Big Kahuna Half Ironman 2012 Race Report

If you are not into endurance training and/or Triathlon and/or suffer-fests readings.... don't bother going past this line.

Finally a new good reason to write on my blog I raced my first Triathlon for 2012 and for the first time in my life I am starting to feel FAST.

Race: Big Kahuna 2012, Santa Cruz (California)
Distance: Half Ironman 1.2miles swim, 56miles bike, 13miles run.

Introduction: This 2012 Tri Season started out great ( meeting M2 and the M2 crew was a blessing! Training with power and a more stable life style somehow gave enough time to be more consistent with my TRI passion. Too bad this year was also the injury year. Plantar Fasciitis kept me from running, hamstring got pulled left and right trying to show off at track and just a month ago I managed to sprain my back muscles jumping on a freaking Trampoline for a little over 2 hours :-).
This race at the end of the summer was a way for me to get back into the multi-sport racing scene and get a feel for what 2013 would look like.
The race weekend with the GGTC and M2 folks at the vacation rental in SC was looking perfect from the day we arrived.... but enough with the introduction...

Report

4am
I am awake, just slept in the same room with Kahn ( my personal cheerleader and spare bike components lender ). The house is still asleep but I know I need my time to have breakfast and stretch a bit. Geoff is already up and almost ready to head to the race.

5.45am
Most of the house is ready to go and we all head out with our fancy TT bikes, a backpack full of TRI-geeky gadgets... leading the convoy of TRI commuters are Sexy Mama Lauren Skinner and Trophy Wife Wacey... ( apparently I was nominated part of the Trio with the amazing nickname: Sugar Bear ).

6am
Transition area is packed already... pretty much everybody set up their bikes, I can't bother finding a spot for everyone... all of a sudden I feel like I am alone and there are no friends or jokes or wasted energies to let go... while I am preparing my bike and all the Tri-geekery I can feel I am in the zone.

6.15am
Huge line at the bathrooms..... I don't get why people need to wait inline for 20 mins when they can warm up with a little run to the closest cafe' at 5 mins from the transition area...

6.45am
Pep-talk from the race organizers on the beach, my wetsuit is on, visibility is perfect and the hundreds of crazy of us, looking literally like penguins on crack, are waiting to start!

7am to 7.15am
While I study the elite athletes swim strategy, I am happy to see Vince, Wacey and Lauren ...somehow familiar faces in these situation are REALLY appreciated. Big shout to Erika, first Half Iron distance for her, she looks pretty tense and I am not really good at inspiring calm... I am pretty tense myself too.

7.16am - The Swim
BOOM... I am sprinting since the first 5 yards... swimming way faster than I should be but somehow I am in this weird hyper confidence zone that will never abandon me for the whole race.
The swim  is awesome. Water is a lot cleaner than AP and this, even if it is my first open water swim since February, feels completely under control. I am swimming with the second pack.
Half the way and I can see a few more yellow caps passing me... that's fine, I can't become a swimmer in one day... just keep a decent stroke, decent turnover and don't go in circle...

500yds from the end... I can see the finish for the swim and while I am trying to pass the slow youngsters ( 20 to 29 left 8 minutes before us ), I keep thinking about the next leg. Need to move my legs a bit faster... need to warm up my feet... On this last 100yds I am going to kick it hard.

It works, running off the swim goes well. Swim time 28minutes and some. ( PR and 24th time overall).

WTF

7.46 - The Bike
It took 2 minutes to reach the transition area running barefeet but I managed to avoid getting passed. My goal is to start the bike without too many ass*oles in front ( bad assumptions... I did meet ass*oles later :( ).

This first mile on the bike is freezing, I am still wet from the swim and I can't really press the buttons on my Garmin to switch to bike mode.
A couple of miles and I manage to switch to bike mode...... Danggggg no power reading... I forgot to set my watch to read Brett's powertap.... damn it... I went through so much trouble to get that wheel.... and I will be racing the bike with no power..... oh well time to think ahead... I ll just hammer it.

OOOPs little bump on the road... here we go I lost my front bottle... that's 50% of the sodium I got for the day... cr*p! Oh well... keep going...I can't go back.

