‘The Challenge’!!
May 27, 2008
What a blast on Saturday!! UCSB showed up sporting ‘ Superhero’ costumes and a team hungry for their third successive victory. Determined to get SB Tri, they definitely brought there ‘A Team’. A new addition this year was a very competitive team from the Rincon Triathlon Club, who fielded a men’s team and a mixed team. Once the contest started it was Rincon that showed they were serious by leading the first leg of the swim. The format is teams of six people, either men, women or mixed, alternating between a very challenging 500 plus yard swim and a fast one mile run in the sand. The club that has the two fastest teams, head to head, are the winners. UCSB men’s team were too much for either SB Tri or Rincon as they beat the men’s team from the other two clubs. There mixed team came in second beating both of the other mixed teams. The one bright spot on the day for SB Tri was a victorious ladies team, that came in before the UCSB ladies, with a very balanced performance from both swimmers and runners.
After it was over we all met around the refreshments and awarded the very coveted trophy to the captains of the UCSB team, who in turn presented us with some very useful items. Prunes, adult diapers and bran cereal……wait until next year….paybacks are a bitch!!!
If you click on the photo link on our home page I have posted some pictures from Saturday. I may add a few more but encourage everyone to add comments and titles.
Lets do it next year, a very fun, competitive, but low key event. Next year we’ll have a run that matches the swim and maybe even invest in some bouy balloons so we don’t loose swimmers!!
The Pres.
IM Brazil & Auburn Worlds Toughest
May 27, 2008
Ironman Brazil was held on May 24th, the Auburn Worlds Toughest Half Ironman was held on May 18th. Thanks to Fred Maggiore for the heads-up regarding the Auburn race, as it slipped under my radar. Ironman Brazil is noteworthy due to the participation by Matt McCaffrey, from Santa Barbara, the only local to roll the dice and venture into Brazilian airspace to continue his Ironman racing adventures. Although Matt originally enrolled for the IMCDA race, to be held on June 22nd, he mysteriously switched venues after viewing Fernanda Keller on the cover of a recent Triathlete Magazine. Interestingly, Fernanda was the Female Pro winner last weekend. By the way, Fernanda will be returning to Kona for the 21st consecutive time. TriathleteMag.com provided the race clip below. VB
| Name | cat | swim | t | bike | t | run | total | |||||||
| MATT MCCAFFREY | M4044 | 01:24:39 | 00:09:57 | 05:55:00 | 00:12:14 | 04:40:49 | 12:22:37 |
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Eduardo Sturla and Brazil’s Fernanda Keller both made up for substantial deficits heading into the marathon to win at Sunday’s Ironman Brazil. Sturla, who last won Ironman Brazil in 2001, entered T2 7:30 behind Frenchman Benjamin Sanson, but closed with a 2:58:00 marathon to win by ten minutes. The 44-year-old Keller started her marathon nine minutes back of American Hillary Biscay, but she closed quickly and also won with a comfortable 10-minute gap.
Sanson, one of France’s top ITU athletes, stormed to the front of the men’s race with a 50:52 swim, which gave him a nine-minute gap on Sturla and the rest of the men’s contenders. Little changed on the relatively flat 112-mile ride, as both Sanson and Sturla posted 4:27 splits. The Frenchman began his marathon with over seven minutes on Sturla and 18 minutes on German super-runner Olaf Sabatschus. Sanson began to show signs of distress shortly after exciting T2 and both Sturla and Sabatschus began making up ground—fast. The Argentine took over the lead near the halfway mark and never looked back, finishing in 8:28:24. Sabatschus actually ran three minutes faster than the winner, but his bike deficit forced him to settle for second in 8:38:56. Sanson was able to cling to third, finishing three minutes back of the German.
The women were led out of the water by Brazil’s Carla Morena, after 55:46 in the rough waters off the coast of Florianopolis. Biscay exited the Atlantic over three minutes back of the leader and Keller had some serious work to do, finishing the swim almost 15 minutes back of Morena. Biscay slowly made up ground on Morena during the first half of the bike leg and finally passed her around the 110-km mark. By the time the top ladies made it back to transition, Biscay had build a nine-minute gap on Keller. The big surprise of the day was the presence of age grouper Kelly Lear-Kaul from Colorado, who entered T2 in third, seven minutes back of Keller. Biscay began to struggle as soon as she started the marathon and Keller and Lear-Kaul were right there to take advantage. Keller stormed away from the rest of the field, posting a 3:15 marathon to win in 9:42:50. Lear-Kaul finished ten minutes later, with her countrywoman Biscay another four minutes back.
