Updates from Aaron Kamnetz

SHARKS!!!! And I'm Swimming!

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:00:33 GMT

Seriously, that's not a joke. I got to swim right along side sharks on Saturday. It makes you swim faster, that's for sure!

Now, I know some of you are thinking I've gone a little too far with the intensity this time, but to be honest, they were tame leopard sharks. They are all over the waters in the La Jolla, CA area. I went down there (it's just a bit south of where I am staying) with Lucy on Saturday to do some open water swimming as the water is that clear, picturesque blue. As you swim out there are a ton of little colorful fish swimming along the seaweed floor, and as you get a bit further out, you start to see these 3ft long little sharks. It kind of freaks you out at first when just over a month ago I read about triathletes getting attacked by sharks in the San Diego area. Thanks goes out to my pal Andy for telling me in advance that I wont get my leg taken off.

The whole swim was really nice as there were buoys if you wanted to swim straight out, or there were two beach across the bay from one another that you could swim back and forth from. It is also a popular place to kayak at (there are a bunch of little caves and coves you can explore), so there were tons of people around at all times which was cool as it gave you someone to race every now and then. The water will pretty calm too, which was great as I was looking for a recovery swim of sorts.

You see, my job at Zoot has come to include more than just marketing campaigns; I have become the resident guinea pig for our biology/fabric guru, Chris. We have been working on developing a new, and super cool product for fall, but that means we need to test it. Chris's idea of testing the product and its effects on performance meant doing VO2max tests and 90min of biking at threshold with and without the new gear. Now, if you haven't ever done a VO2max test before, let me be the first to tell you, they are NOT enjoyable. Most triathletes want to get one done (for some sadistic reason or another), but I hate them. You literally run or bike until you fall over or start to black out, hence the word maximum at the end. Though, I must say, doing the 90min at threshold (or just below it) on the bike, indoors was worse given that it was at the end of one long week of training.

Now, most of you know about my little incident in Mexico back in April...you know, the severe heat stroke that resulted in my mother being royally pissed off at me for multiple weeks. If you don't know what I am talking about, check out the story here at Triathlete magazine: http://www.triathletemag.com/Departments/Features/2007_Features/The_race_report_from_hell.htm

When we did the 90min threshold ride, we took my weight before starting and then at the end to see how much water I was losing via sweating. Over the course of those 90min, I drank 48oz of water, but I still managed to lose 5lbs of weight...that's a lot in 90min at 73 degree ambient temperature. Though, it just pretty much confirms what I already knew, and that is that I sweat tons in racing and training. On the bright side, we have devised some possible ways of cooping with it that we're going to try out over the next few races.

On a brighter note, I had another race this past Sunday up in Carlsbad (about 15min north of where I am staying) that attracted the local talent as well as a number of Aussies and some South Americans as well. Now, I was looking to just get in a good workout and place decently. As one wise person out there told me via e-mail before the race, "Just relax and do it for fun. I always had my best races when I did that." Heck, why not take that approach. I had nothing to lose.

When setting up in transition there were a number of people in the elite racks that seemed to have a bit of chip on the shoulder that day, which always results in some pretty intense racing. The water was calm for the most part and the break was easy to get past. Almost from the start the race gotten broken up. There was a group of about 7 or 8 of us that went off the front and stayed there for the entire swim. But, once out of the water things got broken up among that lead group, which I was in. The exit out of transition was uphill, and it was pretty much right after you got on the bike, so that made for some pretty interesting approaches to the start of the bike. I just stayed calm and got into a rhythm which resulted in me catching the 3rd place guy pretty quickly. Now, to my dismay, this person decided that today would be a good day to draft, illegally. He clipped onto my wheel and proceeded to stay there. I passed the 2nd place rider shortly after the halfway point (this was a sprint triathlon of 1K, 25K, 5K) with Turel still sucking my wheel. I got pissed, looked over my shoulder and told him to cut it out...I did this two more times before we hit transition.

Needless to say, the fact that he had been drafting off me had the adrenaline flowing. Right out of T2, which was nearly flawless, I took off at an almost flat out pace. I wanted to drop him, and I wanted to drop him to the point that he had no desire to come after me. At the one mile mark I looked over my shoulder...he was about 15sec back, which isn't much in by any standard, so I put my head down and hammered on. Right at that point the course went though a pretty sizable crowd which helped to get me pumping even faster. By the time I got to the two mile mark, the drafter was over 40sec back. I had second place in the bag; however, Byod Conrick, an amazing athlete, had pulled away on the run taking his 20sec lead off the bike and turned it into a little of a minute winning margin.

All in all, it was nice to get back on the podium after some rough races at the start of the season. It also reinforced the fact that cheating (or drafting) does not pay at all. there was quite a media presence too, so that was a nice benefit as they took quite an interest in the 21 year old from up nort der. The jokes about the cold and awful accents (which I apparently don't have, and never knew people from Wisconsin were supposed to have) never end out here.

But, it's time to get on the bike and make my way over to work, and that reminds me, one of my projects here was a Page on Facebook, and you can all see it even if you do NOT have a Facebook account. Just follow this link here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Zoot-Sports/15730589196

Other than that, be sure to check out the website as always, www.kamnetz.com, stay safe, stay in touch, and for those of you in Wisconsin, try not to drown with all the rain and overflowing lakes. Look for another race report after Wales (July 26th, though I have one this weekend too, Vineman 70.3 up in northern Cali) when I'll cover both races.

California...Internships, Races, and Lots to Tell~

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 18:41:22 GMT

Well, I've been in California now for a little less than two full weeks. And, as a disclaimer, this update is long. I highly suggest grabbing you favorite beverage or snack before sitting down to digest this one (I prefer good Wisconsin beers or coffee myself!).

During those two weeks, I've gotten to live in two different places, start an internship that rocks, compete at a local and very popular race, do more than a little biking, and hang out with my summer roomies from Australia.

When I first got out to California, I stayed with Brad Culp and his girl friend, Jaime. These are the same two I stayed with back in March during spring break. For some reason, they have yet to tell me to stop showing up on their doorstep. The only downside to living with them for the first week I was out here is that they are located in La Jolla, which is a good 1:45 bike ride to the Zoot offices up in Vista, CA. That meant that for the first four days of work I was riding a total of nearly 4 hours a day plus a short, but quick, 30min run off the bike at the end of the day. Not the most conducive training for an ITU guy like myself, but, make do with what you have! Brad and Jaime took off over the weekend, so I had a chance to get caught up on sleep after a long week of traveling from Colorado and starting up the internship at Zoot. Kind of nice actually.

On Monday of last week we migrated me up to Cardiff, yet another beach town in California, where the house of Zoot CEO Brian is located. A pretty sweet deal for a college kind over the summer in California. The house is very large and in an upscale, luxury community; however, the house is completely unfurnished aside from a mattress in each bedroom (no bed frame, just a mattress on the floor...I have no lights in my bedroom even) and some patio furniture which is moved inside or outside depending on where you want to sit at that moment. Beyond that, there is nothing in the house. It's a little weird, but I'm not there aside from sleeping, eating dinner with the two roomies, or changing into different clothing so it really isn't that big of deal. Plus, with such a huge backyard to mess around in with basketball hoops and a mini soccer pitch, who needs furniture? And, there is a huge grill...that pretty much completed my summer.

Speaking of roomies...I am living with Luke Bell and his wife Lucy. Luke is a long-course triathlete, so he does distances like Ironman and Half Ironman racing. He's a full-time Professional Triathlete in the sense that he trains, watches TV, sleeps, and repeats. He's a super cool dude though, even if I do get a little confused by his thick Aussie accent sometimes. His wife Lucy is a physical therapist and a great cook as well! On Wednesday night she put together a little barbie (BBQ) for us and some of their locally living Aussie friends. It was a great time.

I've gotten quite a few questions about my internship with Zoot, so I'll try to answer most of them here. The internship is very educational so far. For me and for the people in charge. They have been bringing me in on a number of different meetings relating to the release of the Fall 2008 apparel line plus the development--starting with concept up to packaging and point of sale--for a whole new product. More on that in a later update :) I am also getting a true crash course in marketing while refreshing my website and Photoshop skills as I was tasked with doing some website updates and, low-and-behold, creating an interactive Facebook page for Zoot. So, I get to spend most of my time at a computer screen, on, of all things, Facebook and Blogspot. It's not exactly what I had expected, but it hasn't been bad either. I teach the old ones at Zoot (30's...so not that old I guess) how Facebook and Blogs work and they teach me how to run a corporate marketing campaign from start to finish.

