Triathlon Squad Version of "Royals" by Lorde

"We're driving Cadillacs in our dreams."

Updating...

I've been working on writing an end of season blog, but every time I see someone else post one to Twitter, Facebook, etc. I wonder if I really want to add to the reading load. I'm also listening to the new Eminem album right now and every two seconds my mind gets re-blown. His work is incredibly inspiring, but better for training than blog-writing.

I keep up my blog pretty well, so a grand rehashing of all 17 races I had this season seems a bit redundant. It also occurred to me that while it is the end of the season, it's not like I'm taking so much time off that I need a farewell address and then a welcome back blog on the other end. This is just a short and necessary break in a very, very long accumulation of training. I'd like to just keep a steady blog flow going through the "off season" since it's all part of the process.

Updates:

The 2013 season went well, my last three races were great, and I have a lot of people to thank. I have a seperate blog to specifically thank my parents, so I'll save this space for my sponsors, Athletes Lounge, and Rolf Prima Wheel Systems. I haven't officially announced it yet, but Roka Sports is coming on board for 2014, which is incredibly exciting.

My final race of the season, Fearless F1 (super sprint format) will be on Universal Sports this coming Monday 8pm ET, so tune in to watch Ben Kanute, Tommy Zaferes, and I work together and then sprint it out at the end!

After the race, the Triathlon Squad boys got invited to competitor radio with Bob Babbitt, so Joe, Jason and I donned our best radio voices and tried to give some insight into what it's like coming up in a high performance environment as younger athletes. These two guys, and Paulo Sousa are the biggest reason for my improvement this year. Sponsors keep us from literally going hungry, but we constantly remind each other to stay hungry in the metaphorical sense. Never settle, never let off the gas, never expect anything but the best from ourselves.

Photo: Erik Pedersen

We've become like brothers and hopefully we're not the only ones who will laugh at our jokes, check it out:

http://competitorradio.competitor.com/2013/11/eric-lagerstrom/


I made my first major (over $100) purchase in years, and Paulo has already called me out for being a hipster. I guess I'll always be a Portlander at heart:

It's a 70cc two stroke, so it spews smoke, sounds like a chainsaw, and is more fun than a barrel of monkeys when it's running. It's ten years older than me, so keeping my expectations low is the secret to happiness :)


That's it, I'm out!

Team Lagerstrom

This is not a solo effort by any stretch of the imagination. To say that my parents have been my biggest supporters in every sense of the word would be a still be understating the role they've played. Since they put me on swim team at age 6, we've been a team. Everything I have experienced, every step, both forward and back has been shared. Through highs and lows they've been there, loving me unconditionally and providing me with with the support I needed to succeed.

After qualifying for my pro card last year. cred: Bryant Howard

A song came up on Spotify several days before my race in Oceanside, and it left such an impression on me that I played it on repeat during my workouts and it was stuck in my head the
entire race.

Kayne West
"Hey Mama"
http://youtu.be/2ZXlnJ5o63g

Kayne wrote this song to his Mother, and he had a tougher upbringing than I did, but when I listen, I think back on the path that has led our team to where we are today, and where we're going. There are numerous parallels and it still stirs up some pretty strong emotion for me.

Thanks Mom & Dad

Bill Watterson

Lifetime Tri Oceanside- 2nd!!

This past Saturday I raced for the 16th time this season. It's been a long and intense first full season as a professional. I couldn't be more happy with the way it's wrapping up. It was amazing to back up my Elite Sprint National Title performance by placing second at the Lifetime Fitness Series Finale race in Oceanside, CA.The who's who of non-draft triathlon were in attendance including multiple Olympians. This result rivals my National Championship as the biggest of my career and to have them in one right after another confirms for me that I'm headed in the next direction and next year will be very exciting.