Brasil Telecom Ironman Brazil
Florianopolis, Brazil
May 25, 2008
2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run
Men
1. Eduardo Sturla (ARG) 8:28:21
2. Olaf Sabatschus (GER) 8:38:56
3. Benjamin Sanson (FRA) 8:41:32
4. Petr Vabrousek (CZE) 8:53:55
5. Raul Furtado (BRA) 8:5501
Women
1. Fernanda Keller (BRA) 9:42:50
2. Kelly Lear-Kaul (USA) 9:52:40
3. Hillary Biscay (USA) 9:56:08
4. Ladislava Cisarovska (CZE) 10:06:10
5. Kristin Lie (NOR) 10:07:50
Article courtesy of Triathlete Magazine.
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Another local stalwart, Dave Parker, ventured to Northern California to keep his triathlon irons in the fire by racing the Worlds Toughest Half in Auburn. As we can assume, from the race title, Dave, and all other participants had a tough day at the words toughest event. See attached TriFuel synopsis of the race.
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David Parker |
48 |
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42:37.3 |
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3:41:11.3 |
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3:03:43.8 |
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7:27:32.4 |
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AUBURN TRIATHLON, May 18th 2008The sixth annual Auburn Triathlon on Sunday May 18th was a hotbed of exciting activity with four events held concurrently and some 550 athletes racing from across the USA. Steve Larsen solidified his reputation as one of the most durable and versatile endurance athletes in history, joining an all-star list of World’s Toughest Half champions (Bjorling, Byrn, DeBoom, Neveu, Plata) with an convincing victory. Larsen delivered a phenomenal 2:36 bike split on a course that is widely regarded to be the toughest on the planet for the 70.3 mile distance. Anissa Sequin returned after a five-year absence to take the title from defending champion and IMH age group world champ Diana Hassel.Auburn also hosted the USAT National Long Course Duathlon Championships at 3k-56mile-13.1mile distance. In the closest race in the history of the event, only 29 seconds separated super amateur Nick Thompson from Pennsylvania’s Josh Beck. Beck (3rd at Zofingen in 2005), who missed a turn on the bike course and started the run nearly 5-minutes back, stormed the run course despite the unseasonably hot weather (97 degree high vs. the historical average of 77 on May 18th) and nearly pulled even before Thompson – coming off an all-time Wildflower course record of 4:15 two weeks prior – delivered a surge on the final climb to the finish to earn his first national title. Kathryn Kasischke of San Diego was the fastest female duathlete with a 5:08:26.The Auburn International (1.5-40-10k) event was won by legendary Pete Kain, showing magnificent form in his final tuneup before attempting a 5th ITU Amateur World Championship next month in Canada. Kain combined a stellar 1:12 bike split on a course with 16 miles of steady elevation gain before a return to T2, followed by a sub-40 10k on the hilly course hugging the edge of the American River canyon. Ageless wonder Katrin Tobin, former professional cyclist and Tour de France Feminin veteran, was comfortable on the hilly course and enjoyed an overall win at the age of 46. The West Coast Collegiate Triathlon Conference selected Auburn as their 2008 championships and attracted some outstanding talent. UC Berkeley’s John Dahlz smoked the course in a stunning 2:12, besting Stanford’s Noah Sakamoto by one minute. Alexa Merz of UC Davis enjoyed a five-minute victory over the women’s collegiate field
New Zealand 2008 -Ironman Rookie –part III
May 25, 2008
by Fred Maggiore
The Race
The following is a “stream of consciousness” race report that I emailed out the day after the race, right after I checked the race results…
Taupo, New Zealand, Sunday March 2, 2008
After a week of trying to acclimate to the heat and humidity, race day dawned cool, around 60 and pretty much stayed there all day. The lake was like glass at the start, well until the cannon went off, then I felt like I was in a pack of piranhas with so much splashing and white water. I managed to find some fast toes, as my swim time was faster than expected, a 1:03, and honestly it didn’t feel like a long swim at all.
The rain started halfway back into town on the first bike lap, a really fast downhill section, but a nasty crosswind had us out of our aerobars and hanging on. The rain continued on and off the rest of the day, with the winds feeling much stronger (me more tired?) on the second out on the bike.
My heart rate monitor wasn’t working on the bike, as the power lines running the course seemed to scramble my signal, so I went old school, perceived exertion. My first bike lap went by pretty fast, so hopes of going around 5:40 were in my head, but the winds reminded me of my training days coming back from Ventura to Santa Barbara, or my double brick training day, when I once again found myself riding 12-14 MPH in my aerobars.
