Rocketts Landing RR

Rocketts Landing Triathlon Race Report

July 24, 2011

Adam Otstot

Once again, Laurie Mehler and the Richmond Multisports team put on an incredible event.  I am so thankful that the Richmond area has a community that embraces the sport and works to create world class races.

The field this year was extremely competitive, with not only some of the best athletes from the Richmond area competing, but also athletes from clubs all over the Mid-Atlantic region.  It was shaping up to be a tough battle from start to finish.  

The weather was hot, but not nearly as suffocating as the year before, although the water temperature was much worse, a balmy 92F!  For maybe the first time ever, I would be looking forward to cooling down AFTER getting out of the water.

For those interested, I have somewhat unique eating habits pre-race.  I always like to eat a Subway sub the night before, and then the morning of, will eat a chocolate Powerbar, two strawberry frosted Pop-Tarts, a banana, and Gatorade.  Not the most nutritious morning breakfast, but I’ve been doing it since high school, and it seems to work ok from time to time.  

I lined myself up in the James with some of the stronger swimmers, with the strategy of staying in their wake as long as possible.  As the race started, there was a bit of congestion for the first 100 meters or so, but quickly it thinned out, and I was able to stretch out and get into a rhythm.  Luckily the swimming pool at the Williamsburg Rec Center is typically between 84-85F, so having to swim hard in hot water wasn’t too far out of my comfort zone.  I managed to stay with a solid group of about 4 guys for the swim and came out of the water in 19:40.  The swim was probably about 100 yards shorter than last year’s race, but having said that, even with an addition 1:30 added to that time, it would still have been a best time for me by close to 25 seconds.  As Borat would say, “Very Niice!”

I passed three of the guys who came out just before me in the swim on the way to the transition area, and before I pulled my bike off the rack, I made sure to take a couple good swigs from a water bottle I had put conveniently on my helmet before leaving to start the race.  I figured a couple seconds in T1 drinking water was time well spent in the long run.  I still ended up with a pretty fast transition, got on my Orbea and got rolling.

The bike was the best part of the day for me.  This was my first ride with Zipp 808’s, and they were amazing.  My goal was to ride just like I had been riding in training over the past couple of weeks, holding an average power of between 320-325 watts, with an average cadence around 90-93.  That’s pretty much exactly what I did.  I took the lead after about 3 miles into the bike leg, and just stayed at my goal pace.  Although there were a ton of duathletes out before us, I knew who to look out for at the turnaround to gauge my position in the race.  So halfway through I figured I was about 1:15 up on the next guys in my wave, and Dave Luscan (who can absolutely wail on the swim and bike) was about 2:00 ahead of me on chip time (he started 3:00 behind me in the second wave).  Sometimes you just have to trust your race plan regardless of what others are doing in the race.  So I stayed in my power range, continued to pass duathletes, and ended the bike at the same power as I started off on, which is always a great sign that you won’t be cooked on the run.  I managed to come into T2 right before Dave, who was now 3:00 ahead of me.  

I was feeling good, hydrated, and fueled, and ready to rock the run.  The plan was to start at 5:45 and drop the pace from there if necessary.  First mile 5:42.  Second mile 5:44.  I felt smooth and relaxed, and the volunteers at the aid stations did a great job handing me drinks and ice towels to keep my core temperature down.  At the run turnaround I found out that I was now about 1:30 ahead of second place, so I continued to cover ground as effortlessly and lightly as I could.  As I finished I felt proud of my effort, thankful that I stayed safe the entire race, and honored that I represent Richmond Velosport and 3Sports, who have continually helped me in many ways to achieve my goals.  I also could not have been here without the help of First Endurance Nutrition and CORE Fitness.  

My finishing time was 1:55:34, a new personal record for an Olympic Triathlon by about 2 minutes.  I figure that even if the swim was a true 1500m, I would have still pulled out a PR by half a minute or so.  

Congratulations to everyone who finished this grueling event, I am always humbled to watch racers digging deep into the pain cave and realizing their own goals.  See you all out on the course soon.

