BJ Christenson recently spoke with TriHive about his 11th place finish at the Ford Ironman USA triathlon in Lake Placid, New York on Saturday July 20, 2008.  Christenson finished in 09:23:35, clocking the fastest overall run split of the day (2hr 56min 13sec).

Click HERE to listen.  (16.2mb mp3 file)

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I need to give props to Aaron, Shaun and Travis for making this happen. They did a great job and I’m sure that the race will grow if they stick with it. The schwag itself is worth mentioning. Athletes were given a Race Tri gym bag and t-shirt. Finishers were given a very slick medal and finishers t-shirt. The aid stations were frequent and well stocked. The bike water bottles didn’t work well in my bike bottle cages. I’m sure they will remedy this next year.

Utah Half is a course that most people would call “fast.” However, going 70.3 miles is never easy for me. I’m sure the top guys can feel the speediness of this course more then a middle or back of the packer.

Below are my thoughts about the course:

Swim – The swim was a pretty standard. If the big waves of Utah Lake were a concern for you, you shouldn’t worry about it. Swimmers never leave the boat harbor, so, you are never exposed to the uncertain conditions of Utah Lake. The boat ramp swimmers exited on was mossy. From what I hear, the first few guys/gals out of the water struggle to get out, but by the time I was out volunteers had athletes walking on netting.

Bike – Those having participated in the defunct Utah Half Ironman know the bike course well. It was almost identical. It is a flat, fast ride with some winds to deal with. There are a few rollers and maybe a false flat or two. Nothing to freak people out about though.

Apparently there were a few people who took a wrong turn on the bike. I have to admit that there was a time or two where I wondered if I was going the right way or not. But, just as soon as the thought occurred I would run into a course marker telling me I was headed the right direction. So, following the course was never a problem for me.

Run – Flat run. Utah Half’s run was a series of three out-and-backs. The first portion took runners on a dirt road along the Utah Lake shore. It briefly begins shady but you are quickly exposed to the sun. The other two out-and-backs were along the Provo river trail, which has plenty of shade. It was a nice run that allowed you to gauge your progress throughout the event.

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My last two Half Iron events were done in 5 hours and 45 minutes. It was nice to finally break free of the time. I improved by finishing in 5 hours and 20 minutes (25 minute difference). The improvement was a result of several things— the biggest being consistency. I also added a healthy dose of intensity into my running program and nutrition was the icing on the cake. I thought of nutrition as “taking care of myself.” I knew that if I took care of myself and kept my body in balance, I’d be strong throughout the race. It worked!

I have to admit that as I entered race week, my motivation to suffer through a half was low. The pain of Vikingman was still fresh on my mind. It seemed to soon to revisit the brutality. Race week progressed and I started to come around.

Race Morning

I ate one yogurt and two pieces of toast before we left the house. Everything went smooth at packet pickup. My bike was racked and gear was laid out. I gulped two bottles of Ensure Plus (700 Calories) about 15 minutes before the gun went off.

Swim

I initially seeded myself off to one of the sides and in the middle of the pack. This would keep away from the aggressive swimmers. However, I found my friend Matt Marriott front and center and I thought it would be fun to join him. There were only 150 or swimmers. “I won’t be that bad,” is what I thought. It turned into the craziest swim start I’ve ever experienced. It was violent until we turned at the first buoy. Things started to spread out and I forced myself to take it easy and get in a rhythm.

It turned out to be one of my best open water swims to date. My swim fitness is improving and it was definitely a strong point today.

Swim Time = 36 min 39 secs

T1

I felt rushed but forced myself to remember that an extra minute in transition will not likely change my place in the standings. A Half is a long day. So, I took my time and took care of business.