Throughout all this I just tried to stay positive, holding back thinking about the long run ahead. On the return to town I was once again greeted by the wind and side blowing rain, and I was starting to feel bad for the volunteers and spectators. Remembering that on cold days, and I was cold, starting out with only my arms warmers on, no vest or rain jacket, I tried to take on extra calories, as I kept repeating in my head, fuel the machine!
Coming off the bike my back felt like I had ridden 5:51, which I did, so I was thinking shit, how am I going to be able to run? Well two minutes later I was out there, crossing over this funky temporary bridge built over the road to avoid the oncoming bikes and cars, feeling pretty good. I ran the 2K to the “finish line”, before starting the first of two loops on the course. The first 5-6K of the course is lined with people, so with you name on your race number, wearing my Santa Barbara Triathlon Club racing top, I was getting lots of “Way to go Fred, good on you mate!”, “Go Santa Barbara!”, and that helped a lot.
The course is basically a 10K four times, and luckily to start we had a tailwind, which of course meant we had to return in the wind. I was able to run at speed right away, actually getting my heart rate monitor to “find” my HR again, so I could finally see what I was feeling. I averaged 138 for the whole run, which told me I probably did the right thing on the bike, by holding back just a bit at times when in a shorter race I would have pushed the pace to pass more people.
The course has some rolling hills, which I had run before the race, so no surprises and on the first return back into town I once again had to deal with the wind and the rain right in my face, hat pulled down, jersey zipped up, hands clenched, trying to stay warm. I completed the first lap feeling good, just starting to let my brain think about actually finishing! After all the good wishes from everyone I thought I would probably be easier to deal with whatever pain and anguish I was feeling at the time, then to come home and have to explain to everyone why I didn’t finish! Nothing like a little peer pressure, huh?
I ran through the half marathon around 1:53, so thoughts of going around 3:50 were looming. At 15K into the run, I had been on course for over 8.5 hours, exceeding my longest training day ever, and this being all non-stop. With 20K left in the run, the kilometers finally running down from 42.2 to zero, I realized that I had to run 5:30/K to break 11 hours, so this was the carrot that pulled me through to the finish, that one desire. But once again the winds and rain returned at the run turn-around, so hating life heading up the long grade with five miles to go, the only time my brained slipped into the “I wish I was walking so I wouldn’t hurt so much mode”, I started drinking the Pepsi on the course to get the caffeine buzz and get my mind right.
Anyway, at 6K it wasn’t looking good to break 11 hours, so the next downhill I took off, forgetting about tired feet and wanting to just sit down, and set sail for the finish line. It was surprising how many of the fans back in town knew how close I was to doing it, but it just wasn’t to be, but 11:00:20 ain’t bad. And I’m not looking to do this again to try and break it! 
Overall I’d say I was very happy, 10th in the swim in my age group, 14th on the bike (well that doesn’t make me happy, but I think its a fair trade for running a 3:55 marathon!), and then 12th on the run, 10th in my age group overall. Yeah, there were 50 places that I did stuff that cost me 0.5 seconds, so sub 11 hours was within reach, but then it wasn’t, so I’m good with that, and I know that the last 5-6K on the course I was the fastest person out there, passing lots of other age-groupers.
So it’s done, I’m glad, relieved, a bit sore, but walking okay, getting ready for a post-race massage, and not sitting here thinking what could have been, but only that I gave it 100%, and that no, I’m not planning on signing up for another IM race in the near future. Luckily you only turn 50 once, so that was my excuse and I’ve used it up! I look forward to shorter distance races, when I don’t have to hold back, and can really race the darn thing, I think that’s more my style.
Tuesday Track May 20th 2008
May 21, 2008
Hey Dave
Great job last night!
Here’s the workout…
drills, drills, and more drills!
1200 @ faster than 5k pace…3 minute rest
800 @ faster than 5k pace…2 minute rest
400 @ faster than 5k pace…1 minute rest
Repeat the above set.
Short, fast and sweet!
See you tonight at Nite moves!
