Issue #6 June/July 2000

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Final exams and the Wildflower Triathlons Festival—the two go hand in hand for a growing group of CU triathletes each May. This year, the Buffs’ largest ever contingent made their annual pilgrimage to Lake San Antonio in central California—site of the Collegiate Triathlon Championships. Just as the trip has become a rite of spring, so has winning the national team title contested over the Olympic distance course at Wildflower.

Saturday’s hot temperatures gave way to light drizzle on Sunday morning, May 7, prior to the collegiate race. The drizzle let up after a few minutes, but cloud cover stayed with the racers throughout the swim and bike, along with the team spirit demonstrated in CU’s pre-race cheer.

The swim got off to a rough and tumble start as first the men and then the women made their way out of the narrow cove. Chris Valenti, a former CU runner who recently switched to triathlons, likened the experience of his first open water swim to a wrestling match. "I was getting clobbered," said Valenti.

Senior Greg Woods led the CU men out of the water, hitting land in the top twenty. Chris Valenti and Marcelo DeAlmeida exited farther behind.

Inthe women’s race, CU favorite Beth Anderson got caught up in the aggressive start and missed getting out with the lead pack. She used her swimming prowess, though, to exit the water in fifth place. Anderson pulled along several other CU women, including team president Gretchen Keisling, Kerry Barnholt, and Molly Nickerson, who exited behind her in the top ten.

CU’s Beth Anderson 2000 Collegiate Women’s Champion "I still have a lot to learn in the sport," says Beth Anderson, the latest talent to come through the CU triathlon program. Anderson says this going into the 2000 season—a year after the purchase of her first road bike, a third place finish in the 1999 Collegiate Triathlon Championships, and a fourth place finish in the 20-24 age group at the 1999 Hawaii IRONMAN World Championships.

A serious swimmer growing up in northern California, Anderson reached the point of burnout by the end of high school. She passed up the opportunity to swim at Cal- Poly and instead came to Boulder to study environmental science and Spanish.

As an alternative to swimming, Anderson started running. By her junior year at CU, she was ready for some competition again when her older brother convinced her to try a triathlon. She participated in a few sprint distance triathlons on her mountain bike and joined the CU triathlon team by her senior year. That’s when she bought her first road bike and headed out to last year’s Wildflower CU Triathlon Team Dominates Collegiate Championships by Adam Hodges ...continued on page 6

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Once on the bike, the Buffs got to work and used the undulating terrain to their advantage. "The bike was good for us," said CU coach Neal Henderson. CU’s top three men each made significant jumps during the hilly bike.

In the women’s race, Beth Anderson wasted no time moving into first. She then proceeded to put a comfortable two-minute gap on the field by the end of the bike. The rest of the CU women followed suit by dominating the bike segment and passed rivals from Cal-Poly, the University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University, and UC-Santa Barbara. "That’s representative of the type of training available in Boulder," said Keisling. "We get out there and just pull away from the other teams on the bike." As the racers pulled into the bike-to-run transition, the sun came out and the temperature rose into the 80’s.

Greg Woods held off rivals to cross the finish line in 12th place with a time of 2:13:14. Chris Valenti showed his running ability and moved up to 15th place. Marcelo DeAlmeida finished a strong 17th. Among the women, Beth Anderson put another minute on her nearest challenger during the run and claimed t h e women ’ s individual title and a n e w women ’ s course record with a time of 2:15:52.

CU placed three more women in the top ten—Kerry Barnholt finished 3rd in 2 : 1 8 : 1 4 , Gretchen Keisling finished 5th in 2:25:45, and Molly Nickerson came in 10th with a time of 2:29:53. The strong per- formance by the CU women led the Buffaloes to another team victo- ry—that makes five in a row and a total of six national titles since the legacy began in 1994. Cal-Poly is the only team to beat CU in recent histo- ry, edging out the Buffs in 1995.

Team scores are determined by adding the times of the first three men and first three women from each school. CU not only edged out a Cal-Poly team eager to break CU’s streak, but they set a new team record with a total time of 13 hours 49 minutes.

Cal-Poly took 2nd in 14:03, while UC-Santa Barbara claimed 3rd in 14:36.

"This was our closest team race in a while," said Coach Henderson. "Both the quality and quantity of the competition at nationals has increased.". "The race was a lot tighter this year," said Keisling. "It was a great day for racing and we had a strong race."

The Buffs are already thinking about another team title at next year’s collegiate championships, but first the team has a full summer of racing on the agenda. Look for CU triathletes at various multi-sport events in Colorado and around the globe. Keep tabs on the Buffs by visiting their Web site: http://www.colorado.edu/StudentGroups/triteam. PHOTOS: far left: Chris Valenti, near left: Kerry Barnholt, above: Ryan Ignatz; photos by Courtney Stapleton

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6 THE COLORADO TRIATHLETE JUNE-JULY 2000 Triathlon — t h e Collegiate Triathlon Championships—with n o expectations. The results? A third place finish in the women’s race—the first Olympic distance (1.5 kilometer swim, 40k bike, 10k run) triathlon of her career. Most triathletes new to the sport would tend to stick with the shorter distances for a while. However, Anderson was lured by the challenge of going farther and she headed down to Lubbock, Texas at the end of June to do her first halfironman (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run.) Again, she went into the race with no expectations. The results? A first place finish in her age group in a time of five hours and twenty-one seconds which earned her a spot in the Hawaii IRONMAN World Championships.

Ask any triathlete what they would do if offered a coveted spot in the Hawaii IRONMAN and they would reply, "Take it!" So Anderson spent the rest of her summer logging the longer miles needed to take on the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run in Kona.

