Training Table

USA Triathlon logo Training Table July 2005

T.J. Tollakson’s Triathlon Newsletter

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ITU: International Triathlon Union

July was marked by my debut into ITU draft legal racing. ITU draft legal racing is the format of racing for the Olympics and World Cup Circuit, thus is the reason why I moved to Colorado Springs to train at the Olympic Training Center. My first ITU race, the Ford New York City Triathlon, lived up to the expectations of being completely unpredictable. Provided that cycling is my strength in triathlon, the draft legal format takes away most of of my cycling portion advantage. Draft-legal race dynamics usually include a very fast, brutal swim in order to exit the water with a favorable pack to cycle with on the bike course. The strategy generally tends to have racers go easy on the bike, working together, in order to conserve energy for the run, where the real race begins. This strategy allows the best runner to win the triathlon in essentially, a 10K track meet. There are believed to be two types of athletes that succeed at this draft legal type of racing: the sharks and the cheetahs (those that swim really fast, Olympic caliper swimmers, and those that run really fast, 30 min 10Ks). Being neither a shark nor a cheetah and more of a Lance Armstrong-type triathlete, I am forced to adapt to being a little of both and work like hell on the bike…that is if I can get out of the water in time to catch a good pack…therein lies the problem of my first ITU race.

Race Report: (ITU) New York City Triathlon

July 10, 2005: I found myself in New York City for my first ITU draft legal triathlon. It had been a rough two weeks following my half ironman debut, in retrospect not enough recovery time, but you live and learn. After Buffalo Springs I had difficulty with a stability tendon in my left foot which left me unable to run for over a week after the race, and only partially able to run the week leading up to New York. I knew my run was up for question, but with my swimming and cycling solid, I thought could still put in a good effort and showing at the race. I arrived late Friday night and took a shuttle and subway to Hoboken, New Jersey. Here I met up with my roommate from freshman year at Boston University, David Fahey. I crashed at David’s place for the weekend, conveniently located right across the river from the race. Saturday in NYC was spent preparing for the race, riding through Central Rark and running on a treadmill at the host hotel with USA Resident Athlete Brian Fleischmann. I left my bike in the city overnight and returned in the morning ready to race. I am much more cautious of my prerace nutrition and hydration after a couple of bad experiences this season, so I stuck to whole wheat bagels, cappuccino, PowerBar, water, and sugar-free Red Bull. I set up my run transition in Central Park, then rode my bike to the swim finish to set up my first transition. I went to the swim start and watched the women pros go off. It appeared the current was very fast in the Hudson that morning, the women were just flying. I completed my usual pre-race warmup, stretching and mental preparation. I went for a quick warmup swim in the wonderfully clean Hudson river then was ready to race. We were announced in order of world rank and I was wearing number 15. The gun went off and, of course, there was the usual false start. It was ignored by officials and we were off swimming. I felt great in the water and swam strongly in the middle of a chaotic pack. Everything was going well until about 12 minutes into the swim when I momentarily lost contact with the pack. I looked up to find myself gapped significantly and the harder I swam, the further I fell behind. I could not quite figure out what happened, but I was working hard in the water. It was apparent the current in the river had slowed and shifted, as the fastest women were out of the water in 13 minutes (starting one hour before) and the fastest men were out of the water in 16 minutes. I exited at nearly 18 minutes, behind almost everyone, including a large chase pack of men who I know I can swim faster than on even my worst day; but apparently not that morning. I quickly hopped on my bike and took off in pursuit of the chase pack. I managed to pick up two other athletes on the way but they were of no help to me since they were unable to cycle hard enough to help me catch the other two packs. I was redlining the whole ride, averaging 312 watts, which is way too high for a draft legal cycling leg. I knew about 35K into the bike that although I had worked super hard, I had no chance of catching the first two packs as they were now nearly 7 minutes ahead of me and my legs were shot. I sat up on my bike and coasted into transition with the other two athletes I was dragging behind my wheel around the bike course for the last hour. They both blitzed the transition and the three of us took off running together. It wasn’t long before I was feeling the effects of not eating during the last 5K on the bike and after running 1.5 miles, my race was really over. I was running on empty and the leaders were close to finishing the race. I wasn’t in last and because I was a long ways in front of the next racers I knew any more effort would only inflict more pain on my body with no measurable result. My goal was again to simply finish the race and I did just that. It was not fast, nor was it pretty, but I made to sure to finish while others dropped out. It left a bitter taste in my mouth about draft legal racing and made me question why I was spending so much money to travel to these races when this sort of result can occur, but that is all part of the game. I need to learn how to play smarter. I was down in June, up at the end of the month, and back down again in July. The rookie pro rollercoaster continues. I am determined to have a better race experience at Bellingham, WA for US Pro Nationals on August 7. Training at the Olympic Training Center will surely help. I was down, but not out and learning all sorts of things about world class triathlon racing. Chalk another one up to experience and move on.

