Last two trical races

Terry Davis’ tricalifornia series of races are by far my favorite races to attend. He and his staff do an amazing job and you know you can rely on a professionally run event. I really looked forward to the last two races of the year: Pacific Grove and Scott Tinely’s.

As PG is a draft-legal affair, the swim was crucial and I exited the water with two other strong athletes, Brian Fleishmann and Kyle Leto. We really pushed the pace on the bike and opened up a 1 min 30 sec gap on the chasers. Although I had felt comfortable on the swim, I was really suffering on the bike around the half way point. It felt as though I had a flat, but I thought that my legs were just having an “off day.” After the race I did find out that I had a slow leak in my rear. Thank goodness it did not go completely flat during the bike, otherwise that would have been a real costly flat. Anyway, I ran in second place until the 4th mile before the wheels really came off and I faded to third. Brian was truly the class of the field and deserved the win!

Anyway, I was hoping that I had got my bad luck out of the way for Scott Tinely’s, the finale of the trical series, as this would be my last race before Clearwater. This year Scott Tinley’s was not the usual Olympic Distance affair. It was a 1.5 mile swim, 49 mile bike and 9.3 mile run. I knew it was going to be a tough day as the Olympic run is one of the harder 10ks I have ever done and this Long Course made us do another lap on that hilly route. Not to mention the bike is pretty hilly as well! Hills and I have a love/hate relationship, well mostly HATE!!! However, the race could not have gone any better! My partner in crime Kyle Leto and I put a minute and a half on the field on the 1.5 mile swim. We then stretched our lead to about 5 minutes on the bike. I immediately took over the lead on the run and opened up a minute gap after the first lap of three and maintained it during the second lap. However, Leto dug deep and caught me with one mile to go on the third round. After 3.5 hours of racing, it came down to a sprint finish which I was fortunate enough to win by a mere 4 seconds! This result is going to give me good motivation for my build up to Clearwater, which will be my last race of the year.

Thanks to Marlene for the pic from Tinley's!

Unbelievable

I know that cyclists and motorists have a tumultuous relationship over sharing the road. However, this story takes it to a whole new level. I cannot fathom how someone can get so enraged during a heated discussion that he could kill another man. What Michael Bryant did is reprehensible and inexcusable! It also reminds cyclists that you will always lose a fight with a car and sometimes it is better to ride away than try to express your opinion. It really is a sad story.

The horrific Michael Bryant case, in which the former Ontario attorney-general has been charged in the death of a bicycle courier in Toronto, has been tidily summed up just about everywhere as our own Bonfire of the Vanities . It's an apt comparison, because beneath the facts lies a bubbling cauldron of social resentments, mistrust of authority and other prejudices that may well tell us more about ourselves than about anything else.
Here are those facts: Mr. Bryant, 43, Ontario's former attorney-general and a political golden boy, has been charged with criminal negligence causing death, and dangerous driving following the death of Darcy Allan Sheppard, 33, a bicycle courier with whom he had an altercation Monday evening along a tony stretch of Toronto's Bloor Street. Mr. Sheppard was seen clinging to Mr. Bryant's car and eventually died after he fell off.
The full story can be read at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/michael-bryant-the-story-none-of-us-can-stop-talking-about/article1274909/

SB and Folsom

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. I had a couple good low key races at Santa Barbara and Folsom. Both races were nearly mirror images of each other: I got a solid lead on the swim, extended it on the bike and got to enjoy the run(didn't think I would ever say that!) Although I did get lost on the run course at both races...I really need to stop day dreaming when I race! I know I wanted to get in a solid workout at the races, but I especially cut it close at SB. All counting SB and Folsom were the 6th and 7th time I have gotten lost on the run course. I figure one day that Berkeley education of mine will kick in and I will get some common sense. For example, when you start running next to a woman in the race riding a mountain bike and you realize you are on the bike course instead of the run course, it’s time to turn around!

As a side note, Sb was my first tri every back in 1999. I don’t know what I was thinking attempting a long course triathlon at 14. All I remember was that it was the most miserable run on my life... yes even worse than wildflower this year. I probably trained about 1/10th of the total volume I do today and my body was cramping up everywhere. More than one person was kind enough to ask me how I was doing and/or offer me some salt tablets/gels on the run. I probably walked 6 of the 10 miles that day. I can tell you that the run this time around was a whole lot more fun(minus the 5 or so minutes I was inadvertently off course). Thanks to my buddy Chris for the pic from SB.

Also, August was officially my biggest training block of the year, hopefully setting me up nicely for my last three races of the year. I am happy that I got through it injury free and am currently enjoying my taper for Pacific Grove. I do love tapers!