First 5-6 miles feel great, I am looking so fast with the brand new aero Helmet Kimmy got me... M2 kit is on and Brett's wheel rolls fast! Just passed 5 people in the 30-39 wave but this last one with the TriForce kit looks like a fast one and as a matter of fact he keeps passing me. Mile 10 is gone. The TriForce dude is right behind me .... blatantly drafting ( I can hear him costing once in a while ) but I guess it is fine.

The bike is going great. I can feel I am putting a good deal of pressure on the pedals and the pain is manageable. Not sure of my wattage (estimating in the 280-290sh ) and I am not 100% confident I can sustain this.

Mile 20sh and I pass Vince... so awesome to see him out there crushing it in his AG.

On to the next pass... this guy must have been a great swimmer to be still in front of me  at mile 20sh :-)...let's do a clean pass..... wait a minute, as soon as I try to pass him he accelerates....
I am trying again.... I am pushing quite harder than I should and this time the pass is complete.... oh wait a minute the guy tries to pass me again ( WTF ).... DUDE you have got to wait for me to complete the pass and go back 3 bike lenghts before trying again..... WTF....

I let him go and for a couple of rollers I try to stay on my pace. I am starting to get mad... the guy was totally going slower before seeing me and now he stepped it up... good for him.

Mile 24sh.... the guy is slowing down again I am getting close... let's do another pass. Nothing the guy jumps on his pedals and pass me again... at this point I am ready to shout at him something.... I start the pass again and while I am preparing my sentence here I hear the USAT official motorcycle slowing down behind me F*CKKKKKK ... I complete my pass at supersonic speed without shouting a word to the Idiot.... but the worst just happened. I can see the referee writing my number down on her notepad.

Oh well focus on the ride ... ( I am mad inside at this point. The dude with this yellow/blue kit, full carbon disc... and way too much ego managed to get me real pissed!!!! ).

Turn around point, my legs are hurting for that stupid fighting that actually got me a penalty most likely... but now the wind is on my side. At this point I have the yellow/blue kitted idiot past me (from now on the IDIOT)... and the TriForce still on my ass.

Here we go mile 30... the IDIOT is back he passes me again and He slows down..again???.. this time I am mad tho... I am ready to get rid of him and start racing this thing.
The hammer is down.. I pass him at 2x the speed and now I am in my own pain cave.
Mile 30 to Mile 50 are one of the best TT experience of my life... steady ... strong ... and good wind... averaging 27/28mph.

At one point going down hill I had to slow down for a truck that decided to enter the road at the last second... and here we go the TriForce guy passing me downhill. He says something like 'sorry man I did not mean to... something'... I guess He is referring to the fact He has been behind my wheel for most of the ride. My answer: 'no problem man... have fun!'

Mile 50, I am in front... I have been drinking mostly water and I am afraid of getting a bit dehydrated. For now I am good and actually in huge need of peeing.... My memory from the race last year at Vineman comes back.... last year I had to stop on the run and lost about a minute ... this time I feel I am in PR zone... big time maybe even up for a podium.. allright I am going to pee on the bike.

A light downhill is in front of me I start coasting and the TriForce guy and all of a sudden an EMJ guy pass me... I look behind and no one... good... I can "let it go" :-). Pretty disgusting 30seconds .... anyway... now I feel a lot better no more pressure down there I can finish the bike... and hopefully 5 miles of fast biking left will be enough to dry up the "wet spots" :-)))))

Mile 55... I can hear people cheering a few turns here and there and the bike is done....

2h19m, 7th time overall.

No guts no glory ... LOL

10am The Run
In the last 2 miles of the bike I had the EMJ guy and the TriForce one in front of me at 200/300yds. I did not know how fast they would run after that but I was happy to be in the top spots at least.
As soon as I start running tho, a very old feeling comes back in me.... something that reminds me the most important thing about my TRI life.... I am a runner!