Results: http://edge.raceresults360.com/custom/oceanside2013/#/results::138193010984500

Photo: Paulo Sousa

I came out of the water 2 seconds off the lead, behind my training mate Joe Maloy as well as Cameron Dye. From there I started a long acceleration that wouldn't falter until I crossed the line at the end of the run. I had the strongest bike of my career, maintaining a 15-20 second gap to bike leaders Ben Collins, Cam Dye and Stuart Hayes. I started the run with Stuart Hayes, about 30 seconds behind Cam and 40 behind Ben. When we came through 5k Hayes had taken the lead from Cam and I caught Ben. With 2 miles to go, Cam still had 30 seconds on me and Joe Maloy had come up to my shoulder from almost 90 seconds back. The whole time I saw him coming I was thinking, "Without a doubt, Joe WILL catch me. If I want to be on the podium, I have to catch Cam Dye." I fully committed and accelerated, bringing the gap to Cam down to 15 seconds with a mile to go. At 800 meters to go I was almost kicking, dropping Joe and catching Cam 300 meters from the line. I went by, maintained my sprint and finished less than 15 seconds behind winner Stuart Hayes and 2 seconds in front of Cam. I found Joe in the recovery tent a few minutes later and I had to ask him how much money I had won! I hadn't put any pressure on myself going into the race other than to demonstrate how fit I was, and I hadn't even looked at the prize money breakdown.

The result STILL hasn't fully sunk in, but I am over the moon and I know this race was simply an accurate representation of the work that I've put in with the Triathlon Squad over the last year. I live and train every day with Joe and Jason and our Coach Paulo Sousa. It's the heated competition we have every time we get to a hard workout that gave me that extra bit to finish strongly and fully empty the tank. I can't overstate the impact they have had on me this year.


I can't wait until my next Lifetime race, they put on such a great event and I'll come in ready to chase after that elusive top step on the podium!




NEXT RACE:
This coming Saturday I will compete in my last race of the season, the Fearless F1 in San Diego. This is another double super sprint race and I'm looking to cap the season with another strong finish!

End of Season Plans

I saw this picture while searching the web for awesome bike related stuff and it got me to thinking about the off season, which is just two short weeks away. Once I cross the line at the last race of the season, I'll switch into fun mode and attempt to catch up on all the nonsense I've been missing all year while living the spartan lifestyle.

Among the list of things to do: beer mile, run Mt. Woodson, and motorpace with Derek's scooter.

Back to business!

Lifetime Oceanside on Sunday 

Making Videos

It's tough. It's a lot of extra work to film and edit stuff while you're trying to carry on with the usual training load. I think that's why you don't see endurance athletes do it very often. Action sports stars have film crews paid by Redbull or Nixon or whatever company that can follow them around 24/7 and edit film while the athletes sleep. Since there isn't currently a strong video culture in triathlon, despite some serious steps forward by Specialized (Day in the life), Cervelo (Beyond the Peloton), if athletes want to have any video insights into their training and lifestyle, they have to do it themselves. I think it's the way triathlon is going to go, especially if we want to bring athletes in at younger ages.

Zone: HAM

The workout: 5x4min paceline as fast as possible. This typically ends up being much more difficult than the same workout solo because it's so punchy and the level of effort is so high while riding on the front and even higher when jumping back into the line. That's why we call it Zone HAM. It's a 6 on a scale of 1-5. This workout prepares us for the fast-paced riding in draft legal racing. Watch for Jason at Cozumel World Cup this weekend, Joe at Tongyeong World Cup the following week, and all three of us at the Fearless F1 in San Diego on Oct. 26.

Super Sprint National Championship!

Last Thursday night in Vegas I had the biggest result of my career so far. I finished 2nd behind Australian Peter Kerr in the Super Sprint Grand Prix, winning the title of Sprint National Champion!!

Inspired by Trevor Wurtele, I've been wanting to do some alternative race report formats and this is my first attempt. Joe helped out by conducting the interview. If you enjoy listening, let us know.

Also, Universal Sports will be televising the race on October 7th at 8pm EST!! Set your DVR

I want to give a huge thanks to my sponsors, Athletes Lounge, Rolf Prima Wheels, and Zone3 wetsuits. Their support and product leave me with no excuses on race day.

Enjoy!




**if it doesn't work on mobile, clicking on the center of the bars ^here^ worked for me..

Some pictures while you listen:
http://triathlon.competitor.com/2013/09/photos/photos-2013-super-sprint-triathlon-grand-prix-mens-race_84825
http://www.slowtwitch.com/Lifestyle/The_2013_SSTriGP_Las_Vegas_3916.html

After the race I drove South to Tempe with my TT bike to race in the Lifetime Fitness Series Tempe Triathlon. I had a strong swim and bike, spending most of the day in 4th-5th place, until I faded during the run, falling to 10th place overall. After the excitement and effort of the race two days earlier in Vegas, I was pleased with my ability to recover well enough to get another top 10 in this competitive series.

The Athletes Lounge P4

Athletes Lounge has played a huge role in my development
over the years, always believing in my dream to make it to
the top of the triathlon world.

