Lake Winnipesauke, NH
My favorite leg
Cheerleaders
Mga Kababayan!
Agnes & Me
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Timberman 70.3 Ironman
August 23, 2009, Ellacoya State Park / GunStock Mountain Resort , NH
Before I start with my race report and my very first blog entry, I would like to Thank God for making it possible for me to be able to do the things I do. Keith Jordan and his crew for putting up the best race I have ever participated in (looking forward to join again in the future). Thank you to coach Joe Donahue and Dave Slavinski of BPC, these guys really know how to make you faster. The Jersey Shore Tri Club for giving us the tools to enjoy and improve in this sport. Lilet and Honey for coming up with us and for being our cheerleaders, Elaine for the pictures and the free lunch, my brother Lence and my training partner. To my Father who introduced me to sports, you did a great job Pa! and last Agnes for your love and support (it's not easy waking up early in the morning and waiting for 7 hours!)
We all have different goals in life and in this sport, whatever they may be, reach for them nothing is impossible! I know sometimes we take a lot of things for granted, but let me tell you I feel very blessed to be able to do this crazy sport and ridiculous distances.
I signed up for this race one year ago www.timbermantri.com, as what most other (all) North American Ironman races you have to do due to it's popularity. This will be my 4th attempt at this distance, I did Eagleman 3 times but this is going to be my first time I'm going to attempt to do two 70.3 triathlon in one season.
This was going to be extra special race for me and Lence because we will be racing with 2 other Filipino brothers; the Verzosa and Casino Brothers. We all have raced against each other in the past, but this will be the very first time all six of us will be racing in the same event. This gave us all extra motivation to perform our very best, but of course we are all friends and it's a friendly battle, no bets just plan to go out and have tons of fun!
One month before the race, Kit Verzosa had to go home to the Philippines for family reasons. But the timing was perfect, there was going to be a 70.3 Ironman in the Philippines so he signed up for it! The good news, Mark had a substitute brother hahaha... Dario Endozo from Staten Island another fast Filipino triathlete was able to signed up due to a lot of athletes cancelling their entry.
Travel / Race Packet Pick up
Thursday I went to Brielle Cyclery to get a 12/27 cassette per Joe Donohue's recommendation (THANK YOU JOE!) more about this later. Friday morning we packed all our gears and bags and started our 6 hour trip to NH. Thanks to Paul who advised us the night before to avoid I-95 so it was truly a 6 hour trip. Note to future participants from NJ/NY DO NOT take I-95, so let me know if ever need directions and I can give details.
We got to the hotel late afternoon, just in time for the Championship of Triathlon Dinner @ the Gunstock Mountain Resort. We went to get our dinners tickets and what a surprise! my name was not on the list and Lence was charged twice! Oh No!!! this is not a good sign. Luckily the organizers and Lin-Mark were able to straighten everything and we got our dinner tickets. We picked up our race packet saw CW (Chris Wilcox), but no offense to Chris I was really more excited to see the other CW (Chrissie Wellington) :-). So we then went straight to the dining room. After the dinner me and Lence went straight to Chrissie, this was the highlight of my race weekend :-) I introduced myself and mentioned I was Filipino knowing that she used to trained in the Philippines. She asked me if I cooked Chicken Adobo, a famous Filipino Dish. Sure Chrissie I would cook anything for you hahahaha.... She is such a great athlete and a very wondeful person.
Me and Chrissie Wellington
Lence and Chrissie
Race Day
Woke up 3:30 am took a quick warm shower to wake me up, ate breakfast (1 banana, 1 plain bagel with peanut butter, small cup of java, sip gatorade endurance and H20, took MultiV vitamins & Endurox Excel). Got to the park 5:30 am, luckily we were still able to park at Ellacoya Park (the race venue). Took care of business at the porta johns, which there were a lot for the athletes to use at their disposal, no pun intended :-)
I went to setup the rest of my racing gear, bike was already racked up the day before the race. I was all ready to go @ 6:45am and I still had a full hour to relax, stretch, do some warmups and continue to hydrate with H20 and gatorade endurance. I walked to the Pro Athletes area, always fun to see them in person. Went back to Agnes gave my hugs and kisses (I love you babe!) Then I meet up with Lence and started to head up the swim start area.