As I mentioned before, my training hasn't been going as well as planned. There is the hassle of figuring out routes for running and cycling that allow you do the prescribed workout without hitting a traffic light every 50ft, and then managing running and swimming workouts around the work day which includes a 1hr ride on the bike each way (a somewhat hilly one for half of it too).

Given that I was a little leery about the race that I took part in this morning, the San Diego International Triathlon. I had a nearly free entry courtesy of Zoot, so I thought I would give it a shot and use it for a fitness gauge, and at the same time I was hoping for no more bad-luck incidents (heat, flat tires, wrong directions on the course from volunteers). Though, I did spend all of Saturday (8+ hours) working at the expo which Zoot helped put on, and not having a car, that meant I got to ride 2hrs each way to get there; however, I am training through this race.

Anyways, the race went pretty well. Luke, Lucy and I got over to the course at 5:30 as the start time was 6:40, so we were all up at 4:30am...yuck.

The swim was short, which was odd...at only 1k, so that meant right when you would normally start to get tired on the swim or just plain sick of it, it was over. The fact that we swam in the marina meant there were no waves, but it was still salt water, and I am still not a big fan of that as you tend to chafe the rest of the race. I came out of the swim right around the middle of the pack. It felt okay, though it wasn't quite where I wanted it to be.

Transition was really long, though us Pros ended up with the best real estate around. We had to run probably 10m maximum with our bikes both on the way in and on the way out. I had a very smooth T1 and the bike that followed went very well too. It was all uphill on the way out, and a good chunk of the climb was pretty steep. About my only complaint about the bike was that there were no officials, so that meant a group of 5 or 6 Pros at the front drafted the whole course. That tends to piss you off to see happening. Either way, I picked a number of guys off on the bike to move into 9th place coming into T2 which went the best I have ever had it go. I know I work for Zoot, but honestly, the shoes they have are the best there are for transitions, and they feel great. I had no problem slipping them on and going for it.

The run was a little less than what I would have liked it to be. I got caught pretty quickly by a team member f mine, Haven Barnes. I had hoped to stick on his shoulder for a ways, and as he told me later, so did he. But, I just didn't have any other gears. There was no pick-up or "pop" in my run. I had no problem cruising along, but I couldn't cover anything fast when Haven went by, and right near the end when two other guys went past together I didn't have kick to speak of that would let me stop them from going right on by. I did pass one guy though, which put me in 10th place.

Not too bad considering that I didn't let up leading into this and trained right through it. My next one will be another local one containing an international Pro field (like this one) called the Carlsbad Triathlon. I will follow that with a Half Ironman, the Vineman 70.3 Triathlon in northern California.

I'll send out another update after the Carlsbad triathlon. As always, check out the website at www.kamnetz.com . Until then, stay in touch, and enjoy the summer and this coming Holiday weekend!

BAM + Boulder Stroke and Stride and Colorado Train...

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 20:29:36 GMT

Wow, two races in three days…that gives me a ton to talk about. Not to mention the fact that I am training in Colorado, so that leaves for some stories itself too!

I'll start with the Boulder Stroke and Stride that took place on Thursday the 12th of June.

I was warned that the water would be cold, but I wasn't ready for how cold it really was. It was the cold that makes your feet and hands go numb after about 20sec of being in the water. However, on the bright side, that meant you couldn't feel how cold they were. The real problem was when you hit the water with your face to swim. A stinging cold on your face for 20min of swimming is anything but fun. That said I had the 8th fastest swim on the day in a race of 140 athletes. I also ended up with the 9th fastest run on the day for a final place of 8th overall. That's not too bad considering the team went up with the single goal of getting loose for Saturday's race in Utah. I must say, even with freezing water, it was a really enjoyable event. I didn't expect to see that many people show and pay $20 just to do a swim and run on a Thursday night.

The next morning we were up at 4:30 and on the road before 5am on our way to Midway, Utah. The drive took a little over 8.5hrs in total with the couple gas stops we needed. When you are driving in three oversized SUVs through the mountains, you ended up using up a ton of gas quickly. The drive was worth it though. The scenery at this venue was spectacular. There were snow capped mountains all around us and huge open valleys that we raced in. The hotel we stayed at was great as well. It just happened to be the premier ski resort hotel in the area. After seeing the course and setting up transition, we headed to bed as the next morning was to be early yet again.

We were up and into the car for the drive over to transition by 4:30am…we woke up at 4am in order to make that happen. We had to be there early as T1 and T2 were in separate areas, so we needed to take a shuttle from T2 to T1 in the morning. This was a pain in the ass as they only had two busses making the 5mi drive and they wouldn't leave until it was completely full…so you ended up waiting forever and in the end, I ended up with very little warm-up time.

Now, I said the water in Boulder was cold…well, the water here made that swim look warm. I am not sure how we were able to swim in it, but we made it happen. It makes me think of Reno, NV where I did my first multi-sport race and they canceled the swim…the water in both cases was the same temperature. Yet, it seems that these cold swims do me well as I came out near the tail end of the lead pack. There was one problem though: I couldn't feel my hands or feet at all. My quads and hamstrings were just as numb. It was the oddest and most uncomfortable sensation I ever had short of Mexico, and I wasn't even done yet.

The numbness made it ridiculously hard to get my shoes on or shift gears for the bike. In fact, I almost lost one of my cycling shoes due to not being able to make my feet do what I wanted them to. But, the worst was about to come. At about the 3mi mark on the bike a USAT Official came up next to me and told me to "Stand-Down", which means stop. He proceeded to tell me I was in violation of the stagger rule. This is a rule that applies ONLY to PRO athletes in non-drafting races. I have included some diagrams to show you what this rule is. Diagram A is violation of the rule, while Diagram B is not. The rule states that if you can see the person immediately in front of you, you can not place yourself directly behind that person, no matter how far ahead of you they are. So, this would result in the athletes being staged as shown in Diagram B…he said I was doing what was shown in Diagram B, and that it was illegal. If that were true though, you would need to ride as shown in Diagram C…that would become impossible after about 10 athletes ended up on the road as the road would never be wide enough to hold every athlete.

Anyways, that meant I would need to stand there for a two-minute time period. I tried to tell him that he was enforcing the rule incorrectly, but this resulted in me being issued yet another 2min penalty for arguing. Apparently I needed to have both feet on the ground, not just one. He told me this after about 30-45sec, and said since both feet were not on the ground, he had not started the timer. This wouldn't be the end of my troubles on the bike though.

At around the 15mi mark, a volunteer, well, a police officer to be exact, directed me to go left down a road. Roughly 3min later the same officer drove up next me and shouted that he had told me to go the wrong way and I should turn around now. Ouch.

By this point I was pretty demoralized and very ticked off. When I finally got to T2 I was near the very back of the PRO field, yet my feet and hands were still numb, so it took me forever, or what seemed forever to get my running shoes on. Once that was done, I took off for the run course, only to come to a fork in the road, with two other athletes. It was un-marked as to which way we needed to go. We basically chanced it after asking each other if anyone knew the way. It was, luckily, the correct way.

I ended up finishing in 25th overall after it was all said and done, about 20min back from the leader, and about 12min out of the money. That hurt to se those numbers. Still, I found out that other people had tons of trouble finding the right path on the run and lots of people had gone off course. It was a run in these foot hills…think high school cross-country through slightly mowed grass and dirt paths. Had it not been for the amazing views, this would have made it to the number 1 spot on my list of worst planned races.

To add to the whole weekend of fiascos, I ended up with a speeding ticket for going 9mph over the speed limit on the interstate while driving home…9mph? I thought the cops were bad in my home town, but they have nothing on the Wyoming police. We finally got home just before 10pm on Saturday night, making it one long, long day.

I did make up for it all with one of the most amazing rides I have ever been on. Today, I went out and did what is known as the Peak to Peak ride. It is an intense mountain ride of a little over 80mi in total. It took a good solid 5 hours to do, with the vast majority of time spent climbing as the descents were an average speed of 45mph with a max speed of a little over 66mph, while the climbs up saw average speeds of about 10mph. Check my website for some pictures I managed to snap along the way.

All in all, it was quite the weekend, and with one more day here in Colorado before I head to California for the next five weeks, who knows what could happen.