Cervelo has always held a special place in my heart, and the P4 in particular. Even when the P5 came out, I never lost my obsession with this ground breaking bike. The original paint scheme was all black with only a silver ”P4” in big block font on the downtube. I couldn’t help but think of stealth bombers and nuclear submarines every time I saw one.

When Athletes Lounge hooked me up with this particular bike for racing this season, it really was a dream come true. I got the exact setup I wanted, and I took as many pictures as I could to show it off.

There's nothing better than unpacking a new bike!

Perfect combination of Black, white, and red all over

The details matter. Courtesy of Danny at the Lounge

Fizik Antares TT saddle

TDF 60sl Wheelset. SO light and SO aero.  Rolf Prima has come through huge for me this year with these stellar wheels I can use for my draft-legal races as well as non-draft ones. 

Another favoriteof mine, courtesy of the Lounge.

Sunday Long Ride w/Felipe's Race Simulation

• 59.8mi
  Distance
• 4,180ft
  Elevation (?)
• 03:02:29
  Moving Time

                    http://www.strava.com/activities/79299894
 

All pictures from my instagram feed: 503tri

A necessary start to any hard bike session is Caffeine of some sort. We met at Starbucks, which isn't my first choice in coffee, but often does the trick. Jason and I actually made percolator coffee prior to this, but I hadn't thought to blog the ride yet.










It was about an hour before we reached the start of Felipe's "race sim." He was to go up Bandy Canyon to the top of Highland Valley (about 30min climb), back to the start, back up BC and down HV all at 70.3 race pace. Total, this was 90min of effort, straight into a race pace run. Jason and I just finished our ride while he ran. Felipe is prepping for 70.3 World Championships in Vegas next weekend. Follow him here.

Jason and I rode behind Felipe on the flat parts of the ride but on the hills there was no place to hide and we got to share in the pain :)
















We were drinking chocolate milk for recovery before it was popular. I think it actually isn't popular with dieticians anymore, but we're still going strong. If it's good enough for every other mammal in nature, it's good enough for me.













The most fun part of any ride: analyzing the data and writing sweet blogs. Note the fur coat keeping my lap warm.

Wildcat Mountain Ride

• 60.2mi
  Distance
• 5,748ft
  Elevation (?)
• 03:21:42
  Moving Time

               http://www.strava.com/activities/75751405

This was beyond the gate, and classified as NF-36 I think.
I was pumped to find such beautiful single-lane riding so close to my house!

Rarely do I stop for pictures, but this seemed like a
worthy occasion.

Every once in a while I find a road that I haven't ridden near my house in the great Pacific Northwest. This was possibly my greatest find yet. I set out from my house in Gresham and rode towards Sandy to ride up a road known as Wildcat Mountain. I've been on this road before, but I've always gone right (down) when I get to it. This time I scoped out the map and saw that a left turn brings some climbing and an eventual transition to Forest Service road. I couldn't resist.

About 2/3 of the way up, just before the gate

Be prepared for some serious climbing on this ride. There is a section just before this picture that averages 9-12% for about a half mile, which seems like 20% for a mile! Going down is equally intense, I can't remember the last time I was worried about how fast I was going on a bike.

European Riding in Oregon!

Tiszaujvaros World Cup

Over 100 athletes racing, four semifinal heats, 3 swim laps in a tiny pond, $60,000 on the line.

It doesn't get any more intense than this.

I placed 18th in my semifinal heat, which is quite disappointing to say the least. Only the top 7 in each heat advanced to finals, where the money and ITU points were awarded. My start number was 16, so I performed close to my where my ITU ranking said I should, but I know that there is more there and with a couple of adjustments and better breaks during the race, I had it in me to make the finals.

I barely missed the lead bike pack in my heat, after a very fast swim, which would have put me off the front of any other heat, but luck of the draw put me in with the "super swimmer" heat. I rode with 2 other athletes for the whole 20k, swapping incredibly hard pulls as we tried to catch the lead group. In the end it wasn't enough, and we got off the bike over a minute down and completely destroyed from the effort. With a 5 second faster swim, I would have been comfortably in the lead group with much fresher legs and would have been in contention for the finals. My experience at the first turn buoy in the swim was just like the above picture, and that was where I lost the precious time I needed.

Races like this leave a mark. I want to do better, need to do better. It is encouraging to know that I only need to be 6 seconds better to completely change how my race reports read. I am fired up to cover that gap and keep improving this season and beyond.

