Pictorial Evidence

Hey, free pics are posted from the Zürich Tri- athlon! Since I don't care enough to purchase the actual pics, the copies here are besmirched (how often can you use that word?) quite effectively by the photo company. In this first pic, it appears I'm beating two worthy but slightly less gifted competitors across the finish line. That's how I choose to remember it, when in fact the bike course was probably nowhere near completed. Perhaps they were lapping me, I don't recall.

Second picture looks like an individual time trial, pounding out a breakneck speed against my perpetual enemies: the clock and my own uncompromising sense of achievement. Actually I don't know where everyone else is in this photo. But look at that expression of pure concentration.

Last but not least, the picture cresting "Heartbreak Hill", although I'm not sure which of the three iterations during the race. Other similar pictures were posted where my grimacing, spitting and cursing appear more clearly, but the photo logo unfortunately lies even more directly over my face. Check out the scenic overlook behind. That was my private joke (also during training) every time I reached the top, unable to breathe but panting, "Nice...view...Nice...viewww!" But why are all the spectators facing the wrong way?

So I've got at least one more event in me this season, hopefully two (a long and a short). Lausanne, the city near which I work on the French side, hosts their Olympic triathlon in about five weeks and down in the crazy Swiss-Italian canton of Ticino (do you know the name Fabian Cancellara, early yellow-jersey wearer in this year's Tour de France? He's from there...) they host a half-IronMan and a sprint (yes, I'll be doing the sprint).

Speaking of the 2009 Tour de France, I have some additional pictures to post soon.

Swim, Bike, Fall Over, Pt. 2

Now that we're well-informed on my amateur triathlon career, how about Saturday's result? As expected, the Züri Tri possessed a different atmosphere than my previous conquests, specifically as we learned with our half-marathons last year, the Swiss only engage in athletic events they want to win. The Midwest laid-back, newbie-friendly, just-training-to-lose-a-few-pounds mentality simply ain't there. With all my travel this spring, I had trained perhaps 5 hours per week instead of the group average 15 hours. And as Olympic events always attract the serious crowd vs. sprints, I planned to mostly suck fumes the whole race. Yessiree, I was dead on.

The other new twist was a topographical one...hills! The cycling leg consists of 3 loops of about 8 miles each, mostly flat alongside Lake Zürich, but then each featuring a detour up the affectionately coined "Heartbreak Hill" (apparently no German translation) on the lake's west side. Let's review my experience from this perspecitve (you'll have to click on each graphic to examine in detail)...

Chicago Triathlon. Pancakes ache to be this flat:




Lake Geneva (WI). I used to think a brief 2% grade was a hill:




My "training course" from home in Zürich to the next lake over. I unfortunately only completed it once this year prior to the big event. Basically uphill or downhill for 2+ miles at a time, a fairly consistent 5% but up to 8% grade. If you're currently watching the Tour de France, this would barely earn an extra heartbeat per minute for those guys, but rookies may experience a fair level of discomfort:




Züri Tri. Heartbreak Hill is shorter but as steep as the worst parts above, from 5-7% for about 1/2 mile. The third ascent usually earns a few grunts and/or curses, especially after swimming a mile:




Regarding the run, no surprise that Chicago is flaaaat, Lake Geneva is actually murderously hilly and Zürich is mostly flat. So there's the background ad nauseum.

So Saturday. Checked my bike into transition at about 9:00am for a 10:40am start. The only amatuerish-looking people are already competing in the early sprint event. Everywhere else the eye beholds only relaxed, tanned, beautifully sculpted all-around athletic bodies and $8,000 tri bicycles more aerodynamic than an F-117 Nighthawk jet. Due to a cool cloudy workweek, the lake temperature measures slightly less than the regulation 21.9 C or 71 F, not really cold but enough to allow wetsuits, a major gift as wetsuits drastically improve buoyancy for sinkers like me.

With a group of slightly under 300 men sporting identical baby blue swimming caps, I run down the short beach and splash into Lake Zürich at 10:40am. My swim proceeds predictably poorly for the next 42 minutes over 1,500 meters, a tricky course with lots of turns; I'm not the absolute last competitor out of the water but not far ahead of him. My faithful cheering section of one is there at the transition fence to root me on, but I'm so discombobulated from the long swim I can barely locate her voice. The benefit of the wetsuit is typically partially negated in transition as it inevitably frustratingly refuses to release my legs. I don't own a tri "onesie" like the pros so I waste precious time actually donning a shirt. My transition lasts a lousy 3:50 min. So far no surprises.