I'll be sending out another update sometime after the 22nd, at which point I'll be completely settled into my place in California. But, so you all have an idea of what I'll be up to the rest of this summer…

June 17th until July 24th will find me in California doing a marketing internship for Zoot Sports (www.zootsports.com) and racing in a number of local cycling and running races.

On July 20th I'll be in northern California for the Vineman 70.3 Triathlon (This is a half-Ironman distance race).

On the 24th of July I'll head to Wales, the United Kingdom, to race in a triathlon that British Triathlon Federation has invited me to race at. They will be covering all expenses.

I will return on the 27th of July to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to attend an invite only training camp.

I will return home from the Olympic Training Center on August 6th to Madison.

Talk to you all again soon. Stay in touch, and stay well!

Let the Summer of Adventure Begin!

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 20:25:24 GMT

Well, the summer adventure has officially begun!

I left Madison yesterday, Wednesday, at 7:05pm and then had one lay-over in Chicago. Apparently, when there is bad weather in Iowa, it affects the take-off of planes in O’Hare so badly that we got to sit on the runway for over 2hours after being delayed in the airport from boarding for 45min…it was a mess. In the end I didn’t get into Denver until well after midnight and I still had a 45min drive to my place for the next 6 days.

I am now in Golden, CO staying with my coach and getting ready for the BAM Triathlon in Midway, Utah on Saturday. It’s a pretty fast course, but it is in the mountains and that means the lake is freezing cold (something like 50 degrees was the last reading). So, at least I will not have to worry about another Mexico type heat-stroke J There are a total of 14 PROs registered last time I checked, so the first wave, which we are in, will be pretty small. However, as is common among PROs, many athletes that are planning to race in the PRO ranks will not sign up until the last possible minute.

Tonight will be the first of what looks to be many summer races. It isn’t a triathlon, but rather a Stroke and Stride, or more aptly, a swim and run. The swim is 1500m long and the run was a quick 5K right out of the water. Seeing as the race is in Boulder, CO it is hard to say what the field will look like. Boulder is home to many professional athletes of all disciplines from triathlon to cycling to running. It could be a low-key race or one containing 20+ PROs looking to blow the evening’s race wide open. Either way, it should be a fun way to kick off the summer of traveling and racing.

Well, I’ll keep this one short as we getting ready to drive up to Boulder and then we’ll be on the road to Utah at 5am tomorrow. I’ll be sending out a race-report on Sunday sometime to fill everyone in on the Triathlon and the Stroke and Stride.

Enjoy and stay in touch!

The Good, Bad, and Great Update!

Mon, 26 May 2008 22:15:57 GMT

Hey everyone!

Sorry it has been awhile since I sent out an update to everyone, but as per usual, it has been extremely busy. Right after Mexico I had my last round of midterms to finish up and that lead right into the week of finals (I know, midterms…three of them…it kind of defeats the purpose of the name). As a result I was pretty swamped for a couple of weeks back-to-back. However, that didn't prevent me from getting even closer to the end of my college career, a race in Memphis, and a sweet little bit of news about my summer.

With the conclusion of this spring's semester here at the University of Wisconsin, I became a graduating senior. That means that I have one more semester of classes to go and I can graduate (13 credits to be exact). It is a pretty nice feeling. Also, since I have gotten quite a few inquiries on this, my official majors are Economics, History, and European Studies. Yes, it is quite a mix, but I did what I enjoyed, and anyone starting college that is reading this, I suggest doing the same. It makes the college experience so much more enjoyable.

Two days after finishing my last final (which was worth over 50% of my grade…) I found myself in Memphis, TN for the long-standing Memphis in May Triathlon. My little sister, April, came along for this trip which was a nice little treat—in part because she did some of the driving! She actually came not for the race itself, but the barbecue that is a key component of the Memphis in May Festival that lasts the whole weekend right on the river front.

As for the race itself though, it didn't quite go as planned. The race holds sentimental significance to me as it was my first Olympic distance triathlon that I ever competed in. It was also the first time I went sub-2 hours in a triathlon as well. It was, this time, going to be my first ever non-drafting professional race. All of my professional racing to this point had been done on the ITU, and therefore draft legal, circuit. Minus the fatigue from a long couple weeks of cramming and studying until my eyes nearly bled, I was feeling pretty well.

Now, when I race on the ITU circuit, the races don't normally start until late in the afternoon to accommodate a more spectator friendly atmosphere. I like this as I am more of night owl than a morning person. However, since this race has a large amateur contingent (over 1,700 people) in conjunction with the professional portion, we race early. In fact, we start before the amateurs do, so that meant at 7:30am, so we were out of bed at 5:00am…early.

It was surprisingly warm out for that early in the morning, but this race has a reputation of getting very hot, very quickly. The other unique fact of this race is that we start in a time-trial fashion. That means for the professionals we go one at a time on a ten second interval. I was the third person to go. My swim went pretty well, though it wasn't anything to brag about having not been able to swim much in the past three weeks. But, that wasn't much of a concern as the bike course here was very flat, and by far one of the fastest courses around. Thanks to Machinery Row Bicycles I was riding a stellar Trek TTX that was tricked out and set-up to fit me perfectly. I knew I was going to rock the bike. I was rocking the bike to until about mile 13 when my front tire blew. Yep, I got a flat. In race like this, a flat tire means you're out of contention for anything, not to mention I ride tubulars which are glued on and therefore hard to replace on the fly. My race was done :/ The worst part was that I had been averaging over 27mph at that point.

It was quite demoralizing, but as my sister and teammates pointed out, I didn't end up in the medical tent this time.

Now, I wouldn't want to end on a sour note, and thanks to a phone call on Friday I won't be.

Zoot Sports, a triathlon/running/swimming/biking apparel company based in Vista, CA just happened to be looking for a summer intern. Now, since the internship I was planning on having in Chicago fell through due to major mistakes on the part of individual in Chicago offering it (namely going the terms of the internship from paid to unpaid, housing to no housing…two weeks before it was to begin), I was looking to find work around Madison, most likely as a bartender or for a small security firm as a ad consultant. My good friend Brad Culp from Triathlete Magazine though was holding onto my resume on the off chance something would pop up out there.

Zoot got a hold of me early last week and by Friday we had worked out the terms of an internship in the marketing department of Zoot Sports (www.zootsports.com). This means I'll get to spend the majority of my summer (June 17th to August 12th) in sunny San Diego working and training. As most of you probably know, I love that area of the country and have been trying to find a job out there or some other means to make that my new stomping ground. This is the opportunity.

So, as always, everything is happen like a whirlwind on my end. I love that! I like the adventure and rapid fire pace of things. It keeps you on your toes and guarantees that you never get bored! Now, if you're out in the San Diego area this summer at all, please, drop me a line!

I'll be out in Colorado and Utah for a couple races the weekend of June 14th before heading to San Diego directly from Denver and my coach's (who I can't say enough good things about) house. I promise to keep everyone updated as the internship progresses, as I am sure it will provide for many good experiences and tales to tell. Look for another update prior to my departure for Colorado and then again after that weekend's set of races.

Last of all, thanks to Wolfman (that really is his name!) for letting my sister, my teammate Tate and I crash at his place for the weekend of Memphis in May. Also, thanks to Machinery Row for the outstanding bike support and to Power Bar for their continued product and nutrition advice/support.

Stay in touch everyone, and check out www.kamnetz.com for photos of the past races.

Mazatlan Race Report...Glorious, I Think

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:10:21 GMT

As promised below you will find my race report for this weekend’s past race in Mazatlan, Mexico. I’m going to begin with the race report, and that at the end I’m going to add the more general travel notes and stories. Hope you all enjoy!

The morning of the race I woke up to a windy day with waves that would have made any surfer happy to see…needless to say, that didn’t make anyone feel too well while on the start line. The day’s races (yes, races, not race) began with the Junior Pan American Championship, so the 16-19 year-olds. This was when the race directors, myself, and pretty much anyone at the site realized that the swim was going to be rough that day. One fourth of the girls’ entire field was pulled from the ocean by lifeguards for what were deemed “life-threatening situations”, namely, near drowning or kids that had been knocked out by a wave. All of this chaos occurred at around 7 in the morning right on the coast. The Professional men were not scheduled to start until around 11:50 in the morning…that time got delayed back until 12:30 due to the late start of the junior race that morning. We, the PRO men, got to watch the PRO women start and attempt the swim. There was a period of six minutes where the women covered a total of no more than 200m…for reference, these are the best female Triathletes in all of North and South America, women who can easily swim 200m in 2:30 during an open water race, and on this day it took them over 6:00 time. They literally looked, and were, standing still in the water.