Next race: Super Sprint Grand Prix Las Vegas

European Racing

I've been using the inconsistent internet here in Serinya as an excuse to not write a blog, but I really can't put things off anymore. The second half of my excuse is that since Joe and I arrived here in Spain, we've been either packing for, thinking about, or traveling to a race. We arrived in Palamos two days before racing the Palamos World Cup, and immediately after the race we traveled to Serinya to settle into "the farmhouse." We stayed there for four days before traveling through France to Geneva, Switzerland to race a Continental Cup two days later.

Palamos rundown:

Running through T1

I had a so-so swim, and for the first time I was able to unzip my race kit. Unfortunately I didn't actually do it, someone else did halfway through the swim. I had a very enjoyable flow of water through my suit for lap #2 as I worked through some slower swimmers who had had better starts than me. I got out of the water right at the back of the lead pack (with the exception of two athletes off the front) and after a long run up the beach I was chasing back to the lead group with Jason Wilson of Barbados. After a few miles on the bike, all the packs came together and the ride was fast but manageable until lap 6 of 7 when I got a flat and had to stop for a change. I found out later I had a large safety pin straight through my tire. I rode very hard for the remaining 4 miles and came into T2 pretty far down from the huge main pack. I ran a couple laps to see if I could catch some people, but after a working hard in 90deg heat, I stepped off the course to save myself for the next weekend's race in Geneva, with the hopes of capturing some points there.

Geneva rundown:

Run course the day before

Another less than ideal swim start put me in some serious traffic on the way to the first buoy. I fought through it and made my way to the chase group, which was in pursuit of Raoul Shaw (14:55 1500M pool swimmer) and my USA teammate, Luke Farkas, who had managed to get on his feet. The run to transition was long, included a trip up and down a flight of stairs, and a 90degree turn that I slipped and almost fell on. I made it into the lead group after about a minute all-out sprint and made it to the bottom of the steep, 1k long hill near the front. I slid slowly backwards up the climb, gassed from the effort to catch, and near the top, the rider in front of me let a gap open while I was just looking at his rear wheel, in the pain cave. I sprinted around him and chased after the group with everything I had, but the pack was going full out, and after over-cooking a hard right turn, I was just out of reach and loosing time. I rode steady and waited about 20 seconds for the chase group to come and finished out the ride there. This was one of the hardest bike courses I have ever raced, with the exception being Huatulco, which I did not finish. My legs were pretty fried by the time the run came, and the heat was getting to me, but I focused on running to the next water station and managed to fight through the fatigue and have a better second 5k. I finished 31st place, definitely not where I had hoped to be, but it was another very very hard bike ride and the sting of loosing a pack over a lapse in focus is enough to make sure it never happens again.



We have now moved to Vitoria, Spain, where we will finish out our training leading into the Tizsavuaros World Cup in Hungary in a couple weeks. The environment here is top notch, with great pool and track facilities, and endless miles of beautiful roads to ride. I'll get out another blog very soon with some specifics on the training and locale we've been experiencing.

Update From Flagstaff

I've been in Flagstaff training with my squadmates for the past month and on Wednesday morning Joe and I will fly from Phoenix to Barcelona. Before I continue, I want to make sure everyone is aware of my awesome sponsors, who give me the support I need to be able to train full time and travel to races around the world. Please give them your business and support if you ever get the chance!

This was my second experience with altitude training, the first being last year at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. This was a bit longer trip and actually gave me a chance to get some acclimation and go through the process of feeling ok, then terrible, and then back to normal. We took on a pretty high training load for our time in Flag, working out for 30 hours per week. This didn't leave time for much more than laying around in between sessions, and I've been struggling to get something on paper for quite a while.

I thought maybe I would just jot down some thoughts rather than go full-on paragraph style.


-The sky in Flagstaff is bigger than anywhere else. There is just more of it somehow.

-"Digging yourself in a hole" by overreaching at altitude works the same as at sea level, except you have a backhoe instead of a shovel. It takes longer to recover from dick measuring contests.

-When it rains in Flagstaff, it REALLY rains! Thunder and lighting are regular occurances as well.

-Flagstaff has endless running trails but only 3 roads to ride on and they were all under construction while we were in town.

-WIND

-Gasping for air in the pool is worse than on the run or bike.

-Be in the moment. Thinking one or two workouts ahead can be overwhelming at times.

