Wildflower Race Report

 First off I must say that I love this event. It has everything that is cool about triathlon. The atmosphere is amazing, lots of first timers and tons of crowd support. My amazing wife allowed me to go down as a boys trip so I drove the trailer down on Wednesday with plenty of time to get a good spot and be ready for the race. On Thursday Morning I woke up and enjoyed some coffee at the trailer by Transition. I then noticed that returning champion Jesse Thomas and his beautiful wife Lauren Fleshman walk by. I chatted with them for a while. They are both really genuine and nice people. Thursday was hot and my plan was to stay off my feet all day. So, with power in the trailer I watched movies with the AC on. It was great. Godfather, Rudy, and Wedding Crashers. Love it!

 Friday my buddy Eric showed up and we went for a little ride and swim. Got our gear together and met up with some friends that we haven’t seen in awhile. Got a good prep in and was ready for my race on Saturday. I was a little worried about this race. Wildflower is a tough course and my training this pre-season has been less than consistent. However, I was looking forward to a good ass-kicking to motivate me for Tahoe. I slept great on Friday night and woke up ready to go. Setup transition and put the wetsuit on and got in the corral. The swim was really uneventful. I felt good but not great. My mind tends to wander and I slow down but I was focused and came out of the water and was a little disappointed with 34 minutes.

 I had a good transition and quickly got out on the bike. Wildflower bike course is pretty hilly and on the second mile is a pretty steep hill. I was spinning up it with the goal of keeping my heart rate low this early in the day when I saw a very good looking woman topless holding a sign that said “Hey! My eyes are up here!” Needless to say my HR goal was not achieved. I immediately chalked up my race as a success regardless of the rest of the day.  I felt like I did a good job following my plan of holding back until mile 40. My nutrition was good and I was feeling fresh. On mile 40 I kicked up the wattage and attacked the hills. I beat my previous best on this bike course by ten minutes. It was still slower then my goal of three hours however, I felt good going into T2 and this run course can suck the life out of you. Bike split of 3:08
 

My transition was quick and I was out on the course. I felt a little warm but overall I was feeling good. The first couple of miles went by and even though my Garmin was not working I could tell I was in the 8 to 8:30 mile pace and feeling good. The first hill slowed me down a little but I still felt confident I would finish the run in 2 hours or less. Then I hit the trail and the wheels fell off. I started to cramp up a little in my quads and my mental game broke down. Almost all of the competitors around me slowed way down on the trail where there is little to no crowd support. I should have taken this opportunity to attack but instead I joined them and it cost me a lot of time. I walked almost all of the hills on the trail and at mile seven when we got back into the campground I realized it was only mental that was making me walk. I could run on. So, I picked it up and finished the rest of the race only walking on the “Pit.” I finished with a disappointing 6:09. You can tell on my finishers picture that I was not very happy with my performance. However, the weekend was a blast. I will be back to show that course what I can do! We spent the rest of the day relaxing and hanging out with new and old friends. It was great. I met a lot of firefighters from Santa Barbara and San Diego that are interested in joining the team.