PLACE

NAME

RANK

SWIM

TRANS

RANK

BIKE

TRANS

RANK

RUN

RANK

FINISH

Jarrod Shoemaker

16:03

0:46

1:00:38

0:28

31:53:00

1:49:46

Victor Plata

16:43

0:49

59:53:00

0:23

32:07:00

1:49:53

Simon Thompson

15:58

0:44

1:00:42

0:22

32:18:00

1:50:02

Brian Fleischmann

15:51

0:51

1:00:40

0:22

33:12:00

1:50:54

Kyle Jones

16:48

0:46

59:51:00

0:22

33:23:00

1:51:07

Trenton Tollakson

17:57

0:49

1:01:58

0:26

42:03:00

2:03:11

Race Report: Boulder Peak Triathlon

July 24, 2005: I was back in my element, a non-drafting Olympic Distance course in Boulder, CO and the only obstacle I faced: the altitude. I had lived only 10 days at altitude when I took on the challenge to race at 5,000 feet above sea level against a slew of competitors who live at altitude. I had put in some solid training sessions so I knew I would be prepared for this race. One of the nice things about the Boulder Peak triathlon is the Pros compete at 9am, much later than the 6:30am Age Group start; the downside to the 9am start time was the heat. The temperature in Colorado was ridiculously hot the week leading up to the race and race morning was no exception. I went through my usual pre-race warmup routine and made sure to dial in my nutrition plan for the day. I had a nice conversation with Tim, Nicole, and Tony De Boom, and paused for a picture with Tim (and my staple can of Sugar-Free Red Bull) prior to the race. When the gun went off, I was quickly out in the front pack and swimming strong and relaxed. There really was no thrasing in the water and the main pack was cruising at a comfortable speed. I couldn’t really see the buoys because of the pack, but it didn’t seem to matter since I knew I was swimming around my competition. I came out of the water in a good position, was passed by a few athletes on the run into transition, but kept in contact with them. Simon Lessing and Stephen Hackett were out in front by a minute and I knew Simon would be hard to catch. Once I was on my bike I quickly caught the guys that passed me in transition. I rode next to Tim De Boom for a few miles until we reached the infamous Old Stage Hill, where he inflicted some pain on me and dropped me like a bad habit. After the climb came some crazy descents with top speeds over 50 mph. I probably lost a little time on the descents due to unfamiliarity of the course, but once on the flat, rolling part of the course I was able to take control of the bike. I cruised into T2 in third place about 40 seconds down on Tim and well behind Simon Lessing. It was simple at this point: all I had to do was run a 36 minute 10K and I would finish third. Seems easy, but on the day it just was not going to happen. I was first passed by Branden Rakita on the second lap of the three lap run. On the third lap Greg Remaly and Stephen Hackett passed me bumping me down to 6^th place. I had a huge gap over 7^th, but still was disappointed in my ability to run off the bike. I finished the run in 38:26, holding on to sixth place, but left knowing I could race stronger. I am looking forward to Chicago where I can really take advantage of the bike course and prove how fast I can run. Boulder is a beautiful venue for a triathlon and I will keep this one on my list of races to do in the future.

Place

First Name

Last Name

City

Swim

Rank

Trans1

Bike

Rank

MPH

Trans2

Run

Rank

Pace

Final

SIMON

LESSING

BOULDER

0:20:29

0:00:28

1:00:26

25.8

0:00:52

0:32:44

0:05:16

1:55:01

TIM

DEBOOM

LYONS

0:21:26

0:00:34

1:01:19

25.4

0:00:45

0:33:57

0:05:28

1:58:03

BRANDEN

RAKITA

MANITOU

0:21:06

0:00:19

1:03:25

24.5

0:00:57

0:35:16

0:05:41

2:01:06

GREG

REMALY

BOULDER

0:21:38

0:00:25

1:04:05

24.3

0:00:54

0:34:25

0:05:33

2:01:30

STEPHEN

HACKETT

TERRIGAL

0:20:40

0:00:25

1:04:31

24.1

0:00:53

0:35:23

0:05:42

2:01:55

TRENTON

TOLLAKSON

URBANDALE

0:21:48