Ironman Florida 70.3
May 19, 2008
With a dearth of local races and a new web format to test, it became necessary to scout the national results from last weekend to find noteworthy events. Ironman Florida 70.3 was the only event that had merit. Held at DisneyWorld, the Disney Resort in Orlando, one would have assumed that Minnie Mouse and Elmer Fudd would take top honors in the pro field. However, once the dust settled it seems that athletes from the UK dominated the field. See pro results listed below. With no local racers to highlight, focusing on the pros was the next logical choice. Note the inclusion of Spencer Smith in the top three mens finishers. Spencer has had inconsistent performances over the past few years but is an excellent athlete and may be staging a comeback. Also notable was the womens field, which included several of the top long distance athletes such as Lisa Bently, Heather Gollnick, Nina Kraft and others. VB
Men
1. Paul Amey (GBR) 3:52:51
2. Santiago Ascenco (BRA) 3:56:33
3. Spencer Smith (GBR) 3:59:34
4. Courtney Ogden (AUS) 3:59:42
5. Kevin Lisska (USA) 3:59:56
6. Bryan Rhodes (NZL) 4:03:10
7. Brent Poulsen (CAN) 4:05:18
8. Andrew Hodges (USA) 4:11:56
9. Brad Seng (USA) 4:17:30
10. Marcus Ornellas (BRA) 4:18:45
Women
1. Leanda Cave (GBR) 4:22:52
2. Nina Kraft (GER) 4:24:15
3. Dede Griesbauer (USA) 4:30:38
4. Lisa Bentley (CAN) 4:31:47
5. Katja Schumacher (GER) 4:34:45
6. Kim Loeffler (USA) 4:34:52
7. Heather Gollnick (USA) 4:36:05
8. Sione Jongstra (NED) 4:43:53
9. Michelle Leblanc (USA) 4:48:00
10. Teri Albertazzi (USA) 4:49:02
New Zealand 2008 Ironman- part II
May 18, 2008
By Fred Maggiore
Part III – Committed
At this point there was nothing left holding me back from committing to my first Ironman. All my friends had declined my offer to join in the fun, and even the specter of racing to honor our departed friend and training partner, Steve Issaris, couldn’t shake anyone loose. I know that in my heart I would have trained with and raced my first Ironman triathlon with Steve, so through all this he had been in my mind, offering inspiration and motivation. I signed up, gave them my cash, I was fully committed; now I just needed a training plan.
Using the book, Training Long, by Gordon Byrne and Joel Friel as a guide to building a training plan, I applied my marathon run training regime to the “run week”, and my Vineman training to the two “bike weeks”. Adding a recovery week, I created a four week cycle that would build on itself, four times, to race day, followed by a two week taper. I reviewed my plan with Mike Swan, and developed a program that I will use for every long distance race I train for from now on.
The first two training cycles were hard, very hard, as I struggled with the bike all the time, never as good as I wanted to be, getting dropped by the 7AM group, riding my own pace to finish the rides. But, when I started to do some runs off the bike, having ridden 4-5 hours, I wasn’t that sore from riding and my pace was not that slow to start. It would eventually beat my marathon pace, how can that be? Plus, my heartrate was low, very low, and I could keep it there if I tried; wow, my running base and tempo were still there from the marathon!
After twelve weeks, I could finish a long workout and feel just very tired instead of totally beat up. The last three long weekends would be grueling: an 8.5 hour double brick (a 60 mile ride, 8 mile run, 40 mile ride, 8 mile run), my last long run, a 20 miler, and then the last long weekend, a 6.5 hour bike with a 30 minute run. I’d have one last recovery week, then a two week taper, to get ready for our trip to New Zealand, and hopefully acclimate to the time change and weather.
New Web Site and Track.
May 14, 2008
If you are reading this you already know the new web site is up. Thanks to Stuart’s hard work we have a different look, cleaner presentation and hopefully a more manageble site. I have re-posted a couple of previous blogs as I want to keep theem up for a few more weeks. They include results and pictures from the UCSB and Wildflower triathlons.
Track last night was short and sweet:
Since you were there, you know the workout, but I figured you might need a reminder…
drills
continuous 16 laps….
300 at 5k – a couple seconds pace (faster than 5k pace!)
100 recovery…
Group the 400s into 4s…as the workout progresses, your recovery pace should speed up. The last group of 400s should be the fastest.
Great workout and even better showing!
That’s if you call 16x 400 sweet!!
Thanks again Amanda.
Finally it’s time to put the teams together for the UCSB Challenge May 24th. Some of you have already stepped up but we still need a few more people. It’s a swim, run format so I’m lookingg at our Nite Moves swimmers and will be contacting you if you don’t contact me. I’ll also be looking at the runners at this weekends Law Day to see who is looking good. Don’t make me chase you, I want a full team this year to give UCSB a run for their money!!!
The Pres.
ps Great BBQ last Friday, thanks to all my helpers and sponsors and thanks to everyone that attended.
SBTRICLUB Launches New Web Site!
May 12, 2008
Our new website is finally here! Check back daily for new content.