Vineman 70.3

Last weekend was by far my best result as a professional to date when I placed 4th at the Vineman 70.3. To my surprise at the pre-race meeting the water in Napa was unseasonably warm and therefore, it was going to be a non-wetsuit swim. Lucky for me I had my Kiwami Kameleon and was able to latch on to Clayton’s feet, who in my opinion is the best swimmer in the sport of triathlon. I am just lucky that he hadn't swam all week due to a bike crash, otherwise trying to go with him would have been a lost cause - hope he's all healed up by now. So, I exited the water in second place and tried to find my own rhythm on the bike. I actually led the bike leg for about the first 10 miles before getting passed by Joe and Reinaldo at warp speed. The next group to pass me was lead by Craig and included Brian, Clayton and Simon. I did everything I could to just keep them from riding away from me for the next 40 miles. Onto the run, Simon, Craig and Clayton were out like bats out of hell. I just tried to run my own race and was able to eventually reel in Clayton and Craig, although Leon passed me around mile 8. Anyway, I was stoked to get 4th and I achieved my main goal of qualifying for the 70.3 world championships in Clearwater - yeah!
Here's the article about the race from slowtwitch: http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/Pip_Taylor_Joe_Gambles_win_Vineman_70.3_922.html

On another note, it was very sad to hear that an athlete on the course was seriously injured when a rotting tree literally fell on top of him and his bike. From what I hear he is recovering well from his two surgeries and I hope that he has a very speedy recovery. I know that everyone in the triathlon community is wishing him the best. This is one of the craziest freak occurrences that I have ever heard happen to someone in a triathlon.
An article on the accident: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090719/ARTICLES/907199983/1031/SPORTS07?Title=Freak-crash-during-Vineman-when-tree-falls-on-cyclists

TI

So, I normally have an awesome swim at TI and love in-water starts. However, this year, trical decided to start the race further back and we basically got a push start from the mud of the shoreline. As a result of corralling 45 athletes in a 20 yard area, the swim was more like a boxing match from the start. I got a steady dose of jabs to the head over the course of the swim, as we were swimming 5 abreast for most of it. Exited the water at the tail end of the front pack, and hauled ass in transition, mounted my bike and took off after the leaders. So, the past two times I have made the front pack at TI, I have been badly dropped on the bike and end up in the large chase pack, but this year I was gonna turn myself inside out and not let that happen again. I was the last guy to pack the front pack. At the start of the bike, our pack steadily gained time over the leading trio of 3 powered by simon whitfield and was just 30 seconds down by lap 2. However, over the course of the last 4 laps we managed to lose 2 minutes plus to that lead breakaway and the chase pack almost caught us from behind, getting into T2 20 seconds down. I knew I had to start out the run conservatively and not pace off the others in my pack who were all really good runners. I settled into a nice rhythm and was running in 9th place until about the 6k mark, when the wheels really stating coming off. The last 4k was more like swimming on land with my arms flailing around. With just 400m to go I got caught by 2 other athletes and had to use an all out kick to beat them. Luckily for me, that’s my specialty – I’m money for the last .2 mile, it’s the first 6 that’s the problem. Anyway got some much needed ITU points.

Bad economy = more time to train

Just read this in the wall street journal. So if someone beats you in your next race, just blame it on the economy!
As Unemployed Amp Up Their Training, Marathon Results and Participation Rise
By REED ALBERGOTTI

Longtime runner Ray Gobis posted a 3:09 at the Boston Marathon in April—his personal best. The cause wasn’t a new training technique or the perfect weather. It was because Mr. Gobis got laid off.
“Other people might go into a cocoon or something. Me, I’ve done the opposite,” says the 47-year-old Mr. Gobis, who lost his job in November as director of operations for a printing company. With his new-found leisure time, he has amped up his regimen to 60 miles a week and joined a competitive running group.
Americans might be poorer, but they certainly aren’t slower. With the economy in the doldrums, more people are discovering that without those 12-hour workdays, they’re able to pursue fitness goals like never before. Marathons, triathlons and road races are filling up in record time.
Some evidence suggests that laid-off marathon runners are actually helping push up the level of competition within their age groups. Olympic-level competition could even go up because more elite athletes coming out of college are opting to pursue their athletic goals rather than look for work in a dismal job market.
Read the rest of the article at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204261704574274070492669550.html

The sickest sprint finish ever

Over the past weekend at the Hyvee World Cup race, 6 athletes finished within 5 seconds of the winner's time. Simon Whitfield won with an absolutely vicious kick and took the $200,000 first prize check by tenths of a second. He's still got the best kick in the business!