Well, anyways, we were told the swim was still on and that the giant coast guard boats would help block some of the waves (that hadn’t really worked for the women, but they pretended we didn’t see the women start), and not to worry too much…there were plenty of lifeguards on shore to help us if we washed up there. The true force of the waves it us when we watched a guard, on a jet ski, stand up, and the wave he was avoiding rose 5ft beyond his head.

At the start I did what I had learned to do last time I did an ocean start with large waves—I dove deep when they came, and prayed I timed it right. I made it under some, and got totally annihilated by others. There was a point that I looked at the guy next me, saw a building in the distance lined up with his head. I continued to swim with all my effort for 30sec, before looking at the same guy and seeing that we were still in line with that same building. We had not moved a single inch. After what seemed like an eternity, and more than a few head jarring hits from the wave, we got past the break. At this point there was one small lead pack and 3 chase packs. I was in the second of those 3 chase packs, or the 4^th of 5 packs. I came out in no man’s land between the 3^rd and 4^th packs, having gotten lucky by not being wrecked from any waves on the way in. four men were pulled out when they nearly drowned on the return swim to shore.

Being in between packs after the swim, I had some work to do. I didn’t want to wait around and see who may be in the pack behind me, so I took a gamble and went after the 3^rd pack, which was about 45sec up on me. We had an 8 lap bike course of 5km per lap. The thing is, these laps are straight out for 2.5km, and 2.5km right back. If you are in a pack, and you are drafting, you have a huge advantage on this kind of course. Momentum can be built and sustained easily. This meant that I spent almost 2 laps trying to catch the 3^rd pack while time-trialing. My coach yelled at me on the way out for the second lap that I had to catch them or risk being done then and there. I screamed, “I know that damn it! I’m going!” And, when I came around I was leading the pack, barking orders to the others in the pack on when to pull and when to pop off. I also took the time to yell at my coach, “See! I flipping told you!” I knew better than to swear and risk “un-sportsmanlike conduct”. We had one racer in the pack who would not take a pull. This became clear after about 30min on the bike. The group made a collective decision to try and drop him. Had he really been hurting and needing to sit on the back, we would have lost him then and there. But, he had no problem stopping us from dropping him. He quickly made many enemies in the pack. Worst part…he was one of the people I was racing against for a World Championship spot if the race stayed close.

I came off the bike feeling real strong. I was ready to put the pain on people during the run. My coach yelled at me to take it easy for the first kilometer and then pick up. He didn’t want me to urn out early, and from past experiences (Florida 70.3), I listened to him. The run was going really well until around the start of the third lap when I began cramping, and oddly, feeling cooled off…yes, cooled off even though it was 95+ degrees out and over 80% humidity. I knew this was NOT a good sign. I kept tossing cold water on myself every chance I got and drinking Gatorade as best I could. On the fourth and final lap I was a wreck. I was going in and out of awareness and was not shivering and had goose bumps all over my body. The guy that I was hoping to beat who sat on our bike pack was about a minute up on me and I just kept hoping I could get him. When I was the 1km to go mark on the run course it was all I could do to tell myself, “Don’t stop. Finish.” That is the final thing I remember. The next memory I have is me laying on a table in a tent with Sheryl, my coach’s wife, looking at me and telling me to calm down, and breath deep. I then have another blank spot, before remembering her talking to me again and tons of people yelling things all around.

Now, I had the gaps filled in later by my team and other onlookers. After seeing that 1km to go sign, they said I started going from one side of the road to the other like a ping-pong ball all the way to the finish line. Once I crossed the line I took steps, as if I was okay, and then just buckled at the knees into a heap and began convulsing and, what looked like full body cramping. Five of the race volunteers picked me up and ran me into the med tent where I was placed on a table and held down to have ice poured all around me. At this point I was non-responsive and going into what looked like seizures. They said I would come out of, go into a panic, not know who I was, try to get up, and then start breathing faster and faster. My temp was around 105, and I was holding steady at a pulse of 210-220 at this point. My breathing would get too fast and I start going back into these shakes. They even tried to give me oxygen while pouring more ice around me. This went on for about 30min before I stared to just shake and look around in a panic. They got me to respond to touch, but I just kept saying I couldn’t feel my face or anything that touched it, along with my feet. In the end, they got me cooled down and relaxed. That is when I remember Sheryl, and she said that shortly after I acknowledged her, I went back into a hyperventilating mode a few more times. After that, I remember everything, and it was not fun. From what I can tell, there is a total of about 1:15-1.5hrs in there that I don’t remember at all. The USAT and team members of mine who have been around this for years, said they have never seen something that bad before.

Morale of the story…don’t go to a race in extreme heat without be acclimated to it. I’m feeling much better now, but still am not all there in the legs, and I keep getting random headaches off and on. The doctors from the US National Team and my coach (a paramedic) said I’ll be fine after a couple days rest. In the end, I was one of 45 finishers out of a field of 62 of the best athletes in all of North and South American that started. It was one hell of an experience and real character builder.

Look for my general travel stories later tomorrow on my blog, again, at www.kamnetz.com . I’ll post them once I get back home to Wisconsin.

Oh, next race, Memphis in May on May 18^th in Memphis, TN.

P.S. I'll update you as to who makes the World's Team late on Wednesday after USAT announces it's selections.

What a ride...and the season just began!

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:39:07 GMT

Wow, it’s been quite some time since I put up an update for everyone. However, as a result I have plenty to fill you all in on. That also means I need to add the following disclaimer:

Grab a cup of coffee, a bottle of beer, a can of soda, or a bowl of ice cream. This is long J

Since the last update, quite a bit has happened. First off, I got accepted into the Power Bar Elite Athlete Team. Basically, what that means is that I am now sponsored by Nestlé’s Power Bar. With Power Bar being at the forefront of sport nutrition for as long as I can remember, I know I am in good hands. Not only does Power Bar supply the world’s athletes with great product, they also are a wealth of information.

Shortly after that notification, I left on my first trip of the year/season. A little bit before spring break, I took off for San Diego. I ended up staying with one of my closest friends, Brad Culp, and his girl friend, Jaime. Now, this leads me into a neat story about how I met Brad. He is a Triathlete also, and he went to school at Miami University-Ohio. Back near the end of my freshman year of college I competed in my first triathlon, Collegiate Nationals in Reno, NV. Brad Culp was also competing there. Both of us, by the end of the race, ended up in the Reno, NV Medical center. Brad was in there for a swollen foot (they had to cut his shoe off) due to some allergic reaction or other, and I for some torn ligaments in my knee resulting from a crash at mile one of the bike. Both of us finished the race and then got to spend the next 5-6 hours in the hospital together. We’ve been great friends ever since.

While I was out in San Diego I got to meet a number of the fellow writers and sales people from Triathlete Magazine. They are really a great group of people. Also, in addition to getting to meet them all, I was given another, regular column in Triathlete to write. It is found near the front of the magazine, and my first article for the new section will be found in the June issue. Of course, the primary reason for me to go out to San Diego was not to meet with people from Triathlete, but it was so I could get in some effective warm weather training. I did get in a ton too. The hardest workout was a set of 18 hill repeats on this hill that was roughly 1.5mi long and had an elevation climb of over 600ft near the ocean.

I think the most interesting part was the trip home. After being in San Diego for over 14 days, I wasn’t in any hurry to get home, and neither was the plane I was set to be on. The plane got hit by a small song bird, and as a result, we sat in the San Diego airport for 4+ hours longer than we were scheduled to. Needless to say, I got to run through the airport in St. Louis trying to make a connecting flight, which resulted in my going to Milwaukee and driving home (thanks pops) after getting in past midnight. Airlines always make for good adventures.

I was home for 2 days after the San Diego trip before flying out to Houston and The Woodlands, TX for yet more warm weather training, and this time a race as well.

I did yet another home-stay (something I am getting very used to, and enjoy tremendously), this time with the Sutherland household. Sandra Sutherland is a triathlon coach and her son, Sam, is on the Multisport Madness junior team. I ended up staying at their house along with another team member, Lindsay Baker (Salt Lake City, Utah). We spent the first two nights at the Sutherland house in The Woodlands before going out to Galveston Island where we stayed at the beach house of one of Sandra’s athletes. It was pretty cool getting to stay on the ocean.