T1 Time = 1 min 44 secs

Bike

I went out feeling great and flying. On the bike, I had one bottle of Ensure Plus (1050 calories), a bottle of Gatorade and a bottle of water. It seems like a lot, but I feel it’s better to be safe then sorry.
The first half of the bike was pretty smooth. I hit the turnaround in 1 hour 15 minutes. “Perfect,” I thought. A PR was on the horizon and I knew that if I could maintain my pace I’d ride a 2 hr 30 min bike. It wasn’t to be. I faded incredibly badly early on the second half. This lasted throughout the second half. In training my bike was the most neglected discipline. This was revealed during the race. I was able to ride, but I wasn’t able to get the volume in that I would have liked and it showed. So I conceded my 2 hr 30 min bike split and took it easy as I headed back to the transition area. There was a solid female rider playing “cat and mouse” with me. I needed her help to LEGALLY pace back to T2.

As I finished my ride, my Ensure bottle was nearly empty. I couldn’t finish the whole thing. My stomach was pretty full. I drank approximately 2.5 bottles of fluid (excluding the Ensure).

My split was not nearly as bad as I thought, considering the suffering I went through on the second half. I managed to get off the bike with PR bike split for the distance.

Bike Time = 2 hours 38 Min 34 Secs (21.2 mph)

T2

Pretty standard T2. I decided to bring my Amphipod hydration belt with me during this race. I am planning on using it during Ironman Florida in November, so this would be good practice. The belt had 4 bottles of Gatorade (32 ounces total). I also packed four gels with me for the run too. It is also important to mention that I had a lot of Thermolyte salt tabs with me. The heat is tough on me and I thought I focus on keeping my sodium levels in balance.

T2 Time = 1 min 9 secs

Run

For me, nutrition is everything on a Half Iron run. I took four Thermolyte tablets chased by an eight oz. bottle of Gatorade every three miles (just under 30 minutes). At the aid stations I would take two water cups—one to drink and one thrown over my head. I never worried about dehydration. It was great and I’ve never felt so good during a Half Iron run. I managed to keep this up throughout the whole run. My nutrition on the bike kept me fueled for the whole run. I never came close to bonking. I did take some soda from the last two aid stations.

My pace on heading out on the first section was solid. I felt fine but looked forward to the turnaround. Heading back from this section was tough, because it was getting hot. I was working hard to get back towards the shade. The suffering was starting to set in as I passed the transition area to get to the second stretch of the run. But eventually everything clicked. I was pushing my pace, but could sense when I was crossing into the “red zone.” It was nice because I would do interval work to catch the person ahead of me.

Getting to the back end of the final out-and-back was tough. It took forever, but once I made it I tried to push it back hard (5k). Things didn’t quite workout like I had hoped. I could only keep the pace I had been running. I thought that I had easily broken the 2 hour run mark. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to pull it off. But, it’s a PR run split for the Half distance so I can’t complain.

Run Time = 2hr 2 min 31 secs

Finishing Time = 5 hours 20 minutes 19 seconds

Huge PR for me. I secretly wished that I could get to the five hour mark. That will come with time but a 25 minute PR will do. I figure that ten minutes off of the bike, ten minutes off of the run and a few minutes off of the swim will put me there. I think that is a conservative goal and achievable considering I’m still pretty slow compared to the top guys and gals. They run soooo fast!

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This race has been hyped up for sooo long and it is good to see it come to pass. It went off with some mixed success. I say mixed, because I wouldn’t consider less then 200 athletes a success, but they hit all of the other objectives on the head. Spectacular event management; great pro field; nice venue; tons of schwag for athletes.

I’ll write up more for the next Editor’s Note, but I thought I’d share a few tidbits on what I thought as the inaugural BAM approached. For the record, I was not racing.

I didn’t think much of the pro field until Craig Walton and Emma Snowsill registered for the event. Some of the athletes were familiar, most were not. Some had big results in smaller events. I’m not taking away the abilities of these athletes, because I’m sure they are all amazing. However, it wasn’t filled with Hunter Kemper or Barb Lindquist types.

I had no intentions of heading out to Midway for the race. I have church to attend, and family time is precious. It kills me to be away from them when we only have weekends and evenings to share. Co-race director, Charity Vernon emailed with me a few times a week out from the race. I had to be sure the TriHive’s made it into the race bags! They did, but some where in the email chatter I committed myself to covering the event. This was pre Walton and Snowsill.

