Jersey Genesis Race Report

It was good to be back to my old style of ‘tri camping’ at the Jersey Genesis tri in June. Though, amazingly, this time I was roughing it even more than usual. Campground? Who needs a campground when you’ve got an empty parking lot and only a few hours before the race anyway?

Having only returned from a four day work trip in Arkansas (which had just enough time for one run in 95+ temps) just before 10:00 PM on the evening before the race, I simply packed my van and headed south towards the race venue. Fortunately, I raced here in 2008 (and did a gig nearby in 2009) so I’ve ridden the course before. Good thing, as I didn’t reach the venue until about 1:00 AM race morning…just enough time for a quick nap in the back of the car before transition opened at 5:30.

Dawn broke in a steamy mess of humidity which seems to be par for the course in NJ this summer. A winter of snow leads to a summer of moisture, it seems. Hardly ideal conditions. And with the relatively long four mile run after a short and flat 16 mile bike, it wasn’t exactly a perfect course for me...but everything is a bonus in 2010 as I wasn’t sure I’d be able to race at all with my work schedule.

I finished 3rd at this race in 2008, having started in a later wave with no idea how I stood until the end. This year our wave was off first. Better for gauging position, worse for sighting during the swim. Low sun + first wave = it might be tough to find my way. But I did have a secret weapon: XTerra swapped my Medium-sized Vendetta for a Small/Long one and the fit was much better. Even with water temperatures veering very close to the 78 degree cutoff I was quite comfy in the suit and by the first turn I was off the front of the pack.

As expected, the sun did wreak a little havoc with course detection, but I managed to muddle my way to the turnaround and from there it was a nice turn back into shore. Even managed to pass my dad who was drifting at the last buoy in his kayak as volunteer. I hit the sand first with the second place just behind me. I saw him go past as I unracked my bike but managed to snag the lead out of transition and soon found myself behind the always exciting police escort.

By the time I hit the asphalt the sun was fully beaming - even at 8:00 am - and it was promising to be a hot one, but the course and bike felt fast and I managed to hold a decent speed for the 8 miles out to the turn around. Of course, even though I managed to maintain my position around the cone, it was concerning to see that second was only about 30-40 seconds back. I’d widened the gap slightly but it would have to be bigger than that with a four mile run to come.

I increased my speed on the back half and managed to get into transition with about 45 or 50 seconds padding and the fastest bike split of the day, but as I headed out on to the run course, I saw #2 coming in and knew it would take a really hard run to maintain my position. Unfortunately, even running hard wasn’t quite enough to keep me up front and second place slipped by just after mile #1. Nothing to do from there but keep my eyes up the road and try to maintain a decent pace. However, there is nothing crueler than passing through mile 3 in a sprint and knowing the finish isn’t just around the bend like it is with a ‘normal’ 5K final leg. Add to that a relatively unshaded, straight stretch of blacktop and the race became nearly as challenging mentally as it was physically.

A quick glance back as I crossed the bridge that led to the last road and I saw that 3rd was in sight, but a few hundred meters back and with half a mile to go it seemed I would hold onto my position. I managed to cross the line in second overall, an improvement over 2008. The winner had outpaced my run by over 2 minutes, but it was still decent showing for me and I was happy, especially as - for such an affordable race – they have very decent prizes! While I didn’t get the 4-foot trophy (Yes, I’m totally serious) of the overall winner, I did get a very nice sleeveless fleece jacket, perfect for cold morning race starts (which I don’t seem to be getting many of this year…) Add in Italian ice, free pizza, cake and cookies and the day was very good indeed.

Retirement? What Retirment?

Jersey Shore Kick Off Sprint Tri Race Report

So, maybe ‘retirement’ didn’t take. At the end of last season I hung up my wetsuit, racked the race wheels and left my TT bike in its bag for almost 3 months. With the newest Groban record due out in early spring, I figured I’d be on a tour bus by now (or at least traipsing around Europe doing all the weird chat shows you do on promotional runs...) BUT, I still managed to get in rides when I could, have enjoyed running on the boardwalk (the Shore definitely beats PA here!) and even go to the pool. Well, occasionally…

However, with the album released postponed…why not try a quick little sprint tri? And so Sunday morning found me wandering through mud and muck just past sunrise in the Barnegat Bay and thinking: Here I am. Again.

Surprisingly I wasn’t all that nervous. Despite just getting my Achilles back from a bout of tendonitis and not even approaching last year’s spring training volume, I seem to have maintained a bit of fitness. Also, I wasn’t even chilly as the good folks at Xterra were kind enough to give me a great deal on a new Vendetta FULL SLEEVE wetsuit. Yup, I finally took the plunge. I’m not sure I had it snugged up quite right, as it felt a little strange and baggy around the shoulders, but it was fast enough to get me out of the water in 3^rd behind a pro who outswam me at Lums Pond last year and another guy who used to swim (much faster) against me in high school.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite used to the new wetsuit’s zipper and had an unusually sloppy transition, but I still managed to get out on the bike course just behind the leaders. At only ten miles before a 5K run, the distance hardly suited my strengths, but this season is all about fun competition, right? It didn’t take too long to ride into second place and the lead swimmer and I traded positions a few times during the bike. He’s improved! I put almost three minutes into him on the Lums Pond bike course last year, but this year only had him by about 20 seconds. Hmmm… Or maybe I’m just a little slower without a multitude of PA hills to train on?

Still we both managed to hit T2 simultaneously and my idea to put toe warmers on my cycling shoes paid off when I was able to get my shoes on just a bit faster and make it out onto the run course first. I wouldn’t hold the lead for very long, but it was nice to be out there for the first quarter mile.

Of course, as most know, my best races have always come when I’ve been able to sneak away on the bike and not be a carrot dangling off the front for the fleet-footed among us. Such was not the case on Sunday and I was soundly passed less than a mile in by two guys, dropping me to third where I remained to the finish. Still, not the worst way to start a summer. Don’t know how much I’ll be racing, but it’s nice know I’ll have at least one podium finish in 2010! Ended up with 3^rd fastest swim split, 2^nd fastest bike and, believe it or not, 6^th best run, so I guess I’ll take that…it’s almost enough to tempt a drive out to Pinchot on one of these race weekends… Keep your eyes peeled!