After getting to sleep in a house built on stilts, we headed over to the Lone Star Triathlon race site where everyone was signed up for the sprint distance race. At this point Linely Wendt, my coach’s son, was with us for the race as well. It ended up going very well for all of us as far as season openers go. I finished third overall with good time in each leg of the race. Sam finished a strong fifth place, while Linely had a little trouble with the run due to his bringing old shoes that no longer fit him.

On a non-athletic note, Linely, Lindsay, and I went out with Sam that night to chill and relax after the race. So, Sam took us to meet some of his friends, and, well, I really felt like I was in Texas at that point. Everyone was talking about football, we pulled pick-up trucks together to make one large bed, and they all used the word y’all instead of you all J All of the common stereotypes for Texans were fulfilled that night!

Oh, and guess what, the trip home…my plane managed to hit a bird, again. That’s right, I got to sprint through airports, see airports I wasn’t planning on seeing, and get home well after 2am that following morning. I am an expert on flight changes though now.

After five full weeks of traveling, I had one more week to go.

I went with the UW Cycling trip out to Indiana and the Purdue and Marian campuses for some strict cycling races. This was a first for me. I had always looked to do a cycling only race, but never have been able to get it to fit with the triathlon races. I mean, sure, I could have found one, but the cost of getting to one far away would not have been worth it, so, this was a cheap trip, and it was the best kind—a road trip!

To be perfectly honest it brought back memories of high school XC races to Minnesota or the State meet. There were six of us to a room with only two beds per room. The cars had 4 seats and 5 people in most cases. Cram ‘em in, and drive! It was a blast. I mean, there was even that waiting period between the A, B, C and D races like there would be between varsity and JV races.

Anyways, to cut to the chase here, I raced in a road race and a Team Time Trial. The Team Time Trial (TTT) came first. Being a Triathlete and thus accustomed to time trial type riding, I ended up leading the team out of the blocks, and stayed on the front the whole way. It was a blast. I actually had fun sitting on the front and pulling the whole way, and it was even more worth it when we found out that we had the winning time on the day. About 2 hours time later I was off the line and into the road race. I went off the front and made an attempt to run away with it about 2mi into the 24mi race…I didn’t wait long. Only one other racer went with me. He sat with me the rest of the race. I have to give him credit too, he is one hell of a climber, and while I was able to pull him at a higher tempo than he was willing to set on the flats, I couldn’t shake him. The race ended at the top of a climb, and he managed to out kick me by half a wheel length. Better luck in my next one.

In between all of the travel, I have still been keeping up on my school work. I’ve been working closely with my professors and TAs, who are wonderful this semester, to stay current on the notes and lectures. So far, the exams have been stellar, and the papers have been turning out even better. Maybe it is due to all the down time in airports I seem to be getting…that’s a lot of time to read! I also finally declared my majors, a double in Economics and History, and signed up fall classes. By doing those two things, I am now officially eligible for graduation in the December (that would be 3.5 years, or a semester ahead of schedule).

That was the last trip I had. This past week I was at home the entire time, and that was a pleasant relief for once. I did make one trip back into McFarland for a workout that involved me riding my bike in the pool area to simulate the high heat of my upcoming race.

That is the real important part of all this travel and the Lone Star Triathlon and two cycling races. They were a build up for the race that is coming this weekend, on April 19^th, in Mazatlan, Mexico. The race is also the PATCO Pan American Triathlon Championships. In short, that means it is the championship race for the North and South American continents. More importantly for me, there are two U23 World Championship slots up for grabs. Only three Americans qualify for the U23 Worlds race, and one of those has already been awarded to Ethan Brown of Colorado for his performances last year, which means my chance of qualifying rests on this weekend’s race.

My hopes are high, but at the same time I would be lying trough my teeth if I tried to say I wasn’t nervous. I know I’ve done the work that needs to be done, and as Bruce Fischer would tell me, there is nothing left to do but race my best. That is exactly what I plan to do. Sean Wendt has done a wonderful job of working with me and training me to be one of the best out there.

So, the next update you will see from me will be direct from Mazatlan, Mexico later in the day on April 19^th after the race. Also, if I can’t get to a computer, feel free to check triathlon.org and look under the events section for Mazatlan.

Stay in touch everyone!

It's All Coming to Fruition!

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:23:50 GMT

Wow, it sure has been awhile since I last sent out an update on the happening in the triathlon world, and with all that has happened in the last month or so, I feel one is now due.

To start off, I will be graduating a semester ahead of time—that being this fall—with a double major in Economics and History. This wasn’t at all planned, as I had thought about doing a semester abroad in Florence or London. However, the team I joined back in October, Multisport Madness Triathlon Team, has presented me with some chances of a lifetime.

To refresh, the professional portion of the team is based out in Colorado. As a result, I went to Colorado (Arvada to be exact which is just 15min west of Denver) for two weeks over the winter break. Well, needless to say, I loved the time I spent out there and the guys from the team. The offer was then made near the end of the trip for me to move out there the minute I was done with school. I am only going to be young once, so why not take a stab at this, and why not sooner rather than latter? I can always travel the world later in life.

The team has been great so far on all fronts. We are being fully equipped by 2XU for all our aperal and race suits. We have Exustar Cycling shoes (we’re the only team they will sponsor in the US) and Blue Bicycles as our leading sponsors. I personally am supported by BNRG, Rudy Projects, Kona Endurance, and Fiber Wise Pasta as well. My new coach, Sean Wendt, who is working with Jude on my weights, otherwise running everything, has been great thus far. He has me feeling like I am in some of the best pre-season shape of my life. We are moving out of the base phase, and I feel completely prepared for it. And, this year that it is crucial.

I will start my season early like I did last year. I will be back in Galveston, TX for the Lone Star Triathlon on the 29^th of March. I will be in Texas in part for a mini-training camp with some of the team’s guys and gals. This race will also be my primary preparatory race before the big one. Just like in the past two years (the only other years I have been in this sport) my biggest race of the year will be one of my first.

On April 19^th of this year I will be in Mazatlan, Mexico for the PATCO Pan American Triathlon Championship race. This race is also the only qualifying event for the only three U23 World Championship spots available to the US team. This is a continental cup, so that means it will be draft legal, and it will be highly competitive being the PATCO Championship. My goal this season is quite simple…qualify for Worlds. That of course means my primary focus is to race my best at the PATCO event in Mazatlan. Right now, things are looking great, so I am confident we are on the right path.

I would love to fill everyone in on the rest of my season’s events, but I don’t yet know what they will be. I can tell you that I will be in Chicago for the entire summer working an internship for our team’s founder, Keith Dickson, who works in high end real-estate (for instance, owning the land on the hill where the Hollywood sign sits). I will work to help him as well as work on managing the team in terms of sponsorships, development, and advertising. I will also be doing a number of criterium cycling races in the spring here too. It should be a great time.

As always, I will keep everyone up-to-date on the season and where I’ll be going. Take care everyone, and the best to you all!

New Team!

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 20:13:48 GMT

A lot has happened since I last sent an e-mail out to everyone.

I guess the first thing I should mention is that I ended up not going to San Francisco for my scheduled last race of the year. I wont bother you will the details here (go here if you want more information and check the blog articles), but I will say that there was a huge mess-up on the race directors end out in California that would have resulted in my trip costing ~65% more. As a result, my coaches, parents, and I decided that going to the race was not worth the increased cost and hassles associated with those costs. There was no benefit to racing besides increased experince as there were no worlds spots or other advantages from the race that justified the costs associated with it.

On another note, I just recently joined up with an Elite team (formerly Riptide Multisport) that is based in Arvada, CO (just outside of Denver) and recently merged with MultiSport Madness, the name the new combined team will retain. The two primary leaders of the team are Sean Wendt and Kieth Dickson. They are supported in large part by Coach Reese from Austin, TX swimming who writes our swim workouts.

As a result of joining MultiSport Madness, I will be racing at nearly all Pan American Cups in the US barring any injuries. I will also be racing in Mexico on April 19th at the U23 PATCO race instead of Collegiate Nationals. I have also been invited to train in Colorado with Sean and the other PROs on the team this winter break. The PROs that are living out in Arvada, CO are all over the U23 age category and have longtime experince in ITU racing (some of which is on the World Cup circuit). It's a high powered team that is well equipped, funded, and extremely well organized.