Church starts at 1pm so I new I’d be able to get home in time to clean up and join the family. My friend, Jeff B. resides in Park City and offered a room in his pad for the night. Things were lining up, but I was still less then thrilled about attending. (Nothing personal, WARP crew)

My intrigue grew when the Walton/Snowsill announcement was made. I thought it would be fun to watch the two race. I also realized it would be a rare opportunity to get a live interview with the Aussie duo.

The eve of BAM arrives, Jeff and his wife welcome me briefly before they head to bed. I thought I’d stay up and research the pro field a bit more. Maybe the announcement was previously made, but some how Cameron Widoff slipped under my radar. Luke McKenzie…why would someone want to race one week after finishing 6th at Ironman CDA? Blows my mind! Other revelations started to appear as I continued my research and became more excited.

I didn’t turn out the lights until midnight or so. Then, it took another few hours to actually fall asleep. I knew Sunday was going to be a very long day.

I hit the road around 4:30 am and headed to Soldier Hollow. It was super chilly in the morning. Good thing I brought a coat.

The race was actually a ton of fun to watch (yes, I was surprised). I enjoyed watching the pro race. I’ve covered a few other “big” races and have enjoyed those equally. It’s nice to have another such event in our own back yard (XTERRA being the other big event in Utah).

I have no regrets about spending my morning at the race. It was a ton of fun. Lets hope WARP can make this race stick!

Alex McKinley
Publisher

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Some of you may have seen my post on the local forums about the first annual Vikingman. So, you may know that I thought the event went off well, especially considering it was a first time event. I’ll be back in 08. Below is a brief race report, which will also give you a feel of the course.

Pre Race.

The night before I noticed that my rear seat bottle holder was loose. Upon further inspection it was revealed that a bolt was busted. I was a bit shocked and distressed. What was I going to do? It was getting late and I didn’t want to waste energy trying to make it work. So, I studied the layout of the bike aid stations. There were four, and I know I can get through 56 miles with three bottles. This could work out.

I decided to keep a bottle of Ensure on the bike (700 calories) and finish it off by the first aid station. Then, the plan was to get a bottle of Heed at every aid station and a water for a quick swig/wash-down.

Race Morning

Fireman John and I dropped off our gear super early in the morning (5 am-ish). Plenty of time to kill from here on out. The race has two transitions, which is a bit frightening. The bikes are racked far from the main event area, so there is no checking, and re-checking, and re-checking (times 10) before the gun goes off. You’re just hoping that you didn’t forget anything.

Things were organized and I jumped onto the appropriate bus, which took us to the swim start. I jumped into the water about 15 minutes early. Water wasn’t to bad, considering the air was pretty chilly. There was a a bunch of the blue turf (fake plastic grass) laid out so racers didn’t get all muddy. This was very good!!! Anywho, a lane line kept swimmers from crossing the start line early. If you’ve done the Spudman, you know of the strong current pulling you downstream. You could feel it pull you here, too. The VikingMan swim begins where the Spudman swim ends, but across the river.

The horn sounds and we’re off. Things spread out quickly and I couldn’t help but wonder if I was the last guy in my wave. I’d see an occasional swim cap here and there, and everyone started to bunch up as we made our way to the swim exit. Regarding the swim exit–it didn’t come quick enough. I expected to get out of the in around 20 minutes. In 06 I exited the Spudman swim in 17 minutes, so 20 minutes seemed reasonable. 33 minutes later, I free myself of the water. Blah!

Quick transition and off on the bike. The first half of the bike was hauling. I knocked down the Ensure and followed by hydration plan to a “T.” It went so well that I’m considering the one bottle method for IMF in November. I loved the simplicity of this route.

Back to the course. Very fast and the wind seemed fair. I thought I’d be just as fast the second half. Mile 28 or so rolls around…fast decent, slow climb out and we’re off on the return trip. Wind felt more sketchy heading back but not a big headwind or anything. Definitely slowed me down a bit. On top of this was the gradual climbing. Just slightly above false flat and eventually took you up to a roller. This was the case, over and over for the second 28 miles. My speed dropped considerably.