-The Grand Canyon doesn't look real. It is so mind blowing it looks like a painting.

-Horseflies are my new least favorite living thing. There is no way their contribution to the food chain can be worth the incessant buzzing. The butterfly effect does not apply to horseflies.

-I am a fan of the "international dark city" status. I really missed seeing the stars in California.

-I really miss Portland and all of my friends and family there. I'll be coming home for a week after my Europe trip and I can't wait to see everyone and get a refill of Northwest love!

Going to the edge. And beyond.

I thought this would be the easiest blog I've ever written. I've got such great material afterall. It's not every day that one experiences heat stroke and seizure. It's blog gold! I've gotten to read a bit on the subject in the last week, and what I went through is classified as "Exertional Heat Stroke." It can occur under any conditions, but most often in hot and/or humid conditions when rate of exertion is high for a long period of time.

The hardest part about this is where to start. I had a great swim, exiting the water right behind my teammate, Joe Maloy, and right in front of 4-time Olympian Hunter Kemper. We got out on the bikes after a very long run through transition and I slowly lost contact with Joe, Cam Dye, and Hunter. I felt ok, but not quite as powerful as I'm used to in training, despite getting a solid warmup. I pushed myself and had Coach Paulo's words in my head, "hold the gap, keep pressure on." I became aware of my calves cramping halfway through lap two of four, but I didn't think much of it, and quickly drank my bottle of sports drink. When I came off the bike, I had lost some time, but was in 6th place, and I was ready to chance down 5th, maybe someone else if they died.

The first lap I was aware of some odd sensations, but I was determined to push through, and I thought the first 3 miles went alright. I certainly wasn't running as quickly as I had planned, and Matt Reed had passed me, but I thought I could pull him back. Right about mile 4 things started to really fall apart. My legs were starting to buckle occasionally, and my pace had slowed considerably. I wanted badly to walk and stretch for a moment, but after my DNF at Huatulco the prior weekend, there was absolutely no way I was going to stop and risk not starting again. 

As I headed across the bridge with 2 miles to go, I could see Matt Reed in the distance, steadily pulling away and I finally let go of the thought of catching him and started thinking about  holding 8th place. Or 7th place. I really couldn't remember anymore, I just needed to get to the finish. At one mile to go I remember seeing Brandon Marsh, who told me I had 8th locked down. I wondered if I looked as bad as I felt. Worse maybe. With a half mile to go I remember the photographer on the bridge. That memory may be from lap1 though. The next thing I remember is running through the event expo, which was in the field parallel to the finish line. I had run around 100 meters off course without even realizing it and now had to run back to the road. I remember thinking, "If Manny Huerta passes me because of this I will be so pissed." I'm not sure why I thought of Manny, except that he was the last person I saw on course.

I have a brief flash of memory of collapsing at the finish line. Literally the blink of an eye. Colin O'Brady, a good friend and  fellow Pro, was at the finish line and later filled me in on what happened next, as I have no recollection of the following 20-30 minutes.

 I lay on the ground where I fell for a couple of minutes before volunteers realized I wasn't just "doing the triathlete thing" and being really tired. Six volunteers picked me up and put me directly into a kiddy pool full of ice. Apparently I was moving and feebly trying to splash water into my mouth. I registered an oral temp of 102.5, which was most likely a bit lower than my actual temperature, as they had been splashing ice water all over my face.
When I finally gained consciousness (in my mind no time had passed) I was lying on a table of some sort and a huge dude with forearms of steel was massaging my calves, which were cramped up like rocks. The pain was unreal and Colin says I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I must have blacked out again because the next thing I remember was being loaded into the ambulance. That is when the real hell started.

The EMTs got IV's into both of my arms and got me hooked up to oxygen I think. I was begging them to put me out because the pain was so bad. I was tearing up I wanted it to be over so badly. They kept telling me I'd be fine as we started driving towards the hospital. I kept thinking if only I could pass out again I would be fine and could just skip all this. Be careful what you wish for.