Mile 1 to 3 I am running at 6.30 pace, way too fast than I should but I am just so excited somehow. EMJ guy passed, TriForce guy passed. This time I know that I am doing damage... there is no drafting, aero, hills or bike setup that can make a difference here. The run does not lie.... and I am running well.

From Mile 3 to Mile 6 I feel invincible... I am pretty much alone... I am passing once in while the youngsters of the early wave, I see Nick from M2 leading his AG.. so cool!

Mile 6 and finally some 27yrs old guy pass me on the run. This is a reality check ... I am running barely 6.50 now and I know there must be better runners out there..... not a worry for the overall classification ( he started earlier ) nor for AG.

Turn around and here the symptoms of dehydration start.... mostly stomach/intestine 'discomforts'.

At this point I am not sure about the race, my goal is to get to the next mile and make sure to be running on pace for a 1.30sh... I keep repeating myself. EXECUTE... FOCUS... EXECUTE...
Mile 7 to Mile 11 somehow go ok... The closer I get the more confident I get... no one behind me... good sign!

Mile 11.5, I see Christophe and his daughter Marina... they rented a bike Tandem and they are here just to cheer me... It is exactly what I need! Chris keep telling me how Happy he is to see me so much at the front... I am too tired to tell them How happy I am to see them... keep going... run run run..

2 miles from the end

Mile 11.5 to 13, I am in pain, legs are not bouncing much but pace is still there, Chris and Marina keep talking to me and that keeps my mind far from the pain... now down to the sand portion.

400yds of beach running... such a grueling yet awesome finish... dodging the random/completely clueless beach folks that do not give a damn cr*p... and I am done.

Run time 1:30:47. Overall time 4h21m. 3rd place overall ( if the USAT officials approve my protest ), 1st AG.

My plan at this point is to stay at the finish and wait for all my friends to finish as well....... but not taking enough salt on the race has his side effect and the next 2 hours are not worth sharing :-0

Post Race

A list of things I learned:

• Sharing the house with a bunch of triathletes on race weekend is a lot of fun!
• I can run. Next year will be a big PR year
• I can finally bike with the big guys
• I can't swim yet... 
• Salt intake IS important
• Tri friends can be very cool... no matter if GGTC, SFTRI, EMJ, M2
• There are some huge EGOs out there. Dedicated to the IDIOT: learn how to race my friend. Pace yourself and next time let me pass clean!
• Keith of EMJ is awesome ( He got me to step on top of the podium knowing that my drafting penalty was unfair )
• Peeing on the bike is gross...but totally worth it!

Triathletes have a terrible sense of 'fashion'

Thanks to:

Even though this wasnt the Worlds Championship... to me It felt like an important one ( the only race for 2012! )... I gave it all and I want to thank a few folks... in no particular order

• Stefan... to kick my ass 10 times out of 10 we go out for a bike ride
• Mike V. to remind me every day how much faster a real runner should be ( btw while I was showing off in Santa Cruz he was rocking the real Worlds in Vegas! )
• Brett... the most chill yet super fastTriathlete dude I have ever met ( Thanks for the wheel again.. I washed it after the race:-) )
• Kahn, BC Mike, Geoff, Tommy, John, Dario, The Team Espresso, Christophe, Kaba, Vince, Dan and other M2ers to have joined a bunch of my randomly scheduled weekly workouts.
• M2 ... to be M2!
• Ah and super Kimmy. Babe, no matter how fast I go the few AG podiums or the few prices here and there will never re-pay 1/1000th of what you do for me to support this craziness of mine.

2013 will be the race season... but I bet my next post won't be about Triathlon.... trust me!

My first bike race! (Pescadero RR 2012 )

What do you do when you don't feel like sharing much on your blog?
Easy sign up for a Race... execute and here it comes a new blog post ready to be written ;-)

Training wise this year started with highs and lows. Very happy to have found the M2 community, a great mentor in M2 himself, consolidated a bunch of TRI-related friendships and got to know some amazing/fast/crazy people like me ( and worse ).
On the downsize finding out that my foot (PF) needed a 2 month rest period from running was not planned ....  oh well ......2012 ought to be a non-TRI-focused year ... 