So, since I am now in my "off season" for the next week or so, I'll be relaxing and enjoying the short break from intense training. Take care everyone, and stay in touch!

End of Season Mess Up...

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 15:55:05 GMT

Well, to be honest, I can’t remember the last time an athletic season ended this way for me. In fact, I’ll wager that it never has (though, I must add that I could very well have pushed such a situation in the depths of my mind to rot and be forgotten).

End of my season you ask? Yep, that’s correct; it’s over without a capping race. I was, as you all know, supposed to be in California for a race this weekend. The Treasure Island ITU Pan American Cup to be exact. Instead, I am still here in what is starting to shape up as a normal, freezing cold winter for Wisconsin.

The story goes like this. I had been promised a home-stay out in California by the Race Director back at the beginning of September (the 8th to be exact according to the e-mail records), or, over two months before race day. That never happened even though I continued to check in with the race director on this topic over and over. There is a string of over 23 e-mails on the topic. With two weeks to go, she just stopped communicating with me. I had no details as to where I was going to be staying. We began looking for hotels as a safety net at that point…they were all full or costing over 140 per night at the least. Long story short, I never got a home-stay and couldn’t justify spending 140 per night for five nights. The race wasn’t a qualifier for anything, and spending that much on a hotel alone (I needed to get a car, food, and plane tickets in addition to that) for one race. I could’ve spent a good chunk of time in Europe for a race at that price.

After talking to my coaches—Jude, Sean, and Keith—it was decided that the trip was not going to be worth the effort, or the cost. So, I pulled out. I tried calling and e-mailing the race director once more to inform her of this decision…apparently she never got it. At 3:50am on the day I was supposed to fly out to Cali, she e-mailed me telling me (who she called Adam) that a place had been found. That’s great…telling me this 2 hours before my plane is set to depart. It didn’t matter though; the tickets had been changed to another event I am going to in December. In short, Tri California has some pretty poor management, or just very poor communication skills.

Well, that’s pretty much the story. The season is done on my end (without a race, booo), and I now get a little relaxation time before starting back into it for next year. (And a VO2max test next week.)

But, stay in touch, and good luck to all my summer swimmers who made it to the WIAA meet this weekend (and my little sister!!!).

Green Bay Duathlon

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:04:37 GMT

Sorry in advance to all the non-Packer fans, but go go Pack! Aren't we on fire!?

Now that I got to say that, I'll fill you in on my current build up to the Treasure Island ITU Pan American Cup Triathlon in San Francisco on November 10th of this year. That is going to be my last race of the season.

This past weekend, I went to Green Bay for a Duathlon that I has also competed in last year. I left for Green Bay after I got done working at the Badger game, which meant I didn't get to Appleton (I stayed at Jessie Duppler's house, even though she is currently in Australia...her parents rule though and they let me stay there nonetheless) until after 11pm Saturday. The race started at 7:30am in Green Bay, or 40min from the Duppler's home. This meant that if I was going to eat breakfast, which I was, and get in a warm-up I would need to leave the house at 5:30 Sunday morning. That meant getting up at 5:15 at the latest. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that night, and having been up for 18 hours, I wanted lots.

Still, I didn't really think about this the day of the race. No, I was thinking about the possibility for some heavy hitting competition in the form of a Kiwi, Will Smith (not the movie star), Brian Schaning, and Chris from UW-Lax. All three of these guys are top shelf racers. I knew that if I messed up anywhere I would not beat them. That was a fact. Being a duathlon, there was no swim, so all my work in that area this year wasn't going to help me out much. No worries. I can run fine :)

The first leg of the race was a 5K run that took us into the neighborhoods surrounding Lambeau Field and finished off with a run around the outside of the stadium. I lead all but the last 1/4mi of the run when we turned into the unshielded head wind. I then backed off the front and let Brian and Chris duke it out on the front. I was going to use the bike for cementing my lead anyways.

I came out of T1 feeling really good and began hammering on the bike. Brian and Chris went through T1 quicker than I had expected, and as a result they got about 15sec on me (time out of T1 and the little lead on the run I gave them totaled roughly 15sec), and that is equivalent to about 50yds when biking at our speeds. No worries though, the second half of the bike had a tail wind, and I'd let them stress out trying to make a break while I chased. It's always easier to chase than to be chased. Well, this was all great if I wouldn't have made a wrong turn. We came into this small city and there were a bunch of twists and turns so I wasn't able to see the two ahead of me at all times. Well, I saw a cop with his arm out stretched point left, so I got up to him and turned left. He wasn't pointing for me, but telling cars to stop instead. I went 1.5mi off course before I was told I was going the wrong way. Opps.

Remember how I said that if I made any mistakes I wouldn't be able to win? Well, that was the mistake I was referring to. Even though I closed the gap that was now huge between me and the two leaders, I wasn't able to close it all the way before the race's finish line.

When I got off the bike there was a 1mi run around the stadium and into the finish chute. I had the fastest time on this leg for the day, but even that didn't close the gap enough. I finished 3rd overall, and felt really good minus the whole off course thing. Yet another reminder to preview the course before racing. But, that wasn't possible at this race.

On another note, I raced back home in McFarland on a relay, so I want to say thank you and congrats to Jacob Ostrander and Mr. Attridge for inviting me and taking us to a sweet victory at that race. I also took a cycling test for USAT that measured my wattage output, and I averaged 323 watts for the 10K course, or 23 watts over the benchmark for possible USAT National Team selections/interviews. In other words, things are looking good and going well.

Expect an e-mail shortly before my departure to San Fran in November here.

Thanks again for all your support, and as always, check out http://googlepages.kamnetz.com for my past updates.

McFarland Triathlon Festival

Sat, 29 Sep 2007 08:11:41 GMT

Back on the 22nd of September I was asked to head home to McFarland and participate in the local triathlon that is ran their every year in conjunction with the family festival. I wasn't asked to race it on my own, but instead I was asked to help some old friends with a relay as the biker.

Now, normally I would never do a relay, but I didn't have to be at my bartending job until 3:30 that afternoon, and I wasn't doing any other workouts, so I obliged to help out.

Considering I was up really late hanging out with a friend, I wasn't expecting much from myself. I mean, when you stay out until 2:00am and then get up at 6am, things don't seem to be recovered very much. I was still sore, and even though I was nursing my Monster Energy drink (I need a sponsorship from those fellas!) I was still pretty wiped out.

Our swimmer was actually the father of a gal I went to school with and is now studying in South America for the semester. He did the 400meter pool swim in around 7:40 (that's pretty close to exact conversions for a 500yd free) which was the 3rd fastest for the relays. When he tagged me for the bike leg, I was down about 2min from the lead biker. That lasted until about mile 3.5 when I caught and passed the lead biker. The course, a fairly challenging route of hills and multiple turns. All said and done, I finished the bike (17mi total) in an average pace of 27.6mph...not too shabby considering the lack of sleep and notice of 3 days time. Our runner, Jacob Ostrander, took the 3.0mi run inn just over 15min time giving us the win and the course record.

It was a fun, and relaxed race. It's this weekend, the 29th-30th that holds a big race in my mind. I'll be going to Green Bay for the Green Bay Duathlon which is held right next to the Packer's stadium. It's a big deal for me because last year it was my first ever duathlon and I finished second overall only to William Smith, the Kiwi Olympian.

It should be a good race tomorrow morning against Will seeing is he is one of, if not the best duathlete and triathlete in the region.

Race report Sunday night!

ISU Cyman Triathlon

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 23:18:19 GMT

Normally I wouldn't send out an update without a big race on the horizon or a result from a big race. I don't want to flood your mailboxes :)

However, I felt this was worthy of sending out to all of you.

This past weekend, the 26th of August, I went out to Iowa on the invitation of my friend to do a race he helped organize and run. The race's name was the Iowa State University Cyman Triathlon. It is a fairly long running race. I didn't really plan much for this race it was done on more of whim and the invitation of friend who had a pull out coach and good camaraderie, so naturally I accepted. I drove over to Ames, Iowa on Saturday in the morning and got there around mid-day. I scouted the race course by simulating the race. I did the 500m swim, the 15.5mi bike, and the 5K run as if it were race day. I felt good.

