Late update

Sorry about this one... its been over a month since my last race and I still have not had time to write this post. And I actually have an interesting story this time.

Tristar 200 Andalucia was my last event of the year after I decided to skip Ironman 70.3 World Championships. The Tristar race was something totally different than what I or anyone has ever done.

Starting with a 169km bike, the race was draft legal and very competitive from the beginning. Obviously I had an advantage from my cycling background as the format was basically a bike race followed by a short 1km swim and a deathmarch 30km run down a beach. The bike section I knew was where I had to leave my mark.

Lining up on the start, I took the front row and basically kept that same position all the way to the finish. When the race began, it was still completely dark! And with about 200 athletes in the group, I was not risking anything and immediately went on the attack. It took a few tries but after about 15 minutes, I had established a group of three that built a significant advantage before the sun even came up. That was an experience I will never forget, racing out of the start town into the rolling hills when there was NO light. Crazy experience.

During the bike, there were four sprints for money. 500, 300, and 100€ for each sprint. I took this very seriously as I knew my fitness might not keep me going all the way to the finish for a overall placing. My goal was to clean up the sprints then hold onto my advantage as long as possible and suffer to the finish.

Everything went EXACTLY to plan as I won the first, second, and fourth sprints plus finished 2nd in the third bike sprint. There were also sprints just after the swim and 10kms into the run. Both of those I managed to get 2nd or 3rd.

By the end of the bike, I was pretty tired from working so hard to get the sprint money. And when I entered the water ever muscle in my lower body started to cramp. I was able to swim ok until about 3/4 of the way through the cross river swim, but then the cramping really started. 'Oh shit' I was thinking. I came to a complete stop and started to scream. I was sinking and was honestly nervous I would need to be pulled from the water. A boat came over to help but I tried to relax so I could complete the swim. After a couple minutes sitting in the water, I managed to start moving again, although the legs were still completely cramped.

I saw one guy pass me when I was standing still and I wanted to catch him again so I could get the swim sprint money. I swam super hard just to catch him then tried to run up the beach to the sprint line. OUCH... what a deadly slow sprint. We were both cramping so badly. I still do not know who won that sprint but after we both were lying on the ground in extreme pain from all the cramping.

Sitting in the transition tent floor trying to get shoes on was the next challenge. It took another couple minutes to get the shoes on as the legs were still completely cramped. However, once I got started on the run, things starting to loosen up a little.

Having won so many sprints already, I felt like champion. In fact, I had already decided my day was done and I just needed to get to the finish in order to get my sprint money. I took my time at every feed station on the brutally hot run along the beach and even walked for a little while when my stomach started to have problems, but going into the last 10 kms I started to feel better and picked up the pace. Basically I was bored and wanted to get to the finish faster.

I had been calculating how many people had caught me on the run and I believed I was already outside of the top 5 which were eligible for final placing prize money. I did try to keep my pace solid during the run in case someone in front of me started to have problems. But I never believed I would get into the top 5. To my surprise, after finishing, I found out the a couple of the guys who had passed me were disqualified for missing some of the course. I ended up in 5th place because of that!

The day was filled with incredible suffering but I was immensely happy to finally take home some decent prize money. I had worked very hard for that and it felt great.

Now I am on my fall vacation and wondering what adventures I will find for next year. The Tristar 200 event opened my eyes to the triathlon world outside of Ironman. Now I am hoping to find similar events for next year that are competitive but still offer a chance to make a living. With a young child and a house loan (still in the process of buying the house now) I would love to make a basic living from racing triathlon but it seems quite difficult to do so. Finding a sponsor from Finland is basically impossible, so I either need to win every race I enter, or keep a 2nd job, which is also hard to find in Finland these days.

I will try to keep writing about how my plans for next year come. The off-season this year will be a busy one with my wife finishing up medical school, our attempts at buying a house, my attempt at finding reliable income, and my everyday job of taking care of 15 month old girl.

Best,
Darby

Felt DA - You CAN buy speed!

This is a blog entry I really should have done a long time ago but I keep forgetting. My sponsor Huntteri, which is the importer to Finland for Felt Bicycles has been incredibly generous to set me up with what is perhaps the fastest bike on the roads today. The Felt DA.