While I was in Italy, visiting family, relaxing and of course riding the mountains around my house I decided that I was ready to sign up for a real biking race and that I was wasting my time by just competing with Strava leaderboards...

For almost a year I dreamed about this possibility but never felt ready, never felt at easy to get into road racing. I left my old and quite broken road frame in Italy, took a week to shop for a new one ( BMC TeamMachine SLR01 ) and got super Mike at M2 to build it up with my components I brought back from the old continent.

Bike was ready on Thursday... Race was Saturday.... I guess the only test ride I had was the commute to work on Friday ( a big 6 minutes bike ride! )

Saturday 6/23/2012 Pescadero Road Race - The newbie in action

6am
I wake up with an email for M2. He gave me a plan for the race.... inside myself I am really uncertain about the possible outcome...but I have to maintain the Stallion status... so my reply to his email is "I ll follow the plan, stay in the pack and on the last climb I will release the KRAKEN!"

7am
I am having my PBJ bagel and drinking the best coffee ever made by my Breakfast Angel (Il mio amore Kimmy). Breakfast is so delicious that I get convinced to stop by the Farmers Market on our way to the race in Pescadero....bad idea.

7am-8am
I am following my lady in the crazily packed fruit and veggies stands.... big problem: "How do I explain my love that in this moment I don't care about which Zucchini looks better?". All I am thinking is the race in a couple of hours and the fact that I am losing precious energies to get from the guy with the awesome tomatoes to the lady with the sweetest oranges...argh.

9am 
After 1 hour of driving with a car full of veggies and my Olivia (that's the name of the new roadie), Kimmy and I are in Pescadero. The place is full of riders, a few minutes and I am all registered and all.
Surreal when compared to a Triathlon atmosphere. These bike racers are all about business. No music, no glorious stands or nothing.... people are either warming up on their trainers or gathering to start the next race or even strategizing for some team effort.
Pressure is on.... I feel this race is no joke and of course the porto potties are my best friends.



10am
15 minutes before the start of my very first road race. Category E5 ( Elite 5 )... there is no age group here. If you are a newbie you race in E5.
I am all kitted up, bike looks fast, I look M2 fast, ready to rock. 15 minutes of warm up, enough time to adjust my saddle and the fitting of this brand new bike.

10.15am
The race starter is giving us a little speech.... be careful...yada yada.... rules, etc. etc. Of course my bib number is not in the right spot but too late to change it. The speaker is asking how many of us never raced before and out of 80 people we are only 3-4 raising our hands..... NICE.

THE RACE (47miles, 1.7 loops):

I am starting at the very bottom of the pack  and while super Kimmy is taking tons of pictures I am trying to relax and get to know my bike neighbors... I want to make some friends in the pack :-)

First 2 miles we get to follow the motorcycle and nothing exciting here. Right after the Cat3 racers went by ( they were already on their second loop ) we get to start the real race.
Pace is ok, I am at the very end and my goal is to save energies and see if I can survive my very first race. No one is willing to do much work in the front.... there a couple of SJBC guys and the Taleo rider ( Tim ) that keep pulling ahead but the group stays together.

Stage road has 2 strong/short climbs and some ugly descent, I am tense, I dont want to waste energies on the hills and dont want to get drop on the downhills.... the uphills are fine... I am actually climbing ahead .. but on the downs... I lose so much terrain.

Bottom of the first descent I am behind 100yds... Bottom of the second descent ... I lost another 200yds.

Turning on 84 towards la Honda and race is full on. I am leading a second group of riders to catch up with the leaders... in a mile of extreme pain we are back together.

Mile 20sh and the first climb of Haskins hill is on. This is the moment were M2 told me to size up my opponents. Apparently we are all climbing at a brisk pace and I can totally see at least 20 riders with me fit and ready to battle.

Top of the climb, I see the finish line ( but will have to wait another 30miles (1 more loop ) ). Apparently the 20 of us made it to the top with some 200yds advantage, who knows this little attack might have already put me in a good position ....

The long descent towards Pescadero goes pretty smoothly.. I am losing terrain again but this time the road is wide enough and the peloton from the back is catching up.