I started having real trouble breathing, and that coupled with the cramps made for the most discomfort/pain I have ever been in. It was like the worst searing pain I have ever felt at the end of a hard interval session multiplied by 10, and I could do nothing to make it stop. Ever more hopeful for blacking out, every time my lungs managed to sneak a breath I would think, "Great, there's another 30 seconds I have to suffer." Finally I started to become euphoric and I realized I hadn't breathed in a long time and I don't recall feeling my heart beating. It had occurred to me that  this wasn't how I had gone out prior to being in the ice bath and that this was more likely my body finally quitting. It had all the characteristics of death as I had heard or seen it portrayed and I figured this was my goodbye to the world. The euphoria made me accept it for the most part and just before it all went dark I heard the EMT say, "O my God, is he not breathing?" He shook me, yelled at me, and peeled my eyes back. No response. "I think he may be having a seizure." I thought, "No dude, I'm dead."

Before things got bad.

 GAASPP! I came to just like every dramatic scene from the movies when someone "comes to".  Colin later filled me in that I had been seizing for a couple of minutes and that the ambulance driver had gone Formula 1 and fired up the lights to get to the hospital ASAP.
I lay stunned, staring at the lights in the ambulance, unable to formulate a single thought, sucking in oxygen as fast as I possibly could. The EMT started asking questions and all I could get out was "yeah" I knew where I was. They made it to the ER, got me a nice room full of doctors with needles and more questions, and began dumping more IV fluid into me, a theme that would continue until the next day, when I had taken on a full 6 liters. I was real thirsty.

Still feeling pretty braindead here.

Joe, Brandon and Amy Marsh, and Colin all kept taking turns sitting with me and asking questions of the doctors that I was in no condition to come up with on my own. I can't thank them all enough for going through that with me, especially Colin, who was there with me during the incredibly scary 10 minutes in the ambulance.

I hope to never experience this again and I am taking things easy getting back into training, reading a lot about heat stroke in the meantime. Coach Paulo has devised a plan for keeping my core cool before the race start and we are examining every detail of the leadup to the race to find the cause of my episode.

I am very glad I finished the race, ending up 8th, my best finish to date. Once I figure out my heat issues, I've got top 5 no problem. Thanks to Athletes Lounge, Rolf Prima, and USA triathlon for supporting me as I grow from every race, and every day of training. I couldn't do this alone.

Huatulco World Cup

Start/Finish line

I assume that most of you reading this already know the result of my Huatulco race. For the first time in my life I DNF'd. Even through flat tires, bad days, and some pretty serious medical issues in college, I've managed to drag myself across the finish line. I just wanted to start off by saying I don't take this lightly and it will take me a while to come to terms with it.

Recently I've been reading some books on the mental side of sports, which indicate that athletes at the highest level (world champion caliber) are accepting of the fact that they could fail, and that it is part of the process. It allows them to fully put themselves out there rather than holding back just a little because of the fear of failure. It's harder than it sounds and it still doesn't mean that the failure hurts any less when it does happen.

To give a quick insight into the Huatulco race setting, I have to state some facts for those who don't know.

Weather: 95degrees, typically 90% humidity
Course: Considered to be the toughest in the World. Big hill at 23% that is done 8 times, plus a roller that is done 8 times both directions.

I went into the race fairly confident, as I consider myself a strong cyclist and I thought "the harder the better,

Swim exit

it will sort out the weak swimmers and cyclists." As it turns out, I was among those that got sorted. I had a great swim start, and didn't hold back at all, putting the "don't be afraid to fail" mentality to work. This paid off with a great position near the front of the race, which I maintained through both laps. Running out of the water, right away I could tell something was off. I felt like I was running in peanut butter and as much as I thought "sprint" and tried to move my legs quickly, they were non-responsive. Think about those bad dreams you have when you're running away from something scary. The feeling persisted, but I decided to just force my way through it to hang with the leaders over the roller both ways and to the bottom of the big climb. This proved to be just a little too much for me in the "faking it" phase I was in and I lost contact with the leaders on the climb. Things just got worse no matter how much water I dumped on myself or how hard I pushed. My legs were useless pieces of meat spinning below me and my day ended a little over halfway through the 40k on the side of the road.

It is particularly difficult to deal with a day like this when my preparation has been so strong. Coach Paulo told me before I left, "Racing is a chance to express fitness." I was (and still am) very excited to show off all the hard work that I've put in over the last six months (and ultimately my whole life thus far) and it is especially painful to miss out on that experience for any reason, let alone one that is a bit of a mystery.

Overall, I'm glad that I made the trip. I may not have had the race that I wanted, but I opted to try and make the jump to the World Cup level at the toughest race there is and the lessons I learned coupled with the fire from failure will be valuable as I continue my career.