We decided to stay in the water while waiting for our wave! saw Paul and Andrew, chatted a bit and shared some last minute race strategies. Andrew tried to sabotage our race and said it's ok to drink the water hahahaha... nice try Drew!!! It was time for them to go and we wish them luck and safety.
1.2 mile Swim 34:54 - Lake Winnipesauke is really beautiful, very clean and clear, you can see the bottom. but I wouldn't advise drinking *wink*. Swimming was always my strongest event, my plan was to take it easy and come out fresh for the bike. It was an in-water start, but water is shallow so you could just stand up while waiting for the Go signal. The swim course was nice and simple! swim straight out > turn right > swim straight > turn right and your back to the shore. GO GO GO, off we went...started out relaxed bouys was able to swim straight and sighting was perfect. On the first turn I started to pass some of the slower swimmers who were 1 or 2 waves ahead of me. Thenn I think it was at the half way marker when I got kicked in the face, googles almost fell out of my face, Ouch! I didn't panic, put googles back and started swimming again. I reached the 2nd and final turn. Then bang! got kicked again this time on my left legs. Calves then locked up and I was so much in pain, Cramps! I started swimming backstroke then breakstroke to loosen up the muscles, after 50 yards I started to swim freestyle again. At this point I was now concern about the bike.
T1 3:41- First time I joined a race where there are STRIPPERS (wetsuit strippers) that was really cool, wish there was a photo.
56 mile Bike 3:21:24 /16.6 mph- We previewed the course the day before the race, it was painful even just driving it. I wanted to conserve as much energy as possible here, Joe told me to ride smart! Once you exit the park you hit the first hill right away. The first 11 miles was a rolling terrain. Right after the 10 mile marker you start go up the "Monstah" hill, damn! it wasn't that steep but it was long.... I wanted to quit at this point! Started to see riders get off their bikes and walked! Thank God Joe told me to get a 12/27 cassete, this saved my life!!! After that hill it was smooth sailing, oh no wait! we actually have to do that again coming back, Yikes!!! Made it to the half way point with no issues, I still felt fresh. 12 miles to go and we were going to hit the climbs again. I was so scared to go through the hills again since now I have bike over 40 miles.I didn't know how my legs would react! Surprised! I felt strong, I push hard this time and didn't conserve anymore. I passed some riders on the climbs which gave a boost, wooohooo.... You can analyze my bike ride by clicking on this link http://connect.garmin.com/activity/11891878 Nutrition on the bike (2 bottles of a mix of 2 scoop Gatorade lemon lime Endurance + 1 scoop Carbo Pro, Aero bottle was filled with H20 only, 3 capsules of thermolytes, 2 GU Roctane). This turn out to be better than Eagleman where I was having stomach pains.
T2 5:07 - nothing exciting except I had to pee so bad, thus why T2 is longer than T1.
13.1 Run 2:56:01 / 13:25 per mile - This is were I need the most improvement on. I am not a strong or fast runner by any means especially after swimming and biking. Came out of T2 with Mark, started to run with him but his pace was a little to fast for me. Mark was just in front of me but I just kept on running my own pace, saw him walking after a few meters caught up with him again and he started to run again. It was like this for about 2 miles, which was good I had some company. Saw a lot of people on the run course, Chris Wilcox passed me about 2.5 miles he was on his 2nd loop already with very high spirits and having lot's of fun, Tim Horn was on the other side on his way to his 2nd loop, Maggie Freeman was flying on the run! Jeff Boehmer & Brendan Jones were also running fast as if they were running a 10k race. It was great to see all the other Jersey Shore Tri Club members out on the run! Then I saw Paul chasing Andrew, they were going fast too, saw Dario boy this man can also move!!! Seeing all these fast people made me want to run faster, but I stayed true to my pace since I know the race is still long. The oranizers did a really great job, the aid stations on the run course were life savers! Thank you Timberman Volunteers.....
