Thompson Tri

Epipment - Training Trip

2012-02-13T15:00:00.002-06:00

Bike: 2007 Felt F1X (cyclo cross frame)

Wheels: Zipp 303 Clincher front, 404 Clincher Rear PT

Components: Sram Rivial, Zipp H-Bar and Stem

I packed this bike for the training trip because it doesn't has a BB30 bottom bracket. I have to remove my crank when I packed my bike, so packing a new BB30 frame takes more time. My BB30 frame has a tight tolerance fit, so I have to tap the crank in and out with rubber mallet. I didn't want to risk having to press the bearings back in if they popped out. It might not have been a problem, but I wanted to keep it simple. In the future, I can use an adapter. (Note: BB30 is lighter and stiffer)

Cockpit: Garmin 705

Contour HD Camera

I brought the camera in case there was a traffic accident. Hopefully, my wife would have some evidence to prosecute. I more pessimistic veiw after being herassed and almost run over a couple last season.

As consilation, I hoping to get some good 1st person footage of riding up and down Mt Lemon. With GPS data and footage and can produce my own trainer dvd for next winter.

Recovery Nutriion

2012-01-13T06:00:00.000-06:00

Picture on day 3 of my training trip

Chocolate Milk - Best recovery drink ever. Voted on by Kevin O'Connor and me. There are also some studies. Here are some links I found in a google search.

I'm drinking about a quarter gallon a day. I'm buring 5000-6000 cal/day.

Here are my other snacks :
Oranges
Honey Crisp Apples
Black Berries
Strawberries
Bananas
Chocolate Chips
Salted Peanuts

Tucson Training Trip

2012-01-12T19:06:00.001-06:00

This is my 4th time in Tucson. My brother lives here, so it's great place to train and visit. Here's my progress so far. The goal is to get some base bike miles in.

Jan 9 - Arrive in Tucson

6:00 AM - Swim Star Masters St Paul: 1 hr, 3200 yds, distance free
Flight msp to tus, arrive and assemble bike
6:30 PM - Swim Ford Masters at UA: 1 hr, 3400 yds, distance free

Jan 10 - 1st Full day

5:30 AM - Swim Ford Masters at UA: 1 hr, 2800 yds, non crawl
10:10 AM - Ride Tucson up Mt Lemon: 3.5 hrs, 190 W avg, 2875 cal, test run to 5000ft (mile 8)
6:30 PM - Swim Ford Masters at UA: 1 hr, 2800 yds, IM

Jan 11 - 2nd Day

9:10 AM - Ride Tucson up Mt Lemon: 4.5 hrs, 217 W avg, 3968 cal, 7000ft (mile 16)
Massage Treatment on neck - Sonoran Desert Accupuncture
6:30 PM - Swim Ford Masters at UA: 30min, 1900 yds, 100 sprints

Jan 12 - 3rd Day

9:40 AM - Ride up Mt Lemon: 5.5 hrs, 210 W avg, 5631 cal, Summit 8500ft (mile 25)
6:30 PM - Swim Ford Masters at UA: 1hr, 3000 yds, 200s free

Jan 13 - 4th Day

9:30 AM - Ride up Mt Lemon: 5.5 hrs, 215 W avg, 6968 cal, Summit 8500ft (mile 25)
6:30 PM - Swim Ford Masters at UA: ?

Ford Aquatics Center University of Arizona - 5:30 AM or 6:30 PM ?

2012 Schedule

2012-01-10T18:19:00.000-06:00

Date           Race
18-Mar-12   Rev3 Costa Rica Olympic
25-Mar-12   Powerm an AL Elite SC Du Nationals
1-Apr-12   Nautica South Beach Triathlon
29-Apr-12    St. Anthony’s Triathlon (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
6-May-12      Rev3 Knoxville Olympic
20-May-12   Memphis in May Triathlon (Tunica, Miss.)
28-May-12   Apple Duathlon
3-Jun-12   Pigman Sprint
10-Jun-12   Trinona
17-Jun-12   Rochester Fest Triathlon
24-Jun-12   Philadelphia Triathlon
24-Jun-12   5150 New Orleans (New Orleans, La.)
8-Jul-12      Nautica New York City Triathlon (New York, N.Y.)
8-Jul-12      Boulder Peak Triathlon 5150
8-Jul-12 Rev3 Portland Half
14-Jul-12    Life Time Triathlon
22-Jul-12    Chisago Half
12-Aug-12   Rev3 Wisconsin Half
19-Aug-12   Pigman Half Iron
26-Aug-12   Rev3 Maine Olympic
2-Sep-12      Hy-Vee 5150 U.S. Championship
23-Sep-12   Peregrine Charities
7-Oct-12   Toyota US Open Triathlon
14-Oct-12    Rev3 South Carolina Half
21-Oct-12    5150 Galveston (Galveston, Texas)
4-Nov-12       Rev3 Florida Half

I mentioned Kenyans so this came to mind...

2011-11-09T20:10:00.001-06:00

I mentioned Kenyans in my last post about Lil and this came to mind. If you haven't heard of Power Thirst, it's worth a watch.

New Training Partner - Little Dawg

2011-11-09T20:05:00.001-06:00

Hannah and Henry found a German Short-hair loose in an alley on their walk last Sunday. We've been calling her Little Dawg - aka "Lil", aka Lilly. We did get permission for our friend who's name is Lilly to name Little Dawg after her. She is posted on Craig List, the Animal Humane Society, and a few other websites. We've recieved probably 20 different calls about her. Unfortunately, none matched up, which is sad becasue there are 20 other lost dogs in the area. Hannah also walked the neighborhood showing off the dog to anyone she saw, but no takers. Lil did have a collar but no tags and no micro chip. So, right now it looks like I have a new training partner. This is great because Henry has gotten too big to be a distance runner and lost interest. Henry is now an 80 pound dog. He's good for intervals on the track or about 2 miles fast. Lil is built more like a Kenyan distance runner.

Rev 3 Full

2011-09-12T13:54:00.000-05:00

This is illustrates how I feel today.

I'm calling the Rev 3 Full a success. I didn't beat last year's time or win the race. However, I went 8:38:32 without training for the distance at all. My longest run was at Pigman Half, which was also my longest bike ride. In the end, I finished third, but didn't get the run I was hoping for.

My splits for the day were 50:17 for 1.2 mi swim, 4:43:01 for 112-113 mi bike, and 3:02:28 for 26.1 mi run. The bike course was slightly different this year because of construction. Some people told me their bike computers measured the course to be 113 miles in distance. Hopefully, no body complains because the construction was supposed to be done, but it wasn't. Rev 3 had to come up with a new course 3 days before the race.

The plan was to swim and ride easy, and run to win. I thought is was possible for me to run a high 2:30s. The run started out great. I ran just over 6 minute pace without pushing myself. I had to take a number 2 port-a-potty break around mile 7. At that point, I had cut the leaders gap from 17 minutes to 12 and 9 minutes. Grahm O'Grady was leading and Andrew Starykowvicz was second.   Chris McDonald was behind me about 8 or 9 minutes. Chris actually went off course on the bike lrg which added about14 to 20 minutes onto his bike time. Kudos to him for soldering on.

I had make another port-a-potty stop 15 minutes after the first, which wasn't a good sign. It was all liquid, which meant my hydration was off - not enough sodium or something. After that, I never got back into a running rhythm. My feet started barking at me and 7:10 was as good as it got. The good news is that I didn't re-injure my Knee. I've patella chondromalacia (damage to knee cartilage). Last year the race did a number on my knee, and I could do anything until February.

Last years race compared to 2011
Year     Swim       Bike     Run     Total
2010    53:01        4:35:57    3:04:07   8:35:48
2011    50:17        4:43:01    3:02:28   8:38:28

2011 Run Splits
1        2    3    4     5   6   7    8    9    10        11       12       13
6:00 6:01   6:02 6:08 6:13 6:10 7:32 6:11   6:15    11:03   6:20    6:23    6:30

14      15      16     17     18     19      20    21      22       23       24       25       26
6:39 7:09   7:21 7:23 7:20 7:15 7:10   7:26    7:25   7:01   7:18     7:25    7:19

The Rev 3 Full was at Cedar Point is a great race and would recommend it to anyone. However, if I wasn't racing for money I would choice the half option.

Hy-Vee 5150 Championship

2011-09-06T08:29:00.001-05:00

This was probably the best championship event I've ever raced. Twenty-five of the best triathlete in world qualified to race the Hy-Vee 5150 Championship, and 5 more past champions were invited for a total of 30 athletes. Des Moines was a great city to hold the event - not to big, not too small, just right. Des Moines has great trails, roads, and water for a triathlon, and people of Des Moines supported the event too. They spectated, volunteered, and put up with an invasion of triathletes. Hy-Vee also got behind the event fully. In addition to the 1.1 million dollar prize purse, the production of the was top notch: grandstands, Jumbo-tron, live video coverage, beer gardens, concerts, and more.

The swim was the defining discipline of the race. It took place in the Des Moines River right in downtown. We swam 3 laps around 4 bouys in a 2-3 knot current by my estimation, which is strong. You're hardly going anywhere swimming into the current. Spectators can watch the entire swim from shore or from above on two bridges. All the bridges and shore were packed with spectators. Everyone wanted to see how 30 of us were going to make it around this tight course. I'm sure is was fun to watch. I watched the women's race 3 hours earlier and it looked like a roller derby. Our was more like a cage match for the first lap. If you weren't getting smack in the face, someone was pulling your leg or you were getting catch on the anchor rope for the buoy. I spent a good 5 seconds underwater trying to free myself one lap. After the race, Andy Potts, Matt Reed, Rasmus Henning, Macca, and I all were showing of our wounds from the swim.

As for my race, I wasn't happy with my swim, but I was happy to have survived in better than a few others. In a normal swim, the gap to the leaders is smaller. Fighting with each other at 12 buoys and the river slows the weaker swimmer even more. However, I did have a good first lap on the swim. To add even more spice to the event, there were eleven $5150 primes for each lap of the race: 3 laps swim course, 4 lap bike course, 4 lap run course. So, a good swimmer could make out like a bandit. Josh Amberger took all 3 swim primes. Ben Collins (a good swimmer) came out near the front and then hammered the bike to take all 4 bike primes and the first run prime for a total of $25,750. Then, Ben just focused on finishing the race so he could collect his bounty.

After the swim, I had to ride as hard to make up time. The technical nature of the course also played to my strength, but not enough to totally make up for my poor swim. The hills, turns, and wind on the bike course helped break up the athletes on the bike, so it was truly a non-drafting race as advertised. On the bike, I move up into 10th and started running well out of T2. I past Ben Collins, Fraser Cartmell, Bertrand Billard, and Matt Reed. I also held off Kris Gemmel for 2 laps and Filip Ospaly for 3.5 laps.

If you're a triathlete from Minnesota, I would make plans to go down to Des Moines to race and spectate next year. The amatuer race was great too. Hannah and I went out to cheer age groupers Sunday morning and were impressed with the course and race in general. If you can't qualify for the 5150 Amatuer Championship, you can still do the regular age group race.