Her IRONMAN dreams were nearly derailed five weeks before the event, however, when a car hit her during a training ride near Erie. ER doctors put twenty-seven stitches across her left glute while joking about her not seeing a bike for a while. Anderson wasn’t amused, but she was determined to still make the starting line in Kailua Bay.

She resumed running two weeks after the accident and was soon back on the bike. Successfully completing a few key workouts gave her a glimmer of confidence before IRONMAN. The results? A fourth place finish in the 20-24 age group with a phenomenal time of 10:46. Her desire to finish before the sun set and "avoid the glow stick parade" prodded her to struggle through the marathon without walking. Not bad for a rookie. It is safe to say that Beth Anderson has successfully graduated from rookie status.

She has also graduated with a BA in environmental science and Spanish and is now pursuing a degree in elementary education. That made for a hectic semester with school and work on top of her training for this year’s win at Wildflower and the summer triathlon season. Throughout the spring semester, Anderson swam three mornings a week with the Masters swim team at East Boulder Rec Center, biked four times a week including one long session and one speed workout, and ran five days a week. She fit in most of her workouts in the morning before heading to classes in the afternoon. As part of her education program, she also spent four hours a week working with students at Whittier Elementary School who speak English as a second language. The experience gave her a chance to relate an interest in foreign language to her teaching goals.

As for Anderson’s long term triathlon goals, she is taking a wait and see attitude. "I just want to see how this season goes," says Anderson.

She’s not off to a bad start after her win at Wildflower. "The swim start was brutal and my bike was the strong point of the race," says Anderson. "I was able to stay focused on the run. Everyone had great races."

As for the rest of her season, the challenge of the IRONMAN lingers in her mind. "I’d love to race again at Hawaii if I were to qualify," she says. -Adam Hodges ❂ Beth Anderson, continued...

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The CU triathlon team has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade. It owes its beginnings to a loose group of multi-sport athletes in the late eighties and early nineties that organized as a club sport—a club sport receives little financial support from the university and is open to any interested student. They started meeting in order to find training partners and have a good time while discussing triathlons. A few members started journeying out to Wildflower after it was designated the collegiate championship in the early nineties. CU had some individual champions in those early years, but it wasn’t until 1994 when they were able to field a full team—three men and three women—eligible for the team competition. CU easily won the national team title that year and went back to Boulder motivated to make it an annual occurrence.

Their reputation as national champions drew new members to the club and the team hired a real coach—they had previously been coached by student members of the team—in Rick Ellison. Ellison used his former experience as a basketball coach at Pepperdine University and his personal experience as a Hawaii IRONMAN competitor to build the emerging program at CU. In 1995, the collegiate race at Wildflower changed from sprint distance to Olympic distance. The Buffs traveled out to California again, but were edged out of the team title by a strong Cal-Poly team.

By 1996, the team had grown exponentially and they went on to win three more national titles under Ellison. Ellison moved after the 1998 championship in order to take a job as a dean at—of all places—Cal-Poly. Ellison was sad to leave the triathlon team, but the program he helped build was by then a self-perpetuating force. Neal Henderson, who competed on the Buff team while doing graduate work in kinesiology, graduated with his masters degree and took over as coach of the CU squad after Ellison left. Henderson inherited a strong program and a tough legacy to uphold. The last two years under Henderson, the team has grown even larger and has continued its streak at nationals. This year, the team boasts a roster of over a hundred members, seventy-five of which competed at Wildflower.

The team has successfully operated over the years as both a developmental program for hot new triathlon talents, as well as, a non-intimidating place for those just wanting to make it through an open-water swim and finish a triathlon. Several triathletes have gone on to race in the pro ranks after college and the team boasts a large number of triathletes who race in the myriad number of IRONMAN races that are popping up. There’s every indication that the CU program will continue to attract top young triathletes looking for a place to hone their talents and will continue to dominate at Wildflower. Aside from the developmental programs at the Olympic Training Center, which reach small numbers of athletes, collegiate programs such as the one CU has built may be the missing link between the past and future of triathlon development in this country. With the Olympics featuring triathlon this year, interest is sure to be piqued and younger generations may choose to bypass collegiate swimming or running careers and delve right away into triathlon. There’s no doubt— the word is out that the University of Colorado at Boulder is the place to be for triathletes looking to go to college and make waves in the triathlon world. -Adam Hodges University of Colorado Triathlon Team: The Legacy ❂

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8 THE COLORADO TRIATHLETE JUNE-JULY 2000 Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon: May 27, 2000 San Francisco, California Colorado Results 1.5 mile swim, 18 mile bike, 8 mile run Pro Men

Pro Women 7 Teri Duthie :34:57 01:00:30 00:56:28 2:31:55 Name Race# Division Residence Swim Plc Tran #1 Bike Plc Tran #2 Run

Wildflower Collegiate Championships Olympic Distance, May 7, 2000 Lake San Antoinio, California The combined times of the top three men and women from each collegiate team constitute the team scoring time.

University of Colorado:

Wildflower Long Course Triathlon Pro Results (Half IRONMAN) May 6, 2000 Lake San Antonio, California Men

Women 15 Jinger Gottschall :25:37 03:53:00 02:00:24 6:19:01 Wildflower results: editor’s note: This year’s results did not list the athletes’ residence, so we were unable to print the full listing of Colorado triathletes’ results as we did last year. The pro results are those folks we think are living here. We apologize if we left anyone out. results from www.tricalifornia.com Bays of Huatulco Half IRONMAN, Mexico, April 1 5. Pat Brown Boulder 4:24:15 APEX COACHING Providing expert individual coaching to all endurance athletes.