At mile 4 I saw Lence on the other side on his way to the first turn around, I started to calculate I think I have a 2 mile lead on him. I reached the turn around for the 2nd loop, saw Agnes, Lilet, Honey, Dario's wife, Elaine and Sheryl, it was great seeing them! Thanks for the cheers girls... Then I felt that I was going to cramp up so I went to grab my last Salt Tablets, then Oppsss it fell on a puddle...I didn't even think and just picked the salt tablet up wash it with the cup of water on my hand and swallowed the thing! I didn't want to take any chances and cramp up. I was going to pass the ladies again, stopped to give Agnes a kiss and started to run, to my surprise Lilet with a cow bell was running with me and rocking that cow bell very loud! That made me laugh, Thank you Lilet!
2nd loop was survival mode, I was now walking a lot more and running less. At this point I just wanted to cross the finish line. The hills on the run course is also pretty tough! Saw Lence again after my last Turn around point, he looked toasted too, told him to keep moving and that I was done you still have a chance to pass me.
The final mile was all downhill, so I said to myself I must run at all cost the last mile and just cross that finish line. When I made that turn and saw the finishing chute, I got emotional and I wanted to cry. We were all suffering that day and the pain was finally going to go away just a few more meters. I still had enough energy to jump at the finish line for the photo, I managed to smile crossing that finish line. Then I waited for Lence in the Finish Area before going out to meet Agnes and grab some food!!! You can check analyze my run by clicking on this link http://connect.garmin.com/activity/11891886
After we got to rest a little bit back in our hotel, Andrew was kind enough to invite us to his time share apartment. We brought KFC and they had pizza and beer! Paul and his family was there, Mark and Sheryl, however Dario couldn't make :-( we missed you man!... Drew, that was a tennis court next to the parking lot not a volleyball court hahahaha!!! 11pm it was good night to all.. Next day it's travel back to New Jersey.
Overall I had such a great experience and I would definitely do this race again in the future. My total time was 7:01 hours, it's about 10 minute slower from my Personal Best. But considering the tough course, I am happy with my performance. Again I feel very blessed to be able to do this sport.
Thank you everyone for taking the time to read, till the next event....
Mabuhay!
Cerrone
Before I start with my race report and my very first blog entry, I would like to Thank God for making it possible for me to be able to do the things I do. Keith Jordan and his crew for putting up the best race I have ever participated in (looking forward to join again in the future). Thank you to coach Joe Donahue and Dave Slavinski of BPC, these guys really know how to make you faster. The Jersey Shore Tri Club for giving us the tools to enjoy and improve in this sport. Lilet and Honey for coming up with us and for being our cheerleaders, Elaine for the pictures and the free lunch, my brother Lence and my training partner. To my Father who introduced me to sports, you did a great job Pa! and last Agnes for your love and support (it's not easy waking up early in the morning and waiting for 7 hours!)
We all have different goals in life and in this sport, whatever they may be, reach for them nothing is impossible! I know sometimes we take a lot of things for granted, but let me tell you I feel very blessed to be able to do this crazy sport and ridiculous distances.
I signed up for this race one year ago www.timbermantri.com, as what most other (all) North American Ironman races you have to do due to it's popularity. This will be my 4th attempt at this distance, I did Eagleman 3 times but this is going to be my first time I'm going to attempt to do two 70.3 triathlon in one season.
This was going to be extra special race for me and Lence because we will be racing with 2 other Filipino brothers; the Verzosa and Casino Brothers. We all have raced against each other in the past, but this will be the very first time all six of us will be racing in the same event. This gave us all extra motivation to perform our very best, but of course we are all friends and it's a friendly battle, no bets just plan to go out and have tons of fun!
One month before the race, Kit Verzosa had to go home to the Philippines for family reasons. But the timing was perfect, there was going to be a 70.3 Ironman in the Philippines so he signed up for it! The good news, Mark had a substitute brother hahaha... Dario Endozo from Staten Island another fast Filipino triathlete was able to signed up due to a lot of athletes cancelling their entry.
from left (Lence, Andrew, Dario, Paul, Derek, Mark, Cerrone, Sasha)
Travel / Race Packet Pick up
Thursday I went to Brielle Cyclery to get a 12/27 cassette per Joe Donohue's recommendation (THANK YOU JOE!) more about this later. Friday morning we packed all our gears and bags and started our 6 hour trip to NH. Thanks to Paul who advised us the night before to avoid I-95 so it was truly a 6 hour trip. Note to future participants from NJ/NY DO NOT take I-95, so let me know if ever need directions and I can give details.