RESULTS
Pl No Athlete Co Time Back

1	21	Greg Bennett	AUS	1:49:42	0:00:00
2	27	Hunter Kemper	USA	1:50:12	0:00:30
3	1	Stuart Hayes	GBR	1:50:30	0:00:48
4	2	Paul Matthews	AUS	1:50:51	0:01:09
5	26	Rasmus Henning	DEN	1:51:16	0:01:34
6	11	Kris Gemmell	NZL	1:52:00	0:02:18
7	10	Filip Ospaly	CZE	1:52:13	0:02:31
8	12	David Thompson	USA	1:52:20	0:02:38
9	5	Matt Reed	USA	1:52:32	0:02:50
10	28	Chris McCormack	AUS	1:52:39	0:02:57
11	29	Andy Potts	USA	1:53:23	0:03:41
12	4	Martin Krnavek	CZE	1:53:36	0:03:54
13	22	Timothy O'Donnell	USA	1:53:44	0:04:02
14	19	Kaleb Vanort	USA	1:54:09	0:04:27
15	7	Bertrand Billard	FRA	1:54:22	0:04:40
16	18	Jordan Jones	USA	1:54:26	0:04:44
17	30	Jarrod Shoemaker	USA	1:54:33	0:04:51
18	8	Benjamin Collins	USA	1:54:35	0:04:53
19	6	Csaba Kuttor	HUN	1:54:44	0:05:02
20	3	Cameron Dye	USA	1:54:50	0:05:08
21	16	Kyle Leto	USA	1:55:14	0:05:32
22	23	Fraser Cartmell	GBR	1:55:39	0:05:57
23	20	Timothy Reed	USA	1:55:44	0:06:02
24	9	Joshua Amberger	AUS	1:55:47	0:06:05
25	13	Chris Foster	USA	1:55:51	0:06:09
26	17	Igor Sysoev	RUS	1:56:01	0:06:19
27	14	Ritchie Nicholls	GBR	1:56:54	0:07:12
28	15	Brian Fleischmann	USA	1:57:52	0:08:10
29	25	Marcus Ornellas	BRA	1:58:30	0:08:48
30	24	Kevin Everett	USA	1:59:35	0:09:53

Piggy Man or Pigman

2011-08-22T17:58:00.000-05:00

Pigman Half had it's best weather ever yesterday. Temperatures in the mid 70's, suprisingly low humidity and wind made for a PR day for most returning pig men and women. I also was able lower my course record from 3:57 something to 3:53:03. Most of the drop came from a faster run (1:14:30). The run course has no shade and bakes athletes into crispy Lycra treats, so cooler temperatures helps a great deal.

The Gear West crew was happy to take the club competition too. Kevin O'Connor, Thad Ingersoll, Kortney Haag, Suzie Finger, and I made up the 2 women 3 men combo.

Felt Demo Days at Gear West Bike & Tri

2011-08-01T17:41:00.000-05:00

The Felt Demo trailer will be at Gear West August 6th from 12 - 5pm. The trailer will be fully stocked with 2011 road, triathlon, and mountain bikes. Bring your shoes, pedals, and helmet. List of bikes

TTN Chisago and Everything since June

2011-07-30T20:10:00.000-05:00

Please remember to vote for World Bicycle Relief and DKT for the People's Choice Awards

My 9th Life Time Fitness Race

2011-07-10T16:13:00.000-05:00

I always think racing Life Time Fitness Triathlon is going to be less stress and easier than traveling to a race. However, usually the opposite is true. There is more pressure to preform in front of the home town crowd. The shop and my wife are always super busy the week of the race. This is also week I use during the season to do maintenance on my race bike. When I'm traveling the bike stays in the case and only sees day light at the races. And, on Monday I dislocated my shoulder which was my own fault, but it added medical visits and additional exercises to an already busy week. However, this is nothing compared to having10 kids and two dogs, so what am I complaining about?

First, I wanted to thank everyone for cheering from me. A special thanks to everyone cheering from Carrie Tollefson's Training Camp. The louder the better. The other pros were jealous about how loud everyone for cheering for me. I wish I could have beat Kaleb in the sprint finish for all of you. I gave it every thing I had, which is all you can do. The run just wasn't going well for me on Saturday. It was my worst run ever at the Life Time event and at Triathlon. However, I had a good bike leg. The swim went as well as expected with a bum shoulder. So, I came out of the water in 9th, biked into third, and ran like crap in to 7th. That makes for a hard day, but it actually went somewhat according to plan. After the swim, I decided to bike hard and go for the bike prime, which is worth more than finishing 5th. Biking harder put me in third, but hurt my run. Sometimes, you have to figure out how to make the most money you can in the middle of the race. And, sometimes I can still run well after biking hard.

However there were highlights: Winning the bike preime, new race kit, and loud cheering.

And, I'm done

Good/Bad race aside, I think my new uniform and custom bike/helmet decals are sweet (see bike photo). If anyone is looking for a new one piece suit, I would definitely recommend trying this Elite Tri Suit. It's the most comfortable piece of tri apparel I've ever worn.

Skirt Chaser Ride - July 15th

2011-07-10T07:50:00.002-05:00

I'm going to be a domestique for anyone who wants to chase down the women. I'll be leading out the peloton of men who will be in pursuit of the break-away group of women. The goal is to make the junction before the ride ends. Once, the groups come to together everyone gets to cruise to the finish line.

More Information & Registration

Life Time Fitness / Injury Update

2011-07-08T13:24:00.000-05:00

I'm a tentative "go" for the big local Life Time Fitness or Minneapolis Triathlon this weekend. My left shoulder was dislocated on Monday evening by a combination of my reluctance to listen to my wife, our 80 pound Chocolate Lab, and fireworks. Great combination. You can probably guessed that our dog, Henry, was startled by a fireworks in the neighborhood and my wife told be careful holding onto him, which I failed to do. Fortunately, my should popped back into space immediately.

Monday night wasn't too painful. I actually swam Tuesday morning. Wednesday was awful. Thursday my shoulder was improving. Friday I could swim but at a reduced capacity. I'm hoping for more improvement throughout the day and overnight. Start time is 7:10:43 AM. It will be a start line decision, but things are moving in the right direction.

If you wanted to know I had treatment on it Tuesday and Thursday at Spine & Sport Institute.

Janus Charity Challenge: People's Choice Awards

2011-07-08T12:46:00.002-05:00

Vote for my charity and save the World

More serious, I'm part of the People's Choice Awards with the Janus Charity Challenge. Four other professional triathlete and myself are competing to inspire you to vote for our charities. The charities are competing for a $20,000 prize purse. The Life Time Fitness expo and race are the opening event for the contest.

World Bicycle Relief is my charity of choice. World Bicycle Relief is a great way to empower individual, families, and communities. Transportation by bicycling is a simple and sustainable way to help people get to work, get to school, complete essential tasks, become independent, leave abusive relationships, and pursue opportunity.

Please make your vote today.

Philly Triathlon

2011-06-29T20:44:00.000-05:00

I ended up 7th at the Philadelphia Triathlon, which isn't a great result or worth much money. However, I was happy with the progression of my fitness. The swim was good. The bike was poor but I haven't been working on it. The run was okay despite being tired from training.

The race was great: perfect weather, good road conditions, and a great home stay. Thanks again to the Ryans for hosting me for the 5th time. If you want to do a destination urban race, Philly is a great race to do.

Results,
Andy Potts 1:46:06
Matt Reed      1:46:47
Greg Bennet      1:46:48
Cameron Dye    1:48:23
Chris Foster       1:49:32
Andrew Yoder      1:49:41
David Thompson 1:50:54
Tim Reed             1:51:49
Holden Cameau   1:52:00
Stephen Hacket    1:52:53

DC Triathlon

2011-06-22T16:07:00.001-05:00

I felt like crap the entire race, but my result wasn't too crappy.

Top Six: Becky L, DKT, Nicole K, Tim R, Alicia K, Paul M, Rebecca W, Jordan J, Laurel W, Holden C, Tenille H

I finished 3rd at the DC Triathlon Sunday. I had a good swim for me, which probably saved the day. I came out just 30 seconds behind the leaders, except John Kenny. He was off the front. The bike ride was a struggle. My legs felt weak and burned the entire race, but I did ride to the leaders. Paul Matthews rode off the front gaining a 2 minute advantage going into T2. I came into T2 in 3rd, 30 seconds down on Jordan Jones. Tim Reed ran up to me and we ran together until mile 4 when we both passed Jordan Jones. Tim slipped away and finished 20 seconds up on me. Paul was 90 seconds ahead. My run was okay, but slightly off pace. I was happy to cross the line.

This result put me in 8th for the 5150 series, so I should make it to the Championship race in Des Moines.

Series Standings

Men's Results
Paul Matthews       1:49:58
Tim Reed               1:51:05
David Thompson   1:51:24
Jordan Jones          1:51:50
Holden Comeau    1:52:38

Top Ten Reasons to do Trinona Next Year

2011-06-15T09:52:00.000-05:00

I think Trinona is my new favorite race, displacing Escape from Alcatraz.

10. Adhesize bike numbers: No tape or pins required. White numbers on black background was unique too.

9. They have race T-Shirts that my wife will actually let me wear outside the house.

8. Winona is only a 2 hour 20 min scenic drive from the Twin Cities

7. Choice of Sprint or Olympic distances.

6. Great city park for the race venue and plenty of close parking.

5. A super "cute" kids race the day before. Great if you have young ones, and incredibly fun to watch.

4. Four Hotels with in 1 mile of transition

3. King of the Bluffs competition - toughest Olympic distance bike course in the Midwest.

2. Substantial hardware. Trophies are made of stone and are worth keeping

And, the number one reason for doing Trinona is...

1. Podium Girls - That's all you need to know. Why aren't you signed up and training for next year.

Looking for a Training Partner

2011-06-06T20:32:00.000-05:00

All of my training partners have disappeared. It's too hot for Henry (the dog) to run. One of my human running partners had a baby and the other two humans moved.

If you are someone or know someone who wants to train hard, let me know. The individual must be willing to do most workout from St Paul, MN. Cycling and/or running involved.

Send an email to david@thompsontri.com

Rev 3 Quassy Half

2011-06-06T13:48:00.000-05:00

Good run, an okay bike, but the run hurt… At mile 6 Merlin was telling Cougar that, “We’re running on vapor.”

I was actually looking forward to this race. It’s a tough race all around and as expected the field was stacked like every race this season. Forty men started the race. The water temperature was 69 degrees and the air temp was 49 degrees. This means no wetsuits for the pros, which also means you won’t fell your feet or genitals until the run. I was happy with my swim, roughly 50 seconds back from main break of 5. John Kenny was off the front. I had put plenty of good competitors behind me, including Joe Gamble and James Cunnama (eventual winner). The bike was okay too. I caught the break of 5 early; the best guess is mile 10. So, I thought I was riding well. I took advantage of the descents hoping to slip off the front two times, but that didn’t happen.