Neal Henderson, MS CSCS USAT Certified Coach (303) 875-5751 Email: apexcoach@uswest.net Web: http://www.users.uswest.net/ ~apexcoach "On the day of victory, no one is tired" -Anonymous

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Changing Gears Some athletes go through several changes during their years in a sport. So many can happen in triathlon, from amateur to pro, short to long distance, off-road to road, and all those things in reverse. Sometimes they are looked upon with great anticipation and sometimes with much trepidation. Perspective is the key element, however, as a positive attitude can make the change exiting, just another chapter in the book.

In many ways, the world of sport is particularly unforgiving. The clock doesn’t lie, and such an objective criterion gives no deference to past victories, age (young or old), or health status. You do a race, you make your time, end of story. Beyond that, everything boils down to that pesky perspective. Perspective is what we superimpose on the objective to try and make sense of it. And each of us has our own about our results with respect to those aforementioned factors. Sometimes winning is no big deal because he or she has won it before. Other times it might be huge because the win was totally unexpected , or the person was slightly injured.

This issue is full of young athletes who are now going through transitions, from those at the olympic trials to the CU team members’ with stellar performances at Wildflower. Last year’s winners Nick Cady and Terri Duthie, both recent CU graduates, just raced pro at Alcatraz (see results on page 8). This year’s champ Elizabeth Anderson (story on page 4) has some opportunities at hand to consider. The olympic trials were the culmination of many years of work for quite a few folks, and as the eight who made the team move on towards their goal, the rest are making decisions about their triathlon careers. There are directions to choose, short, long, 2004, off-road. A few have expressed excitement at the thought of switching to a new format. Perspective. Triathlon is quite a young sport, and because of that the last few years have seen many of the “first generation” of elites retire from the racing.

Occasionally pros have seen their finishing places drop lower even as they achieve new pr’s. Others have taken a bit of time off and then returned as age groupers only to catch a lot of flack from their age group peers intimidated by an ex-pro in their ranks. Quite a few ladies were grumbling when Julie Moss returned to Kona to race amateur, but what would they suggest she do? Only a handful of race directors have supported the Masters division concept as a way to address that issue. It is a recognition of the transitions that the athletes are making. So many have been shocked and saddened by Greg Welch’s heart condition forcing him out of racing. We may have lost a favorite fun-loving competitor, but have won a great commentator, coach, race director, or whatever else he might choose to be. Hopefully (for us) he will still be there Scott Tinley has been such a great example of a very public athlete changing gears over the years. He has contributed to the sport in almost every possible way. From racing to writing to coaching to volunteering, ST has been the epitome of the “lifer” triathlete. Sharing his experience with us openly and often eloquently in his many articles and columns for so long, he has exposed himself to criticism but has also been open about his own failings, with humorous self-deprecation as common as words about triumphs. He has said he has finished racing IRONMAN distances but yet is signed up to do a half beside the likes of Dave Scott and Scott Molina at Buffalo Springs. Most of us around here suspect he’ll be beating the records of Bill Bell wannabes 40 years from now. But even if not, you can rest assured that he’ll be a part of triathlon ‘till he can no more. Not afraid of transitions, he’ll have fun with it forever, and set the tone for the rest of us as we roll into the future, Olympic debut and beyond.

Intervals Along The W Intervals Along The Way ay

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CLASSIFIEDS

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XTERRA Openers The first two events of this year’s XTERRA series 10 race schedule took place in Ruston, Louisiana on April 30th and the second the following weekend in Gallatin, Tennessee on May 7th. Both races consist of the standard XTERRA off-road format of 1.5k/24k/10k that attempts to mimick the olympic distance road race approximate time length. Durango’s Ned Overend and Evergreen’s Kerstin Weule are starting strong again this year, but, so far, are not dominating as much as last season. In Ruston, “98 winner Ned Overend took 4th (2:34:55). Kerstin Weule, last year’s winner, placed 2nd (2:58:07) with the fastest women’s swim split of the day. Tennessee’s race is considered one of the trickiest technical bike courses on the tour, and Kerstin finished second again (2:38:39) despite crashing into a tree and destroying her front brake. Overend was 3 minutes off the lead for another 4th place finish in 2:16:24.

St. Kitts “That race is so much fun. I just love it!” said Susan Bartholomew of her second win at St. Kitts in as many tries. Returning to compete this year after having won it in ‘98, Susan lead the entire race. “I didn’t feel as strong on the swim” this time, but “did feel good on the bike.” She came out of the water with two other women but left them in her dust immediately, winning by 7 minutes(2:27:00). She felt her fast transition at T1 really helped, commenting, “ ITU racing has its benefits.” Interestingly, this particular draft-legal race is ideal for the strong cyclist, as the hills impede drafting and no one was able to keep up with her powerful biking. She did not know it at the time, but she was racing pregnant with her first child! (More on that news in the olympic trials coverage.)

St. Anthony’s Normally an important and rare domestic money race, St. Anthony’s start list was even more impressive than usual, as it was the last chance to earn points to be eligible for olympic trials before the May 1st cut-off date. Ryan Bolton (Colorado Springs) picked up the prestigious win and a very welcome $5000 paycheck, clocking a blazing 30:54 10k to finish in 1:46:12. Nick Radkevich and Kevin Carter (both Colorado Springs) came in 15th and 24th, respectively, at 1:48:46 and 1:50:53. New pro Andy Johnson (Boulder), featured in our December- January issue, started accruing his very first points with a 31st place (1:52:39). Jennifer Gutierrez (Greenwood Village) also proved that she was tuned for trials by placing a very strong third (2:00:12).

