Music City Tri RR

This past weekend was the local Music City Tri.  I won this race WAY back in 2006 when it was somewhere outside of town.  Last year I did it and it was the longest race I competed in all year as I was still recovering from an injury and just wanted to do a few local races.  This year, I was out for the win.

Race morning was just like any other, except I got to sleep in my own bed.  It was almost a normal morning for me.  Waking up around 5 am, making some coffee, eating a light breakfast, then heading downtown to the race site.  Casey made the decision to race this year, it being her first Olympic distance triathlon.  She did amazing and won her AG.

One thing that was different was how hot it was going to be.  It was one of the hottest days of the summer, and made for a sufferfest.  The sprint distance athletes started first around 7:30 am and then it was a time trial start from there.  Being number 506, I knew it would be a while before I started.  Somewhere shortly after 8am, I was off.  There was one other pro who races mainly sprint distance ITU events.  He started right in front of me so it gave me an advantage to sprint the first bit of the swim, get on this feet and sit right in.  I was there for about 1200 of the 1500 meters of the swim.  We came out of the water together, we both had a good t1, and was off on the bike.  I made it a goal to really push the first few miles on the bike just to get a feel for doing that since that is how most Pro races pan out.  Come out of the water in a pack, hammer the first few miles on the bike, and then settle in.  I passed the other pro a few miles into the bike and never looked back.  We had a nice tail wind on the way out, but a brutal head wind on the return trip.  This made for a slower day as the way out is slightly uphill and the return trip is downhill.  The bike course was an unusual 27.5 miles even though it's advertised as an Olympic distance tri (and one small section on the website says it is 43k, which is still shorter than 27.5 miles).  I pushed a good effort on the bike, but didn't over do it considering the heat and came off the bike with a nice little lead.

I started the run controlled and took a :15 walk break every 2 miles to help deal with the heat.  After the first loop, I saw I had a big gap on 2nd place so I backed it off even more to make sure I got in enough fluids and didn't trash my body.  The bad part was the lack of aid stations.  They had 5 on the run course (technically 6 but the last one was 100 yards from finish) and two of them were only about a 1/2 mile away from each other.  So you had to run 1.5 miles from aid station 2 to 3 and even then, there were only 2-3 volunteers passing out tiny cups of water or powerade.

The finish line couldn't have come soon enough but I'm sure everyone felt that way.  I went straight to the cooler and grabbed 2 bottles of water.  One went over my head and the other I drank.  I couldn't drink enough fluids for the rest of the day to recuperate from the fluid loss I had during the race.  After the race, I checked my phone and it said it was 94 degrees with a "feels like" temp of 103.

The local paper got a few nice photos of me at the finish and wrote up a good article. You can find it here  the Tennessean  It is always nice to get a win, but that fire still burns to be competitive in a "Pro" race.  With the inaugural Challenge Half distance tri in New Albany on the same weekend, it made me wish I had gone up there and maybe fought it out for a little prize money.    I'm headed up to Steelhead 70.3 on August 10th to race some of the big boys.

God gives me strength and endurance every day.  Without Him, none of this is possible.  Just getting in the workouts that I do, while working almost 40 hours a week and having free time to enjoy with Casey is a blessing in itself.  Casey is a true blessing that the Lord has given me.  When I'm feeling down or overwhelmed, she is always there to listen, or tell me the harsh truth that needs to be said.  We knew this was a rebuilding year, and I just continue to chop wood and carry water.  Reading posts from other pros is truly inspiring to keep at it.  Watching what guys like Jordan Rapp do is amazing.  I couldn't imagine racing five 70.3 races in a span of six weeks but he did it and did well.  In his blog, he talks about why he did it and it's a really good post. Rappstar blog

Me after drinking 14 bottles of water.

Muncie 70.3 RR

This weekend was the annual Muncie Endurathlon.  It has been around for years and has a great history to this race.  It was a World Championship race back in 1995 and it used to be a Kona qualifying race until about the mid 1990's.  This was going to be my 2nd attempt at this race.  The last time I was here, I remember the swim being warm and a little slow, the bike is pancake flat, and the run is challenging with some rolling hills that is completely exposed to the sun.  

We started our trip on Thursday after work when we made the 2.5 hour drive from Nashville to Louisville to visit with my aunts Francie and Carol.  It is always a lot of fun to visit with them and super nice for them to open up their home to us.  We hit the road early Friday morning for Muncie.  Friday was mostly like any other "day before the race" day.  Once in Muncie, I got in a few short workouts, attended the pro meeting, and relaxed at our homestay's  house.  The Gries' were very welcoming to my wife and I and we had a blast staying at their house.  They cooked some amazing food and made sure we were properly fueled for the next day.  

Race morning was just like all the others.  Wake up super early, prep your nutrition stuff, put on your race number tattoos, and head to the race.  I got there with plenty of time and got my transition all set up.  On the way to the race site, of course I hear a song on the radio that gets stuck in my head for the rest of the day.  It was a little unusual for this song to be on the radio, but it is what it is. 