In my past cycling teams I have had sponsors including Cannondale, Pinerello, Specialized, and Trek but I can honestly say that Felt has done their homework to make a superior time trial and triathlon bike. While it is obvious I am biased because of my sponsorship by Felt, I will try to keep this review as honest and straight forward as possible.

Historically time trial bikes were not very comfortable and handling was poor at best. The Felt DA set up blows away the previous standards for TT bikes and gives a comfortable and very precise ride. The steering mechanism is perhaps the key and provides a stiff and responsive feel thanks to it's unique design. Also the adjustable stem makes fine tuning the riding position very simple. The bikes all come with three different lengths of stems as well.

Aerodynamically, the bike has all the latest concepts represented with internal cable routing, massive real wheel cutout, hidden rear brake and the lengthened head tube thanks to the external steerer tube. Most importantly in my opinion is the choice of Zipp 1080 (rear) and Zipp 808 (front) wheels that are the best aero wheels available. Just take a look at what the guys are riding in the Tour de France time trials. Even teams not sponsored by Zipp use their wheels after removing the decals. I might not be able to afford wind tunnel testing to back up my opinions on aerodynamics but you can learn a lot from looking and reading about how the top time trial riders set up their bikes and why.

The Zipp 1080 rear wheel out performs any disc wheel because it can handle cross winds much better, which saves energy, plus the aerodynamics are virtually the same as a disc in a straight line. Especially in triathlon where the conditions will always be changing during the day, the combination of the 1080 and 808 is the best option to maximize aerodynamics while still being able to handle varying winds.

The overall setup for the bike including components and design is very well thought out. Shimano Dura-Ace is the best performing component group available and the DA includes the full group. Felt has been very smart in designing the aero frame to accept normal brake calipers and bottom bracket, where as you see many other current tt bikes requiring custom or special components just to fit within the frame.

The Devox (Felt's own brand) aero bar is surprisingly well designed for a first generation product. The bars include special rubber grips that are very comfortable and safe even when in wet conditions. The extensions come extra long in an 'S bend' style to allow for cutting down to either 'ski bend' or 'straight' style. Personally I cut them to the short ski bend for my ideal hand position. Only down side I see to these bars is the lack of adjust ability for the extensions to move narrower or wider. The arm rests are able to move side to side but the actual bars are in a fixed position. It works fine for me but some people might want more range there.

Perhaps the only other thing that could be improved is the seat post clamp design that is very tightly built and can make pulling the seat post out very difficult if it has been in place for a long time.

The Felt DA is the flag ship of Felt's time trial and triathlon series of bikes and they spare no expense in making the fastest possible bike. Its 9000€ retail price tag is steep but considering the wheels, components and design, I feel its a valid price. Its notable that their cheaper bikes are similarly designed and use almost the same frame but smartly chosen components to help reduce the price. If you are in the market for tt bike, Felt is definitely at the front of the pack and worth considering. http://www.feltracing.com/09-catalog-international/time-trial-triathlon.aspx

My Felt DA will be available for purchase at the end of the 2009 season in November after Ironman 70.3 world championships. If you are looking for the fastest possible bike and want to save a little money, my DA has only 700kms on it and is guaranteed to make you faster! Offers are now being accepted at darby1kenobi at yahoo dot comm.

Antwerp 70.3 - 2009

Antwerp was my first real triathlon three years ago and was part of what got me hooked on the sport. I have come back every years since then and this being my third year was equally as fun as the first one.

Three years ago on my first attempt I struggled through the day and was completely burned by the end. This year was a large contrast in that I was able to push hard the whole day. And the times reflect that too. 16 minutes faster than my first time in Antwerp!

The result for 2009 was 11th place, which was a hard earned place this year. Last year I managed 7th place but looking at the times and the feeling I had in the race, I believe this year was a much better race. Not only was I faster in ALL three sports, but my strength was solid the whole day. Unfortunately for me, there is becoming much more competition at the 70.3 events and Antwerp 2009 was no different. 13 different Ironman and 70.3 champions started the event combined with many olympic distance athletes including some who had competed in Beijing.