Silicon Valley Pro Challenge

The 2009 Silicon Valley Triathlon featured a very unique format for the pros. There was a 40k bike time trial in the morning followed by a swim-run-swim-run race in the afternoon. I guess the point of the format was to make the triathlon more spectator friendly, and in the process, make it one of the hardest races of my life. I mean the run out in between swim laps is bad, but this took it to a new level - I thought I was going to have to utilize one of the lifeguards to save me on that second swim!
The day started off well with the 40k time trial on a mostly fast course with one hill halfway through the bike. I have done this tri a couple times before, but never done an all out ITT of that distance before. And true to form, I went out just a little too hard. That one mile climb seemed more like Mt. Diablo after the House of Pain ride! Anyway, I would have been ecstatic with my 54:53 time, had I not found out that Mr. Lieto biked a 49:46!!! Yes, he put 5 minutes on me on a 24.8 mile bike. Mad props to him - he's such a stud! There's a reason why Trek gave him a prototype TT rig that only he, Lance and Alberto have.
So, that meant Chris started the swim-run-swim-run 5 mins in front of me, David Thompson and Lewis Elliot had two minutes on me, Greg Remaly 30 seconds, Chris Foster 15 seconds and Brian Lavelle only 3 seconds back of me. I was super happy just to be in the mix with these superstar athletes. I drank lots of Fluid in between races to stay hydrated and aid in my recovery. Big thanks to Dave and Rich for the support!
On the first leg of the swim, I managed to only catch Chris, only to get demolished by him once we were on land. Brian also ran away from me on that run, so I know I had my work cut out on the second swim. I have never swam so hard in my life and by the end of the 750m swim, I realized that I had caught 4 of the guys ahead of me and had a real shot at getting 3rd and making some money. The second run hurt! I think the format was created to just see how much pain the pros could put ourselves through. Despite my best efforts, Chris, Clayton and Greg passed me on the run and I ended the day in 6th place. As Manny would say "I was leaking oil" badly during that second run, but all in all, it was a very fun day. Chris absolutely dominated the field. They might as well rename the race to the Chris Lieto Pro Challenge for next year.
I am currently getting in some quality training so I will be ready for TI and Vineman in a couple weeks. Today, I just finished my test set track workout of 20x400s on :75 or better with 30 sec rest. Made each one, so my run is getting there. It was the first time I made the intervals with a couple of running partners to suffer with. I think my HS football team thought I was going insane yelling at myself in between 400s. Anyway, I can't have another repeat of Wildflower at Vineman. Then again, I don't think that would be possible - at least I hope so!

I added some pics from the race. The first one was the two exhausted Fluid athletes - me and Chris. The second one was taken before I knew what I was getting myself into. And the last one was me suffering on the run. Thanks Dave for the pics!

Escape from Alcatraz

Despite the fact that I live in San Francisco and have more than ample opportunities to practice the Alcatraz course, that race kicked my butt for the second year running. Once again, the swim killed me! Although last year, my swim fitness was pathetic and I deserved being thoroughly whooped by the Potts and Sanson express train, this year was a different story and I was swimming faster than ever in workouts. As usual, I had an awesome start – how I wish every race had a pontoon start or a dive off of a boat – and quickly settled into a nice pace. However, I am not sure why I decided to do this, but I decided to take a different line than the lead boat. Halfway though the swim when I realized that no one was going around me I took a couple of backstrokes and realized that I was leading a renegade pack of about 5 swimmers way off course. That pack of seagulls that I thought was in the water a solid 200 yards to my left was everyone else. I tried to correct my line and drift over to them, but in the end went too far left and got into the rocks. My best bet would have been to stay my course since the current was not as strong as in years past, but oh well. When I exited the water with a couple of the female pros I knew I had some work to do on the bike. Once I was on my bike I started picking up athletes and got into a really nice rhythm. I was really happy with my decision to ride a tt bike and entered t2 in 9th place. Onto the run, I tried to maintain good form, but I could tell that my bike effort was going to hurt me on the run. A fast moving Lewis Elliot flew by me. The next athlete was my good friend Matt Seymour and Matty offered me some words of encouragement when he went by. I tagged along with him until the downhill to Baker Beach where his foot speed combined with my toasted quads gapped me by about a hundred yards. The second half of that run was uneventful as I could not close the gap that Matty had on me and finished in 11th place. All in all it was a fun race and it was great seeing familiar faces like my good friends from Cal – Melissa, Maggie, K Hass and Brandon cheering for me on the flat stretch and Dave and all the Pac Bikes crew scattered throughout the course. You guys carried me through after my awful swim and allowed me to dwell on the good parts of my race, like not giving up after the swim and my solid bike. Thanks for all of the support! And Mags and Melissa, those custom nose strips were a super hot look!

What exactly are we swimming in?

I just read this pr about the Pan Ams Champs last month. Makes you wonder just how safe that water you are diving into actually is.