On the bike I measure my pace trying to assess how much juice the ol' legs contain today. I settle into a 18-20 mph pace over the slight undulations on the somewhat windy flats and watch all the expensive bikes sail past with their aero tires humming like small engines. First time up The Hill goes surprisingly OK, I can almost hold my own on the ascent due to my slight "climber's" frame. Second time up is a little tougher but also OK. I bomb the descent hitting 41 mph, thereby almost missing a tight turn on slick blacktop, hopping a curb and nearly pitching over a fence, but recover in time. I see my cheering section, now two people, twice during the ride. Third time is up is decidedly painful and slower but successful, with energy ebbing from the legs during the final 5 miles of the 25 mile course; total cycling time 1 hour 26 minutes. Second transition lasts a mere 1:33 min., my best performace so far.

As a longtime runner I usually perform a bit better, but it never matters because the advantage in triathlon is won in cycling (and for me, lost in swimming). Nonetheless I manage to pass about a half-dozen people and keep both quadriceps from cramping over the final 6.2 miles and 52:44 min. My cheering section has grown to six people but unfortunately I don't see them until the bleachers at the very, very end. Inspiring nonetheless. Total time 3 hours 7 minutes, actually a pretty good result for me considering the conditions, but not so competitive. For an early summer result, I'm happy.

Sound miserable? Actually the opposite is true, I love these events. I think I've got one more late summer Olympic in me this year and maybe a sprint for good measure. But I really have to work on that swim. Oh yeah, and the bike too. Oh yeah, and the onesie...

Swim, Bike, Fall Over, Pt. 1

Yesterday was a big day, the thirteenth annual--and my first--Züri Triathlon! For those unfamiliar, triathlon consists of swimming, cycling and running (in that order) over more or less standard distances from short to long, culminating in the well-publicized IronMan events lasting 8-12 hours or longer. Triathlon ranks as my sport of preference the past seven years or so since I found training for my one and only (thus far) marathon in 2002 too monotonous, and since my introduction and illustrious beginning at the infamous if not famous Magee 3 Triathlon in Plymouth, Indiana, annually organized and hosted by our good friends.

For this first generously informal event of around 40 competitors, mostly friends, I "swam" the short 400 yard swim the first year with a flotation aid (a noodle, I think, not water wings) and the second year just as slowly without one. While some consider me lucky due to my absence of body fat, a short thin build is not a swimmer's gift; my body (especially my legs) sinks and drags through the water, making efficient progress a real struggle. With two years of study and practice, I improved my form and balance enough to qualify as a below-average competitive long-distance swimmer. Steph and I also "competed" that first Magee 3 on mountain bikes with fat tires and heavy frames akin to dragging a piano vs. a road bike; I subsequently invested in a decent entry-level competitive road bike a year or two later.

The shortest "Sprint" distance triathlons consist of around a 400-800 yard (meter) swim, 13-15 mile (22-25 km) bike and 3 mile (5km) run, requiring for me around 1:15-1:30 hours to complete. I primarily stuck with the Magee 3 and Chicago Sprint triathlons each year until pushing the endurance a bit farther to "Olympic" distances, i.e., the same distance competed in the Olympics, a 1 mile swim (1600 m), 25 mile bike (40km) and 6.2 mile run (10km), about double the sprint distance and lasting twice as long, for me 3 hours (the winners finish in 2 hours and Olympics are one-quarter of an IronMan).

From 2005-2007 I successfully completed two Olympic autumn triathlons in Lake Geneva, WI (ironic name, eh?) in under 3 hours, and limped and cheated through one disastrous early summer 2006 Olympic event in Elkhart Lake, WI; undertrained in the spring (perhaps due to crummy Chicago spring weather?), I couldn't complete the full mile swim (guiltily ducking under a buoy 3/4 distance out to join others already swimming back) or the oftentimes brutally steep hilly bike course (I had never experienced a single real biking hill in flat Chicago). We were headed to the World Cup in Germany the following weekend, and I still remember panting and swearing, a complete wreck on the bike, "I don't need this crap, I'm going on vacation in a week!" Not so mentally tough that day, eh? Steph jumped in bandit to help me--completely physically and psychologically exhausted--finish out the 6.2 mile run after I tried to sneak onto the 3.1 mile run course but took a wrong turn. I still love that story (and learned a lot that day!).