I knew the competition would be tougher this year so I made sure to focus on my own race and my own feeling the whole day. I tried not to get distracted when the swim start was INSANELY fast. When there were others on the bike who could equal my pace, I did not worry. And on the run when I felt it was my best run ever, and still someone ran past me like I was standing still, I did not freak out. In the end I am very proud that I was able to race within my limits and not push too hard. It has been my downfall in many races where I tried too hard to follow someone stronger than me only to have my race fall apart later because I burned my engine. I feel like I am finally learning how to race and feel when to push my body.

The only mistakes I made in the race were perhaps in the swim start by not forcing myself to the front line before the gun. Then during the bike I crashed on the last corner by not being careful enough with the rain soaked roads. And finally on the run by not concentrating enough during the 2nd of 3 laps and perhaps lost a couple minutes there.

BUT... it was still my best overall time with a 3:54. My PR run with a 1:18 and 2 minutes faster than last year. Bike was slightly faster than last year. So was swim with one minute faster than last year.

So, the feeling is good right now. While I was dissappointed to not come away with a better placing and some prize money to pay back the expenses, it is nice to know I am almost on the same level with the top guys. Only thing lacking at this point is a little more speed in the swim start, then the story is completely different.

Now I am taking a short break to recover completely before I start a serious block of training that culminates in November with the world championships. After seeing my performance in Belgium I have set my goals for worlds to be a sub 3:50 time, with a sub 1:15 run. All of which I believe are possible I can concentrate over the next three months of training.

Finntriathlon (SM puolimatka)

First looser again...

I seem to be good at collecting 2nd place finishes. I am not complaining. 2nd is better than most other places of course. But some day it would be nice to actually win a race!

Great race all around though. It was fun to have such a quality field of competitors this year and I think everyone was really hoping to win the race. I knew it was going to be a good battle but it was very hard to predict who would finally win.

In terms of my race, everything went very well. Swim was a little tough at the start but I managed to get into a strong group for the whole 1.9km. In the end I was only about 2 minutes behind the fastest, which is great by my swim standards!

I pushed very hard to go through transition fast so when I started the bike, I would not take anyone with me. I knew it was best to do the bike solo as I am usually the strongest there so anyone coming with me would be getting a free ride. I was not going to let that happen.

The first 10km I pushed very hard on the bike to keep any of my competitors from coming back to me and also I tried to bridge the gap to the front two guys. Unfortunately Marko and Teemu were going quite fast and I was only able to match their pace in the beginning. Starting the third lap, I knew Teemu had been dropped by Marko, so I lifted the pace to try and catch Teemu before the run. It was my only chance to win the race, if I could start with or before Teemu on the run.

I was able to bring back Teemu about 5km before the run start and began the run with only Marko in front. I knew I would be able to easily catch him on the run but I was mostly worried about Teemu catching me on the run. And he did, quite quickly. We ran together for the beginning few kms but then Teemu started to cramp. I took a sizeable lead until the final of four laps when Teemu's legs came around and he was able to catch up to me and really go fast. When he passed me it was like I was walking and he was sprinting! He really has another gear that I don't have yet. Perhaps next year I will learn how to really run like Teemu but for this year I have to be content with 2nd place again.

Still, it was my best performance yet and I can easily say it could be even better with just a few small adjustments. In two weeks I will race 70.3 Antwerp in Belgium where I feel very confident I can get a good result. Already feeling recovered well, just need to take it easy for a couple more days then do some tune up training before Antwerp.

BTW... I had to add one comment to Teemu Lemmettylä's pre-race prediction blog. I thought it was rather funny that only one person even predicted me as a top three finisher. I was 2nd two years ago. Last year I would have been at least 2nd place if I did not choose to drop out with knee pain. And this year I have progressed even more. So.... maybe next year we will see my name on the top three list? Hopefully I have earned that by now...

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3252325662181212647&postID=1596992651472008820

Until next time...

-darby

Kesä training

Summer is always much better for the training than other seasons. My quality of training improves a lot and the volume goes up as well. That explains why my first races of the year are always a little disappointing. But now is when the fun begins.