OSDH Announces Results of Triathlon Illness Investigation
The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) announced today that an investigation of gastrointestinal illness reported in a recent Oklahoma City triathlon was related to exposure to water during swimming practice sessions or during the swim portion of the event.The OSDH began its investigation after receiving reports that some participants became ill following their participation in the Boathouse International Triathlon held in Oklahoma City May 16-17. State health epidemiologists queried participants through an online survey to try to determine what event or personal exposures could have led to diarrhea, vomiting and other gastrointestinal symptoms. Of the 367 participants, 218 responded to the survey and of that number, 45 met the OSDH case definition for illness, which was an acute onset of diarrhea in a 24-hour period and/or vomiting following the event. Health officials also sought stool specimens from those reporting illness.

The rest of the article can be found at http://www.ok.gov/health/Organization/Office_of_Communications/News_Releases/2009_News_Releases/OSDH_Announces_Results_of_Triathlon_Illness_Investigation.html

HS student denied diploma

This seems really harsh to me, especially since the poor kid will never get a second shot at walking at his hs graduation. If the same etiquette codes were enforced at Cal's graduation, half the student body would walk sans diploma.
I read this article on yahoo news:
A Very Costly Kiss: Senior Denied Diplomaby by Mike Krumboltz For teens, there is no greater joy than graduating high school. Shaking off the shackles of education and claiming that hard-fought diploma is truly an epic day. Unfortunately, for several students at Bonny Eagle High School in Maine, their natural exuberance has led to some surprisingly serious problems.On Friday night, when the senior class was waiting to graduate, excitement began to grow. Students bounced a large inflatable rubber duck. The noise level rose. And then came "the kiss." When called, one student walked on stage to receive his diploma and blew a kiss to his family. The school administrator, clearly not the sentimental sort, sent the student back to his seat ... sans diploma.
The rest of the article can be found at www.yahoo.com/buzzlog/92681?fp=1

Austin

Austin was my third trip to Texas since 2007. I raced in Dallas in 2007 and Lubbock just a few months ago, but Austin is by far my favorite city of the three.
After one of the smoothest travel days in recent memory, I arrived in Austin on Saturday at 7 pm and my roommate, Chris Riekert and I arrived at the La Quinta by 8. We settled down a bit and then went to the front desk for recommendations for places to eat. The lady at the desk answered 6th street, 5 blocks south of where we were staying. As we approached 6th street, we could hear the commotion of people just having a good time. We looked around for a couple of blocks and settled on a cafe in the lobby of one of the hotels. Most people were enjoying some extravagant desserts, but Chris and I inhaled some quality burgers. By the time we finished our meal and walked outside, the party had really gotten started. They were people everywhere. The streets were actually closed to traffic. I thought it was Mardi Gras or something. Chris turned to me and said we should just call everyone in the race and tell them to go out so we will all be on a level playing field. And, after knowing the final outcome of both of our races, I think both of us should of just started the post-race festivities a couple days early.
The actual race, well.... sucked! For starters it was 90 degrees and pretty humid and you know how much I love heat and humidity when I race! My 5 minute warm-up run felt more like I was jogging in place in a sauna. I was at least happy it was a non-wetsuit swim because it would have been death putting on a wetsuit in that weather. I was also super pumped it was a non-wetsuit swim because a.) I was swimming really well and b.) that meant I got to try out my new suit - the Kiwami Kameleon( a hybrid suit that inserts neoprene panels on the chest and thighs for extra buoyancy). The suit felt awesome in the water and I knew I was going to crush this swim. However, the start of the swim did not go nearly as planned. I love in water starts because with my get out speed I usually gain a huge advantage on the field. I was #19 for the race and was happy with my starting position. However, once the commands we given and the horn blew, the rope that was in the water (to prevent us from false-starting) actually was attempted to be pulled up, literally hanging me by the neck. I then got the pleasure of getting bull dozed by the people behind me. It was by far my worst start ever. I worked the rest of the swim to get towards to the front of the swim and exited the water in 13. There were two packs of 3 up the road and we had a pack of 6. We did not exactly work well together, but caught the first pack of three before getting swallowed up by the main chase group of 20 by lap 2 or 5. At that point I was perfectly content to assume my position at the back of the pack and prepare for the run. I felt really good going into the run when one of the athletes decided it would be an awesome time to play human pinball and managed to hit the curb, taking out half of the pack about 1k from the finish of the bike. The guys that were able to regroup trickled into transition about a minute down from that front group. I made it into transition, but my body was in no shape to run. This debacle in Austin inflated my average crash rate since January 2008 to one in every three months – Yeah! I should really look into the full body armor!
The only redeeming quality of the trip was the post race party on 6th street the night after the race. But it was an expensive party to attend. My flight cost $200, but the most outrageous thing was that my bike was $250! I could have bought a seat for my bike... it could have even enjoyed extra leg room and upgraded to economy plus for the extra 50. If at all possible, I will avoid flying United ever again.