Next Race in two days: Lifetime Fitness CapTex 

Crazy Race Week

One week ago I was flying back to San Diego from my race in Barbados. I actually think I was sitting on the tarmac at MIA waiting for thunderstorms to clear and wondering how much my taxi was going to cost now that I would miss a connecting flight and my ride home from Jason Pedersen. The taxi cost $85 and I made it home at 12:30AM. It was a frustrating end to a frustrating weekend.

Barbados is a very cool place. I stayed practically on the beach with some members of the elite triathlon academy and collegiate recruitment program (both USAT funded groups). This was a nice experience, as I had other Americans to talk to and hang out with before and after the race. The race itself was a bit of a train wreck, (literally!) as every male athlete crashed on the slippery roads at least once. I got an especially bad break when my chain jammed following a pileup with most of the Canadian team. I should backtrack and say that I actually had a pretty good swim despite feeling tired, and exited at the front of the race with Luke Farkas and a small lead pack. From that point on though, my legs felt useless and after my crash I lacked my usual power that would let me time trial back to the leaders. I capped things off with a very slow run, but I did finish the race and picked up a few ITU points on the day.

I spent some time reflecting to figure out what went wrong and I think it boils down to mental preparation. I got a little too focused on "going for the win" and lost sight of my process goals as I worked into a bit of a mental frenzy. Something to work on as I keep growing as an athlete.

Photo:competitor.com

Fast forward to Wednesday and the F1 Super Sprint in San Diego. I felt very relaxed going into the qualifying round and sailed through without a problem. Except that I crashed. Again. I haven't crashed on my bike in about 5 years, and somehow I manage to end up on the ground twice in 4 days. This time my rear skewer was a little loose. I must not have tightened it in my haste to rebuild my bike following the Barbados experience. I had a 20 second lead out of the water and I was back on my bike fast enough following the crash that no one even realized that I had gone down. (the turn was the only spot not visible to most spectators) I rode solo for the 6k bike, ran one lap of the run hard, and then shut it down to save energy for the final.

I lined up next to some top names in triathlon for the main event. Laurent Vidal of France, Aaron Royle of Australia, the Vasiliev brothers from Russia, my training partner, Joe Maloy, Tommy Zafares of USA, and Clark Ellice of New Zealand were the headliners in a 20 man stacked field. I mixed it up well in the first swim, exiting comfortably with the leaders, and then rode hard in the first bike, hoping to help push out the gap to the chasers. I probably should have chilled a little more, as I was the only athlete in the bunch without World-Class results, but in the heat of the moment I couldn't help myself, and I payed for it a bit on the first run. I lost about 15 seconds to the leaders, and couldn't make it up on the second swim. I went out on the second bike only 10 seconds behind the younger Vasiliev brother, but he rode phenomenally and I was unable to close the gap, riding the second bike solo. I held on during the second run, holding off the charging Clark Ellice for 6th place.

I'm pretty happy with this result, especially considering the short turnaround from my race on Sunday in Barbados. There were also some great pictures from the race, check them out here:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Features/2013_Mission_Bay_Super_Sprint_3561.html

http://triathlon.competitor.com/2013/04/features/why-the-super-sprint-matters_74658

http://triathlon.competitor.com/2013/04/news/groff-royle-win-fearless-pro-super-sprint_74488

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Features/2013_Mission_Bay_Super_Sprint_3561.html

Everyone Wants a Unimog.

We're only human afterall.

Image: Uncrate.comn

Nautica South Beach Play by Play

I've got some mixed feelings about this race. I told myself initially that I wanted to be top 10 and if I had a great day, top 5. This may have been a bit ambitious considering the strong field, but with a prize purse that drops from  $10,000 to $500 from 1st-5th, some ambition is certainly necessary.

Slowtwitch race recap and top 10: (I got 9th, not 8th-Jarrod Shoemaker was 5th)

http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/Collins_Frederiksen_win_Miami_3507.html

I felt strong on the swim, but like my stroke was getting me nowhere. I've been working on upping my stroke rate to handle choppy ocean conditions and it just hasn't fully come around yet. A longer, slower "pool" stroke like mine becomes inefficient in bad conditions because it is constantly disrupted by small waves. Joe Maloy (my Triathlon Squad training partner) has the perfect stroke for this type of swim, having been an ocean life guard for years. He lead the front group, gapping me when I swung a little wide to avoid traffic at the first buoy.  I swam behind Olympian Richard Murray for the rest of the swim, and tried to keep the gap to the leaders as small as possible.