After Switzerland I took it very easy for a week or so then began serious training again. I have also done two smaller races for training. First was our club's own Juhannus triathlon where I easily won with a strong run. Second event was last saturday in Kisko where I also easily won with a time under 2 hours for the 1500m, 45km, 10.5km event. Nice to have a 7 minute lead by the finish too, but some of that was due to the fact my coach Mika Luoto was using the event for a final tune up for Ironman Austria next weekend and really backed off the pace during the run.

Now my fitness is really coming up quickly and I will probably race Olympic distance national championships in a couple weeks for training purposes. Then see what kind of result I can get at the Jorioinen 1/2 distance nationals in three weeks. Two weeks after that is Ironman 70.3 Antwerp where I would really like to get a good result. I feel like anything is possible at this point so I will continue to push hard and maximize every possible training opportunity.

Swiss cheese

As usual, I am about a week or more behind in updating the blog. I apologize but life before and after an event is always too busy to get everything done. First you are running around trying to get everything ready for the race while maintaining training. Never mind normal working and family life.

Ironman 70.3 Switzerland was a success. The basic result was 12th place overall and 3rd fastest bike. And what a sweet course! I have always loved Switzerland ever since I raced there during my cycling days. Its one of the most naturally beautiful places I have ever seen. Plus the culture there is much to my liking. People are friendly but also give you space and privacy.

This trip was particularly fun because my wife and daughter were able to accompany me, which I always really enjoy. They got to spend some time in Zurich while I was preparing for the race. Then after the race we went for a car trip through the mountains for a day. Amazing place!

The swim was better than Austria and left me in contact with some of the major players. Of course I can and should be swimming faster, but everything comes when it is ready.

The bike course was made more me. Many steep climbs with very little flat sections. I was definately most comfortable going uphill and perhaps I could have even pushed harder on the uphills but then I would have lost the help of my group on the downhills and flats. Maybe next year I try to go all out on the uphills to see what happens.

My run time was something like 1:22 which is not so amazing by its self, but considering the tough bike before, and the fact the running course had a big set of stairs to run up! ... its not so bad. Actually the fastest guy ran 1:16 which is pretty slow for the fastest time. He (Massimo Cigana) was with me on the bike the whole day and ended up 5th overall, which shows if I can improve my run then I can really move up in the overall. And I am confident I have not even come close to maximizing my potential in the run.

Overall, I am very please with the result, especially because it earned me a spot to Ironman 70.3 World Championships again. Last year was a little dissappointing at worlds, so I am happy to get another chance to prove myself on the highest level.

Its been so long since my last post I will have to write a 2nd one right now to update how things have gone since Switzerland.

Ironman 70.3 Austria report

The first major event of the year took place for me last Sunday in St. Pölten, outside Vienna. This was my second time to the event and I really enjoyed it last year. My hope was to improve on my average performance of last year, but I knew ahead of time that getting an early season result is very difficult to predict.

So I entered with very little self-pressure to do a big result and only the hope to improve and have fun. This more or less was accomplished but my performance still has quite a lot of room for improvement.

The right from the start the swim was kicking my ass as usual. The swim being my big weakness, I am very used to this by now, but in this race it seemed like the pack was going faster than usual and I was going slower than usual. In the end I was about 4 minutes in back of the first guys and 1 minute behind my pace from last year.

The bike was very fun as the hilly course suites me well. But starting so far back from the swim made for a long lonely day on the bike. I passed many people when ever the course went up hill but the rest of the day I was going solo. The bike times were a few minutes slower than last year by everyone and I was no exception. I rode very conservatively and was able to keep a consistent pace the whole day, even if it was slower than I could maybe to at maximum effort.

Onto the run I kept the same rhythm of a conservative pace for the first 10km and then began to push harder for the final 10km. Unfortunately I maybe ate a little too much the day before and started to need a toilet very badly in the final 5km. By the last 3km my stomach was a total mess and cramping very badly. It became not possible to push hard anymore and my pace slowed substantially. On a positive note, I still managed to do my best 1/2 marathon time in a triathlon! It's a shame i could not have kept my pace the full distance as it would have been even faster by a couple minutes at least.

After the race I felt positive about the results despite not being as fast or high placed as i had hoped. This leaves me very ready for the next event in Switzerland in less than two weeks. The course there is similar and I feel like my form is starting to get more ready for a better result.