Last swim meet of the year/first half

Over the past weekend I attended the CCS HS swim meet. Wow! There was some incredibly fast swimming! Almost every event had a new CCS record. Watching a sub 20 second 50 free by shayne fleming was insane. Also a freshman girl went 1:57 and change in the 200 IM and 4:43 in the 500. Absolutely ridiculous!
Overall, I was very happy with how the SI swimmers did. Pieter got third in both the 200 and 100 frees with a 1:38.55 and 45.35 respectively. If it was any other year, he probably would have won both events with those times. Both were SI records and All- American automatics. USC will be very happy to have him! The boys also set SI records and AAA times in both free relays. And, Brad went 4:40 and change in his 500. Overall, 6 SI records went down over the weekend(all free events from the 50 to the 500 and both free relays) and the boys team took 5th overall. I believe this was their highest finish ever. Each and every guy set prs in their individual events and the relays were really fast as well! Big thanks to Xterra for hooking up the team with the super fast Velocity Red Poolsuit in time for the meet.
On a personal note, I raced(well more like barely survived) my first half ironman at Wildflower. Outside of the swim, which I exited the water in 4th, the race went pretty badly. I had no legs on the bike and had my nagging calf injury flare up again on the run at mile 2. I actually went back to the finish area with chips in my hand when I told myself that I had to finish my first half and tuned back around and walked/jogged the 13 miles. For future reference, one thing is for sure, if I am not 100% before a half, there is no use even toeing the line. I mean I blow up in Olympics pretty badly, but this took it to a whole new level. My body was wrecked for about 2 weeks and is just starting to come around again. Next up for me is the ITU race in Austin on Memorial Day. It’s my first ITU race of the year and I need to have a good showing!

Collegiate Nationals Part III

Despite the very best effort from each and every Golden Bear, Cal could not top the well- balanced team from Annapolis and relinquished the national champion title to the Naval Academy. There were some truly heroic performances from our team members that must be applauded. Robyn Shaffer and Daniella Mehech were both sick within the week leading up to the race, but gutted it out to finish 8th and 9th respectively; Mike Jafari had a break through performance in the 5th wave, maneuvering through the slower athletes to a top 10 finish overall; and our president, Kevin Haas, racing after the epic three day drive in a Penske truck to deliver the team’s bike in Lubbock from Berkeley. Not to mention the fact that our sprint racers in the race before the Olympic had transformed into the best cheerleaders ever! They had painted their bodies and arranged themselves to spell “Go Tri Bears” on their chest and “California” on their back. They positioned themselves on top of the last climb on the course and cheered with the same enthusiasm for all athletes, regardless of school affiliation. Post – race they also had their scarlet letter “branded” to them as the Texas sun tanned the rest of their bodies except where the letter was painted on. I don’t care what the “official” results said, but UC Berkeley definitely showed why we should have won the spirit award. Not to mention the fact that the entire team donned a “Muhammed Alinesque” custom Cal robes during the whole weekend. The special treat of the day was a surprise visit from two great friends: our ex-president Christi Leong and Dwight Upshaw, who drove from Boulder to watch Cal Triathlon race at Nationals. They are truly wonderful people and bleed blue and gold. They, too, stationed themselves at the top of that hill. I could not have been more proud to be a bear! It was a very satisfying runner-up title, (the 5th in the past 6 collegiate nationals with the sole exception being the national championship title last year) knowing that each and every team member left it all out on the race course. The men retained the national title, while the women garnered 4th place.

It truly was a bitter sweet day for me. I was so happy with how the team performed, but I was sad that it was going to be my last race wearing the blue and gold. I have been a member of the Cal Triathlon team since 2004 and it will be the tri team that will forever define my college experience. It has truly been an honor to have you guys in my life. I love all of you guys! Big thanks to each and every one of my teammates for their undying support, love and encouragement. We owe a lot to our wonderful coach, Andy Schmitz, who once again tapped into the full potential of the team, which allowed us to produce at a level that we thought was not possible. From his visualization session to his words of encouragement and motivation, Andy made the team believe we would all race as champions.

Andy and the rest of the team will reload for next year and will hopefully bring back that national title to Berkeley. I also truly hope my good friend, Steve Sexton, will return to collegiate racing and help UC Berkeley make that dream a reality. He truly is a champion and the team surely missed his abilities and leadership in Lubbock. His addition would have made things real interesting for that overall duel with Navy and the team title! I have no doubt that Kenny will vie for the individual male honors and whether it is him or Steve, Cal will keep that title in house. On the women’s side, Daniella and Robyn will be right in the hunt for individual honors and lead a very strong women’s contingent in 2010. Roll on you bears and you stay classy!

Collegiate Nationals Part II

It was now race day. Although training had been going better this past week since my untimely crash at Santa Barbara, I still did not have full range of motion in left arm due to a pinched ulnar nerve. My strength, the swim, was now my greatest limiter for the race. I was just hoping that adrenaline could get me to land in a respectable time. The swim was freezing! 53 degrees with 48 degree air temp. Luckily, I, along with the Cal team, had practice with such conditions - can you say Golden Bearathlon round 2! In fact the cold acted as a natural anesthetic for my elbow.

