podiums. We have a great team and are a force to be reckoned with when we come out in numbers. Many congrats/thanks to my teammates for their inspiring performances and on course encouragement. I am truly lucky to race and train with such a great group of guys.
Team CVE made some waves down in Charleston....
Justin Moyer- 3rd Overall- 4:13:12 (This kid is legit, and has seriously strong stuff)
Bob Flanigan- 10th Overall- 4:19:47
Me- 13th Overall- 4:25:21
John Hauserman- 18th Overall- 4:31:42
Jeff Tunstall- 27th Overall- 4:35:31
Brad Onofrio- 36th Overall- 4:43:29
I want to give special congrats to my main training partner, John Hauserman, he had a mega PR and huge breakthrough. I love that he pushed me to my limits on the bike course and he motivated me to hammer on the run. Hause is going to do some big things this year.
Spark, Great update, It was great to be there to see theindividual excellence and the awesome group dynamic of the CVE wrecking crew, You Da Man, Kona , Kona , Kona
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