Not everyday you hear a Disney song on the radio.  It definitely made me laugh and I was hoping that this was the one song NOT to get stuck in my head.  But when you think that to yourself, you know it has already happened.

The water temp was 74 degrees so we were going to swim in our wetsuits.  This was a little unusual as Muncie is typically super hot and never a wetsuit swim.  It didn't matter to me since I have my Xterra Vendetta.

Pre Swim shot with some Crazy eyes. 

At 7 am, the gun went off.  I got out pretty good but not quite as hard as I went in Kansas.  I settled on some feet about 400 yards in, and stayed there.  I was swimming comfortably enough to notice a gap open up in front of the guy I was swimming behind.  I put in a hard 100 yards or so and bridged up to the feet up ahead.  I was glad that I did because I believe the other guy got dropped from the pack.  I was comfortable in the pack for the rest of the way and we came out of the water in the mid 26's.  Not fast, but for the effort I was giving, that was to be expected.  I led the group of 7 guys out of the water and ran into T1.  My transition was ok and I ran quickly out of T1.

About 10 seconds for taking my spill.

Right after the mount line, I jumped on my bike and immediately started to hammer.  Four pedal strokes into the bike, I hit a bump while I was pedaling downwards with my right foot.  I was not in my bike shoes yet.  When I hit the bump, my foot slipped off of my shoe and I lost my balance.  I shot over my handlebars and hit the road.  I was fortunate enough to roll and not hit super hard.  I jumped up, did a quick assessment and made sure nothing was broken.  My Rudy Project Wingspan kept my head safe for sure as I have a nice little scuff on the back of my helmet.  Nothing appeared to be broken so I quickly picked up my bike.  Looked it over, fixed the brakes as they had moved and were not mashed against my wheels.  After running back to get my bike shoe that was lost about 10 yards back, and picking up my water bottles, I got on my bike slowly and took off.  I ended up losing about 1 - 1.5 minutes.  The 6 other guys that I came out of the water with were long gone.  The first mile or two I was still assessing the situation.  My bike hit on the gear side and the rear derailleur took most of the damage.  It was jumping every time I shifted, but was manageable to race on.  It wouldn't have been worth it to pull over and wait for a mechanic as I'm sure I would have lost a lot more time doing that just so my gears wouldn't be jumping.  Mike Hermanson and Patrick Evoe both made quick work of me in those first few miles as I was still getting my head back in the game.

I told myself I was going to at least get in a solid training day.  Once we got on the main road, I put my head down and just hammered away while having "Let It Go" running on an endless loop in my brain.  I ended up averaging around 278 watts for the ride.  Not bad considering those first 5 miles was only about 260ish because of crashing.  Here is my Strava file from the bike. This is by far the best I have ridden in a race this year so I'm happy I was able to do that after an accident.

My T2 was slow as I noticed a lot of blood when I pulled my foot out of my cycling shoes.  I didn't notice it right after the crash as I don't think it had started bleeding yet.  However, one toenail got ripped partially off, and another toe had the skin ripped off.  So my foot was covered in blood.  I wasn't sure how bad it was so I sat down to put on my run shoes.  I looked at the bottom of my foot to make sure the bottom was ok (it was) and then slipped on my running shoes carefully.  Then I was off running.

Nice little shot of my rear after the race. 

The run was uneventful as I was so far back I didn't see many people out there. I settled into a comfy pace for the first 6-7 miles and then the fatigue and pain in my foot started to creep up.  I slowed down and jogged it in.  I ran about 6:15 pace for the first half and then about 6:50 pace for the second half.  I crossed the finish line somewhere around 4:13ish.  Still nothing close to what I used to be able to do, but I have never crashed before in a 70.3, so I have nothing to compare it to.





My bike fitness is coming along as I only averaged about 250-255 watts at NOLA 70.3.  I felt very comfortable holding the wattage I did for Muncie and feel that I could have pushed harder had I been in the group that I came out of the water with.  The guys that finished 5th - 7th place on Saturday all came from that group.  Not saying I would have finished that high, but....

I still think back to 2011 when I was racing full time and remember averaging 300 watts for Muncie.  So I'm almost where I used to be, but not quite.  I knew this was going to be a rebuilding/relearning year, but I sure hoped everything to progress faster than it actually has.  All I can do is continue to put in the work and be patient.  I know the Lord has a plan for me and that I just need to have faith and be patient.

I'm not as beat up from the crash as expected so training resumed on Monday as usual.  I did rest up on Sunday.  We stopped back in Louisville Saturday after the race and had a wonderful evening with my aunts and my bro and sis in law, Dana and Ben.  So it is always nice to visit with family and relax after a long and stressful day.

Next up is the Music City Triathlon here in Nashville on the 27th of July and then Steelhead 70.3 on the 10th of August.

Thanks for reading.

The Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon

This is a race that I'm very familiar with.  I have raced here 3-4 times in the past and knew what to expect.  A pretty easy swim, a challenging bike course, and a hot run.  It has been several years since I raced here last but the course was identical the past years.

