11 Aug 2018 - USAT AG Nationals

USA Triathlon National Championships for Age Group athletes is a big deal.  It only happens once a year and the top 18 in each age group qualify for team USA and get to compete at the world Triathlon championships.  On Saturday is the Olympic distance (just under 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run) race and on Sunday is the Sprint (just under 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 3.2 mile run) race.  To compete in the Olympic distance you have to win your age group in a local triathlon or finish in the top 10%.  In other words you must earn an invite.  The Sprint distance race is open to anyone.

So to attend the Olympic race you must be very good or very lucky.  In my case it was a combination of having a good day and being lucky.  I won my AG at the Littlefoot Triathlon by less than a minute on a cool rainy day last September.  Everything went right for me that day which is how I earned my invite to the National Championships.

This is actually my 3rd year in a row to qualify for Nationals.  I know better athletes that have never qualified so I feel extremely fortunate.  In 2016, I participated and was humbled by the event and the competition.  The athletes that come to this event are mostly there thinking they have a legitimate chance to make Team USA.  What an honor it would be to wear the Team USA uniform and compete at the world competition!  Even though I knew my chances were very slim I was hoping for a miracle.

I took this event seriously both times I participated.  In 2016, I was self coached and finished 99th out of 109 in my AG.  In other words I only beat about 10 of the 55-59 year old dudes and finished  in the bottom 10%.  In 2018, I hired Bob Seebohar as my coach and worked my tail off all year to prepare for this event.  I can honestly say I am either in or close to the best shape I have ever been in.  Endless hours in the pool, gym, biking, open-water-swimming, running, or doing body weight training.  Pretty much have been working out almost everyday.  So much exercise I reached the point where I got a little tired of it.

The rest of this blog is on my experience this year.  I improved slightly over 2016 but was nowhere close to where I hoped to be.  I finished 134th out of 151 in my AG.  So this year I beat 17 people and finished in the bottom 20%.

The Venue

The event was held this year at Edgewater Park in Cleveland Ohio.  A beautiful park that was an ideal venue in my opinion.  Here a couple pictures from the venue.  Yes that is Lake Erie where the swim was held.

The famous Cleveland sign!

A warm welcome to the venue from USAT.

And now from the other side of the Cleveland sign.

Representing eNRG and USAT in this picture.

Another cool sign at the venue.

Packet Pickup and Pre-race

On Friday I picked up my race packet.  There were really long lines but they moved pretty quickly.  The race packet included the standard stuff (race number for bike and helmet, and run bib) and also race tatoos, a cool hat and shirt, and timing chip.  There was also the standard literature handouts in the packet.

Next we visited all the vendor booths (all the big Triathlon names were there) and snagged a few free handouts.  Then I went to TriBike Transport and retrieved my bike.  My bike arrived in perfect shape so I was impressed with TriBike Transport.  They put my pedals on and pumped up my tires and then I took my bike for a spin. Everything seemed fine so I checked my bike into transition.  Transition was huge (see next section) and all the spots were pre-assigned.  I was fortunate to get a spot on the end of a row right by the bike exit.  Since I have a horrible sense of direction, it was a big help having a spot easy to find.

After this we checked out the swim area and I began to panic.  I looked at Lake Erie and the waves and heard the folks that were practice swimming say how rough the water was.  They had just  announced the water temperature was 78.9 degrees.  When the water is over 78 degrees we are not allowed to wear wetsuits.  I have never swam in anything like this and was really hoping to use the wetsuit.  Nothing I could so at this point so I just hoped the water cooled down over night

Waiting around for my swim wave to start.

Me and my gal!

Transition area

All I can say is wow, when I think of the transition area.  Not only was it huge and well organized, but the expensive bikes!   My bike cost about $3000.  Add on the fancy seat and aero bars and I probably spent closer to $3500.  Looking around transition, I saw Cervelo P5's and other bikes that easily cost $10000 or more.  By the time you put on race wheels it is easy to get over $15000.  

I made the point to talk to the vendor experts about what the equipment nets you.  From what they say a properly fit triathlon bake can net 1-2 mph more speed.  Add on a decent set of race wheels and you can net another 1-2 mph in speed.  So if I add the two up I am losing 2-4 mph in speed to almost everyone in my age group before I get on the bike.  I looked around in my age group and did not see another road bike nor a bike without race wheels.  If the experts are correct then that leaves me at a huge disadvantage before I even get on my bike.

My bike was one of the first in transition.

Race morning we are getting all setup.

My transition area all setup.

My road bike amongst all the tri bikes and fancy wheels.

Swim

Lake Erie is beautiful but treacherous!  The swim was the toughest I have ever done.  It was like swimming in a washing machine.  Everywhere you turned you were getting slapped with water.  It was also tough to sight (make sure I was going the right way) and figure out a way to swim without inhaling water.   I was never able to get a good rhythm and the swim ended up taking me about 10 minutes more than I had hoped.  That's a bunch of time!  Also it seems the swim was much longer than 1500 as my garmin registered 2283 yards and my swim was fairly straight.  Overall my swim was a disaster but I survived it.  There was one guy that died on the swim and several others were pulled from the water.  The water conditions were so bad that they cancelled the swim portion of the race on Sunday.

The water looks beautiful from here.

The water doesn't look so bad from here.