In a very unfortunate twist of fate, Garrett McCarthy (Louisville) hit a cone on the bike and crashed immediately in front of Tim DeBoom, causing him to crash as well. DeBoom was too extensively injured to continue the race. Needing the points from the race to regain a top 125 world ranking (after only recently being pushed out), the wreck effectively ended his chances at an olympic team position. Saucony Team Saucony’s two subsidiaries, Quitana Roo and Merlin Metalworks recently announced the re-signing of 9 pro triathletes for the current season, well under way. Susan Bartholomew (Littleton), Ryan Bolton (Colorado Springs), and Josh Dapice (Colorado Springs) are all named to the team. Susan will be riding the Merlin Extra Light and the QR Private REserve. Ryan will be on the QR Monitor and the Private Reserve as well. Josh chose the Merlin Extra Light.

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12 THE COLORADO TRIATHLETE JUNE-JULY 2000 Kona World Cup The Big Island hosted an ITU race in IRONMAN territory on April 1st. The Kona World Cup was declared the North American Championships at the last minute because of some international politicking, but the extra ITU points that should have been awarded because of that special designation were not, because the powers that be decided that the higher year-2000 world cup points were enough and didn’t want to pile more on top so close to the deadline for olympic qualification.

The second race in the 2000 World Cup Series, the entries were filled at 60 men and 60 women, and 27 countries were represented . The course was based at the Outrigger Waikoloa Beach Resort, about halfway to Hawi on the IRONMAN bike route.

Gutierrez Uses Grant to Help Teammates Leading up to the olympic trails, Jenny Gutierrez received a coaching grant that she chose to use to bring her coaches Michelle Blessing and swim coach Jeorge Fernandez to the final training camp in Chula Vista at the Olympic Training Center. Rather than working privately with them, she had them prepare workouts for the whole camp. Both Nick Radkevich and Gail Laurence publicly thanked her for her generosity in the national Triathlon Digest emailforum. Michelle Blessing has been named the head coach for the US Olympic Team. w wi in nd d s sp pr ri in nt ts s. .. .. . w wi in nd d s sp pr ri in nt ts s. .. .. .

St. Croix International Triathlon Christiansted, US Virgin Islands May 7th 2k/55k/12k 9. Wes Hobson Boulder 2:37:13 12. Marcel Vifian Boulder 2:41:48 Kona World Cup Waikoloa, Hawaii April 1st

Is there something that you would like to speak out about? Would you like to compliment or berate a race director? NBC? An issue facing triathlon today? We welcome your submissions to our Open Forum Column.

Send your thoughts to: openforum@coloradotriathlete.com, or you can snail mail us at the address on page 9 Are any of your family or friends attending your race good photographers? useable photos of Coloradans in triathlons. Anything used will earn you $, photo credits will be given, and your pictures will be returned. Contact us for more information. ITU World Championships Perth, Australia, April 30

note: most American athletes skipped Worlds this year to prepare for trials; also the women’s runcoursewasonly8kduetoan error, accounting for the unusually fast times

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The Sydney World Cup race was an exceptionally important race this year for bot athletes and organizers alike. As the dry run for the September Olympics, called a “test event” by the Sydney Olympic committee, it is supposed to get out any kinks, identify potential problems so they can be rectified before the eyes of the world witness their first triathlon. For athletes from at least the US and Australia, it served as their trials also, or part of them. This was true for the U.S., as the top ranked eight men and women from here had this second opportunity, in addition to the Dallas race later on Memorial Day weekend, to make the team before then. The logic is that if you can do well on the olympic course with a strong international field, you should make the team. With five former world champions in the starting line up, it may have been tougher competition than the actual Olympics will be. The race was quite rainy for the women, and the favorite Barb Lindquist crashed on the bike but recovered well. However, late in the run with only one k remaining, she suffered from the same kind of collapse from heat and cramping that would plague her again at the Dallas trials. Jennifer Gutierrez (Greenwood Village) , maintaining focus and continuing her string of top American performances at all the most important races (Worlds, Pan Ams) passed Lindquist with Susan Bartholomew (Littleton) close on her heels. Jenny would cross the finish line 7th (2:04:46) as the first American to ever qualify for the Olympic Triathlon, with a tearful husband Bob close by.

Susan was 8th with a 2:04:59. Siri Lindley (Boulder), Jill Newman, and Gail Laurence (both Colorado Springs), either DNF’ed or did not finish within eight percent of the leader’s time (the ITU cutoff) and their results are not posted. Hunter Kemper (Colorado Springs) easily was the top American male (1:50:43) with no one else hardly in striking distance. Micheal Smedley (Colorado Springs) finished 22 (1:51:40), Nick Radkevich (Colorado Springs) 37th (1:53:36), Wes Hobson (Boulder) 47th (1:56:49), and Josh Dapice (Colorado Springs) 50th (1:57:53). Kemper and Gutierrez Win First Two American Olympic Team Positions in Sydney World Cup