Bike ends–quick transition and I’m off for the run.

My heart rate was pretty high and I took it easy to get into a flow. Man, was it hot at 11am. We ran around fields surrounding the airport. There were patches of water all over the area. It’s always nice to be by water! Legs felt good and hung with the lead woman for a bit, until her steady pace was too much.

The second half of the run was super tough. Legs were beat but I refused to walk, although my 2:14 run split looks liked I walked. They need more run aid stations. Maybe plant some trees to shade the runners!

So, I happily finish my journey, we pack up and head home.

Love the event. They have something special on their hands and hope they stick with it.

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The only thing I knew about this years St. George Triathlon is that I’d likely be around the same time as last year. Three weeks off in the middle of training didn’t help my preparation, and I think my swimming suffered the most. However, I still managed to PR in the water. Last year I swam almost 33 minutes — this years was 31 and change. I can’t complain about improving.

I thought my bike would be the same. It wasn’t. I was about four minutes slower this year. The course felt way tougher but it was the same beast. I guess everything feels slow when your not in great shape. I pushed just about as hard as I could but never felt great. I did drink a large bike bottle of gatorade. I’ve never drunk this much in an Oly. The big bummer of the bike was to see my friend Tom T. walking his sweet Felt DA. He was cruising along and got a flat. There were several with flats this year.

I almost wanted to quit when I got off of the bike. I’ve tried to remember hard why I would want to quit. My thought is that I remembered how much I suffered during last years run. The course is hilly and it was very hot. I barely made it in. It was tough to think about digging deep when you’ve already given everything to the bike. I thought I’d give myself a chance by running the first mile. Eventually the bad thoughts disappeared and I moved along. Tons of sand was on the course, making it even more difficult. The hill was so hard, but I forced my self to keep running. When I neared the end of the first loop I felt like the course was short. It went by pretty quick and I was excited for the next loop. I ran pretty comfortably preparing for the hill again, but after the hill I pushed it home.

Good day. I really love this sport and the people it surrounds me with.

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I didn’t even complete the event, so I’ll call it my first attempt. However, I think it’s worthy to write about my first experience in the tri world. It was the 2000 Yuba Triathlon and for me it was a total flop. My previous tri experience included watching the coverage of the 1999 Ironman World Championships on the television. Triathlon looked so easy from the comfort of my couch.

The biggest challenge I faced at the Yuba Triathlon was the swim. Unfortunately this hadn’t occurred to me until about 10 minutes before the race, when my feet were submerged in the frigid water of Yuba Lake. I had taken an introductory swimming course at the community college the semester prior to the race. This kept me swimming all winter long. I remember telling my swim instructor, Karen, of my objective to swim 1,500 meters in the open water. She had a look of concern in her eyes, but my optimistic nature made it easy to brush the stare aside.

Back to standing on the lake shore – I anxiously waited for the race to start with a few hundred other athletes. “What have I gotten myself into?” was the first thought that crossed my mind. My strategy changed from “swimming all out” to finishing. I was suddenly brought out of the clouds of race domination and began to fear the lake that lay before me.

When the gun finally went off and the athletes began the swim, I hesitantly walked my way into the water. Walking is much safer then jumping in, especially for a rookie like me. This would allow me to acclimatize myself to the chill and let me consider the task ahead. Eventually the bottom of the lake dropped from beneath me and I was forced to begin swimming.

I knew I was in trouble as soon as my face hit the water. My heart rate was going nuts and claustrophobia began to set in. Not once did I ever consider that I wouldn’t be able to see anything in front of me. Yuba Lake is murky and carries the winter chill into the month of May. Feeling the confinement of the lake was not something I expected. And then the water temperature – it didn’t cross my mind until I was swimming. I knew I had to do something differently to keep myself moving forward.