IronMan Los Cabos

Rick Van Tuyl...
I thought I would be writing a race report about how I qualified for UltraMan Canada by finishing in under 14 hours and 30 minutes. But instead, it's a tale of things that happen when you travel to races and do not pace correctly on the bike.
My wife is kind of tired of watching/waiting for me at races. Although, when I told her about IronMan Cabo, she said without any hesitation "I'd watch you race in Cabo". With that, she booked her timeshare and told me to sign up. I've been to Cabo a handful of times and love it down there. I actually thought this would not be too expensive of a race as we were already going there for her Spring-Break. Well, it was. I've raced in Arizona and Hawaii and it was very easy to get whatever food that I needed, but, not so much in Mexico. I did the best I could, but if I do this race again (I probably will) I would book a condo instead of a hotel room so I could cook my own food.
We arrived on Fri. afternoon, checked in and I went to register and listen to the athlete meeting. On Sat., we boarded a bus to take my bike and bike/run bags to T1. Once there, the ocean was beautiful. I tried to stay off my feet as best I could, but it was hard to eat a good dinner at our hotel. I slept pretty good, got up early, ate and then went to T1 a few miles by bus. My goals for the race was to swim comfortable, ride moderately, and run 4 min/walk 1min.
As soon as the horn sounded, a wave came crashing in. I thought it was kind of funny because it was just shore break, nothing to worry about. The swim went ok, 1:24:22. I was hoping for 1:15-1:20. Some people think the swim was about 500 yards long, I agree as I would have hit my time target. As,the bike started, I was surprised to be ring with a 20-30 mph head/cross wind. I was also surprised by the rolling hills. I thought I paced good, got to the turn around and picked it up with a tailwind. The crowds were awesome. I've never raced with such energy. Once off the main highway, there is a steady 25 min. climb, followed by about 30 min. of rollers in a steady decline aided by the tailwind. What goes down fast, comes back up SLOWLY. At mile 56 and special needs, I new I was in trouble, I really tried to ride easy. I was not able to eat anything the last 2 hours of the bike. I threw up, and knew I was in deep trouble. The last long climb, I just kept saying to myself "don't stop, cuz if you do, you won't finish". I got into T2 and just sat in a chair for a while. Ok, about 10 min. I exited and saw my wife. She looked at me and knew I was hurting. She asked how I was, and I replied "f#cked". She said "be safe". I modified my plan a few times, then figured I would walk the rest of the first lap, about 5 miles and then resume running. The run is a mind-screw. It's three laps, great crowd support for about 3-4 miles, but then does an out back and not many spectators. But the most brutal part comes at the finishing chute, if you're finishing, you stay to the right and finish. If not, stay left and make a u-turn about 50 yards from the finish line. As I started my second lap, I saw my wife and her parents. My wife started walking with me and then said she would walk with me if I wanted her to. I said sure and she went to our hotel to change as I went about on the course. When I got to the turn, she had her running shoes and shorts on. We walked and talked with each other as well as other racers in the hurt box too. As we were coming up back into town, I told her to get me some food. Pizza, a quesadilla, anything. She offered the guy that was walking with us something also, but he declined. We met up and she got my a quesadilla. It was as dry as a rice cake. We kept walking and I knew I was going to finish before midnight.
I know there are a few reasons why I could be DQ'd, but I wasn't. I have a wonderful wife. After the swim, she ran about 5 miles to the hotel, and then walked about 16 miles with me. Lessons I learned. When traveling to race, try to stay were there is a kitchen, at least until the race is over, so you can eat what you are use to eating. Even if you think you're pacing correctly on the bike, it's probably too hard. At least for me it is. IronMan is like life, it isn't always easy, it doesn't always go as planned, but if you keep moving forward, you'll get to your destination.

IM Ca 70.3

Rick Van Tuyl...

On March 30, I raced IM Ca 70.3, just 13 days after finishing (It started as a race and ended up just finishing). I had a really fast swim. I completed the 1.2 miles in 33:05. I think it was a short course because I'm usually around 37-38 min. and I have been doing any swim focused training. I just concentrated on a long smooth stroke. I had a very conservative effort on the bike and came in with a 3:03:19. I really tried to hold back on the bike after my race in Cabo so that I could implement my run/walk strategy. Every 5 min. I drank either water or eFuel and I ate a rice ball every hour starting 30 min. into the ride. I came off the bike and felt good. My plan was to run 4 min. and walk 1 min. I also kept the same liquid schedule as I did for the bike and I had a Honey Stinger Chew every 10 min. I was ale to complete the run in 2:13:00. My total time was 6:00:14. I finally had a good race. I controlled the things I could, kept a positive outlook, and I did not have to many things go wrong. 

Jimmy Koppert - LeadMan 250

Leadman Epic 250 Bend, OR Race Report (9/22/12)

About the LeadmanTri Bend Race Course

 5K Swim — Voyage Across the Cultus
LeadmanTri Bend starts with a brisk swim in Cultus Lake. A deep, mountain lake at the base of Mount Cultus, it is filled with crystal clear water that is expected to be approximately 64 degrees on race day. The course will be two 2.5K laps along the shoreline. Swimmers will exit the water after lap one and pass an aid station before returning to the water for lap 2.
 223K Bike — Trek Round Mount Bachelor
One of the most scenic and challenging courses in the sport of triathlon, the LeadmanTri Bend course climbs over the Bachelor pass not once but twice, with 1.5 laps around Mt. Bachelor. Athletes will have spectacular views of the summit, several mountain lakes and the shores of the Deschutes River. The bike finishes with a 16-mile descent into Bend.
 22K Run — Tetherow Dash
The run course takes you out and back along the Deschutes River, through the majestic Tetherow Golf Club, and finishes crossing over the pedestrian bridge into the Events Plaza in the Old Mill District of Bend. The entire course is known for its old growth, large Ponderosa Pine, Douglas fir and western White Pine, sometimes rising to 120 feet (37m) tall.