The critical section of the bike was the last 20 miles. Joe Gambles and James Cunnama caught us and made a big push. I wasn’t able to keep up, and a few people did better than I in the closing miles of the bike. I started the run with Matty Reed, Richard Allen, and John Kenny. Richie Cunningham was just ahead of us. The race order at this point was Andrew Starykowzic, James Cunnama, Joe Gambles, Terenzo Bezzone, Paul Matthews, Dan Hugo and then us. My feet were still frozen, so I jammed them into my shoes to hard and folded the insoles in the toe box, which I didn’t know until mile 2 as my feet warmed up enough. I stopped to fix the problem and lost contact with Richard Allen and Richie. However, my running legs were still pretty good at this point, so I had hopes of catching back up. I did pass Dan Hugo, but was repassed at mile 10.

That Mig messed Cougar up

My splits were 2 mile 10:31, 3 mile 16:16, 4, mile 21:45, 5 mile 28:20, 6 mile 34:40, 7 mile 41:50, 8 mile 48:30, 9 mile 54:40, 10 mile 1:00:13, 11 mile 1:05:50 13.1 mile 1:26ish. At mile 6, Merline was telling Cougar that, “We’re running on vapor...” (Top Gun reference) I would have liked to slow down. However, I was in 8th (in the money), so I needed to keep fighting. Nutrition wasn’t the problem. It’s was the distance, training, and hard racing that did me in. Yeah, I could have us been more conservative, but I'd perfer to race for the win. I’d rather be in contention for the win at some point and finish 14th than never be in the race and finish 8th.

Results

TTN Cap Tex Race Report Video

2011-06-06T13:18:00.000-05:00

Rev 3 Knoxville, Memphis in May, and Cap Tex Tri

2011-05-30T16:04:00.000-05:00

Pole position at Memphis in May Triathlon

Overall, I'm seeing improvements and racing myself back into shape. I finished 6th today losing a sprint finish to Matt Reed. The good news is I caught him on the run. In Memphis, I finished 4th and at Rev3 Knoxville I managed 7th.

Memphis in May went a little better I rode well and ran okay. I averaged 28.7mph on the bike, which is pancake flat. The run was long, so it's hard to compare my time to other races. But, I ran okay relative to the competition. The weather probably help us out a bit. It rained most of the bike, but the lightening stopped just long enough for us to get out to the water. At the this race the pro started last, so most of the age groupers were done when we started. If it hadn't race and stayed cloudy it would've been super hot (90s and humid).

At Rev3 I had a better swim - not great but better. Overall, I'll take the improvement in fitness and results.

TTN Rev3 Knoxville & Memphis in May Triathlon Race Report

2011-05-30T16:00:00.002-05:00

TTN St Anthlony's Triathlon Video Race Report

2011-05-02T15:46:00.000-05:00

St Anthony's 2011

2011-05-01T12:42:00.000-05:00

Butt Kicking, Ass Kicking - That seemed to be the consensus of a men's pro field about the race today. Bevan Docherty summed it up in his Tweet - "Just got my ass kicked at St Anthony's, 9th! You really have 2 specialize in the type of Triathlon u do now days! Drafting or Non drafting!" I'd put myself in the same lot. I was happy with my effort. My fitness level just isn't up to par yet. I ended up 13th. With 54 men in the field must of us got our "schooled" today.

This was the largest and best field I've seen in the in a long time. 54 men started the race. Welcome to a non-drafting world cup. Other notes for the race were a short swim because of wind. Organizers made a modified 1000 m rectangular course North of transition with a long run to transition. The regular 1500 m course is Spa Beach South of the course. This was also the 2nd race in the 5150 series, so I did get some series points.

I guess it was an exciting finish. After the 5k run turn around, I thought Cameron Dye had it in the bag, but Matt Reed and Filip Ospaly caught him in the finishing shoot. Here's the results

Men's Results

1. Filip Ospaly 1:41:22

2. Matthew Reed 1:41:36

3. Cameron Dye 1:41:41

4. Stuart Hayes 1:42:03

5. Benjamin Collins 1:42:13

6. Andy Potts 1:42:38

7. Kris Gemmell 1:43:02

8. Paul Matthews 1:43:17

9. Bevan Docherty 1:43:56

10. Chris Foster 1:44:07

11. Stanislov Krylov 1:44:46

12. Kaleb Vanort 1:44:48

13. David Thompson 1:45:13

14. Kevin Everett 1:45:28

15. Michael Poole 1:45:49

Fighting Crime

2011-04-20T15:24:00.000-05:00

This is the short version of a long but interesting story. While working on the in-floor heat for the mudroom during the later stages of the remodeling project. I forgot to lock the recently installed rear door to the house. I realize my mistake halfway through applying the scratch coat of thin-set mortar over the heating cables. I told my wife about this too. Neither of us thought it would be a big deal since our house had been with out a rear door for 2 months. The risk of not having a secure door for one more night seemed small.

During night our dog, Henry, started barking, which woke us half up. This is some what of a regular event. Henry doesn't like anyone outside to make noise after he goes to sleep. Hannah told him to "shut up," and he was quiet for 5 more seconds. Then, he got really mean. At this point, I got out of bed and found Henry ready "rip sh!t up" at the top of the stairs. Henry usually sleeps on the main floor, but tonight he was barricaded on the 2nd floor because we sealed tile in the basement. When I removed the barricade, Henry tore down the stairs and toward the back of the house. I knew someone had definitely been in the house because the lights were on and the drywall fence to keep people from stepping the fresh mortar was moved aside. The back door was also left cracked open.

Our house was a mess from all the construction, so I couldn't really tell if anything had been stolen. As I was looking a round, I noticed the backyard gate was crack open. Just then, I noticed the motion light by the garage door light up and face pop out the door. As quick as I could, I threw on my snow pants, jacket, and boots and ran out the back door to the garage into the frigid winter air. I noticed one the bikes was gone from the garage stalls. I was sure the burglar would be long gone by now. He had been chased out the house by our dog and was now on a bike. However, I look down the alley he was leisurely riding East as if everything was cool. I took off sprint down the alley and caught up the guy about 200 yard way. As I was chasing him, I was sure he would hear me coming. My heavy breathing, puffy coat, boots, or crunch of the snow would alert him. Regardless, he didn't know I was there until I hit him with a flying tackle.

The one thought I had as my shoulder hit his rib cage was, "this better be my bike." Fortunately, it was my bike and this wasn't just an early morning commuter. Surprised, he yelled some obscenities at me and I yelled some back after grabbing my bike. He made excuses for why he was riding my bike and scattered to the other side of the street. There is a little more to the story, but to sum it up. He ran off, and I returned to the house with my bike. The cops caught him 20 minutes later. The Saint Paul Police were awesome.

The other funny side story is about 2 weeks earlier I told Hannah, "that if anyone took our bikes I just run them down and tackle them."

Substituting Kitchen Remodeling as Off-Season Training

2011-04-14T14:31:00.001-05:00

The reason for this blog post is answer the questions: "How was my off season?, How's training going?, Did you race over the winter?, Why haven't you updated your blog?

Old Kitchen

Winning the Rev 3 Triathlon series and finishing 3rd in the Toyota Cup series last season allowed me to take on remodeling our Kitchen and back entry this off season. I enjoy construction projects. Solving spacial problems and good old fashion hard work is satisfying. It also helps ward off winter depression. We've done a fair amount of work on our 1890's house since we purchased it, but this was the biggest and most expensive project. The back of the house or kitchen had the issues with a walk through bathroom to the back stairs, treacherous stairs to the basement, no rear entry closet, bad kitchen flow, little kitchen storage, and multiple so-so revovations over 121 years.

Here's a little outline: Blue - contracted, Gray - contracted but I helped, Black - did it ourselves

End of October

Clean out backyard and start jack hammering out the old side walk and backstairs
Haul in new landscaping rock to put under the back deck and mudroom
Pack up everything in the kitchen and basement and move in to storage
Cover basement floors
Build temporary kitchen in laundry room with old kitchen cabinets

November

Pour footings for deck, kitchen bump out, and mudroom
Framing bump out, mudroom, deck
Move electrical service panel and exterior connection
Cut hole for new stair case
Seal kitchen of from the rest of the house
Demo interior - dusting mess, sweating, and cold
Sheeting, weather proofing exterior walls
Install windows and exterior doors

December

Rough in plumbing: new sink location, toilet, move gas line for stove and dryer
Roofing - brutally cold and snowy 16 inches fell halfway through
Demo of old exterior walls
Rough in new electrical
Insulation: basement and kitchen
Build and install kitchen to basement stairs in new location
Demo and frame new location for ovens
Demo old stairs for new bathroom and insulate
Install venting for new bathroom fan and stove top

January

Repair subfloor
Floor: remove bad sections and relay with extra from cut of new stair location (difficult work)
Sand and seal and cover for dry wall installation
Dry wall
Mud and Taping
Sanding
Painting
Finish coat: floor stairs, windows

February

New Kitchen

Install in-floor heat in mudroom
Cabinets: We helped install cabinets. Hardest strength day of the project. Cabinets are heavy.
Finish electrical work
Tile bathroom, mudroom, and stairs ledge
Counter top installation
Finish plumbing: connecting fixtures
Clean up and up packing kitchen and basement

Remaining work

Siding
Decking
Interior trim for windows, doors, and floors
Walk-way in backyard
Backyard clean up

TTN Nautica South Beach Tri Video Race Report

2011-04-11T20:36:00.000-05:00

Unofficial Nautica South Beach Tri Race Report

2011-04-10T11:41:00.001-05:00

Eric Wynn Photo

What is official these days? Here's the results as best I can remember.

Men
1. Cameron Dye
2. Andy Potts
3. Filip Ospaly
4. Michael Weiss
5. Andrew Yoder
6. Kaleb Vanort
7. Vladimer Polikarpenko
8. David Thompson
9. Unknown European
10. Dirk Bockel

I was happy with my result. A top ten is good for me this time of year. Swim, bike, and run were all okay. Nothing to brag about, so I don't need to keep writing. The official TTN video report will be out tomorrow. For the women. Sarah Haskin's won. Becky Lavalle was 6th, and that is the extent of my knowledge. Other note, pro men and women started together. I don't know if this was good or bad for me or any one else. Miami Beach was beautiful. The water was crystal clear, but the run course on the board walk wasn't. I think a few wondering walkers got run over. You think they would figure out that they're in the middle of a race the first time we go by.

TTN 2011 Powerman Alabama News Report

2011-04-04T20:16:00.001-05:00

Powerman Alabama

2011-03-31T16:22:00.000-05:00

Kevin O'Connor

This race is always a suffer fest for me.  It's the first race of season after resting from the previous season's injuries.  I usually try to work on my swimming over the winter, so the fact that I haven't been running or biking is made apparent during a duathlon.  This was my 7th Powerman Alabama.  This year it was nice to do the race with Kevin O'Connor, who is my friend, boss, and sponsor all rolled into one.  He was in the same training situation as I - ready to get sore.  Kevin wrote a great race report for Minnesota Tri News, so I'm not going to reinvent the wheel.

Kevin's race report

Let me start by saying that the race is one of the "must do" races. It is 
very challenging but not over the top hard. Team Magic does a first rate 
job of race production and it was clear that everyone was enjoying 
themselves. The 10k, 60k, 10k course is completely in the confines of 
Oakwood State Park. The run course is like shaped like a upper case letter 
"Y". You run out to the right and turn around at about mile 2 and then run 
towards the second turnaround. The race organizers wanted to make certain 
the race lived up to it's name of Powerman so they changed the run course 
from previous years. The second spur of the run lets you start a one mile 
climb up the side of the large hill on the one lane road through the state 
forest. The turn around is at the top of the hill (4 mile mark) and you get 
to run down the 10% towards the run finish.