Once that horn blasted for the start I did not feel the pain in my elbow again until I crossed the finish line. I could not believe how good my stroke felt considering my longest swim in the past three weeks was a little over a half an hour. To my amazement, I actually led the swim to the last buoy before being passed my Nick Vandam from Army. When I got to my bike I realized I was sandwiched by the two armed forces’ athletes that I considered the race favorites: Nick Vandam, who exited the swim 7 seconds in front of me and Derek Oskutis, who exited the water 12 seconds behind me. I had a very fast T1 and mounted my bike first. With the rush from the crowd and my teammates cheering, I knew that this was going to be my best opportunity to make a move in the race. I stopped thinking and just raced – sounds simple, but I overanalyze everything and for once I just put my head down and rode my bike as hard as I could. The bike felt effortless until the turnaround when I realized why it felt so good – it was a tail wind out and a stiff crosswind back into T2. Despite probably going out too hard on the bike, I was able to continue extending my lead to 1:30 going into T2.

I knew it was going to be a painful run once I started, but the crowd and the adrenaline rush got me through the first two miles. It was at the mile two marker that I really started hurting and the rest of the run was done in complete survival mode – it probably looked like I was swimming on land, because I know my form was falling part. In the end I was able to hold off Derek Oskutis by a mere 20 seconds. He is an amazing athlete and had the run been long like the swim, I may have been in trouble.

I learned a lot about myself and my body in the past three weeks than at any other point in my career. I learned the importance of rest and a proper taper(or should I saw a forced taper). I hope that it does not take a bike crash three weeks out from an “A” race to remind me of the importance of rest ever again. Who would have thought after my last post that the crash was the best thing that could have happened to me and was actually a blessing in disguise? The old saying that it is “better to under train than over train” really does hold water!
Here were some write ups from usat and slowtwitch about the race:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/Dahlz_and_Broderick_in_Lubbock_764.html
http://usatriathlon.org/news/article/12048

Collegiate Nationals Part I

So, the day finally came for my last collegiate nationals in a Cal Bear uniform. Over the past weekend, the Cal triathlon team traveled to Lubbock, Texas to race at Collegiate Nationals in the hope of defending their overall team title. I also clung to a glimmer of hope that I would finally win that elusive individual crown, but realistically I just wanted to give it my all, help out the team and, in the process, garner a top 5 placing.

The travel to the race was anything but ordinary, as is usually the case with me. After a smooth trip from SFO to Memphis, (yes, you actually passed Texas to go to Memphis because I booked my flight using miles) the second half of my trip was anything but uneventful. The culprit was a hydraulic system malfunction that delayed our flight for 3 hours. In that span we boarded and un-boarded the plane twice before the problem was finally solved. The unnerving part of the whole ordeal once the hydraulics were fixed was the fact that the airline company needed volunteers to offer up their flight due to the intense storm that created weight restrictions for the plane. It also added a one hour loop to our flight to avoid the weather system. It was not an enjoyable flight with all of the turbulence and the crackling of lightning illuminating the intense clouds that we flew through. Nevertheless, we finally arrived in Lubbock at 2:30am! I would have been stranded at the airport had it not been for one of the triathletes from Auburn, Nate Robinson, who graciously offered me a ride to my hotel and saved my butt. However, the night was still young for everything else to go smoothly. Upon checking into my hotel, my room key refused to work. Seriously? It turned out that the battery in the door card system was out. The guy working the desk had to call a maintenance guy to get a master card to over ride the system. I finally crawled into bed at a little past 4 in the morning, just wondering what I had done to deserve such bad luck. However, despite only 4 hours of sleep I woke up the next morning pretty refreshed and the rest of the pre-race day went by smoothly.

When will I catch a break?

