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!
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!
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