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14 THE COLORADO TRIATHLETE JUNE-JULY 2000 Reflections on a First Ir Reflections on a First IRONMAN onman by Nicole DeBoom When I started training for my first IRONMAN race, my biggest worry was that I would cross the finish line and say, "I’m NEVER doing that again!" Ever since I first saw coverage of the race when I was in grade school, I knew this was something that I wanted to do. So I was hoping that it would be a very positive experience, and I would ultimately finish with a smile on my face. As the race drew nearer and the butterflies invaded my stomach, I had to remind myself that the main goal was to finish. When the morning of the race rolled around, I was still nervous, but I wasn’t scared. I knew I could handle the race distances, I just had no idea what to expect as far as how well I could do. Tim and I had a relaxed morning. We ate a little food at Denny’s and then jumped in the car for the short drive over to the race. Little did we know that we’d be stuck in traffic for about an hour. We finally rolled into the parking area less than 20 minutes before the scheduled start of the race. I ran into transition to set everything up, put on my swimsuit, hit the port-a-potty, got bodymarked, pumped my tires, and more. I pulled on my wetsuit, cap, and goggles, jumped in the water, swam out to the front, and they blew the horn about 5 minutes later. Whew! As soon as the race began, I relaxed. Other than wondering when the swim finish would ever appear (They later admitted to measuring the course wrong. We swam an extra 633 yards!), I remained relaxed for the rest of the day. I guess I was more in a state of shock that I was leading by so much throughout most of the day, that I was able to run my own race and enjoy it. I felt such a rush whenever I went by a big group of spectators, especially when I ran past Tim and I could feel how proud he was even before I was finished. Of course the end was extremely difficult. I’ve never experienced such a total breakdown of the muscles in my legs. As they began to cramp with about 5 miles to go, I had to use every trick in my mind to keep moving forward. I had to stop only once when my hamstring balled up so tight I couldn’t move it for a few steps. And then the long, slow shuffle to the finish resumed. I crossed the line in 3rd place (nipped in the end, but I couldn’t do anything about it at that point!) with a smile on my face and tears in my eyes. It had been a great day, and I can’t wait to do it again in Hawaii. In a bold statement declaring her arrival on the IRONMAN scene, Nicole DeBoom finished third in her debut race at the inaugural IRONMAN California. After doing a bit of training with husband Tim, and benefitting from whatever of his experience that he could verbally pass on to her, it was ironic that she would be in the same position he was in last October in Hawaii: spending hours in the lead out in front alone. After the first loop of the bike went by and she was still in the lead , she hollered at him among the spectators, ‘what should I do??’. “Just go!” he answered back. And go she did, leading for over eight hours. Paula Newby-Frazier, attending the race to commentate, was wise to Nicole’s untried potential.

In a pre-race interview she surprised DeBoom with a prediction that everyone else would be chasing her down Nicole DeBoom T Nicole DeBoom Takes akes Third Place in Ir IRONMAN California onman California

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IRONMAN CALIFORNIA: COLORADO RESULTS on race day.

The long swim was no problem for swim coach DeBoom, who got a three minute jump on the rest of the women shortly out of the water and never looked back. Coming off the bike with a twelve minute lead, it looked as though she would be untouchable. Canada’s Heather Fuhr stunned all observers, however, and came back from 19 minutes behind at the start of the run to finish 10 minutes ahead of Nicole, a full half hour faster run split. ‘98 Hawaii World Champion, Heather’s run splits are legendary and this would be no different. Television cameramen were warning DeBoom of Fuhr’s approach, but she greeted the news with a smile, knowing of Heather’s running strength and gleefully basking in the delight of such a successful race. In sight of the finish arch, slowed by cramping, protesting quads, she was passed by veteran Jan Wanklyn, who took second from her by a mere 12 seconds. DeBoom’s splits were 59:28/5:31:38/3:33:3810:09:41. -K.M. ❂

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16 THE COLORADO TRIATHLETE JUNE-JULY 2000 Panama City, Florida.

When the race director said at the pre-race meal he hoped no one bought a wetsuit specifically for this race because the water temperature was 82 degrees, it should have been a sign that conditions for the race might not be ideal. Lo and behold the wind kicked up overnight and turned what had been a calm gulf into a churning washing machine-like body of water for the start of the race. Swim times in general were pretty slow as competitors fought the choppy surf and undertow pulling in a southerly direction. Anyone who didn’t consume at least a quart of salt water could not have possibly ever opened their mouth. It was the toughest swim I’ve ever done in a triathlon. Anticipating a 32-33 minute time for the 1.2 miles, I was happy to have my feet back on terra firma in 41 and a half. On to the bike and a nice flat 56 mile course. It was a little windy but that helped mitigate the heat that was steadily rising early on this Florida morning. With 1800 individual competitors and 300 relay teams, there was plenty of company on the bike. The marshals were out in force though, and it seemed to me that drafting was kept to a minimum. Traffic control was pretty good and overall the volunteers and police did a terrific job. At approximately 52 miles there was a bank with a sign indicating the temperature had reached 94 degrees. Since it was only 10:30 in the morning, I knew we’d be baking on the run. As you got off the bike (with its associated “air flow”) it felt like you were running in a giant oven. Every once in a while the course wound its way closer to the water and a breeze would kick up making it tolerable for a few minutes... but only a few. In general, it was hot as hell with high humidity. For me and most others it became a “water stop to water stop” survival run. Speaking of which, again the volunteers were outstanding. The Gatorade and water was very cold throughout, and they never ran out of ice for me to dump in my hat. the finish line looked as good to me as any I’ve ever crossed. I was greeted by a cold towel, a medal,... and then off to the massage area, where there were at least 50 people flushing the lactic acid out of the athletes’ tired legs. While I was not very happy with my time, I was okay with my place and thrilled that the season was under way. Alec Rukosuev was the overall winner in 4:12 with Alison Hayden garnering the women’s first place in 4:48. Maybe it wasn’t hot for them.

The organization and amenities for this ...Some Like it Hot The Gulf Coast Tri by Steve Roberts Steve at IMUSA ‘99

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THE CENTER FOR INTEGRATIVE THERAPIES " A Holistic Approach to Physical Therapy " Traditional and non-traditional Physical Therapy Rolfing Massage Therapy Pilates " Free initial consultation Insurance billing available " 303.447.9939 1295 South Broadway, Suite B Boulder, Colorado 80303 race were first class. Entry fees included a pancake breakfast Friday, pre-race carbo dinner on the beach Friday night, a post-race dinner and party Saturday night including free beverages (yes, some fine hops) and a champagne breakfast Sunday morning for the awards ceremony. Fairly nice plaques were given to the age groupers...10 deep! There was also merchandise raffled off and the usual t-shirts, etc. I would highly recommend this race, even though Panama City is not the easiest place to get to. And while it was very hot this year, the average temperatures are normally ten degrees lower. Gulf Coast Triathlon Half IRONMAN: 1.2/56/13 Colorado Competitors:

Relay teams: Andy Rodriguez, Mike Wasson 4:51 Andy Rodriguez, Richard Rodriguez, and Shamen French 5:25

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18 THE COLORADO TRIATHLETE JUNE-JULY 2000

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As the triathlon season heats up, races often end up falling on consecutive weeks. Trying to do well at two weekends of racing can be challenging, but is possible if you are properly prepared. The following are some key points to consider when racing back to back weekends: race distances, importance of each race, effects of travel, and your ability to recover from hard efforts.