Adam

IM Texas

I registered for IM Texas yesterday.  I'm very excited.  I believe the long course is where my strengths truly shine through.  I have so many goals for this race, it's ridiculous.  Of course I will share them here, since I am the only one who reads this, and I am prone to forget things form time to time.

1.  Qualify for Kona 2012
2.  Race sub 9 hours  -- this may prove difficult based on the weather conditions, but I want to put myself in a position to be able to do it in Kona, so I'd better try and get close here
3.   First amateur finisher
4.  Sub 3 hour marathon

I want number one at all costs.  Numbers 2-4 would be icing on the cake, but I believe with the correct preparation, focus, and toughness, they are all possible.

Powersprint Triathlon

The Powersprint Triathlon, put on by Richmond Multisports, continues to be one of my favorite races to compete in.  It was my first triathlon ever, and when possible, I like to come back and test myself on the course.  This year I had high expectations for myself, as I'm just now starting to round into some decent form.

I had my best swim ever for a 300m pool swim:  4:15.  I'm fortunate that I am able to just keep chipping time off of that standard.  I still honestly believe that I should be able to swim closer to 4:00 in a distance like that, but as long as I keep getting faster and faster, I can't complain.

I knew Dave Luscan would be tough to race against, as well as Ryan Peterson.  Ryan started way ahead of me, so I figured I wouldn't be seeing him for the entire race.  Dave, however, only started 20 seconds ahead of me, so when I passed a man wearing the same swimsuit as Dave after 150 m in the pool, I though, "could that have been him?"  That odd thought stayed in my mind all the way until I reached my bike.  When I noticed Dave's bike was already gone, I realized I had mistaken the other gentleman whom I passed.

The bike was fine.  I basically went as hard as I could, managing to pass all but Dave and Ryan by the time I got back to T2.  My split was right on par with what I was expecting, about 15 seconds off my best time there.

I felt good, got up and running, and for the first mile, things were going great.  The second mile was pretty awful, and the third wasn't much better, but I pulled myself together enough to keep it moving at a decent speed.  Luckily for me I caught up to Dave with about 200 meters to go, and we had a sprint the the finish.  Without that sprint, I would have finished second, as Ryan ended up finishing just one second behind me in the overall standings.  Dave finished a scant 20 seconds behind me.

Both athletes had super races, and I am very thankful to be able to come out of it healthy.  I believe this was the closest race for the top 3 that the race has ever seen, and probably 3 of the fastest times as well.  I know I've raced in the 50's and 49:xx a couple times, and Michael Harlow and Ryan have been in the 50's, but to have 3 guys do it on the same day was very impressive.

This was a great race for me.  It showed me that races don't always come easy.  Things pop up suddenly and viciously tear at you.  The demons were fighting against me yesterday.  Fortunately I have some demons of my own.  I worked it out and managed to overcome them.

So overall, I got some great things out of this race:
1.  My swim continues to improve.
2.  My bike is on par with where it has been in the past.  Avg 335 watts, for 27 minutes and change is pretty good for me.
3.  I was able to test my resolve and prove to myself that I am still a fighter in the midst of adversity.
4.  I have made some good strides since the Chasing Chics race in April, so my form is progressing, and that bodes well for the summer races.

Things to work on

Saw Sasha this afternoon.  Big issues with flexibility again.

1.  Knee to chest holding for 2 seconds

With rope
1.  Knee to chest, then hamstring extension hold for 2 seconds
2.  Toe up, leg up, then pull rope with straight leg hold for 2 seconds
3.  Leg up, out, and pull with rope for 2 seconds (adduction)
4.  Opposite arm and leg hip flexor stretch

Sumo Squats  (tall posture with hands on toes)
Up and down hamstring stretches

With Band
1.  Clamshells on side
2.  Hip Lifts and then spread knees

Single leg hip lifts

Chair stretch for rectus femoris  (with pillow and something to hold onto)

Foam roll
Stretch
Ice
Repeat.

Goals for 2011

Let's get it done.