I then went on to hang out with my pals, which included going to church (that is a whole story in and of itself...let me know if you want to hear it), touring the campus, visiting some of the local coffee hangouts and a local sports bar that allows you to see for miles as it is on the top floor of a 12 story building. We then retired to the apartment to watch Braveheart in full. Coach Fischer would've been proud as I requested to re-watch the big fight scene at the battle of Stirling, just for the pre-battle speech :) As always, it gets you pumped, so we didn't hit the sack until well after 1:30am Sunday...we got up at 4:45am Sunday for the race :)

When race day arrived I drove to the site, picked out my transition site, and went for a 5K run followed by stretch bands for my arms to loosen up. It was at this point that my pal, John, told me that there were two other PRO racers at the race. both of whom have won the race in the past...by a lot. Okay...looks like we'll being going harder than planned.

I was in wave one, the other two PRO racers were in wave two, so I'd have to time trial it as I wouldn't know how close they were to me until after the race, and they'd be able to push off each other.

The swim went well. I got a little shocked when a girl came out of the water right next to me though. Am I getting slower? (No offense to the ladies reading this...I just haven't ever been beat by a gal in swimming that is younger than me...she is 17) No, she was a on a relay team and state champ swimmer, so she collapsed in the transition zone after having her partner go on the bike leg. From this point forward it was just me and the lead motorcycle. I got to follow him for the three laps of the bike were I held a 26.1mph average and entered T2 as people were still exiting the water. I think I confused some volunteers at this point. From that point on it was just me and the old cross-country trail until I hit the finish line, which was at the 1:03:22 mark. Not bad. The next person to cross was at the 1:06:56 mark from my wave. The two PRO racers from wave two had a final time of 1:04:00 and 1:04:36...

I got my first overall race win of the season. The race had roughly 400 athletes in it and it was an extremely well ran race. Nathan, who came in second is a very talented athlete, and made me work extremely hard to win on Sunday.

Thanks again to all of you for the support. I really do appreciate it!

As always, for those new to the list-serve, feel free to puruse my sites at:
http://sponsorhouse.loopd.com/Members/kamnetz/Home.aspx
http://kamnetz.googlepages.com/

Longmont Results

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 18:43:29 GMT

Let me start by saying that I don't have official results in my hands yet, so I wont be able to tell you the exact place I got, but I will have a rough idea for you. The race started with 55 racers toeing the start line at 11:45am in 97 degree Colorado high altitude heat. No shade, no breeze. Water temp was a warm 24 degree centigrade (the ITU people are from Canada, so they don't understand Fahrenheit). Most of you know that I was scheduled to begin the race at noon local time, but at Saturday's pre-race meeting we were told it would be 11:00am local time instead. So, that means we all planned for that start time. When it got changed, nobody told the athletes until they were lining up to enter the water. That kid of messed up our warm-ups, but it didn't really faze any of us.

As for the race...

The swim went really well this time around. I took a spot on the start line behind Hunter Kemper and Andy Potts right in the middle and followed them into the water. I held a great position at the front all the way to the first buoy turn (this was roughly 250meters out) where I had a bad turn and got kind of messed up. No problem though, we gt right back into it and clipped on to some feet and swam my arms off. I need stop here and thank those of you that have been going open water swimming with me, as it helped. When I finished the fist lap of the swim I was with the 3rd pack of swimmers. I stayed in this pack all the way through the rest of the swim and came out in a strong place with a good group of people to work the bike with. The lead pack was made up of Andy Potts, Hunter Kemper, Brian Fleischmann, and Tim O'Donnell. The 2nd pack was fairly large, but not too far ahead of us.

My swim to bike transition was going great until my flying mount where I missed the shoe and snubbed my toe into the ground. I recovered quite nicely though and sprinted to catch the pack that I was going with. I got right into the mix of things with about 8 other guys with all of us working together really well at first. Then, people started being stupid to put it mildly. Guys would launch attacks on the group or go onto the front and slow us down on the straights which was getting to be annoying, but it was the least of my worries. Once people started behaving themselves, we were cranking along. My down fall came shortly there after on lap 3 of a 6 lap course. We had a stretch of about 800 meters that had 4 turns mixed into it. While I may be a very powerful, and overall strong cyclist, I still need more work on my handling. These few rapid fire turns caused me to lose contact from the small pack I was in due to my in ability to stick with them at the high speeds they had in the turns. I'm just not experienced enough with that yet...so that is the big thing I need to work on here. I was lucky though. Due to us having the top ranked triathletes in the world with us, a number of athletes got lapped and therefore taken out of the race. I was not one of them. While I had to kill myself to make that happen, I made it through the bike with a time-trial ride over the last 3 laps.

We then moved into the run. I was feeling the heat at this point and took the transition from bike to run a bit slower than I would have liked but knew I needed to put down more fluids and decided a few seconds in T2 was worth the extra hydration. It was odd coming though there and seeing all the lapped racers packing up their stuff though, I will admit that.

As I headed out onto the run I realized that it was going to be a very lonely one. The packs that had ridden together on the bike leg were just far enough ahead of me that I never could quite see them around the turns in the dirt, yes dirt, road. On the first lap of the run I felt pretty awful for the first 2K before finding my rhythm and pumping it after people. I started to really feel the heat once again at around the 7K mark on the run. It hit me pretty hard and I slugged up the rest of the one hill on the course. From there, it was all downhill. By this point a number of people that had managed to make the bike leg dropped out due to the heat. Van de Wyngard (one of the possible 2008 Olympic Contenders for Chile) was among those dropping from the race. A few people were taken out via medical personal in ambulances. My last scary moment of the run was with 800m to go when I all of a sudden began to cramp...there was no stopping now though. I pushed through (I can still feel it a bit in that leg like a dull burning now, 5 hours later) and managed to hit the finish line in 34th or 35th place (again, no results yet so I can't tell for sure) and 6th or 7th in the U23 division as the youngest athlete at the race.

All in all it was a better experience than Geneva was, though I am still far from where I would like to be. I could blame it on the altitude or the heat or anything else, but to be honest I just need more time in the pool still and some good old fashioned technique work on the bike to better hit those corners.

What that means is my next big race is November 10th in San Fran (I am no longer doing Clearwater 70.3 Worlds anymore as I want to focus on the Olympic Distance), but I will most likely throw in some non-drafting races here and there for high effort workouts and transition practice. I will also be doing any cycling race I can find in the area to improve those handling skills. I'll keep you all updated here via e-mail on on my blog at http://www.sponsorhouse.com/Members/kamnetz/Home.aspx and http://kamnetz.googlepages.com/ as well.

I send out an e-mail tomorrow with the official finishing place for you all to see.

Rock-on!

Longmont Triathlon Preview

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 14:51:20 GMT

Well, my second ITU Pan American Cup race is now less than 5 days away. I made it out to Colorado safely and am staying with the Patch family who are close family friends. I got here to Denver yesterday morning and was able to get into a pool shortly there after. I can tell that the air is thinner here, but it isn't affecting me as badly as I had thought it would. I plan to go for a run here later today and then take another trip over to the pool and see how that goes.

As for what he race looks like, it is going to be very fast again, just like it was in Geneva. While last time we had former Olympians, this time we also have the top ranked (as in top 6) Americans who also happen to be in the top 50 in the world (including for those following the sport in general, Kemper, Potts, Jarrod S., etc). The quality of field is going to be a real treat. I had said that I wanted to prove my worth in this race, and with this kind of competition, I am sure going to get my chance. I feel good, and I feel fit. It should be a fun time with a great performance from me as well.

On an unrelated note, the summer swim season just recently ended back in Madison with the All-City swim meet (which was much more draining than I had anticipated) where my 13-14 boys and girls won the title. I had a lot of fun coaching all the groups I worked with this summer. It was more enjoyable than I could have ever expected, and I already miss it.

Anyways, I'll shoot you all an update on Sunday after the race or Monday morning after I get my feet back underneath me.

Take care!

ITU Pan American Cup Triathlon, Race Report

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 20:56:56 GMT

As promised, here is today's race report.

Let me start off by saying that the race did NOT go anywhere near planned. On my end at least.

Weather: Temp of 79f with variable clouds turning into rain at the end of the run...winds strong at 20mph sustained.

We started off checking in our bikes at 1:30 in the afternoon (this is EST remember), which included rulers and strings to check for proper bike geometry and sizing. Helmets were also looked over in great detail for any defects or out-of-the-ordinary set-ups on them. Once I had gotten everything checked in and my chip onto my ankle, I went out for a run to warm-up and get loose. The warm-up felt great. I did two strides that felt excellent and decided to cool it and stretch.