I completed my last U.S. triathlon in early Septmber 2007, an Olympic distance in Lake Geneva (fair and square, might I add) about six weeks before moving to Europe. Last year despite not working and training fairly consistently, my lack of Swiss pre-planning and one day of terrible weather negated all my planned races. Zürich's and another nearby sprint were fully booked by the time I applied (the completely German web sites slowed me down as well), and after I signed up (on a French website) and paid a nominal fee for an early September Olympic event in the French-side town of Aubonne near the actual Lake Geneva, an all day thunderstorm washout (we get some nasty ones in Switzerland) combined with some common sense kept me from traveling 3 hours across the country to a completely unfamiliar French-speaking village to attend. I instead finished the season and placed well in a perfectly enjoyable half-marathon in Basel in late October.

So the Züri Olympic Tri made my first triathlon in approaching two years, my first in Europe, and only my fourth longer-distance event ever. And several work and vacation trips to the Caribbean, Asia, and the U.S. in the ten weeks leading up to the event wreaked some havoc with my training schedule. How did I fare? Tune in again please soon!

Summer Summary

Whew! I simply must stop trying to make up for lost time and just recount where I can. Short and sweet, that should be my new mantra. Again sitting this evening in my industrial apartment outside of Lausanne, let's see what's happened since I returned from Singapore way back in late May...

• I forgot to mention the late May, 105th annual (my second straight) exploding of the gigantic snowman's head in Zurich to celebrate spring. Much better than last year's extended rainy episode, the Böögg's head completely exploded in under 8 minutes on a beautiful sunny day.

• A visit from Steph's parents, their second (!) in 18 months, way ahead of most people (hint). I have some excellent pics I really will post, from our consecutive weekend trips to Strasbourg, France and Mainz, Germany, including an historic boat cruise down the Rhine with nothing but castles and vineyards.

• Hosted the European equivalent of our annual blowout wine party, including nearly 50 guests and as many wines, food from six countries to match the wine (especially proud of the from-scratch empanadas), and the same messy result at evening's end. Guests from all over the world, kinda fun, and a big boost to our local popularity (because it really needed a boost).

• Returned all too briefly to the U.S. in June, primarily to attend my 20-year high school reunion back in good 'ol Green Bay, WI, with some brief time thrown in for Chicago (for Mexican food and iced tea) and Madison (for my new nephew! only six weeks old). Highlights included a GB sub-reunion of soccer buddies from so many years playing together, a 4-on-4 scrimmage that made me feel simultaneously young and old.

• Participated in a subsequent "try out" scrimmage of sorts with my Zürich-Mexican buddy on his predominantly Swiss soccer team. Ouch, didn't go as well but I met minimum requirements. Did I mention everyone is about 10 years younger? Am I crazy enough to play in a league in the fall? Sounds like an injury waiting to happen.

• Witnessed the phenomenon of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on stage in Bern, Switzerland, on Tuesday evening, about an hour train ride from Zürich. Truly a living legend, the guy just keeps getting better. He almost managed to shake an unbelievably lethargic Swiss crowd out of its stupor. Steph and I made quite an American spectacle of ouselves from the opening song. Wednesday was a long, "sleepy" day. We're voyaging to Vienna this weekend to see them again (do we qualify as groupies?)...can't wait!

• Swam across Lake Zürich yesterday evening with a few thousand others, a typically-fantastically organized annual Zürich event. Just under a mile in length, and I swallowed just under a third of the lake as a final bit of open-water training for the Zürich Triathlon next weekend. Wish me luck there. The picture up top is from hundreds of swimmers conducting an aerobics "warm-up" before entering the water. Fantastically bizarre. I was laughing nearly out loud to myself thinking, "Well, there's something you wouldn't see in Chicago." But they're Swiss so they follow the rules, and the rules said you should warm up before swimming. This closer picture shows the end of the event, or Ziel ("goal") with everybody in their red swim caps (don't try a "Where's Waldo", I'm not actually in the picture)

Sorry again for my anemic blog output, it's tough work trying to stay current. Hopefully I'll be able to fill in some of the past gaps!