1.  Sub 2:30:00 at the Shamrock Marathon/ Sub 1:09:00 at the Shamrock Half
2.  Kona qualifier at IM Arizona
3.  Sub 9 hour IM
4.  Win Patriot Half Iron
5.  Top 5 at Colonial Half Marathon

I'm Back

I've decided two things.


1.  I need to write more.
2.  I need to keep a more detailed account of my training.

Not too many know I even keep this blog, so it's just for me, although if people want to read on, they are by all means welcome.

I'm going to write a short synopsis of my 2010 racing and training season.

It was crap.

That's really all that should be said about it.  After a really solid race at the Ironman World Championships in October of 2009, I thought that the Winter of 2009-2010 would be the springboard for some really great things.  It started off well through December and January, and then right in the middle of February I started suffering from glute/hamstring pain that didn't stop for what seemed like forever.  It was never severely painful, but it was dull and it was always there.  I ended up going through about 3 months of PT to get it settled out, and realized that I had some big limiters, namely my hip flexor and glute flexibility.  They are still things I need to work on daily.  Once it cleared up enough where I could start doing some harder efforts in training, I jumped in a couple low key races... Breezy Point where i finished 2nd (and showed off my lack of fitness pretty well, especially on the bike), Rocketts Landing where I won, and the Nation's Triathlon where I raced well in 2nd, but just got beaten by a better racer on the day in Robbie Wade.  I just did not have the top end necessary to compete at the highest of levels.
I shifted my focus at this point to running.  I planned on racing the Richmond Marathon, and 8 weeks beforehand, I raced the Mulberry Island Half just to test my run fitness.  I won convincingly, but I knew that in order to race under 2:30, I had quite a bit of work to do.  So I carried on for a few weeks, but then came down with a case of chondromalacia.  That took me out of the marathon, and I still am suffering from symptoms.

Yuck.

I guess it really comes down to a couple of things.

1.  I need to train more intelligently.  I am not a machine, and I cannot consistently drill my body into the ground and expect it to hold up month and month.  I might have been able to get away with that in high school and in college, but now, I'm getting older and I need more recovery.

2.  I need to train my limiters.  For some people, their limiters are aerobic fitness, swim form, muscular strength on the bike.  Mine are core strength, flexibility, and muscular power (in the form of strength training)

3.  I need to continue to remind myself to back off and ask for help when I need it.  I don't know everything, although I do know quite a bit.  I wait too long for things to bother me before I go to a professional, and by that time it's too late.

So for 2010-2011, things are going to change.  I AM going to train more intelligently.  I will regularly schedule easy days/ recovery workouts into my schedule.  I AM going to address my limiters more aggressively.  I will go to core fitness 2x per week for strength/mobility training and I will continue my routine of foam rolling and stretching at home.  I will ask for help when it's needed.

Here's to hoping 2010-2011 goes much better!

Overcoming Injury

So I was super sick the last two weeks of January, and I could barely manage to wake up and go to work.  So I missed 9 days of workouts in that span, and when I finally got healthy, I came back into training WAY too aggressively.  Biked 8 hours on the trainer after only 2.5 hours total the previous 2 weeks.  That was not smart.  And I'm paying for it.  I overworked my left hamstring and caught a bout of high hamstring tendonitis.

I hate being hurt.  Exercising makes me happy.  Being fit makes me happy.  Racing makes me happy.  And when I'm injured I can't do any of those things.

I think, though, that every time I get injured, I come out of it a better person and a better athlete.  Like in the summer of 2008 when I messed my right ankle up badly.  I had 11 weeks to prepare for an Ironman, and I became so focused and so on top of things that I was able to get a Kona Q.  I don't know if I'm capable to holding that intensity during all of my training throughout the year, but I do know I can do it for blocks at a time.  And now, I'm taking a serious look at the quality of my training, and I'm realizing that one thing that I am missing is regular core and strength training.  I really think that this element of training will make more so much better, and now that I've had some time to rest and think about how to approach my own training, I know that this is something that needs to be included several times a week.  

I have 9 weeks until USAT Duathlon Nationals, which is not long at all.  But I also prepped for an IM in 11 weeks, so this shouldn't be any harder than that.