So, I thought I was over my bad luck when I got hit by a car on New Year's Eve. 2009 had to be better, it really could not get too much worse, I mean 5 crashes - come on!!! But no, I am back in the grove of having a very unpleasant blind date with the pavement!
After a dismal showing at my first race at the Stanford triathlon, I rallied and survived the death march of the Golden Bear triathlon winning the overall title. Cal took home the team title as well! So, when I said it was a death march, I was not kidding. The water temp was a balmy 52 and the air temp was a pleasant 44. That water literally took my breath away! I was absolutely petrified going down Wildcat –a super technical decent considering the wet pavement, pine needles and completely numb figures. In fact, I just kept my fingers clutching the brakes the entire decent because the one time I let go, I could barely squeeze them again. As I made the left hand turn onto San Pablo, my teammate Kenny Rakestraw passed me like I was standing still. He was on a tear that day and it was unfortunate that he got a flat tire about a mile out from transition. He decided to then run barefoot into transition and still pulled off a second place finish. He is absolutely a freak! Mad props to him! The run was so muddy that it actually was comical and marginally fun once I warmed up. It felt as if I was trying to walk in the snow in tennis shoes. Nevertheless, I was happy with my second fastest run of the day, which gave me a little confidence going into our Conference championships in Santa Barbara the following week.
So, last week, I was really more happen that I did not crash biking down wildcat canyon than anything. However, I guess I only managed to cheat the bad luck for a week. Miss Pavement was pissed at me that I stood her up in Berkeley and showed me her wrath at the race in Santa Barbara over the past weekend.
The swim felt really easy despite the fact that we were swimming into the current the entire way. This was at least partly due to the fact that my new wetsuit sponsor Xterra sent me a Vendetta a couple days before the race. I thought that my Xterra Vector Pro 2 was flexible, but the Vendetta put that to shame. Coming from a guy with a chronic history of shoulder problems, flexibility is my main focus in choosing a wetsuit. The Vector Pro was the best suit that eliminated almost all shoulder fatigue. The Vendetta has completely eliminated all of that fatigue. It truly is a gem! Not just that but the #40 yamamoto rubber in the Vendetta is also the most buoyant. I normally kick a lot in my races, but there was really no need, the wetsuit just carried me along.
So, with the aid of my new wetsuit I exited the swim in 3rd, swimming in the main pack and completely fresh. I had a quick T1 transition and exited my bike 2nd. I had literally gone 100 yards and was strapping my right shoe down when BAM! … I hit a pothole and my hand slipped off of the bar. My chest was now on my aerobars and I knew I was screwed. Thankfully, I was still cold from the swim and the rush of adrenaline masked all of the pain. I tried to get back on my bike and keep on riding, but my right aerobar was turned in and would not shift. That’s when I told myself that it was not worth continuing to race. I headed back to the transition area. It’s kinda funny watching the horrid looks of people’s faces when you have blood dripping all over you. Most people just stared at me, but my buddy Reto, a very fine professional triathlete and the coach of Stanford, and the Rakestraw family came to my aid and found me some medical support. Thanks for all of your help guys! After the medical team looked at my cuts, they said I needed to go to the hospital to get some x –rays and stitches. So, it was off to the er in an ambulance again! Luckily I had no broken bones, just some bruised ribs(the sucky part it is the same side as the ones I cracked on New Year’s Eve) and stitches in both my elbows, hand and hip. The unfortunate part of all this is that this was my last tune up race before Collegiate Nationals – my last collegiate nationals. I am pretty heartbroken about all of this, but I am going to be at the start line in Lubbock no matter what. I am also trying the new, highly touted tapering method of complete rest, with a mini triathlon as activation the day before and then the race. I will have very fresh legs for Col Nats! The good news was after UCSB messed up on the scoring with the preliminary scores, we were announced the champions the following day. Congrats to my teammate Kenny, the overall WCCTC champion and Daniela, who was runner up. Go Bears!!!

Coffee as a natural pain killer?

I just read this in yahoo news. However, the benefits are not limited to just coffee, as the title implies, but caffeine in general. I guess there is a reason why I love massive amounts of caffeine in the morning - it just numbs the pain of my actual workout and my doctored up concoctions taste pretty good as well.