The bike leg is an out and back 20K route which you ride 3 times. Perfect 
asphalt (not a single pothole), virtually no vehicle traffic, and never 
ending rolling hills including two big hills in each direction. The route 
is challenging but time passed quickly with multiple passes on the course. 
It also gave spectators another opportunity to see the athletes 2 extra 
times. The bike route was as spectacular as the run route.

As for the race itself it was USAT Long Course Duathlon National 
Championships and it was well deserving for such a challenging course. 
David Thompson and I traveled down together and with our similar, simple 
traveling style it was relaxing for both. David finished 3rd pro and was 
typically positive following the race. Most satisfying for him was the fact 
that his knee didn't bother him at all. For the past 3 seasons he has had 
to be careful with his training and racing due to a knee injury that was 
initially brought on by an undiagnosed hernia. His knee is now 
hypersensitive to overuse. David took some serious time off from cycling 
this winter and is in the early stages of getting back in shape. He headed 
down simply to get in a good workout and get the first race of the season in 
the books. After the race he had nothing but positive things to say about 
Ryan Guillano's winning performance. Ryan went faster than Jorie's course 
record and Ryan did it on a much harder run course. Derick Treadwell was 
second and with 4th place far behind David he cruised in without having to 
turn himself inside out to hold his place.

For my race I was hoping to reverse the 1-2 position with Dave Slavinsky of 
New Jersey from Short Course Du Nationals last year. Dave was the 2010 USAT 
Duathlete of the Year and he outraced me at Nationals. We both turn 40 
years of age this year so we got to race head to head still. The other 
master there to race was Steve Dupree of Colorado. Steve is a former pro 
duathlete that now at age 44 races in the amateur ranks for the second 
season. I was hoping to make it a real race with Dave but no such luck. As 
Dupree took off on from the gun, Dave started chatting with me for the first 
3 miles as I pushed to run the 5:40 pace. Dave is quite friendly, very 
nice, and even faster than he is nice. As we started the 1 mile climb he 
held his pace and cut the distance to Dupree in half by the time we finished 
opening run. On the bike I was hoping to close some of the gap to him and 
reel in Dupree. No such luck. I was able to start the second run just 20 
seconds behind Dupree but Dave blew the two of us away on the bike. What 
was most impressive is the fact that he ran the second 10K faster than his 
opening 10K(exact same route both runs). He ran 35:04 putting him 45 
seconds faster than the second fastest run by overall pro winner Ryan 
Guilliano. His time put him in 2nd place overall, first amateur by 3+ 
minutes, and Long Course National Champion. It was also complete validation 
that he is the best amateur duathlete in the country and his 2010 award was 
well deserved.

The race was so enjoyable on so many levels. Great Venue, well organized, 
relaxing but professional atmosphere, and a race that leaves you with 
complete satisfaction when you cross the finish line. And although I am 
having some real trouble walking downstairs I want to head back just to 
tackle the race again. Of the 200+ races I have completed, Powerman Alabama 
is at the top of my list with just a couple others.

Side note on Ryan Guilliano, he went 22 minutes faster total this year that he did last year and 12 minutes faster on the bike.  What's more impressive is that the run course was tougher this year.

2011 Race Schedule

2011-02-21T16:53:00.003-06:00

Weekend Event
3/26/2011 Powerman Alabama
4/2/2011
4/9/2011 Nautica South Beach Triathlon
4/16/2011 State Swim Meet UMN
4/23/2011
4/30/2011 St. Anthony's Triathlon 5150
5/7/2011
5/14/2011 Rev3 Olympic
5/21/2011 Memphis in May or Gear West Du
5/28/2011 Apple Duathlon & Capital of TX
6/4/2011 Rev3 Half or Escape
6/11/2011 Trinona
6/18/2011 Rodchester or Washington DC
6/25/2011 Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon
7/2/2011 Minnie Man
7/9/2011 Life Time Fitness
7/16/2011
7/23/2011 Chisago Half
7/30/2011
8/6/2011 Nautica New York City
8/13/2011
8/20/2011 Pigman Triathlon
8/27/2011 Chicago Triathlon
9/3/2011 Hy-Vee Triathlon
9/10/2011 Rev3 Full
9/17/2011
9/24/2011 Perigrine Charities
10/1/2011 Toyota US Open
10/8/2011 Rev3 Half SC
10/15/2011
10/22/2011 5150 Galvestion
10/29/2011
11/5/2011
11/12/2011 5150 Clearwater

Toyota US Open - End of the Season

2010-10-10T13:56:00.000-05:00

Toyota Cup Series Podium: Filip, Matt, DKT

"Get-r done." That was the game plan today. Without training properly because of my knee injury beating Filip Ospaly was going to be tough. Filip had a great day beating a super talented field to win the race and series. Matt Reed did what he needed to do pass me, but I did what I needed to do to claim third in the series - finish. Finishing 9th was a nice surprise. It added a little more money on the series bonus.

Series Results
1. Filip Ospaly 45,000 points
2. Matt Reed 39,000 points
3. David Thomposn 37,000 points

This my last race for the season. Now, I have time to recovery; take care of my knee, and work on some house projects.

Racing US Open with Rev 3 Fall out

2010-10-09T23:48:00.002-05:00

There is a reason why I had little interested in doing an Ironman distance race. It's extremely tough on the body. I re-injured my left knee during the marathon at Rev 3 Full. In 2008, I developed an inguinal hernia that altered my stride. My left adductor was tightening to compensated for the hernia, which caused patella chondromalasia. Chondromalasia just means damage to my cartilage. You don't feel pain from damage to cartilage, so during the marathon I just thought I had tendinitis. However, the tendinitis was from the swelling caused by the damage to the cartilage from all the pounding. I managed to finish the marathon by walk/running the last 13 miles of the race. I didn't really know I had a big problem until Tuesday after the race. On Tuesday, I couldn't do anything. I had immediate sharp pain in my knee with almost anything but standing.

The US Open in Dallas is 4 weeks after Rev 3 Full. As the leader of the Toyota Cup series, it would be a big disappointment not to be able to race. I could only swim with a pull bouy the first week after the race. The second weeks was the same, only swimming with a pull bouy. I started seeing my sports PT 5 days after I got back from Rev 3 Full. Treatment wasn't having much effect, so he recommended an anti-inflamitory injection. The numbing agent worked well for a day, but once that wore off I was back where I started. The maximum effect of the anti-inflamitory is about 2 weeks from the injection, but the doctor said I should see relief in 3 to 4 day. Nothing changed by the end of the second week, which was disappointing. I wanted to get some training in before the US Open. During the second week I tried cycling and made it for about 1 hour without pain. I still couldn't run durning the 3rd week, but I could bike up to 2 hours.

In the 4th and last week leading up to the US Open, I made a second attempt at running on an Alter G treadmill. This trainer can reduce your running weight. It's great for running with injuries. I made it 40 minutes, which was a success considering I could only run 5 steps a week earlier. I ran 3 times total on the Alter G treadmill (Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday) slowing bringing my weight back to 100%. Today, Saturday, I ran 25mins at the US Open race site without any major problem, so I should make it through the race. However, not being able to train properly is a disappointment.

Hopefully, everyone is just as beat up, and I can win the Toyota Cup Series, which I've be leading for most of the summer. The series is really tight between Filip Ospilay, Matt Reed, and me. Whoever crosses the line first between Filip and I wins. I think Matty needs someone to finish between himself and one of us.

Pre Rev 3 Full Interview

2010-09-22T17:25:00.000-05:00

Untitled from REVOLUTION3 Triathlon on Vimeo.

I had just found out of I was the series lead.er and pre race favorite from Heather Golnik who did the interview

2010 Revolution 3 Series Champion

2010-09-15T14:27:00.000-05:00

By finishing 3rd at the Rev 3 Full on Sunday, I claimed the Rev 3 Series Championship, cash prize, and title of most versatile triathlete. The series included 3 races. All where different distances. The Olympic distance race in Knoxville, TN started the series in May. The Half in Middlebury, CT followed in June. The Full in Sandusky, OH completed the series. I probably wouldn't have done an ironman distance race is it wasn't for the series.

Riley and Lilly in front of their work.

Sophie was already sleeping.

Thank you to everyone who cheered me and supported me this season. The Ingersoll girls were especially supportive this year. Check out the picture of hand crafted decoration they crafted. The Riley, Lilly and Sophie hung them up at my house to surprise me when I got home from Ohio.

Rev 3 Full Results

Rev 3 Website

Rev 3 Half Video

Rev 3 Full DKT Pictures

Rev 3 Series

Rev3 Full

2010-09-13T22:15:00.001-05:00

I'm generally happy and sore today after finishing my first iron distance race (2.4 mi swim, 112 mi bike, 26.2 mi run). I finished in 3rd place in 8:36:40. Here's the breakdown of the race: 53:53 swim, 4:35:57 bike, 3:04:07 run. Going into the race I didn't know exactly what to expect except that would be tired and sore whether it went well or not. I figured the swim and bike would go well, but big question was the run. Based on my experience with halfs, I wanted to run 2:40 something. That would be a good day. An average day would be 2:50 something. Over 3 hours would be okay but disappointing. I'm going to skip commentary on the swim and bike because running the marathon is what decide this race. The only highlight on the bike was I ate a McDonald's McDouble and felt good at mile 90.

The run started off well. I spent the first 6 miles working out some sore muscles from the bike. Around mile 9, I started to feel good and decided to open up the throttle I little bit. I had been running around 6:20-6:25 min/mi. However, my knee that was slightly sore starting the run got suddenly worse in one or two strides at mile 11. I was on pace to go through 13.1 miles in just over 1:20, but slowed to 1:22. I thought I would have to drop out at 13.1 miles because I've had chondromalacia in my knee before, which is season ending. This pain felt similar. I decided to keep going to see how Bjorn was doing and to made sure I wouldn't regret a DNF. He was 18 minutes ahead of me starting the run. Halfway through I had made up 9 minutes on him. By mile 14, I had to start walking. However, Daniel Bretscher and Eric Limkemann, who were heading opposite way towards the turn-around, yelled to me that Bjorn was walking. I did the math in my head and if I just finished the race I would get some series money. If I just walked faster than Bjorn I might win the series.