Race Report

The alarm was going off and the music of Jack Johnson was to thank for that. It was the BIG day! I looked over at my brother and there were no words spoken, maybe because it was 3:45AM! I had already set out my morning outfit and it looked like I was headed to the snow. After getting all things packed up in the van I was off to where the shuttle busses were. I jumped on and tuned out listening to my music. The bus ride was scheduled to take roughly 45mins to the start of the swim (Cultus Lake) The funny things was that our bus driver got lost and it took us 1 Hour and 30mins. Everyone on the bus thought we would miss the start, that was until we realized that the course officials were sitting behind us! After the fun detour we got to Cultus Lake and set up T1 and got the wet suits on. I was not showing it but WOW was I nervous. My brother and I stayed with each other and with 15 mins before the start of my wave was in the water surrounded by nervous souls and pros (Jordan Rapp & Matt Lieto to name a couple) Before the start my brother and I had our game plan... stay with one another and grab someone's feet! 10..9..8..7..6...5...4..3..2..BOOM the 5K Swim was underway! Months of preparation and races lead to this moment to get my BELT BUCKLE!!!! The swim was a two loop course and buoys were placed every 50 yards which helped with my sighting. After the first loop we were to get out of the water and loop around the timing mat, I did so and looked behind me and my brother was nowhere to be found. I was nervous because I did not know if he went ahead of me was stuck in the back. Without hesitation I dove back into the water and started out for my second and final loop, I found myself in a nice rhythm and was enjoying the swim surprisingly. Just like my workouts I tried and negative split my second half of the swim to the first half. Finishing up the second loop I ran out of the water and up to the changing tent, It was a chilly morning and I knew at the high altitude that I would need to put on some warm clothes. I spend total of 7 mins and 18 seconds stripping down and dressing up. I ran right over to my bike and my coach was there saying  "Great job" my first words were "Where is my brother?!" I looked over where he placed his bike and it was still there, so I knew I was ahead of him :) I jumped on my bike ready to head out for the 223K bike ride! I felt great on the bike, a little chilly but was in a good position and was flying, in the back of my head I was thinking "Where is my brother, he is a little faster on the bike than I am and thought he would catch up." It was a beautiful course, I was in good shape through the first 90 miles to the top of Mt. Bachelor, I looked at my average speed at it read 24.8MPH!!! I was PUMPED! That second time up Mt. Bachelor got me, my MPH were declining rapidly, I was afraid of this the BONK was setting in! My body was telling me to stop and my mind was saying "NEVER GIVE UP!" I kept going and stopped a few times up the top of Mt. Bachelor. I stopped once for about 10 seconds and one fit guy passed me and had encouraging words for me, "ROCKY BALBOA, NEVER GIVE UP!" I jumped on my bike and kept a decent pace into T2. In the back of my mind I kept thinking, "Where the HELL is my brother?!" As I came into T2 I raced over to my bag and saw my Dad, Sister, Coach, and my BROTHER! As I ran over there I could see my brothers arm wrapped up and knew he took a spill. As I get over to my bag my brother says, "Jimmy I CRASHED, but your going to get the BELT BUCKLE!!" I got a rush of adrenaline, changed into my running gear and was off out of the tend to start the 22K run. I don't know what it is about crowds, but I get a rush or energy and my first 2 miles were around 8min miles, that would change. The run course takes you out and back along the Deschutes River, through the majestic Tetherow Golf Club, and finishes crossing over the pedestrian bridge into the Events Plaza in the Old Mill District of Bend! The best thing that happened during the run was a gentleman and myself had the same pace working with us and we ran together the whole way. We even ran an extra mile off course and looked at each other and earned around and said "Keep going, we got this!" With a quarter of a mile left, I could see my brother and him yelling "The finish is right over the bridge!" My brother ran to the finish with me and when I crossed I looked up with arms in the air! I FINSIHED!!! About 20 seconds later my running partner and friend Brian Holthus crossed and we high fived each other and then got our medals!!!