If you are planning on doing consecutive sprint or short course races, you may not have too much difficulty recovering in the week between the two races. On the other hand, if you are attempting to race a half or full IRONMAN distance triathlon before another race of any distance, your body may revolt against your attempts during the second race. I do not recommend doing any races within two weeks of a half IRONMAN, or three or more weeks following an IRONMAN. Often athletes try to start training and racing too soon after long distance events and end up digging themselves into the overtraining/ under-resting spiral of poor performance. After long and ultra distance events wait to start any serious training or racing until you feel recovered, healthy, and have the mental desire to go hard. It would not be advised to do your two most important races on consecutive weekends, but sometimes that’s just how it works. Last year, I raced the Boulder Peak Triathlon, Keystone X-Terra, and IRONMAN USA all in a three week period. I would not recommend this for a beginner, but somehow I PR’ed in all three races! As most good coaches will tell you – do as I say, not as I do (or did). Remember that travel can have some significant effects on your body whether it’s sitting in a car for an 8 hour road trip, flying across several time zones, or just altering your normal sleeping and eating patterns.

Every athlete adapts differently to the same training, and the time that it takes to fully recover from a hard effort is also a very individual trait. Some people are fast adapters, and can recover from a hard race in a day or two, while another athlete may require up to a week to recover from the same effort. Genetics play a factor in many of your physiological responses, so if you chose your parents well you may be one of the lucky ones with a big VO2 max, plenty of slow twitch fibers, and the ability to recover quickly. Once you’ve determined that you will be doing consecutive races, begin by planning your training so that your most intense (vol- Basics of Successful Back-to-Back Racing By Neal Henderson, M.S., C.S.C.S.

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20 THE COLORADO TRIATHLETE JUNE-JULY 2000 ume and intensity) training occurs in the two to four weeks prior to the first race. A good taper is necessary to successfully compete in any event, and a one to two week taper will work in most instances. The key to tapering properly is to do enough training to maintain or peak your fitness, while reducing your training enough that you are rested and fresh. Most studies of tapering techniques find that a 20 to 30% reduction in overall volume (time or distance) of training coupled with maintained or slightly increased intensity (speed or pace) of training leads to the best improvements. There are many other factors which affect a taper including your training history, mental preparation, and nutritional efforts to maximize glycogen storage (carbo-loading). Regardless of the race distance, a taper is necessary. Experiment with different patterns in smaller or less important races to determine what type of tapering works best for you.

After you finish the first race, what you do immediately following the race can have the most impact on what occurs the following weekend. After you finish, make sure to cool down properly at least 15 minutes of easy spinning, maybe some easy swimming, followed by stretching. Cooling down will help speed your recovery, and the lack of a cool down is one of the biggest mistakes that most triathletes make.

Heck, you’ve already swum, biked, and run far enough – why do you need to do more? If you want to feel less stiff as you walk up to claim your award, to actually be able to walk with a normal gait once you get home, or walk without a limp into work Monday morning with your number still proudly tattooed on your arm - you better cool down and stretch.

After you’ve cooled down, make your way to the food table. Make sure to rehydrate (not too much beer – wait until next week!) and get in plenty of carbohydrates and protein. Racing does cause some damage to your muscles, and the only way to rebuild muscle is to consume protein…so eat up whether you’re a vegetarian, carnivore, or omnivore! Eating within the first hour following your event will help your body rebuild it’s carbohydrate stores more quickly. If you fail to consume enough carbohydrates after your event, it can take your body several days to replenish this most valuable fuel commodity that your muscles need to function properly. So you’ve cooled down, rehydrated, eaten plenty of carbohydrates and some protein – what next? Write down any technical or tactical things that didn’t go so well, so you don’t repeat the same mistakes next week. Each race you should learn something that will help you in your next race. After you’ve analyzed your race, and made note of any necessary changes, make sure that you get enough sleep. Your body is best able to recover during sleep – so hit the hay early.

When you wake up on Monday, you will likely be sore. How sore you are will depend on several factors including how hilly the run was, how well prepared you were, and how hard you pushed. Even if you are sore, it is important to do an easy workout. I do not recommend Successful Back-to-Back Racing … (continued)

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running, since even easy running involves eccentric muscle actions which can delay healing and even cause more muscle damage. Either swimming or cycling at a very comfortable, aerobic pace are recommended the day after a race. In order to keep yourself from going too hard, consider swimming on your own rather than swimming a master’s workout – or drop down a lane, and stay toward the back of your group. Relax, and work on your stroke – you can never do too much stroke work! If you ride, make sure that you go very easy – maybe even making the big chainring off limits for the entire ride. I often do errands on my commuter bike to make sure I get some spinning in without changing into my cycling gear and thinking about speed or distance.