The weekend started with some relaxing around the house with Casey and watching Gwen Jorgensen tear up the Chicago WTS race.  We left for Chattanooga Saturday afternoon, picked up my packet around 5:30 pm, then headed over to one of Casey's friends' house for our "home stay."  It was super nice of Tracy and Stephen to open up their home for us to stay with them.  We relaxed, called it a night pretty early, and woke up at 5 am Sunday morning.  It was kind of nice to have a "later" start at 7:30 as I got to sleep to almost my normal wake up time.  However, I wouldn't have minded a 6:30 start if we could have avoided some of the heat.

We drove down town, parked, and got my transition all set up.  After a pretty stress free morning, we walked to the swim start and got prepared to race.  Being the only "pro" in the race, I was racer number 2 (there wasn't a number 1) and was the first individual racer after the relays were sent off.  I got a pretty good start and had passed every relay swimmer before the 2nd buoy.  I was by myself until about half way when super swimmer Bruce Gennari swam up beside me and passed with ease.  I sat on his feet for a few hundred yards until he accelerated away from me.  I came out of the water about 20-30 seconds behind him (he started about 30-40 seconds behind me in the time trial start).  I put on my Rudy Project Wingspan helmet and Swifty sunglasses and was running full steam ahead out of the first transition.

Unfortunately for Bruce, he got a flat in the first 2 miles of the bike course, so I passed him as he was already on the side of the road.  I was out front by myself for the rest of the ride.  The bike course is on a highway and has some very large rolling hills.  I felt better than I have all year on the bike during this ride.  I had to back off the effort on some of the hills as I looked down and was putting out 370+ watts.  I knew with the heat that I would expend too much energy on the bike if I held that effort and would not be able to run well.  Here is my Strava file from the bike.

I have to give a shout out to Quarq and the guys down Red Kite for helping me out the past 2 weeks.  They sent my power meter back to Quarq to take a look at it since it has been cutting in and out for no reason.  They replaced my 2 year old power meter for a brand new one since it was covered under warranty.  So I now have a brand new power meter with the newer technology that Quarq just released this year.  

Anyways, my legs felt pretty good coming off of the bike, slipped on my running shoes, and took off running.  The first 1/2 mile is pretty much straight up hill.  I kept the pace solid, but under control for the first mile.  I hit the first mile in about 5:50 and was surprised it was that fast.  I got a side stitch almost immediately after the 1 mile mark.  I haven't had one of these in a long time and I forgot how bad they hurt.  I tried to work it out but only managed a 6:15 mile 2.  I knew at that pace, the 2nd place guy would probably catch me.  I stopped and walked for 10 seconds, worked it out, and was back running.  The third mile was also in 6:15, but that included the walking.  I hit the turn around and the next guy was only 1:30 or so behind me.  His race number was 49?!?!  Holy Crap!!!  I immediately started doing math in my head.  How far back did he start after me, how can he be this close, how bad do I want to win?  I immediately found another gear and picked up the pace.  From mile 3 to 5, I ran 11:20 (never saw the 4 mile mark) and knew that I could hold that for the last mile.  Well, I forgot that a lot of the 6th mile is a gradual climb going into a short but very steep hill before running down the big hill I originally ran up in the first 1/2 mile.  I kept the pace hot all the way across the finish line since I have literally lost by 1 second at this very race in past years because of the TT start.

Tyler Jordan, number 49, finished 2:45 later (I know this because I timed it on my watch).  I was super nervous for the next 2-3 hours as I had no idea if I actually won or not.  Casey tried to keep me calm as she was more confident that I had actually won than I was.  When I crossed the finish line, a writer from the Chattanoogan interviewed me, along with a guy from Channel 9 in Chattanooga.

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2014/jun/30/white-degan-win-waterfront-triathlon/

I did eventually find out that I did win by about 30 seconds.  It was all in the swim as well.  I out swam Tyler by about 2 minutes, he out biked me by about 1.5 minutes, and we were almost dead even between the run and transitions.  Congrats to Tyler as he kept my effort honest and I wouldn't have been able to go that fast without him there to push me to the line.

At the awards ceremony, they asked the winner to give a speech as Team Magic does at every event.  I kept it short and sweet.  I did win a door prize while waiting and got some tasty Red Bike Coffee.  

And I even got to take a picture with the birthday boy Blake.

We made the short trip back to Nashville after the race.  We snacked on some Welch's fruit snacks which made the drive that much better.  Then we chowed down some pizza and a Reese's blizzard from DQ for dinner.  I don't always eat like this, but allowed myself a bit of a cheat dinner on Sunday. 

This was a big confidence booster going into Muncie 70.3 which is now only about 1.5 weeks away.  I feel comfy on my bike and just need to pace myself a little better on the bike to have a solid run.  Thanks to Tri4Him for the support this year along with my lovely wife Casey, and the rest of my family who have helped me stay positive through the few set backs I've had early this year.  God has blessed me with these support teams and blessed me with my athletic ability.  None of this is possible without Him. 

  

Tone Loc