In a panicked state I flipped onto my back, hoping that I could calm down and eventually begin another attempt at freestyle. Breathing shouldn’t be a problem when on your back. You just float and suck in the air generously. Even floating on my back wasn’t that easy. The sky began to swirl above me. I felt like I had just gotten off of the Centennial Screamer at Lagoon. Round and round went the sky as I bobbed up and down in the water. This was not an amusement park ride and only made the situation worse.

I slowly crept towards a young lifeguard who was floating around on a surfboard, looking out for any suffering swimmers (me). We crossed paths and he let me hold onto his surfboard for a few minutes where I thought the situation through. Life or death? Sounds dramatic, doesn’t it? This is how I felt in the moment, though. Eventually I decided I would call it quits. This is not a scenario I expected and my ego instantly felt the effects. Shame, stupidity, ignorance – you name it and I felt it. The lifeguard invited me up onto his board and I watched the swim portion with the best seat in the house. This was a good thing. I was able to see the different levels of swimmers, a good distraction from the pain I felt.

The toughest part of the day was when my feet hit land again. How could I face my family and friends? I had hyped up the triathlon to everyone I knew all winter long. It’s just a race, I know, but to find reasoning in the moment is awfully tough. No one really cared as much as I did and the situation only put fuel on my triathlon fire. Seven years later and I’m improving little-by-little.

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The 2006 American Fork Splash and Dash Triathlon went off without weather delay despite the rainy conditions throughout the previous night in American Fork. Overcast blanketed the area race morning without any rain, giving racers cool fall temperatures to race in.

Athletes lined up along the bubble covered poolside at the American Fork Recreation Center before beginning the bike and run events. Mike Mamales of Salt Lake City was the over-all winner and the only triathlete finishing in less than 1 hour (57 minutes and 14 seconds). His nearest competitor, Eric Johnson of Lindon finished nearly 4 minutes later. Kim Abbott of Draper won the women’s race with a finishing time of 1 hour and 13 minutes, beating Tiffany Clinger by 11 seconds.

In the kids race it was McKay King of American Fork finishing first in 23 minutes and 19 seconds. Morgan King, also of American Fork and McKay’s younger sister finished in second place with a time of 25 minutes and 25 seconds.

Over 150 athletes participated in this late season event.

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The Ogden Valley Triathlon held on September 16, 2006, turned into a duathlon (run/bike/run) as early morning conditions in the Ogden Valley dipped towards freezing temperatures. Event producers, TriUtah, considered the safety of swimmers in the cold conditions and made an early morning decision to alter the event. The race was delayed 30 minutes as organizers adjusted run courses.

TriUtah later gave TriHive the following statement:

“This was the first time in 8 years that TriUtah has cancelled the swim at any event. The extreme cold weather that we experienced was not typical for that time of year in Huntsville. Later we were told that it was the coldest weather they have had on that date in over 60 years. Early race morning, we met with local law enforcement and other race officials to evaluate the current weather and review our contingency plans. The National Weather Service was contacted, and reported that air temperatures were not forecasted to reach above freezing until late morning, and potentially not until noon. Thunderstorms were also possible throughout the morning. Due to the potential for hypothermia, the safety of the athletes came first and the swim portion of the 2006 Ogden Valley Triathlon was cancelled.”

In lieu of the swim Sprint distance racers ran 1.5 miles and Olympic distance racers ran 3.1 miles, starting at separate times.

Nathan Cisney of Ogden won the men’s Olympic race in a time of 2 hours, 26 minutes and 04 seconds, edging out runner up Keith Anderson by 11 seconds. Malaik Homo of Salt Lake City won the women’s Olympic race. Homo finished the course in 2 hours, 33 minutes and 16 seconds, beating Sara Jarvis by over 8 minutes.

In the Sprint race it was Brett Wilking of Salt Lake City finishing first in a time of 1 hour, 16 minutes and 52 seconds. Bri Klug won the women’s Sprint with a finishing time of 1 hour, 26 minutes and 19 seconds.

According to event timer, Milliseconds, 95 of the 247 registered Olympic distance athletes did not start. 146 of the 627 registered Sprint distance athletes did not start.

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