Once you’ve gotten through your easy day on Monday, it is time to think about doing some short quality workouts. I recommend doing one of these type of workouts for each sport. Personally I often run on Tuesday, bike on Wednesday, and swim on Thursday (assuming Sunday races.) In the bike and run workouts I recommend training for about the same amount of time you plan on racing each discipline in your upcoming race. For the run, that should about 30 minutes to an hour, and about one to two hours on the bike. After warming up for ten to fifteen minutes, you should do between 6 and 10 pickups, or accelerations. The object of a pickup is to build up your speed to something slightly faster than race pace and maintain it until you begin to feel fatigued. Recover completely between each pickup – however long that takes! As your fitness improves, your recovery time will get shorter. For running, pickups will usually be about a minute long and for cycling they will be around one or two minutes. During these workouts, try to match your route to the type of terrain your next race involves. For example if you are racing Boulder MS, make sure that you do some steep hills on the bike – don’t cruise East on Baseline and expect yourself to feel ready for Old Stage! For the run, you might want to hit the East Boulder trail, or some other flat dirt road – not shuffle up and bomb down the Mesa trail.

For your swim workout, a master’s workout is a very good idea. I often recommend only doing about 3000 yds/meters, rather than staying in for entire workout, though. Make sure you let the coach and your lane mates know, though, because everyone will wonder why you bailed early. Also, don’t feel bad to drop down a lane in order to get more rest. Make sure that you lead the lane, though, if you drop down and plan on going fast. Practicing your drafting during every set at masters can earn you a bad name. If you don’t swim masters try to do some short fast efforts (50s and 100s), followed by some longer efforts (200s to 400s), and then finish with some quick 50s and 25s. The total amount of fast swimming should be around 600 to 1500 yds/meters depending on your race distance. Make sure that you warm up, cool down, and do some drills too!

In the last few days before your race, it’s once again time to think about carbo loading, getting plenty of rest, and mentally preparing for your next challenge. There is much debate about whether to take the day off one or two days before an event. I always recommend taking a day off two days before the event for several reasons. Usually, I try to get to the race venue on Friday, so the stress and time demands of travel often make fitting in a workout nearly impossible. Many people complain of feeling a little stale the day after a day off – and race day is not a day that anyone wants to feel stale! The day before the race, I like to try all of my gear to make sure that everything is in working order, to find out where the transitions come in and go out, and to get a mental picture of the start and finish areas of each leg. Try to get some quality sleep the night before your race, but don’t worry if don’t. The sleep that you get two nights before a race is more important that the night before. Wake up on race day, eat several hours before your race, warm up well, and don’t stop until you cross the line - then you can enjoy the post-race beer(s)!

Neal is a first year pro triathlete, USAT certified coach, and owner of APEX Coaching. He can be reached at (303) 875- 5751 or by email at apexcoach@ uswest.net.

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22 THE COLORADO TRIATHLETE JUNE-JULY 2000 Hunter Successfully Survives the Pressure Cooker After the Sydney ITU race was over, Jennifer Gutierrez could celebrate her victory of being the top American and being the first to qualify for the olympic team, but Hunter Kemper had no such luxury. The number of entries that each qualifying nation receives, men separate from women, for the 2000 Olympics is based on their “country ranking”. Our women have a very secure second place standing behind the Australians, but the men are far down on the list. When the race was over, the American men had failed to do well enough to pull up their position relative to the rest of the world. Kemper and Nick Radkevich, as the top two ranked US men, were thrust into being the only hope for the whole national contingent .

Hunter, who had earned the one spot we had by medalling at the Pan Am Games last year, wanted to make his Sydney effort good, so he wouldn’t be forced to win Dallas. If only one space was awarded by the ITU, it was going to come from the Dallas race. He rose to the occasion in grand style and came through with two seventh place finishes in the next three weeks to restore our international standing. Remaining in Australia after Sydney, he raced at the Noumea ITU World Cup in New Caledonia on April 22 and then the World Championships in Perth on the 30th. 1. HUNTER KEMPER 4. NICK RADKEVICH 5. RYAN BOLTON 9. TONY DEBOOM 11.MARCEL VIFIAN 12. WES HOBSON 15. JOSHUA DAPICE 21. MICHEAL SMEDLEY

DNF 3. SIRI LINDLEY 5. JENNIFER GUTIERREZ 6. SUSAN BARTHOLOMEW 10. JILL NEWMAN 15. GAIL LAURENCE

US OLYMPIC TRIALS IRVING, TEXAS MAY 27-28 1.5K/40K/10K Aftermath of trials: Above: the men’s press conference Below: the awards banquet

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Saturday: The Women The morning started out grey, overcast, and very humid in Irving, a suburb of Dallas and host city to the richest olympic distance triathlon in the U.S. It was the Olympic Trials, and a truly unmatched field of american women stood out on the floating pier that served as the swim start on the shore of Lake Caroline.

A hair under 19 minutes later 2 of the best swimmer triathletes in the nation would emerge a whole minute ahead of the rest of the competitors and form a drafting “pack” of only two that would end up putting a three minute lead on the second group of women by the end of the bike. ‘96 olympic swimming gold medalist Sheila Taormina and olympic distance powerhouse Barb Lindquist pulled away from the rest and increased their lead with every loop of the five-lap bike course.

The chase group seemed to flounder a bit, failing to form a cohesive paceline to catch up to the leaders. It included Siri Lindley (Boulder), Susan Bartholomew ( Littleton ) , Jenny Gutierrez (Greenwood Village), Jill Newman (Colorado Springs), Gail Laurence (Colorado Springs), and others. “We had an organization problem,” said Jenny Gutierrez after the race, “that was very frustrating.” There were times during the bike leg when she said she thought, “does anyone want this bad enough?” “It was hard to see so many great cyclists not using their talent,” said Siri Lindley at the post-race press conference. “The way the sport is now,” she added, referring to ITU drafting races, “we really depend on each other during the bike section.”