After I started walking James Cunnama and Jason Shortis passed me moving me to 4th place. After 5 minutes of walking I tried running again and was relieved to feel that the pain had dissipated. I passed Bjorn who was still walking and moved back in to 3rd around mile 15. The tendinitis wasn't completely gone. I had to keep run/walking as the race went on. Around mile 21, it became clear that Keegan Williams from team TTB was going to pass me to. However, during our brief conversation as he went by I learned that my next biggest treat the series title had dropped out. Victor Zyemtsev had quit after the bike. Now, the series title was almost a certainty, which made walking tolerable. I wasn't that disappointed when Zach Ruble caught me, putting me in 5th. I was happy to cheer him on and inform him that Keegan was only about two blocks ahead. After walking through the next aid station, I started to run and got on Zach shoulder. I thought to myself that if I can just put up with the pain for 3 miles I can out kick Zach for 4th. At following aid station (mile 23), Zach went for extra drink, so I just decided to push the pace on my own. I am familiar with running a 5k, and after having to walk so much I actually felt fresh. At mile 24, an age-grouper heading the other direction yelled,"If you hold that pace you'll catch him." Sure enough, I could see Keegan on the slight rise in front of me, but it was still going to be hard work to close about 60 seconds in two miles. The catch was made with 1200m to go. I'm guessing my pace for the last 3 miles was 5:40. Keegan was probably slowing down too. I didn't run 2:45 but it was a great way to finish the race.

Photos courtesy of Steve Stenzel

Duathlon World Championship Edinburgh, Scotland

2010-09-09T14:31:00.000-05:00

This was one of the best World Championship I've been too. The venue was great. The race was held at Holyrood Park, which is located in Edinburgh. There were plenty of accommodations close to the race site and transition. Edinburgh was cheap and easy to get around. There was no need for a rental car. Hannah and I walked to anything we need or wanted to see.

Holyrood Park is beautiful green space in the heart of the city on the site of an old volcano. There around three peaks the rise high above the city and are great for hiking, mountain biking, and just being out side. The race course is on a park road the circumnavigates the peaks of the park. The road climbs about 600 ft, which made for a challenging bike course because of the multiple laps. Each lap had tough climb and technical descent. The run course was on the same road and adjacent bike path or "cycle path," which also had a climb and descent. The elite race as 4 laps for the first run, 7 laps for the bike, and 2 laps for the second run (10k, 39k, 5k). For the elites, the race is draft legal which isn't my preferred format because I'm a stronger cyclist.

I was hoping to get a good effort out of this race in preparation for the Rev3 Full the following weekend. I didn't except a great result because I've haven't been doing as much speed work to run a 30 minute 10k. My run training has been more focused on long course running. The first run I ran 31:50 and the majority of the group went around 30:10. I did manage to bike passed half the field and come in to transition in 17th. My second run was much better relative to my competition. I caught one of the guys from the bike group ahead of me.

Chicago Triathlon

2010-08-30T22:10:00.001-05:00

This will be quick. I need to get some sleep. I had a poor swim and got hammered by other swimmers at the start and missed to group I need to be in. My bike split was okay but nothing to write home about. I did have a good run. The slipt was probably slow on paper but it hot. Someone told me we were racing in 94 degree heat after the race

Overall the race ended up great for me despite the poor start. I finished 4th, and I'm still 1st in the Toyota Cup Standings.

Men's Results
1. Mark Fretta (USA) 1:52:22
2. Kevin Collington (USA) 1:53:05
3. Filip Ospaly (CZE) 1:53:54
4. David Thompson (USA) 1:54:16
5. Chris Foster (USA) 1:55:23
6. Joe Maloy (USA) 1:55:34
7. Matty Reed (USA) 1:55:49
8. Andrew Starykowicz (USA) 1:55:52
9. Jordan Jones (USA) 1:56:45
10. James Hadley (USA) 1:57:56

Pigman Half

2010-08-30T21:57:00.000-05:00

This was the hottest Pigman I've ever experienced. The good thing is that the race gave everyone something to talk about. If you finished the race, you have a great story of perseverance for the water cooler for the next 10 years. If you didn't finish, you have a great near death story for the water cooler for the next 10 years.

Personally, I had a good day. I was hoping to make it a good training day. When I can get out in front early, I can race at my own pace the rest of the way. I go fast when I feel good and slower when I don't. Racing someone adds unwanted periods of overexertion. In the swim, Thaddeus Ingersoll gave me a good draft the whole way. We did have a problem with the fog. Thad got off course twice, but a boat and I got him back on track. Thad and I came out of the water with a big lead, so I was able to practice my pace for my up coming Rev3 Full (ironman distance race) on Sept 12. The bike went perfectly. I had a good lead at the the bike turn around (mile 25.5) and extended it to T2. Fellow Gear West athletes Josh Riff, Dan Cohen, and Thad Ingersoll were in 2nd, 3rd, and 5th at the turn around.

With the heat, the run was the worst leg of the race. The air felt like it was in the 90s and humid. I can't verify this because Honda doesn't make a temperature gauge standard on it's Pilot model. Aid stations were spaced about a mile apart, so I was able to manage my body temperature by putting ice down paints, pouring water over my head, and drinking energy drink at every aid station. I set out at a conservative pace and held it the whole way. The plan was to run an additional 6 or 7 miles after the race, which I felt good enough to do.

I started running my extra miles carrying an ice cold beer which tasted great, but probably looked odd to the spectators. I'm glad I ran back out on the race course because I got to see some good racing. Josh Riff cruised to a second place finish, but things were radically changing for the remaining money spots. Dan Cohen who was in 3rd had circum to the heat. Thaddeus who was in 8th at the run turn around had moved up to 5th, but looked like death. However, his pursers didn't look much better except for one, Barry Breffle. Kevin and I stopped to cheer for Thad at about mile 11.5. At that point, I thought Thad could still hold onto 5th. I had been in a similar situation in 2001 at the same race at point in the race. Barry did pass Thad around mile 12 and the other 2 close chasers got by him too. However, when you get passed by a guy who can't swing one of his arms anymore, you know both of these guys are at their limit. I wish had video camera. It was the race of the zombies. Thad finished 8th in the elite wave but was out split by 2 guys in the age group waves. Thad tough work did way off because he helped Gear West claim the club title.

Everyone who finished that day had a good race. The condition were tough.

Men's Results

1 David Thompson 4:01:26

2 Josh Riff 4:15:31

3 Adam Bohach 4:18:37

4 Scott Bredehoft 4:24:33

5 Dave Lyon 4:28:20

6 Barry Breffle 4:32:31

7 Jason Maurice 4:33:47

8 Lee Saeugling 4:34:01
9 Rick Lapinski 4:34:50

10 Thaddeus Ingersoll 4:35:14

House Race Weekend

2010-08-04T21:42:00.001-05:00

DKT - second lap at Brew House

This was the weekend of the house races - Fire House 50 Time Trial on Saturday and Brew House Triathlon on Sunday. The Fire House 50 four man team time trial didn't go so well. One of our team members missed the start and two of us got flat tires. We did manage to get three guys across the line for a slow but official time.

Devon told us he missed the start because he rode by a port-a-potty during warm up. He had heard of these things before but had never seen one. He had to stop and check it out. Time just flew by as stood in line to see the port-a-potty and thus missed the start.

Kevin got the first flat of the day at mile 16. There was no mistake about Kevin having a flat. His tire ruptured with head jerking pop and supersonic whistle. Fortunately, there was no loss of control before he wished Curt and I good luck and pulled off the road. Curt and I continued on for another 30 miles before I flatted on the home stretch. I went through a patch of rock and a few stuck to my tire. The incident create a concerning grinding sound as rocks bounced off the aero cut-out on my bike frame. There were a few seconds of relief after the noise passed before a mild whistle indicated I would soon be riding the last 4 miles with no air in my rear tire. Devon finish about 15 minutes after Curt and I, so we were not even close to our record. However, Kevin and I did ride some extra miles after the race. I got in a 100 miles in before heading to Duluth.

Only Devon and I did the Brew House Triathlon the following day. Kevin and Curt headed back to spend time with there families. I ended up winning 1 hour 33 minutes and change. Fellow Gear West teammate, Thaddeus Ingersoll, lead me through the .8 mile swim and ran hard for a 6th place finish. Devon finish 2nd and should be happy with his result after time trailing solo for 50 miles the day before. The weather was perfect. I hope everyone else enjoy the race as much as I did. See this link for the Duluth New Tribune race coverage.

Mens Results

1.David Thompson 1:33:33
2.Devon Palmer 1:37:31
3.Rhett Bonner 1:40:21
4.Chris Leiferman 1:41:00
5.Josh Blankenheim 1:42:02
6.Thaddeus Ingersoll 1:42:56

Chisago Half

2010-08-02T21:29:00.000-05:00

Mile 12 Chisago Half

Pre-race Game Faces

The weather has been perfect in Minnesota so far this year for races and training. Great weather makes racing so much more fun. The sunny day at Chisago helped the race go well for both Hannah and I. Hannah did the sprint and then rushed off to work. I did the half and then rode home from the race with Dan Hedgecock. I finished in a tired 3 hours 55 minutes if I remember correctly. You can verify my time here. I came out of the water 1st and was able to cruise most of the race. The heat on the run did tire me out, and I was ready to be done. Thanks again to everyone who had words of encouragement for me on the run. I hope you enjoyed every minute of the run too.

If you haven't done this race before, I would highly recommend it. The bike course has change over the last three years. I thought the changes to the bike course this year were great. It was 56.3 miles according to my bike computer and the road surface was almost perfect of 80% of the ride. Yes, there was a rough section on the North part of the course, but this is Minnesota. Frost heaves are inevitable. The run is relatively flat. The three hills are perfectly spaced to prevent boredom.

Results

1 Thompson, David St Paul, MN 3:55:24
2 Riff, Joshua Edina, MN 4:07:59
3 Payne, Matthew Columbia, MN 4:11:00
4 Henkel, Justin Kohler, WI 4:14:11
5 Landgraff, Todd N Mankato, MN 4:20:47

Running Partner Gets Knee Surgery

2010-08-02T19:04:00.005-05:00

Henry "The Dawg a Dawg" Thompson had knee surgery on July 16. He tore his cranial cruciate ligament in his right rear knee in late June. The injury is similar to a human having an anterior cruciate ligament tear. The surgical options are Tibial Tuberosity Advancement (TTA) and Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO). Both surgeries aim at correcting the movment of the tibia in the knee joint caused by the tear of the ligament. He was good candidate for TTA, and had surgery at the Cottage Grove Animal Hospital the Friday I left for New York City Triathlon. Henry got a titanium plate, band and screws to hold his knee together. It's a good thing I won some money at NYC Triathlon.

Now seventeen days into recovery his 8 week recovery, he making excellent progress. The incision is healing nicely. He got his stitches out 5 days ago and no longer has to wear the dreaded "cone of shame." Henry will be able to swim this coming Friday in a pool. This is a big mile stone for Henry because he has not been able to do any exercise besides short walks to use the facilities. He spends most of his time in his kennel on the porch sleeping with one eye open.

Mile Stones Achieved

Off narcotic pain medicine (Narcotics make Herny whine and prevent Hannah from sleeping)
Pink cast removal
3 short walks a day
No more cone
Stitches removed

Mile Stones to come

Swimming in a pool (He has to be lowered in - no running or jumping)
Long walks and free range of the house including stairs
Dog park
Wresting with Sparky and 60 tempo runs

NYC Triathlon Race Video

2010-08-02T13:35:00.000-05:00

Link

New York City Triathlon

2010-07-19T22:32:00.002-05:00

Coming to the New York City Triathlon ended up being an excellent decision for me. However, making the commitment to come was a difficult decision. Numerous variables had to fall into place to make it worth while. There were 2 other national races (Vineman 70.3 and Racine 70.3) and a local race I thought about racing instead. Getting in two hard days of training would have been a good option too since I’ve raced for 4 consecutive weekends. The scale tipped in favor of New York because:

I was able to find a cheap flight;
I had a place to stay with family;
NYC is part of the Toyota Cup Series;
Being 2^nd in the Toyota Cup Series Standings earned me a free entry, and
Registering for a WTC (Ironman) pro race cost $775.