We all moved towards the starting area around 2:45 and watched the women's wave go off promptly at 3:00p EST via an in the water start. (They held a yellow rope out to make the start line in the water). We, the men, began moving down to enter the water shortly there-after and entered the lake at 3:11 in the afternoon. I moved out towards the yellow rope and found an empty gap, and I took it. When the horn went off at 3:13 I took off only to have some other athlete take my head and push in straight down into the water mid-breath. I took in a ton of water, and came up sputtering. I didn't have anytime to think about it though as the entire field was moving on. I basically coughed up water the entire swim, and to top it off, due to my lack of being able to breath from the coughing, I fell a bit behind the main pack and therefor managed to somehow spot to the wrong buoy and spend 30sec going off course. Sure, 30sec may not sound like a lot of time, but you'll see in a minute that it hurts more than you'd think.

I was one of the last out of the water which meant while everyone else was getting to ride in a pack (some packs of 7 others, the main one, of 18) I was solo riding the course in 20mph winds. This began to take its toll on me very quickly. Remember, in ITU racing we can draft, except I had nobody to draft off of. For those that don't know the benefits of drafting, when you draft you can go the same speed as a non-drafting person while using 40% less energy. The packs walloped me pretty badly. It was, according to mom and dad, very hard to watch as there was nothing I could do. Add to that, the course was more of a crit style course meaning that each lap was 3.1mi and full of super tight and very technical turns, so I was never able to hammer up to speed and catch the main group. I will admit, I began to get a bit demoralized here.

Coming into the second transition, I got a second wind knowing that I was a strong runner and put the hammer down. This was were a number of athletes began to drop out from fear of having a low finish. I, as you all can guess, refused to quit. I actually began to catch people that had lapped me (the run course was 1mi per loop so that lead bike group had a lap and half lead on me going into the run). I felt good on the whole run and was able to stay in good form until the 5th lap were I started to simply run out of energy. I still pushed on and came across the finish looking strong and avoiding the medical tent (unlike many others...I just don't want to go into them).

In simple terms, I was the last male to cross the finish line. My 12th ever triathlon, and it was probably the most horrid I will ever have. It was a rough, and very hard race to endure. This is a whole new world I am in now. One mistake or stroke of bad luck can compound quickly (getting nearly drowned at the start), and make for a very painful and miserable day.

I learned though. I was also told by the Team USA members that I shouldn't sweat it as the first PRO race is not a pleasant experience anyone.

That's for sure.

I know what I have to do though, and I know next race will be a whole different story. I'm going to spend more time in the pool over the next four weeks and get the swim right in Colorado so that I am not left alone on the bike and can then utilize my running background more effectively. I got my first one under the belt, and that is what matters. I may have been the last across the finish line today, but I didn't give up like the 10-15 others that did. I can promise you that because of that, next time I'll be in the upper echelon across the line.

Next race: Longmont Colorado ITU Pan American Cup/U23 National Championships (August 12th)

P.S. I am not doing the Evergreen Triathlon next week. I'll be there to help run it, but I wont be racing. I'll be focusing on training instead.

Geneva ITU Pan American Cup Preview

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 18:09:19 GMT

The first ITU race of my career as a professional athlete is this weekend, July 14th, in Geneva, New York. What makes this such a unique experience (beyond it being y first PRO race) is that I will be allowed to draft on the bike, start the swim from a dive (off of a platform), and I'll be racing in the mid to late afternoon. All of these are going to be new and different factors of the race. Oh, and there is the fact that it is going to be really, really fast :)

This race sees former USA Olympian, Victor Plata, current collegiate national champion, Kevin Collington, USA Elite Development and National Team members John Dahlz, Michael Orton, Mark Fretta, Doug Friman, Matt Seymour, and many other highly talented athletes. It is going to be an All-Star field on the starting line Saturday afternoon.

Training has been nearly flawless over these last few weeks which has really helped my confidence levels. I feel fit and ready to race. I know that this is going to be a very fast-paced race with a lot of learning going on from my end of things. But, that is okay with me. I have to start somewhere and I plan to make that first appearance and impression count. While I plan to use this as a learning experience of sorts, that in no way means I don't want to compete. In fact, the exact opposite is true. I plan to go out there and rock the Triathlon world with a fast, smooth, and top notch performance.

Look to see me crossing the line near the front (assuming all goes well of course!) on Saturday :)

Ann Arbor Triathlon Race Report

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 17:44:54 GMT

This is from the weekend of June 10th, 2007:

As some of you know, and others don't, I was quite sick these past two weeks...massive head-aches, loss of appetite, cramps, and extreme soreness. Needless to say, that meant I wasn't able to get in much to any training leading up to this race, nor were my energy levels all that high due to the loss of appetite. I was scared going into this race. It was the last race I needed to get my PRO card, and really my only good shot, or convenient shot, at getting the PRO card before this summer's ITU season began.

We had a wetsuit swim as the water was a warm 72 degrees (6 degrees under the legal limit for wetsuit use) and that went pretty well for me, minus the extreme roughness. People were in the mood to throw more elbows than usual this past weekend. Nonetheless, I came out of the water 4th for my wave, however, on the run up the hill to transition, felt really weak and tired (three cheers for a loss of appetite the week before!) and out of energy. So, I went out on the bike in a conservative fashion, staying relaxed and never hammering it, but just pushing right below my threshold line. I had the fastest bike split on the day. By now I was feeling real lose and relaxed...feeling good again. Though, I learned my lesson from the Florida race weekend and went into the run at a controlled pace. I soon realized there was someone right on my shoulder passing people along with me and keeping pace, I calmly told him he was free to go around (we were on a single track trail running hard-core cross-country style) and he politely declined in a winded breath. That made me feel good, he was tired. We then began to talk with each other as we continued to pass people. He, DeCook, told me he was already a PRO and just out for some fun. We ran together for 2.5 of the 5mi before he started to push off the front of us, and I told him to go for it (I wanted to play it safe and just cruise in). I ran the last mile, according to my clock, in 5:40 and still felt good enough to cheer people on as I caught them. DeCook won the race, but that was fine with me, I got 3rd overall and my PRO card as a result. Yes, I had lots left in the tank afterwards, but I saw no point in a senseless act of trying to win when all I needed was top 8...had I blown up like FL I may have lost my chance at a PRO card, so I was conservative, and it worked.

In short, or in summary, it was a great race, and nice to do an off-road run for a change.

My next race, the ITU race in Geneva, NY will not find me playing nice like I did with DeCook. Until then, I'll get in some good quality training, and keep you all posted on the outlook for that weekend's race.

Florida 70.3 Race Report

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 17:43:05 GMT

This is from the weekend of May 20th, 2007:

First off, I qualified for the World Championships Ironman 70.3 in Clearwater again for this fall on November 10th, so in that sense the race was a successful one. On the other hand, I made a bone-headed and amateur mistake that cost me a much high placing in the overall standings.

I was the first amateur overall out of the water and the first one out of the first transition zone. Additionally, I was the first amateur off the bike and into the second transition. Now, to make this clear, I was so far ahead of all the other amateur racers that the race officials tried to push me into the PRO bike corral (they were the only people ahead of me, and I had passed a number of them on the bike) since they were not even thinking of amateurs yet. When they got the message (I screamed, "I'm not a PRO yet! I'm not a PRO yet!) they moved and the announcer told the whole crowd that I was on fire and they needed to give me a round of applause. At this point I was already running out of the transition and took it upon myself to do a triple fist pump into the air in response to the crowd's applause. This of course got the announcer fired up and crowd roared with extreme intensity. Needless to say, this fired me up to max volume and I went like a bat-from hell out of the the transition zone into the run. Well, bad idea. I may have a had a huge lead, but even huge leads can be squandered if you're an idiot or do something stupid. I was a perfect example of this when I imploded on myself shortly after mile 3 (which took me 15:28 to get to...) and threw up all over the place. The rest of the run, to say the least, was not very pretty. I ended up averaging 8:01 for the run. I finished 4th in the age group and 70th overall.

Lesson learned. I felt so relaxed and strong in the water, and smooth as can be on the bike. I couldn't have asked to feel any better. Next time we'll just have to stick to that feeling and not ask for too much too quick.

Anyways, the primary goal of the race was accomplished with my Worlds qualification.