First loop is over, legs are OK and I am having fun. At the end of this first loop I am starting to feel more comfortable... I feel like I am going to finish the race for sure... I feel like they are not going to drop me and I feel like my GF will not be disappointed.

Second time around on Stage Road. This time my goal is to stay in the first pack. I don't know if there will be another attack and I feel like I can take it if it comes.

Stage road is gone, 84 towards La Honda again. I am in the first group... about 10 of us, but the whole pack is compact behind us.

80 people all together... ready to battle for the win... at this point I am happy, I know I made it and that the last 10 miles will be hard but fun no matter what. I am way more relaxed.

5 miles to the end... we are still on the false flat/uphill. Pace is brisk 24/25mph but nothing too fast.
I am trying to do the least amount of work.
Every body looks so fit around me but we are so close.... maybe I have a shot to place well?

3 miles to go, leaving 84 to take Pescadero rd and climb to the finish.

As soon as the climb starts we are all going hard... very hard.
M2 words come back to mind "... people will go nuts at the start... take your time they won't be able to keep it up".

I am pushing it. 4 guys in front take off, I am hurting badly but cmon 2 miles to end... I can take pain.

The hill is steep, the 4 leaders are always in front of me ( maybe 20yds ), I feel in a good rhythm but hurting. I look behind me... the whole freaking field is still here... argh... they are going to destroy me.

1 miles to go... the last 4 minutes were hard, I keep looking at the altimeter 800feet.... we are 300feet from the end... I am close Cmon PUSH PUSH...

I look behind me again... OH SH*T... I am alone... the rest of the riders are far.

In front of me 4 guys... oh wait one is dropping... I am 4th now.
Oh wait another one is dropping I am 3rd.... I see the mark... 500mts to go.

Cmon V.  something cool is about to happen.
At this point my mind loses it, I don't remember exactly what happened. The body takes over and I am all about sensations ( breathing is over the roof, HR... most likely too ).
200mts to go... crap I am 2nd.
100mts to go .. I am standing ... I am pushing... I reach the first guy... we are both full on... DANG.

Race is over. I got 2nd place.... SO freaking close.

Post race


I am smiling a lot, super happy and relieved. The result was unexpected and I would have loved to see my love at the end (apparently cars were not allowed to be close to the finish line).
I rode back to the car all out... I was happy.... Kimmy was waiting for me at the same parking lot and I could not come with any smart line than just say "BABE I GOT 2nd!"

So glad I did this. Pescadero is a classic road race and apparently attracts a lot of talents. Other riders were telling me how good was my result.... in my mind I was kinda hard to think that I actually lost the race to someone else (again great job Tim)

Now I am hooked.... 9 more races and I will upgrade to Cat 4 :-)

Auguri Sara

Not sure if Sara will ever read this, hopefully the google/blogger service will still serve pages when she will be old enough to read my broken english.

After so many months of blogging silence I struggled to find some good motivation to start writing again. Love life is awesome but private ( even though nowadays social networks are an amazing tool to screw up privacy... ), Work is a great fit for me, Triathlon training got some awesome turns and some terrible ones (more posts to come) but this post is dedicated to my special and only niece SARA.

Sara, My Mom and I @ my grandma house Xmas 2011

Today April 22nd, while america is celebrating Earth Day Sara got her baptism done and for the pictures I saw on Facebook she managed to get around her my family, Elisabetta's family but most importantly a bunch of others ( Uncles, Grandparents, Family friends ). Everyone on the same room.... It did not happen for Christmas and for sure my presence there last year did not make it happen either.... but Sara made it!

Sara, nipotina mia, you must be real special! I am bummed I had to spend a week in bed when I was in Italy instead of coming and see you. Kimmy and I keep looking at your pictures as you grow up and we are impressed on how beautiful and sweet you are week after week.

Big kudos to my brother (Your Dad), he did such a great job choosing the right woman!!!

All this ..... and I am planning with Kimmy to come back to Italy for some more family time + a well deserved cruise in the eastern mediterranean.... let's if thing will get more concrete in the next days.

V.