In order to get back into the race for the top 5 I would have needed to put in a stellar bike ride. I ran through the very long transition as quickly as I could, with the hopes of riding with Murray, but his awesome run speed and very hard start on the bike put me riding about 200 meters behind right from the gun. I tried to ride within myself from that point on, and only lost a little over a minute to Joe and Hunter Kemper despite riding alone. Murray managed to bridge to Hunter and Joe, and ended up second place overall. If I would have gone super hard the first half of the bike and done the same, things might have gone differently. "Coulda/shoulda" as coach Sousa said. Lesson learned, and a tactical misstep I won't make again.

I started well on the run, focusing on my turnover. Around mile 1.5 I started to feel my legs come around and I I caught two guys, including James Seear. The two of us ran together until mile 4, when I started to fade just slightly. It wasn't what I was hoping for on the run, but compared to last year, when I would get to the run and be sort of in damage control, it was pretty awesome to have confidence in my run and to catch people. My time of 34:26 was still faster than all but one of my draft-legal 10k's last year, and I trained straight through this race with no taper. Being able to see this type of improvement in a year is a good sign for the future!

This top 10 marks my best non-draft performance by far, but it still leaves me with a slight sense of discontent. A couple of things contributed to this. A) The sense that I have more to give. I've been having great swim workouts recently and when I was unable to put that together (regardless of water condition) on raceday, it's pretty frustrating. B) Seeing my teammate, Joe finish on the podium both makes me incredibly excited for Joe, but it also lets me know that I can do better. I'm excited to do another non-draft race and use the experience from this race to climb through the results a bit further.

I got straight back to training on the day after the race, and my arms have never been so tired on "easy Monday" 

because of how hard I was working to increase my stroke rate. Visualization has always been helpful to me, so I was visualizing Joe swim (he has the fastest turnover of anyone I know). Luckily yesterday he was back from Miami and I could just match his stroke rate as we swam side by side. I feel like I'm flailing around in the water like a fool, but any time you change something in your stroke, that's pretty typical.

Next race: Bridgetown Pan American cup- April 21 Link

The Need for Speed. Thoughts on Motivation

This is a blog I've been meaning to write for a while now. I've often read articles referring to two different types of athletes; those who are motivated by the drive to beat others (rare), and those who are motivated by the drive to not fail (most common). While I have spent a fair bit of time reflecting on which type I am, I usually arrive at the conclusion that my biggest fear is in fact failure. A thought occurred to me the other day though while I was doing a 5x400 meter swim set that was going fairly well. (leaving on 5:00, coming in 4:36, 4:40, 4:42, 4:44, 4:45)

I was in some serious oxygen debt, so I may have been a little delirious, but I had an overwhelming sense of joy about how well I was moving through the water. Just the sensation of speed and the knowledge that I was going FAST. At least for me, Phelps might say otherwise, but that's not important. What is important is that this is not an unusual thing for me. When I'm doing my best, I am completely focused on how fast I am going and how awesome it is. The race or workout going on around me becomes secondary and I am just aware that it is happening. Other athletes become measurements of my ultimate speed, just as my power meter, pace clock, speedometer, Garmin, and trees flying by reinforce (or break down) my perception of speed.

Fast because I feel fast

Fast because data says so

I hate to admit that certain signals can override all of the others. The workout I have been struggling with recently is our 30min uphill time trial. Going up hills has never been a strong suit of mine, but it does offer an interesting experiment or moment of reflection rather, with regards to this topic. Almost all of my speed measurements are working against me except for the one that matters, my wattage. The wind is not rushing by, my speed is not worth looking at, my lighter training partners are slowly (sometimes quickly) pulling away from me, my cadence is forced to be low, and the overall feeling of graceful, fast movement through space is almost completely gone. I should be able to look down at my power meter and be happy with the result, as my wattage is as high as I should expect for such an effort, which is all that should matter physiologically. BUT my competitiveness and desire to do better than last time EVERY time overrides the data and leaves me with a sense of disappointment.

This was a great introspective moment for me and certainly something I intend to spend more time thinking about. I would encourage any athlete to spend some time breaking through the layers of motivation to find out what really drives you. Don't be happy with "I like to compete" or "I like the lifestyle." Go deeper. Think more along the lines of survival instinct. Keep asking why after each successive answer. If you can find what makes you tick, then you can anticipate and avoid stimulus that may throw you off and capitalize on ones that could bring out your best.