First need to rest up and kick this little head cold I got from travelling. But overall, things are going well.

A big thanks to all my sponsors including Felt Bicycles, BBB components and accessories, Huntteri importers, and DeSoto wetsuit and triathlon gear. They have helped get me to this race with the best possible equipment. Posted below is a quick picture of my new Felt DA... please remember to wipe the drool off your keyboard after seeing this picture. I keep a role of toilet paper handy at all times just for this reason ;-) I will do an in-depth story on this bike shortly when I get some better pictures and time to write. But damn.. this is a fast fast bike!

Round one...

The season has really started now with a number of running and cycling races during the past month. After my first 10km event in Turku, I did another small 10km race in Salo but was greeted with much better conditions. Although the course was a little hilly, or very hilly actually, I managed to run 33 minutes even. Not my best time, but season is still very early and that was a tough tough course.

Unfortunately a few days after that I got nailed by a nasty flu virus that kept me out of training for almost a week with fevers and overall bad feeling. The time I was sick was also supposed to be my "spring training camp" over the Easter holiday. But instead of hitting the road for 5 hour bike rides, I was sleeping for 5 hour naps to try and get healthy.

Disappointing, but not much you can do when a virus comes. Just wait...

BUT... time moves along anyways. After a careful week of training to get back into things, I did my first bike race in four years! Crazy... when I left cycling I thought I would never race again. Too much stress, too much negative pressure, etc. But now here in Finland it is a different story. I can do what ever I want in a race and no one cares. No angry team directors. No pressure to win. Just ride the bike and try to make others suffer... well almost. I found out I have lost all power and acceleration needed for cycling. So I am able to attack in races all I want, but usually everyone has no problem catching me. So much for making people suffer! But at least I am able to get into breakaways and try to help my Chebici teammates. If there were any REAL hills (anything over 1km) in Finland, I could actually do something but I have never been so strong on flat terrain.

So, for bike racing I did the Turku road race (can't remember the name right now) as well as the Sipoo RR. Both were excellent training even though I got my ass kicked. I was pleased to at least be the person who started the key breakaway in both races.

In running, I managed to get healthy enough to compete at the Finnish 1/2 marathon championships. However, I learned a hard lesson or two about being properly prepared for that tough an event. I felt very good before the race so I planned on doing 1:10 pace. I started well but the problem came when I went through the first 5km time check in almost exactly 16 minutes! Voi ei... after that i knew it was going to be tough. I had completely blown my engine in the first 5km and after that only got slower and slower. I guess also that my body was not really recovered from the nasty virus I had only two weeks before.

During the last week I put in 20km of racing with the regional xc running champs and also a small 12km road race in Turku. Both went well and I am feeling positive about my progress in running. Maybe the cycling races have helped in this area as well.

Now onto my first block of triathlon competitions starting in two weeks. First up is Ironman 70.3 Austria where i competed last year with below average results. This year I will use it more for training purposes and try very hard to control my pace instead of max effort the whole day. I have some feeling that I will actually get a better result this way.

Only two weeks after Austria will be my 2nd large event with Ironman 70.3 Switzerland. I have been hoping to do this race since I began triathlon a couple years ago. Now I have the opportunity, I am hoping my fitness will be strong after the past few weeks plus the race in Austria.

Of course it is risky to try two 1/2 Ironman races within two weeks, but the courses are very similar and if I do my recovery properly, a good result in Switzerland is very possible.

Oki... now I have to get back to my normal job... gotta pay the bills some how!

Let the season begin!

Little bit of a slow start to the racing season here in Finland.

Of course triathlon racing is still many months away, but at least the running season is normally kicked off at the end of March with the Tulppaanijuoksu 10km.

This year was especially fun when we received a sizable chunk of snow the night before. As the race began, there was still a solid layer of snow melting and icy to make the run interesting.

Despite being the first race of the year, it is also quite fast with generally all the local top runners coming to prove they actually trained during the winter.

This year's field had maybe a little less depth but still a solid group of runners to make it challenging.

My race went as well as could be considering the challenging surface conditions. I managed to stay with the lead pack until 500m to the finish when the 'real runners' started to go for the win. A time of 33:59 was nothing special but still ok with me for early season.