The New York City Triathlon course was actually a pleasant surprise. The swim is 1500 m in the Husdson aided by the current, so it favors me. I came out to the water only 30seconds down from the leaders and was able to pass everyone ahead of me expect Filip Ospaly and Kyle Leto right out of transition. The bike course is on the West Side Highway which sounds straight and flat, but I would describe it as winding with rolling hills. I caught Filip shortly after the first turn around on the North side of the course. Filip did a good job holding on for the 2^nd half of the bike, and at the second turn around Filip was less than 10 second behind. Matty Reed was 60 seconds behind and Kyle Leto roughly 2 minutes behind. After passing Filip, my goal was to get 30 second going into the run.

As I ran up from the river and onto 72^nd Street Filip surged passed me. The mile run on 72^nd Street heading toward Central Park is the only flat section of the run. In Central Park, the course winds and rolling along the perimeter. At mile 2 Filip had 25 seconds on me. After my poor run last week at Life Time Fitness Triathlon, I was hoping to redeem myself. He ran 31:36 and I ran 32:21. At the finish line I managed to hold Filip’s lead at 34 seconds (1:46:28 to 1:47:02). Matt Reed dropped out after injuring himself in T2.

Overall, the race went well. The high temperature for the day was in the 90s and the humidity was stifling. When I stepped out onto the 34^th Street at 4:15 AM to ride to transition, I was immediately perspiring. All ladies in night club dresses looked rather sticky too as they were heading home from an evening out. The bars and clubs close at 4 AM in New York. I would have like to seen a picture me riding a geeked-out tri bike by drunks try to flag down a cap in Midtown Manhattan. The other interesting photo optortunity of the day would have been me riding through Columbus Circle around noon in my tri suit, aero helmet, Felt DA, and Zipp 999s. The great thing about New York is that I actually fit right in. No one even gave me a second glance.

Mens Results

1.	Filip Ospaly	1:46:28
2.	David Thompson	1:47:02
3.	Kyle Leto	1:51:34
4.	Jordan Jones	1:52:28
5.	Ethan Brown	1:52:49

Toyota Cup 7/19/10

1. David Thompson 22,000 points

2. Filip Ospaly 17,000 points

3. Matt Reed 17,000 points

4. Bevan Docherty 10,000 points

5. Matt Charbot 9,000 points

DKT Finishing NYC Tri on NBC Nightly News

2010-07-19T21:41:00.001-05:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Check out DKT finishing 2nd in 1:47:02 about 50 seconds into the video segment

Life Time Fitness Triathlon

2010-07-10T19:29:00.000-05:00

Another Life Time Fitness Triathlon in the books. I finished 7th which is okay, but I always want to do better. I did managed to give the home town crowd something the cheer about. I came of the bike in 4th with Craig Alexander and Andrew Starykowciz right behind me. I wanted to hold onto Craig for the first mile or two but that wasn't happening. Craig was running well and I wasn't. I had cramp in my diaphragm or bad side stitch. I ran through and the stitch disappear around mile 2. From then on, I was able to find some sort of running form but not what I had hoped for. Filip Ospaly and Clark Ellice passed me at about mile 3.5 and 5. However, the crowd did get to cheer for a sprint to the line between Cameron Dye and me for 6th and 7th. I caught a glimpse of Cameron with around .4 miles to go and got within feet but wasn't able to get by. He still left enough in the tank to close the door on me in the last 10 yard or so. Summing things up for me: fair swim, fair bike, poor run, but an all out finish sprint finish. Sprinting all out to the line makes me like I at least tried my hardest.

Men
1. Matt Reed (USA) 1:48:34
2. Matt Chrabot (USA) 1:48:42
3. Craig Alexander (AUS) 1:49:45
4. Filip Ospaly (CZE) 1:50:49
5. Clark Ellice (NZL) 1:51:23
6. Cameron Dye (USA) 1:51:28
7. David Thompson (USA) 1:51:29
8. Greg Bennett (USA) 1:52:07
9. Andrew Starykowicz (USA) 1:53:30
10. John Kenny (USA) 1:56:39

I did ride my new 2011 Felt DA for the race. I because I wasn't traveling there was time to build it up on Thursday and test ride it on Friday.

2011 Felt DA

2010-07-06T16:38:00.002-05:00

The 2011 Felt DA is a great looking bike and it looks like the design is mechanical sound too. I'm hoping to build it up for the Life Time Fitness Triathlon this weekend. The changes I noticed from the past DA frame are the:

1. Seat post and seat post clamp - new shape and better clamp design. The post also has a battery mount for DI2.

2. Bayonet 3 fork and stem assembly

3. New frame shape - deep shape to the stays and lower stack height

4. New propriotery rear brake mount under the bottom bracket. It was previously mount on top of the chain stays behind the bottom bracket.

5. More internal routing on the cables

Minneman Triathlon

2010-07-06T16:06:00.013-05:00

Events like Minneman Triathlon remind me why we do this sport: warm weather, friends, fun, and going as fast as we can. The day seemed perfect despite the high humidity and 20 mph South wind. The wind was actually coming from the best direction possible for the layout of the bike course. It aided riders on the longest section of course, and the headwind portions were split into 2.

The big excitement of the day for me was that my wife, Hannah, did Minneman Triathlon too. She had a good time despint being sick and is considering doing two more this year.

The swim course had more running than the previous 2 years. It was probably a little short, which is why Thad Ingersol and I did the .3 mile swim in 4:23. I remember the swim being 6 minutes and change in the past. Womens and Mens elite races were going to be interested. I wanted to see how the race between Cathy Yndestad, Julie Hull, Suzie Finger, and Jenny Shaughnessy played out. Since I've been traveling to race most of the season, I hadn't seen these ladies race. I also wanted to see how Kevin O'Connor, Patrick Parish, Devon Palmer, Thad Ingersol, and Dan Hedgecock stack up against each other.

Looking back as we exited the swim, Devon, Kevin, and Patrick were right behind Thad and I. I planned on trying to blow-up my legs on the bike in preparation for Life Time Fitness Triathlon this coming Saturday. This year I managed 27.6 mph versus 27.1 mph in 2009 and 26.4 mph in 2008. I ran within seconds of my previous times, so Life Time should go alright.

In the men's race, Devon tried to hold off Patrick on the run, but Patrick managed to pass him late in the run. Kevin had hoped to beat both of them, but he was involved in a crash right before transition. He finished ,but the crash took him out of the podium race. From what I saw, Cathy built up a cushion on the bike and was able to run uncontested to the finish. Jenny Shaughnessy held on to 2nd.

Results

1. David Thompson 51:12

2. Patrick Parish 53:15

3. Devon Palmer 53:26

4. Matt Payne 53:40

5. Kevin O'Connor 54:00

6. Dan Hedgecock 5:17

1. Cathy Yndestad 1:00:02

2. Jenny Shaughnessy 1:02:12

3. Jenny Wilcox 1:02:31

Life Time Fitness Triathlon 2009 Pre-Race Interview

2010-07-05T05:18:00.002-05:00

Philadelphia Triathlon Video Interview

2010-06-30T17:17:00.000-05:00

Philadelphia Triathlon

2010-06-27T15:10:00.001-05:00

The Philly Triathlon continues to treat me well. I finished 2nd today behind Bevan Docherty. The weather was extremely hot and humid. The water temperature was 84 degrees. Unfortunately, the swim was canceled because there was a on going search for a swimmer, who went missing in Sprint Triathlon on Saturday. The race was changed to a 5k, 40k, 10k duathlon. Bevan ran the first 5k off the front about 30 seconds ahead of a chase group of 8 which I was in. This bike course is one of my favorites. It's two loops with 4 hills per loop. There are also some fast technical down hills which are fun. I didn't manage to bring any time back on Bevan on the first lap, but did manage to bring back about 15 to 20 seconds by Lemon Hill on the second lap. Lemon Hill is at about 3/4 through each lap. On the last up hill before the fast down hill to transition, I was flying up behind Bevan. After the race, I found out he got a flat shortly before I caught him. Anyway, I was in and out of T2 in first. The gap was about 10 seconds. Tyler Butterfield, Matt Reed, , Andrew Starykowciz, Andrew Yoder, and John Kenny trailed starting about 1:30 back. Bevan passed my about 1 mile into the run. I tried to hang on his feet but it wasn't happening. The heat wasn't making it any easier. With a good gap behind me, I needed to back off. It wasn't worth risking overheating trying to stay with Bevan and losing 2nd. At the finish, I was happy with my performance. The splits weren't that impressive because of the heat. But, I had respectable run splits relative to Bevan, Matt and Tyler. All three are excellent runners.

Philadelphia Inquire Coverage
Slowtwitch coverage

Mens Results

BEVAN DOCHERTY	01:49:11
DAVID THOMPSON	01:49:47
TYLER BUTTERFIELD	01:51:32
MATTY REED	01:55:48
JOHN KENNY	01:56:15

Wedding and Training in New Hampshire

2010-06-23T16:08:00.000-05:00

Despite not having a race last weekend, my schedule was still packed. My brother-in-law got married in Massachusetts near Boston. We stayed in New Hampshire and traveled back and forth. I did find time to get some training in. The general daily schedule was a early morning swim in the pond followed by either a bike or run. The wedding funcitons started early afternoon, so my workouts had to be done around noon to allow time to shower, change, and drive. The best ride was a 3 hour 30 minute ride from New Hampshire to the outskirts of Boston. I got to overlap one of my old bike routes from my days at MIT. I also found a pair of work gloves.

These are some pictures my wife and I took during our moring swims in the pond. The first three below are of Hannah and the last three are of me.

Trinona Course Record

2010-06-13T10:28:00.001-05:00

I was happy to do a local race this weekend. This was the second annual Trinona triathlon in Winona, MN. The race is only a 2 hour and 20 min drive from my house, which is much easier than flying. The highlights of the race where swimming in my Blue Seventy Axis wetsuit and climbing the bluff on the bike course. My wetsuit fits perfect and keeps me high in the water. The shoulders have plenty of stretch; it doesn't effect my swim stroke at all. There was a timed challenge to see who come climb the mile long bluff the fastest. I went 5:21. I don't know if that's good enough for the jersey yet. Overall, I won the race in 1:50:03 (unofficial). Matt Payne and Alex Hooke were second and third. Julie Hull should have won for the women.

That's it for now. I need to check out of the hotel and get to the awards ceremony.

Zipp 404 Firecrest Carbon Clinchers

2010-06-12T21:32:00.002-05:00

I was fortunate to be one of Zipp's test athletes for the new 404 Firecrest carbon clincher this spring. I was selected because of my "secret" security clearance I had in the Navy. Serious, I had to swear to not let anyone know what I was riding. I think my boss, Kevin, was disappoint he didn't know I was riding the 404 carbon clinchers this spring. Anyway, the wheels are great. They are going to be a big hit for Zipp. The carbon clincher is perfect for someone looking for a combination training/racing wheel. The wheels are:

- the lightest clincher on the market,
- almost as aero as an Zipp 808, and
- clincher tires are much cheaper than tubulars.