The run leg unfolded dramatically, as favorite Barb Lindquist folded and had to pull OLYMPIC TRIALS: DUELING IT OUT IN DALLAS Above: Jennifer Gutierrez at T1 in Irving, Right: Jenny and Siri Lindley at the press conference

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24 THE COLORADO TRIATHLETE JUNE-JULY 2000 out of the race. Although the skies were still relatively overcast and the air quite breezy, the combination of the heat and only one other cyclist to draft with on the bike combined to tax her legs just too much, and her quads were visibly cramping as she climbed the long, slow incline on the second loop of the run. Taormina held on to the lead they had created together to win the race and an olympic team position. Joanna Zeiger had the best run of the day, passing all but Taormina by the end of the second lap and earning the second slot. Siri Lindley ended up having a good deal of strength left in those legs after the disappointing bike and ran to third place , winning the fourth, alternate, spot on the team. Jenny Gutierrez, who had snagged the first team berth in the Sydney World Cup on April 16th, had less to push for but still finished well, in fifth place. Susan What a Way to Break The News … Susan Bartholomew had a big secret with her in Dallas that very few folks knew. She had told her close friend Jenny Gutierrez, but none of her other competition knew that she had learned she was pregnant in the weeks before the trials. “3 days before I started feeling sick,” she said, and was “forcing myself to eat.” Riding in the middle of that disorganized chase group and feeling “off”, tension was running high and a couple of the women were yelling at her to take her turn at the front of the peloton. Dismayed at her inability to respond to the peer pressure, she blurted out the news to those in her pack. Emotions shifted as the group, all of whom have known her for years, responded with surprise and congratulations in the middle of the race. “I definitely would have done better,” she said of her performance, “but its hard to say whether I would have gotten a slot with Siri and Joanne’s running.”

At left: Susan and Jenny running side-by-side at trials Above: the womens’ swim start from atop the headquarters hotel; Right: Gail Laurence leading her pack

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Bartholomew was seconds behind in 6th. Jenny and Siri now must continue the training strategies that have brought them to this point. Gutierrez has the confidence of a seasoned pro. “I’ve been a very consistent racer,” she said, “when you look at the whole seasons of two years.” As for Lindley, she is “very happy to be going to Sydney in September in whatever capacity,” .

“We’re actually in a great position to compete with the Australians.”

The Colorado Olympians: Siri Lindley, Ryan Bolton, Hunter Kemper, Jennifer Gutierrez, and Nick Radkevich Photo by Inside Triathlon’s Timothy Carlson ❂ above: Hunter Kemper heading to T1; right: Ryan Bolton starting lap 3

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Sunday: The Men With $50,000 in prize money and only 19 starters for the men’s olympic trials race, most were assured of a decent payday when the race was over. But the real prize, of course, was the trip to the Sydney Olympics in September. The large purse had been established to draw some foreign talent in order to partially simulate an international field like the actual Olympics would have. Some name players took up the challenge: Australia’s Chris Hill, Mark Lees, Levi Maxwell, and Miles Stewart, and Venezuela’s Gilberto Gonzalez. Held the day after the women’s trials and starting an hour later, the conditions for the men’s race were quite a bit more severe.

Full sun baked the course and there was no breeze to speak of.

The men spread out fairly evenly on the swim, but Hunter Kemper , Doug Friman , Nick Radkevich, Gonzalez, and Hill managed quick transitions and got away from those following them out of the water and formed a strong lead group that stayed ahead of the chase pack all the way to T2. Ryan Bolton, 18th out of the water, was languishing in the third pack and not having any luck in his attempts to pull the group up to the chase pack. He and Mark Lees began trading leads at the front and they managed to catch them on the fourth of the five loops.

Finishing two minutes up on the rest of the Americans , Kemper , Radkevich, and PHOTOS: left: Nick Radkevich exiting the swim and on the run; top center group: Dave Scott with Wes Hobson and Jennifer Hobson in the press tent, Wes at T2, Wes and Tony DeBoom on the bike; right: Ryan Bolton crosses the finish line; center: the US Olympic Team top right: Siri LIndley; bottom right: Josh Dapice “Once you go to the Olympics, you’re always an Olympian.” -Nick Radkevich

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Friman started out on the run. Hunter, who had secured his place on the team with his Sydney World Cup performance, was racing for prize money and perhaps had a little motivation to prove to everyone that he really did deserve to go to the “big show”. Nick stayed steady and finished 20 seconds later to claim his place. Friman was unable to keep the pace however, and Bolton passed him at the beginning of the third lap, clocking a 33:28 10k that moved him through the pack to take the 3rd olympic slot. At the awards ceremony he thanked Mark Lees from the podium for helping him get within striking distance of the leaders. Friman would drop further back, allowing Victor Plata to take the alternate position on the US team. Tony DeBoom and Plata ran toe-totoe for a while, battling for the fourth place American finish, but Plata prevailed and DeBoom dropped back. Wes Hobson, close behind Plata and DeBoom, slowed when he saw Plata pull away and realized that his chances were over. “I gave it my best,” he said after the race. “I took off like wildfire on that run. If I could have five seconds back, it would be the swim-bike transition,” when the lead group got the jump on the chase pack. Looking over at Dave Scott (commentating for the television coverage) in the press tent and smiling wide, he said, “That’s my last draft-legal race of my career.”

Kemper, Radkevich, and Bolton have all been training at the US Olympic training center in Colorado Springs and, although all have different coaches, they feel that the opportunities and environment there have been a key factor in their success. “I think training and living together in a group elevates the level of that group,” said Ryan. You’re “living and breathing training and racing all the time,” added Hunter. Nick, not a resident in the dorms but using the facilities as a national team member for years, acknowledged the OTC’s role as well. “The atmosphere and the attitude … they make you have really good focus.” -KristenMcFarland ❂