Getting ready for my swim adventure.

My age group heading to the warm-up area.

My swim wave takes off into the washing machine.

video of my wave swim start.

This sign says it all!

Phew, finally finished the swim!

Running to transition and the bike start.

Bike

The 25 mile bike ride was next after the long run from the beach to transition.  I developed leg cramps as I was running into transition so had to slow down a little.  Once I arrived at my transition spot, I removed the wetsuit and took some saltstick capsules.  Luckily they worked quickly!  After this I put my bike gear on, stuffed my nutrition into the back of my trisuit and heading to the bike start.  My transition spot was right by the bike exit so I didn't have to run very far with the bike.  The bike ride was the funnest part of the triathlon for me.  I felt good the entire ride and averaged 19.96 mph.  My goal was to average 20mph so I am quite satisfied.  The course was mostly flat with a couple little climbs but nothing like we have in Colorado.   I don't remember seeing much on the course and it seems like it was over as soon as it started. 

On the bike and headed out of T1.

Another pic of me on the bike ride.

Down in aero and pedaling away.

Run

After dismounting my bike, I had a long way to run in T2 to get to my transition spot.  Running in bike shoes isn't too much fun but at least it was on grass.  I was able to get the bike racked and into my run gear fairly quickly.  Coming into T2 I knew I was way behind my fellow 55-59 year old comrades as it seemed everyone else had already racked their bikes and moved to the run.  This was a bit discouraging but I told myself this is "my race" and to just do my best.

Running has been tough for me lately.  I've had breathing issues, low heart-rate issues and issues with running in the sunlight.  For some reason the direct sunlight just zaps me lately to the point where I end up needing to take short walk breaks.  It was not overly hot during the run but the sun was glaring away.  I knew this would be a problem but wanted to push through.  I started fairly strong and then came the biggest hill on the course.  I ran about half way up and then needed to walk a bit.  At the top of the hill was a water stop so I drank a small amount and poured the rest on my body to hopefully cool me down.  Once I did this I was able to run again until I hit the other hill on the course.  Even with walk breaks on the hills, I was still managing around 9:30 per mile.  At each water stop I poured water on myself and tried to keep pushing.

The run course was 2 laps so we had to run the hills twice.  I slowed down a bit the second time through the course but still ended up averaging 9:41 per mile.  I had hoped to do the run in under and hour and my official time was 1:00:01 so I was satisfied with my run.

Poor form but pushing through the run.

Run Bob run!

Pushing hard here on the run.

The Finish Line

The finish line was really cool.  See the pictures below.  They had a run chute lined with American flags and we finished by running on red carpet to the finish line.  There were announcers and music and it was just a fun way to finish.  They threw in a small bridge before the finish that we had to run up and then it was downhill and fast to the finish chute.  Once we crossed the finish, they provided  refreshments, wet cold towels,  and hung the really cool finishers medal around our neck.  

Finishing this race was really special for me.  Though I knew I didn't do very well compared to most others in my age group, I know I did my best and finished a tough race.  Only 151 people in my age group were invited, attended and completed this race.  There were about 6 people in my age group that started but didn't finish the race.  I don't know if I will ever be back and feel blessed for this experience.

The chute to the finish line.

The chute to the finish line.

Doing my best to finish strong!

I was so excited to reach the finish line.

Proudly displaying my finisher's medal!

Finishers's medal.

By the numbers:
Swim:    46:09    (133/151 AG) (1511/1607  Men)  (2628/2892  Overall)
     T1:      5:42 
 Bike:  1:15:09    (130/151 AG)  (1320/1607 Men)  (1883/2892  Overall)
     T2:      2:14
  Run:  1:00:01   (140/151 AG)  (1408/1607 Men)  (2355/2892 Overall)
 Total:  3:09:14   (134/151 AG)  (1447/1607 Men)  (2367/2892 Overall)

Where we stayed and other things we did

We rented a condo in Little Italy through Homeaway (vrbo).  It was perfect for us.  It provided a place to cook meals and hang our hat on our trip.  The place was close to everywhere in Cleveland we needed to go and also close to a train station.  We actually used the train on Sunday when we went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Little Italy is a fun place to be.  We did a bunch of walking around and enjoying Italian food and the Italian people. 

Here a couple pics of the inside of the condo.  The leg lamp and rhino bust gave us a chuckle.

Presti's Italian Bakery was one of our favorite places in Little Italy.  Yum, they had great treats that I enjoyed after the race.  Julie enjoyed them both before and after the race.

Our favorite place to get Italian treats.

After race treats at the Italian Bakery.

Enjoying wine tasting at Italian liquor store.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was a fun experience. I'm not a huge rocker but really enjoyed the place. My favorite section was the roots of rock where they highlight country, blues and other early influencers of rock. The whole place was an experience Julie and I really enjoyed.  I would highly recommend it for anyone visiting Cleveland. 

Below are a couple restaurants we really enjoyed in Little Italy.  Etna had incredible seafood and is where we celebrated my successful completion of the race. Maxi's is where we enjoyed a pizza on the last night.  We had planned on eating leftovers that evening until we walked by the restaurant and saw another couple enjoying a pizza.  We couldn't resist stopping and having one ourselves! 

Next up for me is the Skinny Raven half marathon in Anchorage Alaska on 8/19.  So excited to run in Alaska!