While testing the wheels I was most impressed by their durability. On one occasion, I had the misfortune to triple flat. I only had one tube, so I was forced to ride these expensive wheels 12 miles home on concrete roads. I expected to have lost a good portion of the rims. However, the rims where almost perfect. Most aluminum rims fair far worse. Overall, the wheels are aerodynamic, quick, and handle well, making them great for road racing or triathlon.

Zipp 404 Carbon Clincher

Rev 3 Half

2010-06-07T17:48:00.006-05:00

Transition Pre Race

Even after 6 years as a professional and 60 career wins, I still have my doubts sometimes about my ability. Going into the Rev 3 race, I was uncertain if I would be able to produce a good result with such a quality field (probably the best field outside of the World Championships). Putting forth the effort was never a question, but after a hernia surgery in 2008 and another in 2009, I lost the “uber” bike speed that I had in 2006 and 2007. I’m still one of the faster cyclists in the pro field, but I can’t relay on the bike segment to dominate the race right now. I also had knee problems in 2008 and haven’t felt as confident in my running ability as in the past. The youthful notion being indestructible is gone, and I haven’t had a satisfying run in a half for a year because of all the injuries.

Moving onto the race, the swim was non-wetsuit this year. Almost every pro race is non-wetsuit now since the water temperature for wetsuits changed to 68 degrees. I came out of the water in the second group of about 6 swimmers, roughly 60seconds down on the lead group. Andrew Starykowicz was just ahead of us in no mans land but behind the lead group of John Kenny, Bjorn, Richie, Crowie, Matt, Terenzo, and Joe Umphenour. The lead group could have been spread out too.

40 foot Big Screen in Tranistion Streaming Race Coverage

I couldn’t tell. Talking to Craig after the race, Bjorn was out in front of the bike the whole time and he, Craig, had tried to make a couple moves to separate himself from the group. He thought he was successful 5 to 6 times, but they kept coming back. If you aren’t familiar with the Rev 3 course, it’s 56 miles of hills and fast corners. It’s probably the best half bike course in the country. In addition to being a hard course, it’s also scenic.

I left T1 with Joe Gambles (2nd last year) and 2 other guys, who transitioned quickly. We passed John Kenny fairly quickly and were catching Ander Starykowicz. Joe Gambles caught Andrew and I was about 15 second behind just before the 1 aid station when I noticed my seat post had slipped and was continuing to slip. I rode the entire race last year with my seat post 2 cm lower because it slip when I mounted, but this time is was continuing to worsen. Luckily, I noticed volunteers at the aid station wearing bike helmets, so started yelling for an Allen wrench, and someone had one.

The bad news now is that I lost Joe Gambles and Andrew, and I had to catch and drop John Kenny and Victor Z again. I’m a stronger biker than Victor, but he does everything he can to hang around, which can be frustrating. Around my 45 (the turn around), I saw Bjorn off the front; Joe Gambles in Second trying to drop the group, and a group of 5, which I probably would have caught minus the mechanical – bummer. I was still trying to get rid of Victor, which I eventually did just after the turn around and caught Joe Umphenour just before T2, who lost contact with the leaders.

Coming into transition, I could see Bjorn leaving on the run in front with Joe Gambles, Andrew, Matt, Terenzo, Craig, and Richie in that order. The time from Bjorn to Richie was probably 2 minutes and I was 60 seconds back from Richie. I left T2 feeling good despite expending a lot of energy on the bike.

On the run course 1:17:47

The first 2 miles of the run are fast because it’s downhill, and I was optimistic because I could see Andrew, Bjorn and Richie getting closer. I went through 3 miles in 16:25 and passed Andrew and Bjorn around this point, which was good. However, I still wasn’t certain I’d have a good run. Last year I felt just as good until mile 9 and I was in 2nd, only to fade to 4th. I bruised my feet on the rocky gravel road, which was coming up. I had to walk/run to the finish in 2009. With a different shoe selection this year, I made it through the hilly gravel section without a problem and passed Richie, who is an excellent runner. Approaching the turn around and mile 6, Joe Umphenour finally bridged the 20 yard gap to me. He had been hanging behind me since T2. At the 1st run turn around Terenzo was leading with Matt running on his shoulder and Crowie 30 seconds behind. I confirmed the race standing with Joe because I was surprised we were in 4th and 5th. After having the problem on the bike I didn’t think moving up this far was possible. From the 1st turn around Joe and I ran together for almost the entirety of the race.

Talking about the race with Crowie

Similarly to the bike course, the run course is filled with rolling hills. I was running the down hills fast and Joe was taking his turn at the front on the up hills. I had a few physical concerns going into the 2nd run turn around. My calves and quads were starting to exhibit signs of cramping from the constant up and down, but I was still running fast. At the 2nd turn around Crowie and taken the lead and Terenzo had separated himself from Matt. I was still think about how to get rid of Joe Umphenour, who was tucked in behind me. In the last mile of the course there is a long up hill, around 50 meters from the top Joe U. let a 5 yard gap open up. This was my opportunity and from my experience of being burned last year in the same spot, I gave it everything I had to the top of the hill. If you have been in this situation, you know once you make a surge for the finish there’s no slowing down. You have to hold it all the way to the line. If the chaser sees you slow down, it's like blood in the water. Anyway, I was happy to finish 4th – big pay day.

Transition post race

Men’s Results
1. Craig Alexander 3:59:20
2. Terenzo Bozzone 4:00:20
3. Matt Reed 4:02:10
4. David Thompson 4:04:34
5. Joe Umphenour 4:04:58
6. Victor Zyemtsev 4:08:13
7. Richie Cunningham 4:11:03
8. James Cotter 4:13:36
9. Andrew Starkowytiz 4:13:36
10. Dorian Wagner 4:16:05

2010 Gear West Duathlon Video

2010-06-03T20:13:00.000-05:00

Courtesy of Curt and Christine Wood

If your looking for me, I'm in the black one peice tri-suit with sliver screen printing.

Apple Duathlon

2010-05-31T14:04:00.001-05:00

The weather was perfect for the Apple Duathlon on Saturday (Sunny, mid 70s, and SE 5 mph breeze). The weather was probably the biggest factor contributing to me setting a new course record of 1:19:57. The old record was 1:21 something. I still had good performance. I ran similar run splits as previous year, but not having a major head wind on the final stretch of the bike was the key. Hopefully, everyone was able to set a PR or come close this year. I don't think we'll be so lucky for awhile.

Here is a quick recap of the race from my perspective. Justin Hurd and I ran side by side in the lead for the first 5k run (15:36 or 5:02 per mi). Brooks, Chad, and Patrick were 30 seconds behind. I was hoping to drop Justin on the bike, but it wasn't a sure thing. Justin is a descent bike rider himself. I got a slight advantage leaving T1 on Justin and never looked back, so I can't tell you if there was a desicive moment when a gap developed. I just kept pedaling hard the entire course. Hard meaning you can feel every pedal stroke and you want to quit each revolution. I just told myself each stoke is preventing a more painful sprint finish. So, I was happy to see no one else in T2 with me. I still tried to run with a quick cadence the second run, but I settled into semi-comfortable pace (17:02 or 5:29 per mi). I had a comfortable gap at the finish. The guys finishing 3rd through 6th had to gut it out. Partrick, Josh, Kevin and Devin all finish within 40 second of each other.

The womens finish was also tight. Cathy and Julie finished 11 seconds apart. Cathy passed Julie in the closing half mile. My wife, Hannah, also had a good race despite knee problems. She finished 3rd in her age group.

Results

Felt AR1 - Zipp Sram Training Bike

2010-05-27T13:26:00.002-05:00

There is no real need for me to post this bike, but it is one of a kind and nice to look at. The 2009 Felt AR1 actually came to me as a team bike, meaning it's painted in baby blue and orange argyle colors of the Pro Tour Garmin Slipstream Team. Notice the Garmin logo on the top tube. Since, I don't race for that team and red matches the Gear West colors much beter, I use a method of masking tape and red vinyl stickers to convert the paint scheme to red and white. I also had to cover up all the team sponsors with black elctrical tape as they conflicted with my personal sponsors. Everyone, who's seen the bike likes the look and hasn't noticed the cosmetic touch ups, unless I told them. However, it did take me about 6 hours to complete.

Specifics:
Frame: 2009 Felt AR1 56cm
Components: Sram Red
Wheels: Zipp 404 Firecrest Carbon Clinchers - test wheels
Power meter: Sram S975 Quarq Cinqo Saturn
Stem/Handle Bar: Zipp SL145 Carbon, Zipp SL Carbon Bar

Sram S975 Quarq Cinqo Saturn Power Meter

2010-05-27T13:09:00.001-05:00

I'm excited to try out the Sram S975/Quarq Cinqo Saturn power meter I just installed on my training bike.

DKT's Felt AR1 with Sram S975 Quarq Cinqo Saturn power meter

If you're not familar with power meters, read the following. A power meter a device that measures the amount of power (work per unit of time) a rider puts out on the bike. Power is the best way to measure performance because it's independent of the environment or the riders physical condition.
Speed might vary because of wind, hills, road conditions, or tire pressure. Heart rate might vary because of illness, dehydration, or stress. Any of these factors makes it difficult the compare workouts from day to day, week to week, or year to year. Power measurements are much more standard since the measurement is independent of these factors, so you can compare any power measurement from one workout to any other. This doesn't mean that a rider's power output won't go down when he/she is fatigued or sick, but the measurement is independent of whether he/she is tired or sick. Whereas, heart rate could be higher or lower because of physical condition despite the level physical output.

Sram S975 Quarq Cinqo crank set power meter

The installation was super easy, partly because I previous had Sram crank set on my bike. All I needed was a 8mm allen wrench and a bottom bracket wrench. The drive side bottom bracket cup needs to be removed to install a cadence magnet/washer between the frame and bottom bracket cup. The installation took 5 min. If you weren't previously using Sram, you would probably need to install a Sram bottom bracket. If the pictures aren't clear, the Sram S975/Quarq Cinqo Saturn power meter is a crank set application. There are other power meters that are in bottom brackets and hubs. The upside of a crank set power meter is that the user can switch wheels on the bike (training wheels or race wheels) and still get power readings.

Since the power meter is in the crank set, use either a Garmin head or add on a ANT+ speed sensor to get speed and distance measurements on a Joule head. The battery life is about 500 hrs or about 10,000 miles @ 20mph, so I expect it to be a reliable, durable, and low maintenance setup I can ride everyday rain or shine.

Gear West Duathlon

2010-05-24T09:16:00.006-05:00

Photo: Christine Wood

Thanks to everyone who competed or volunteered at the Gear West Duathlon. We greatly appreciate it. Everyone seemed to have a good time despite the hot and humid weather, which is abnormal for May in Minnesota. If you haven't done the race before, the run course is a cross country course around the Orono School grounds. The bike course is 18 miles around the rolling countryside of Orono and Medina.