Next weekend will be another 10km in Salo where the roads should be dry!

Remember to checkout my webshop www.verdasport.com as it has been updated lately.

Sponsored by ... my wife

Economic times are hard for sure...

Many sports are also feeling the pinch. Triathlon is a small fish to begin with so when the marketing budgets get cut, many triathletes sponsorships dry up.

I have also been feeling the ecconomy and sponsorship is very hard to find. This season I have taken a different approach. I have decided my wife is the best sponsor. She is always available to ask for more money. She likes me enough that usually she gives me money. The only problem is she is still in school, so I guess maybe next year I have a real sponsor...

So for this year, I decided I should just sponsor my self. To do this, I have started a small sport product company called Verda Sport. My triathlon buddy Tatu Kasurinen and I have done this in the hope that we can bring some unique, interesting, and hard to find products to Finland that athletes will really enjoy.



The first product line is with CEP compression socks. I was first introduced to these socks about two years ago at Frankfurt marathon where my wife was running. She tried them before the race and ended up using in the race with a 20 minute improvement! After that I decided I should try them out and for the past year I have been using them in racing and training. They are a product a truely believe in and want more people to take advantage of.

At some point soon I will be adding more products as well, but some of that depends if the socks sell! So, please stop by my shop (should open within the week)and help support an athlete! And if you have any ideas of products you would like me to carry in my shop, please feel free to contact me.


For Athletes, By Athletes

1st looser...

Welcome back to the winter updates!

February turned into real winter here finally and skiing became good for a few weeks. I have been trying to get out as much as possible to enjoy and get quality training.

Racing has started this year with a couple small events here. One 3000m indoor track race and a 'winter triathlon' of pool swim, ski, and run.

Both events were fun and went well but are really just used to quality training. I have never done a 3000m track race, so I didn't really know what to expect. I found out that running on the 175m track in Kupittaa is a little bit like being a hampster running inside a wheel in their cage. It gets boring really fast, but suprisingly it still goes by quickly. I guess 3000m is not that far.. Anyways, this was a pretty small race and I managed to get 2nd place in a time of 9:04.

My second event was our clubs winter triathlon where it all comes down to who actually knows how to ski. I am luck and have some background in skiing so I can keep up with most everyone, but as long as one real skier shows up, I am always going to be the first looser. Either way its great fun and gets your motivation going again after many months of boring training every week. And after the race my wife and I hosted a kickin' party, which was the real highlight of the event.

Now the weather is starting to change to spring and getting back on the bike sounds very good. When the sun comes out, my motivation to do anything doubles. I am a little bit like a bear in hibernation... winter is a time for sleeping. Summer is time to play. Now I have seen the light, watch out.

- Darby

Winter update

2008 wrapped up with some relaxed time back here in Finland. Less than two weeks after being home, we got our first snow storm and the xc skiing was good for a week or so. Then the rain came...

South west Finland has a funny weather pattern affected by the nearby ocean, which makes November and December to be just above freezing while receiving volumes of precipitation. The result is the darkest, nastiest weather I have experienced. The sun comes up about 10-11AM and is gone by 2:30. Some days you never see the sun at all, just a dark glow in the sky behind the rain clouds.

BUT, I still love living here. The break in routine the seasons dictate, create a better balanced approach to sport. Naturally during the late fall and winter months, the training focuses on swimming, power training, and running. Cycling is replaced with xc skiing when ever possible, and the cycle cross bike with studded tires for ice, is also a key training tool.

This year, I took a sizeable break from serious training after the world championship. The body and mind was in need of a different routine, plus I have been busy building up my free lance copywrite business that pays my bills. I kept the training to non-structured activities for about one month until near Christmas time. Then I began the new training season with a ramp-up to normal volumes over a couple weeks.

Currently I am back in full swing and have been developing my run base as well as my key focus on swim development and power development. Dispite a few days off from the normal winter flu season, training is progressing well. Looking forward to the season to get going!

First events will be Ironman 70.3 Austria and 70.3 Switzerland on May 24th and June 7th respectively.

Be in touch more soon!

-Darby