We got to the hotel late afternoon, just in time for the Championship of Triathlon Dinner @ the Gunstock Mountain Resort. We went to get our dinners tickets and what a surprise! my name was not on the list and Lence was charged twice! Oh No!!! this is not a good sign. Luckily the organizers and Lin-Mark were able to straighten everything and we got our dinner tickets. We picked up our race packet saw CW (Chris Wilcox), but no offense to Chris I was really more excited to see the other CW (Chrissie Wellington) :-). So we then went straight to the dining room. After the dinner me and Lence went straight to Chrissie, this was the highlight of my race weekend :-) I introduced myself and mentioned I was Filipino knowing that she used to trained in the Philippines. She asked me if I cooked Chicken Adobo, a famous Filipino Dish. Sure Chrissie I would cook anything for you hahahaha.... She is such a great athlete and a very wondeful person.
Me and Chrissie Wellington
Lence and Chrissie
Race Day
Woke up 3:30 am took a quick warm shower to wake me up, ate breakfast (1 banana, 1 plain bagel with peanut butter, small cup of java, sip gatorade endurance and H20, took MultiV vitamins & Endurox Excel). Got to the park 5:30 am, luckily we were still able to park at Ellacoya Park (the race venue). Took care of business at the porta johns, which there were a lot for the athletes to use at their disposal, no pun intended :-)
I went to setup the rest of my racing gear, bike was already racked up the day before the race. I was all ready to go @ 6:45am and I still had a full hour to relax, stretch, do some warmups and continue to hydrate with H20 and gatorade endurance. I walked to the Pro Athletes area, always fun to see them in person. Went back to Agnes gave my hugs and kisses (I love you babe!) Then I meet up with Lence and started to head up the swim start area.
We decided to stay in the water while waiting for our wave! saw Paul and Andrew, chatted a bit and shared some last minute race strategies. Andrew tried to sabotage our race and said it's ok to drink the water hahahaha... nice try Drew!!! It was time for them to go and we wish them luck and safety.
1.2 mile Swim 34:54 - Lake Winnipesauke is really beautiful, very clean and clear, you can see the bottom. but I wouldn't advise drinking *wink*. Swimming was always my strongest event, my plan was to take it easy and come out fresh for the bike. It was an in-water start, but water is shallow so you could just stand up while waiting for the Go signal. The swim course was nice and simple! swim straight out > turn right > swim straight > turn right and your back to the shore. GO GO GO, off we went...started out relaxed bouys was able to swim straight and sighting was perfect. On the first turn I started to pass some of the slower swimmers who were 1 or 2 waves ahead of me. Thenn I think it was at the half way marker when I got kicked in the face, googles almost fell out of my face, Ouch! I didn't panic, put googles back and started swimming again. I reached the 2nd and final turn. Then bang! got kicked again this time on my left legs. Calves then locked up and I was so much in pain, Cramps! I started swimming backstroke then breakstroke to loosen up the muscles, after 50 yards I started to swim freestyle again. At this point I was now concern about the bike.
T1 3:41- First time I joined a race where there are STRIPPERS (wetsuit strippers) that was really cool, wish there was a photo.
56 mile Bike 3:21:24 /16.6 mph- We previewed the course the day before the race, it was painful even just driving it. I wanted to conserve as much energy as possible here, Joe told me to ride smart! Once you exit the park you hit the first hill right away. The first 11 miles was a rolling terrain. Right after the 10 mile marker you start go up the "Monstah" hill, damn! it wasn't that steep but it was long.... I wanted to quit at this point! Started to see riders get off their bikes and walked! Thank God Joe told me to get a 12/27 cassete, this saved my life!!! After that hill it was smooth sailing, oh no wait! we actually have to do that again coming back, Yikes!!! Made it to the half way point with no issues, I still felt fresh. 12 miles to go and we were going to hit the climbs again. I was so scared to go through the hills again since now I have bike over 40 miles.I didn't know how my legs would react! Surprised! I felt strong, I push hard this time and didn't conserve anymore. I passed some riders on the climbs which gave a boost, wooohooo.... You can analyze my bike ride by clicking on this link http://connect.garmin.com/activity/11891878 Nutrition on the bike (2 bottles of a mix of 2 scoop Gatorade lemon lime Endurance + 1 scoop Carbo Pro, Aero bottle was filled with H20 only, 3 capsules of thermolytes, 2 GU Roctane). This turn out to be better than Eagleman where I was having stomach pains.