Coffee Lessens the Pain of Exercise
AP – Viennese coffee is prepared at the Austrian-style Cafe Sabarsky in New York, Wednesday, March 4, 2009. …
LiveScience StaffLiveScience.com livescience Stafflivescience.com – Tue Mar 31, 1:37 pm ET
That cup of coffee that many gym rats, bikers and runners swill before a workout does more than energize them. It kills some of the pain of athletic exertion, a new study suggests. And it works regardless of whether a person already had a coffee habit or not.
Caffeine works on a system in the brain and spinal cord (the adenosine neuromodulatory system) that is heavily involved in pain processing, says University of Illinois kinesiology and community health professor Robert Motl. And since caffeine blocks adenosine, the biochemical that plays an important role in energy transfer and thus exercise, he speculated that it could reduce pain.
So the researcher, a former competitive cyclist, divided 25 fit, college-aged males into two distinct groups: subjects whose everyday caffeine consumption was extremely low to non-existent, and those with an average caffeine intake of about 400 milligrams a day, the equivalent of three to four cups of coffee.
Unexpected results
After completing an initial exercise test in the lab on a stationary bike to determine maximal oxygen consumption or aerobic power, subjects returned for two monitored high-intensity, 30-minute exercise sessions.
An hour prior to each session, cyclists - who had been instructed not to consume caffeine during the prior 24-hour period - were given a pill. On one occasion, it contained a dose of caffeine measuring 5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight (equivalent to two to three cups of coffee); the other time, they received a placebo.
During both exercise periods, subjects' perceptions of quadriceps muscle pain was recorded at regular intervals, along with data on oxygen consumption, heart rate and work rate.
"What we saw is something we didn't expect," Motl said. "Caffeine-naïve individuals and habitual users have the same amount of reduction in pain during exercise after caffeine (consumption)."
The results are detailed in the April edition of the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Co-authors included Steven P. Broglio of the University of Illinois and Sigurbjorn A. Arngrimsson of the Center for Sport and Health Sciences, Iceland University of Education.
"Clearly, if you regularly consume caffeine, you have to have more to have that bigger, mental-energy effect," Motl said. "But the tolerance effect is not ubiquitous across all stimuli. Even brain metabolism doesn't show this tolerance-type effect. That is, with individuals who are habitual users versus non-habitual users, if you give them caffeine and do brain imaging, the activation is identical. It's really interesting why some processes show tolerance and others don't."
Regarding the outcome of the current research, he said, it may be that tolerance to caffeine plays no role in the way it diminishes pain during exercise.
Motl said one of the next logical steps for his research team would be to conduct studies with rodents in order to better understand the biological mechanism for caffeine in reducing pain.
"If we can get at the biological mechanism, we can begin to understand why there may or may not be this kind of tolerance."
Will it help you win?
Motl previously has conducted other studies on the relationship between physical activity and caffeine, and considered such variables as exercise intensity, dose of caffeine, anxiety sensitivity and gender. A future research direction might be to determine caffeine's effect on sport performance.
"We've shown that caffeine reduces pain reliably, consistently during cycling, across different intensities, across different people, different characteristics. But does that reduction in pain translate into an improvement in sport performance?" he said.
Meanwhile, the current research could prove encouraging for a range of people, including the average person who wants to become more physically active to realize the health benefits.
"One of the things that may be a practical application, is if you go to the gym and you exercise and it hurts, you may be prone to stop doing that because pain is an aversive stimulus that tells you to withdraw," Motl said. "So if we could give people a little caffeine and reduce the amount of pain they're experiencing, maybe that would help them stick with that exercise."

First Post!

Hello there! I have been meaning to set up this blog for the longest time to journal my travels and keep family and friends up to date with my life. I was supposed to have created it after I graduated from Cal in the Fall of 2008, as school was my convenient excuse for delaying everything, but I really have no explanation for this delay. Anyway, I will get you up to date on how my 2009 has gone thus far. It’s going to be a little lengthy, so bear with me…
For starters, I finally graduated from Cal Berkeley with a degree in Political Science. I know, it took me long enough (5.5 years, including the 1.5 year break), but what matters is I finally got that piece of paper … well not yet, but I’m sure it will be in the mail very shortly(and yes, for those of you who will not believe me until you see that diploma, I assure you I DID, in fact, graduate!) I really do not regret the decision I made to take some time off of school to pursue my dreams and take advantage of an incredible opportunity of living and training at the Olympic Training Centers in Chula Vista and Colorado Springs in 2006 and 2007. It was an amazing time and I really did learn quite a bit about myself in that period. I really have no regrets.
In terms of training for the 2009 season, it started off pretty much as bad as you could draw up. I caught a cold after my last final exam at Cal and after getting over that, I managed to have a date with a car while I was descending down Westborough Avenue near my house. The driver claimed she did not see me as she made the left hand turn and I slammed into the side of her car popping her passenger window and cracking two on my ribs. Luckily, my bike was ok(and that’s all that mattered since I would eventually heal up;). Otherwise, training has been going really well since then.
In other news, I just started coaching my high school swim team at Saint Ignatius College Preparatory. It’s pretty funny since I ran track at SI instead of swimming, but in retrospect, it would have been a much wiser decision to swim rather than run at SI. Anyway, it has really been a pleasure coaching this group of young men. It is really refreshing to see the camaraderie within the group. Honestly, they get me all fired up to work out harder myself. It was really funny before our first league meet versus St. Francis, I actually had a hard time sleeping the night before their meet. I guess I am living vicariously through them what would have been my high school swimming career. P.S. They are super fast as well! After winning only one league meet all of last year, they already toppled a very reputable team in Saint Francis with a rich tradition in swimming in their very first meet. That meet came down to the 400 relay. Bradley Kline, a stud freshman, pulled out one of the most impressive third legs of any relay I have ever seen going 47.8. Did I mention he’s just a freshman? The place was going bananas! Bradley has already shattered the SI’s men’s swim record for the 500 free going 4:44 and change as well with a pr of 4:40! This was the first new team record posted since my graduating class in 2003 with John Landefeld in the 100 fly(his little bro is on the team as well, so watch out!) I expect some big things out of SI swimming this year! Big thanks to Diane Davis - the pool supervisor (and a super star athlete in her own right) and Bob Vergara - the Athletic Director for giving me the opportunity to coach at SI.