In the end, I managed to win my 6th Gear West Duathlon. Cathy Yndestad won for the women. I believe it was her 3rd or 4th victory here. Despite the warm weather, conditions were excellent for fast bike times. Usually there is a 20mph wind or rain. However, everyone had to deal with sweaty helmets this year. The run is always slower than you want because of the hills, grass, mud, and uneven surfaces.

Photo: Christine Wood

In the race, I lead into T1 followed by Partick Prish, Chad Millner, Brooks Grossinger, and Dan Hedgecock. On the bike, I pulled away, but it was hard to tell because of other cyclists out riding around. I looked back a couple of times after corners to see someone there. Once I got out onto the second run, I could tell I had a comfortable lead, which was nice.

Men

1. David Thompson 1:13:27

2. Patrick Parish 1:15:39

3. Brooks Grossinger 1:16:00

4. Joshua Riff 1:16:12

5. Chad Millner 1:16:47

Women

1. Cathy Yndestad 1:26:10

2. Jenny Wilcox 1:27:11

3. Catherine Lee 1:27:45

4. Julie Hull 1:28:46

5. Marlo Crosby 1:28:54

Zipp R2C Shifters

2010-05-21T14:17:00.003-05:00

R2C stands for return to center. The idea is that the shifter is more aero if it's pointed straight ahead all the time. On other bar-end shifters when a shift is made the position of the shift lever changes. In either the highest or lowest gear the lever may be pointing straight down or up, making it less aerodynamic. I have fairly large hands, so compared to the size of the levers I think my hands wash out any aerodynamic advantage. However, I think best aspect about the R2C shifter is that the shift lever is always in the same position so it's more comfortable. You can also adjust the return or set position of the lever to your most comfortable position. In a long race, small things can become annoying.

Suggestion: Use a steel cage front derailleur with the Zipp or Sram R2C shifters. A steel cage (Sram Rival or Force) front derailleur won't flex as much as a lighter titanium cage derailleur. This will give you the best front chain ring shifting.

2010 Felt DA Triathlon Bike

2010-05-21T14:01:00.001-05:00

Here's my race set up for 2010. The 2010 is almost identical to the 2009 DA. The only difference beside the paint scheme is the for removal of the internal cable guide for the rear derailleur to accommodate an electronic shifting setup. This bike is a 54cm. I'm 73 inches in height if your wondering.

Specifics:
Frame: 2010 Felt DA 54cm
Seat Post: Felt forward positioned post
Stem: Felt 120mm-ish
Handle bars: Zipp Vuka Aero
Shifters: Zipp R2C
Components: Sram Red
Crank: Zipp Vuma Chrono 175mm 53x39
Saddle: Prologo
Rear Wheel: Zipp Sub9 Tubular Reflective Black Decals
Front Wheel: Zipp 808 Tubular Reflective Black Decals
Weight: doesn't really matter in a triathlon. I'm sure it's under 20 lbs.

Rev 3 Olympic Knoxville

2010-05-11T22:07:00.001-05:00

DKT on the Henley Bridge. Photo: Nils Nilsen

It wasn't the performance I hoped for, so it was just a good training day. However, the Rev 3 Knoxville race was quite impressive. The swim was a fast point to point course in the Tennessee River. The bike course was challenging, technical, scenic and fun, similar the Rev 3 Half bike course in Connecticut. The hilly Knoxville area put the bike back in this triathlon. The run course was a run course, but nothing to complain about. The highlight for spectators and family was the "jumbo-tron" TV and inflatable play area for Kids in the finish/expo area.

As for the race, I swam hard, but I still need to do more training. This is normal for me this time of year. The bike leg is where I didn't show off my potential. I don't quite have my "mojo" yet. Hopefully, It's just a little early and some fatigue from 3 consecutive weekend of racing. Going into the run, I didn't set myself up to finish the run in a good position. I finished 13th in a competitive field of 35 male pros, but not where I would have liked.

Escape From Alcatraz

2010-05-02T21:16:00.015-05:00

Me leading Macca and Godoy on Baker Beach - Larry Rosa

This was my 5th consecutive successful escape from Alcatraz. The conditions were perfect today. The ebbing current facilitated the swim and the bay was relatively free of chop or waves. The fog and clouds which are normally present were absent, and the wind didn't pick up until the afternoon. Before I going into my race report, I want to congratulate Thad Ingersoll and Gabby Keller, who both finished their first Escape today. Both are fellow Gear West triathletes.

Despite not improving on my 2nd place finish from last year, I was pleased with my race today. I laid it all on the course. I swam with the lead group for about a third of the swim, loosing someones feet as we same through the choppy section in the middle of the bay. However, I still might get a bit of TV coverage out of the swim because I lead the group containing the lead women the rest of the way. As normal, I was about 2 minutes down to Andy Potts exiting the water.

The technical descents and corners of this bike course are my forte. I managed to move up to 5th on the bike, passing Chris McCormick on the final downhill to transition. I wasn't able to produce a bike split on par with my previous best 45:14 in 2007. Today, I could only manage 46:45, which is still descent, but not going to win me the race. Looking back to 2004, the next fast time to my best is Craig Walton's 45:45 in 2005. Anyway, I wasn't in a great position starting the run. In the past, I've been in 2nd place and only down about 30 seconds down on 1st starting the run.

Biking in Golden Gate Park - Larry Rosa

However, I fought hard on the run today. For context, here is the layout of this difficult run course: flat 2 mile start on crushed rock, 300 ft of stairs up to Golden Gate Bridge, rolling hiking trails, 300 ft descent on asphalt and gravel, 1 mile beach run, 300 ft up the infamous sand ladder, back through the rolling hiking trails, 300 ft descent, flat 2 miles to the finish on crushed rock. I was 30 seconds down on 4th place starting the run and 10 seconds up on 6th. Francesco Godoy of Spain was in 4th, and Chris McCormack was in 6th. The play by play might get confusing, but here it goes.

Chris caught me about 400m into the run and gapped me before mile 1. I managed to close the gap shortly after mile 1. Then, I drafted of Chris for the next half mile as we were running into a headwind. Leading up to the Golden Gate Bridge stairs, I took the lead as we started to work together because we were catching Francesco in 4th. I lead up the stairs until we were passing under the Golden Gate Bridge when Chris made a move to drop me. He worked open a 20 yard gap on me and close on Francesco through the rolling hiking trails over to the top of the sand ladder. On the descent down to Baker Beach, I closed the gap to Chris as we simultaneous caught Francesco in 4th as th run spilled out onto the beach.

Now, 4th, 5th, and 6th were running together with me leading the charge to catch Andy in third. The beach run leads you away from the sand ladder to a turn around. At the turn around, Hunter and Bevan's 1st and 2nd place positions looked secure, and Andy's 3rd place looked like a difficult catch but a possibility. We continued together until the sand ladder where I tried to separate myself from 5th and 6th and did get a gap, but they both manage to fight back as we ran back through the rolling hiking trail. We all switched back and forth jocking for position. Chris tried to control the front leading into the final stairs going down. He suspected I would try and make a move again, and I did. I took some risks leaping 5 or 6 steps with oncoming runners coming up the stairs. I could only get a small gap, which the they closed staring the flat 2 miles to the finish. I wasn't going to wait for a sprint finish and went to front and pushed the pace as much as I could, hoping to drop someone. With a mile to go we could see Andy Potts in reach, and Francesco made a move. I could only follow for 50 yards before Chris came around me too. I managed to stop the bleeding (growing gap) at about 50 yards, but I couldn't produce any more last minute heroics to reel them in. Andy managed to hold off Chris who dropped Francesco. Its was a tight finish from 3rd to 6th; everyone was in the finishing shoot together (Andy 2:02:02, Chris 2:02:08, Francesco 2:02:12, DKT 2:02:35).

Leading up to the Sand Ladder - Larry Rosa

In closing, I'm happy with my race. I didn't sit around and wait. I played to my strengths. When your ears are ringing and you're defecating blood, you did all you could that day.

Past Escape from Alcatraz Results: 7th 2006, 6th 2007, 4th 2008, 2nd 2009, 6th 2010
Top 2 fastest bike splits: 45:14 DKT 2008, 45:41 DKT 2007, 45:45 Craig Walton 2005, 45:57 Craig Walton 2004 (according available records online)

St Anthony's

2010-04-25T10:51:00.008-05:00

I finished 9th today at St Anthony's Triathlon, which is an acceptable result amongst a good field. I didn't swim as well as I'm capable of . I swam better last year relative to the field in worst conditions, so I was hoping to improve on that swim. However, I felt like I rode well and had an average run for me. I haven't seen any full official results, so I won't make any absolute commentary on my performance. I was surprised and happy for how well Cameron Dye and Andrew Starykowicz did. Cameron won and Andrew was 6th. Usually, I can run past them.

Anyway, this one is in the books. I need to rest up for Escape next week and kick the head cold I have.

St. Anthony's Triathlon
St. Petersburg, FL / April 25, 2010Men
1. Cameron Dye (USA) 1:48:44
2. Greg Bennett (AUS) 1:49:04
3. Craig Alexander (AUS) 1:49:14
4. Stuart Hayes (GBR) 1:50:50
5. Matthew Reed (USA) 1:51:13
6. Andrew Starykowicz (USA) 1:51:19
7. Brian Fleischmann (USA) 1:51:32
8. Viktor Zyemtsev (UKR) 1:52:06
9. David Thompson (USA) 1:52:26
10. Maxim Kriat (UKR) 1:53:01

Updating my internet presence

2010-04-21T11:39:00.002-05:00

I'm currently updating my website and blog. Please be patient; I'm changing development software so there is a learning curve. St Anthony's is the weekend with Escape from Alcatraz and Rev3 Olympic the following weekends, so it will take a month or so to get everything up to speed. Please use this blog to get current race reports.

2010 Race Schedule

2010-04-20T20:36:00.003-05:00

Race Date Triathlon
3/28/2010 Powerman Alabama
4/25/2010 St. Anthony's
5/2/2010 Escape from Alcatraz
5/9/2010 Rev 3 Olympic
5/23/2010 Gear West Duathlon
5/29/2010 Apple Duathlon
6/6/2010 Rev 3 Half
6/13/2010 Trinona Triathlon
6/20/2010 Rodchesterfest Triathlon
6/27/2010 Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon
7/3/2010 Minnie Man
7/10/2010 Life Time Fitness Triathlon MN
7/18/2010 NYC Triathlon or 70.3 Racine
7/25/2010 Chisago Half
7/31/2010 Firehouse 50 TTT
8/1/2010 Brewhouse Triathlon
8/8/2010 70.3 Boulder
8/14/2010 Turtleman Triathlon
8/22/2010 Pigman Triathlon
8/29/2010 Chicago Triathlon
9/12/2010 Rev 3 Full
9/19/2010 Savageman 70.0 or 70.3 Syracuse or 70.3 Branson
10/2/2010 Scott Tinley's Adventures Triathlon LC
10/10/2010 Toyot US Open Triathlon
10/17/2010 70.3 Austin
10/30/2010 70.3 Miami

Trial Post

2009-07-14T19:10:00.000-05:00

Welcome to DKT's blog about pain and suffering, speed and success as a professional triathlete.