T2 5:07 - nothing exciting except I had to pee so bad, thus why T2 is longer than T1.
13.1 Run 2:56:01 / 13:25 per mile - This is were I need the most improvement on. I am not a strong or fast runner by any means especially after swimming and biking. Came out of T2 with Mark, started to run with him but his pace was a little to fast for me. Mark was just in front of me but I just kept on running my own pace, saw him walking after a few meters caught up with him again and he started to run again. It was like this for about 2 miles, which was good I had some company. Saw a lot of people on the run course, Chris Wilcox passed me about 2.5 miles he was on his 2nd loop already with very high spirits and having lot's of fun, Tim Horn was on the other side on his way to his 2nd loop, Maggie Freeman was flying on the run! Jeff Boehmer & Brendan Jones were also running fast as if they were running a 10k race. It was great to see all the other Jersey Shore Tri Club members out on the run! Then I saw Paul chasing Andrew, they were going fast too, saw Dario boy this man can also move!!! Seeing all these fast people made me want to run faster, but I stayed true to my pace since I know the race is still long. The oranizers did a really great job, the aid stations on the run course were life savers! Thank you Timberman Volunteers.....
At mile 4 I saw Lence on the other side on his way to the first turn around, I started to calculate I think I have a 2 mile lead on him. I reached the turn around for the 2nd loop, saw Agnes, Lilet, Honey, Dario's wife, Elaine and Sheryl, it was great seeing them! Thanks for the cheers girls... Then I felt that I was going to cramp up so I went to grab my last Salt Tablets, then Oppsss it fell on a puddle...I didn't even think and just picked the salt tablet up wash it with the cup of water on my hand and swallowed the thing! I didn't want to take any chances and cramp up. I was going to pass the ladies again, stopped to give Agnes a kiss and started to run, to my surprise Lilet with a cow bell was running with me and rocking that cow bell very loud! That made me laugh, Thank you Lilet!
2nd loop was survival mode, I was now walking a lot more and running less. At this point I just wanted to cross the finish line. The hills on the run course is also pretty tough! Saw Lence again after my last Turn around point, he looked toasted too, told him to keep moving and that I was done you still have a chance to pass me.
The final mile was all downhill, so I said to myself I must run at all cost the last mile and just cross that finish line. When I made that turn and saw the finishing chute, I got emotional and I wanted to cry. We were all suffering that day and the pain was finally going to go away just a few more meters. I still had enough energy to jump at the finish line for the photo, I managed to smile crossing that finish line. Then I waited for Lence in the Finish Area before going out to meet Agnes and grab some food!!! You can check analyze my run by clicking on this link http://connect.garmin.com/activity/11891886
Post Race
They had such great spread, salads, pasta, cheese, roast beef, grilled chicken, new england clam chowder, ice cream! Yum!!! We hanged out a little bit with the Casino Brother and their family, Mark & Dario and our gang at the park before heading back to the hotel, I can't wait to lay down! Also Sorry Chris Wilcox we couldn't go to your party, we finished late and we were just poop out! But thanks for the invite....After we got to rest a little bit back in our hotel, Andrew was kind enough to invite us to his time share apartment. We brought KFC and they had pizza and beer! Paul and his family was there, Mark and Sheryl, however Dario couldn't make :-( we missed you man!... Drew, that was a tennis court next to the parking lot not a volleyball court hahahaha!!! 11pm it was good night to all.. Next day it's travel back to New Jersey.
Overall I had such a great experience and I would definitely do this race again in the future. My total time was 7:01 hours, it's about 10 minute slower from my Personal Best. But considering the tough course, I am happy with my performance. Again I feel very blessed to be able to do this sport.
Thank you everyone for taking the time to read, till the next event....
Mabuhay!
Cerrone
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