Leadman Epic 250 Splits

http://results.milliseconds.com/participants/detail/806945390

Here is the Leadman Epic 125/250 Offical Video!!!!!!!!

At 45 seconds into the video you can see my brother and I thumbs up and smiles on our face ready to have some fun!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WegtwCm-F00

Superior Man 70.3 Duluth MN August 26, 2012

Superior Man 70.3 Duluth MN August 26, 2012

 Jeff Patrow

Getting the final things packed in the truck and all I was missing was my Team Firefighter tri kit. I knew it was shipped, but I hadn't gotten it yet. It should have already been there. So it was time to take my son to the Grandparents house for the weekend and when I left, my wife was still getting ready. Well, I got home and there was a note on the front door. I thought maybe since the wife’s car was gone that she left me a note. NOPE!! Fed Ex was there, and they needed a signature for the package. Damn!!! Missed them by 10 minutes. So we headed north for the 2 hour ride. Checked out the town a little on Friday and prepared for the big day. Saturday came, got an early run in then it was time for packet pick-up and bike drop off. Sunday morning came quick, got dressed and everything put in my bag, put the Road ID on and got the FLEXR bottles filled with some fluids, and away we went to the start. It was a little cool at the start of the swim but not bad considering the water was colder. My Xterra wetsuit kept me going despite the cold water. The swim is a big psychological monster for me since I have never been the best swimmer, but over the last year I have gained enough confidence to know that I can make it this distance. Well the monster was in the water when I jumped in. With no pre-race swim or dunking in the water, I was a little nervous (did I mention our start was off the back of a boat). So needless to say I finally got into a rythym and I made it back to the water exit, not a very impressive time (58:51) but I made it. The Bike was next up. I was a little sluggish out of the water, but quickly got my legs back.  Even with some hills it was a fast ride out to the turn because of the stiff wind pushing me along, then a slower ride on the way back, but the view riding back along the north shore of Lake Superior was amazing and that kept me going. I finished the bike in 3:02:55. I am very happy with that, would have loved to break that 3 hour mark, but I have to start somewhere. Then the final 13.1 miles came around. I actually felt good coming off of the bike, and was ready to go on the run. The heat might have gotten to me a little, but I just kept hitting the aid stations and that kept me going. So in 2:27:09 I finished the 13.1 and finished the 70.3 in 6:37:55. The best part is I finished, even better I'm gonna do it again.

Freak 5K

Freak 5K

Saturday September 22, 2012

The Freak 5K is a 5k mud run/obstacle course that is put on by Fit Elite, the local cross fit.  The week leading up to the race was very cold and so was the morning of the race.  The low temps were in the 30-40 degree range. Coupled with a steady wind it was going to make for a cold, wet and muddy day. It is hard to describe the course, so I included the promo video, which is video from last years race.

 If you watch this, I am the one cannon-balling off of the Leap of Faith into the pond.

http://youtu.be/FQ18dHp82ZU

 The parts of the course not really shown on the video would be waist to chest deep mud pits and the up and down hills that just about made my legs fall off. There is nothing but trees and roots to grab onto while trying to get up these hills. The mud pits had piles of dirt in between them which made getting out tough unless you cheated and went out the sides. There was some crawling over and under obstacles through tunnels and a lot of mud.

Through all this Pat Hamler and I lead our Fire Department Team to a Victory over the PD. We finished 1-2 with only seconds between us.

What made it all worth it (beyond the beer and after party) was that the event benefits cancer foundations.

Race Report J.R. Coleman

Race Report J.R. Coleman
Pumpkin Run 5 k

I ran the race with my brother Jacob. It was his first ever race. We started out great, passing all the walkers and slow runners.  At 1.5 miles, a guy had rolled his ankle on the green way during the run, so we stopped and helped. Our official time was around 45 min, but theactual time was 26:30.