Leif Baradoy» races

A Rev3 Portland Surprise!

Leif Baradoy — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 02:40:16 +0000

I raced the Rev3 Portland earlier today. I won’t get into things too much, but I had a disappointing race. No point reporting times . . . they were all ridiculously slow.

Felt great leading up, but had some weird stomach issues the morning of the race and throughout the swim. I lacked power and pep on the bike, struggling to maintain a decent speed on a course I should have killed. The run literally had me crying out in pain as the muscles around both my knees (right first, then left followed suit) tightened to the point that I couldn’t run. I literally would run 20 or 40 steps, nearly fall over, walk a bit, then try to run again. Good times.

I want to put more distance between my performance at this event before I report on it in detail. It was a solid pro field and I look forward better representing my athletic capacity in the future. Suffice it to say that finishing was a real accomplishment today. DNFing was a real option, but I have a great deal more to learn and the hard knocks I took at this race will give me lots to ruminate on as I move towards being a competitive pro.

Congrats to Adam O’Meara who has a strong bike and good run.

Awesome = Large TT Bike + EVOC bag + lots of gear

Leif Baradoy — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 22:56:34 +0000

I’m headed to Portland tomorrow to race at the Rev3 Triathlon Series against some of the top long course pros in the world. Wild!

I wanted to highlight the EVOC Bike Travel Bag. Like many other triathletes, I’m a little bit OCD when it comes to transporting my bike. Travel bags are really important to triathletes simply because we all want to protect our bikes during travel so that we can make good on the training we’ve put in. Packing up a bike is part of the ritual of preparing for important races (or training blocks).

After doing my research, I decided EVOC were the best bags on the market (can’t beat German engineering) at a good pricepoint. After approaching EVOC, I was fortunate enough to get some sponsorship from them (thanks EVOC!). You can checkout EVOC bags in Victoria at Oak Bay Bikes, in Vancouver at Westpoint Multisport, and in Calgary at SpeedTheory.

I am 6’3 and I ride a large TT bike with long aero bars. As you can see from the photos below, my bike fits into the bag without any problem. There’s tonnes of space for all my other tri gear and travel stuff too. So, if you are smaller than a giant and want to protect you triathlon bike/tt bike, do consider EVOC.

Here’s a quick list of why I like EVOC’s bike travel bags:

Bags are sturdy but light, so they are easy to transport and handle (there are tonnes of handles and spots to grab/grip the bag)
Bags aren’t overly bulky, so they can fit in a cab or backseat of a small car
Bags are designed to stand upright easily, rather than lay flat. I’m convinced that this helps them get handled and packed into places more respectfully (as opposed to hard shell cases are treated as bomb-proof/airport-baggage-ape-proof, and get stuff stacked on top of them)
Because the bike is secured by straps and velcro strips to the bag, customs agents can easily open up the bags, look inside, and close everything up without disturbing the secure position of your bike. This is much different from when I had a hard-shell case, which exploded open upon inspection and then was none-too-carefully packed back up by some unknown agent (shudder)
The case looks nice
I tell myself that the bag is German engineered to protect the whole bike from hasty cabbies, airport baggage apes, curious custom’s agents, and other monsters. This helps decrease my worry when travelling.

Up next: Rev3 Portland (with a disc)

Leif Baradoy — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 21:17:52 +0000

This weekend, I’m flying down to Portland to race the Rev 3 Triathlon Series.

It is a super flat course, so I am borrowing a disc wheel from Dave S. from the Triple Shot group. I’ve never ridden a disc, but if there was ever a course for this wheel, the Rev 3 Portland is it. If nothing else, I’ll certainly look the part on race day (as if that makes any difference).

Rev 3 boasts a stacked international field, so I’m excited to test where I’m at. As importantly, the organization of this race is the best I’ve ever experienced. They communicate clearly (but not too much). They are responsive to athlete inquiries. They’ve helped me find a homestay (with no cats). I am completely impressed by the Rev 3. They are clearly on the positive path to growth and well worth making a destination race.

Following the Rev 3, my season might take a slight detour into the world of gainful (and flexible?) employment and financial stability. At my current level, living as a pro athlete has many advantages, but I’m not yet at the place where I’m drawing a consistent, livable wage. As much as I’m trying to convince Laura to work harder, I need to pull my weight too. That said, I’ve still got many years of racing pro ahead of me. I just need to make some prudent decisions in the present to set myself up for success in the future.

Depending how things shake down, I will likely race Sooke rather than the Ironman 70.3 Muskoka. Regardless, I’m going to work my tail off at the Rev 3 and hopefully attract some attention to my athletic pursuits. I am getting a better and better sense of the half-iron distance and, this weekend, I aim to make good on all the lessons from my past races.

I’m pleased that my fellow PT Performance Training athlete, Adam O’Meara, is also down at Portland for the race, as well as Stephen Kilshaw. It will be nice to see some familiar faces suffering alongside me.

Thanks to my sponsors SOLE, Dynamic Footworks, Oak Bay Bikes, Pen Run, Sable Water Optics, and EVOC for each of their assistance with my training and racing.

Up next: post on the EVOC Bike Travel Bag, which I am using to transport my bike to and from Portland. The EVOC bike bag is an amazing product, so I’ll post some photos of how it works with a TT/triathlon bike.

More photos from the Victoria Half

Leif Baradoy — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:57:55 +0000

My thanks to Davis and Kuyler for coming out from Vancouver to hang out and cheer me on at the Subaru Victoria Half. Good times were had.

Here’s some of the pics they snapped. As you can see, I experimented with wearing socks for this race. At Rev 3, I will likely ditch the socks and run in Saucony Kinvaras instead of my Nikes.

Placing Second at the Subaru Victoria Half-Iron

Leif Baradoy — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:35:40 +0000

I placed second overall at the Subaru Victoria Half-Iron Triathlon. My total time was 4:04:21.

Here’s the break down:

Swim: 26:54 (7th fastest)
T1: 1:21 (second fastest)
Bike: 2:14:51 (fastest bike split in the last few years with an average speed of 39.2km/h)
T2: 0:53 (17th fastest)
Run: 1:20:24 (6th fastest)

Full results here.

This race was my second half-ironman race as a pro. Summary: swim was off, bike was hard and I really killed the second loop, run was better than my Shawnigan experience, but still hurting and sorta lame.

I finished 6 minutes back from the winner, Adam O’Meara (sponsor alert: this guy is the real deal). In a race with a deeper field, I would not have placed second. Adam laid down a killer run that was 8min faster than me. Clearly, I’ve got some work to do. Of course, I’ll take the placing and the prize money and milk this experience for all the learning that I can. Since Adam and I have the same coach, I might just have to train with him more frequently to get my run down to a more competitive time.

On the swim, I made some tactical errors in choosing whether to pass or draft some of the swimmer’s infront of me. I opted for the latter, although the pace was slightly dialed down from what I was ready for. Unfortunately, I got blocked in and then a lead group took off before I had time to respond. Also, I missed a few swim sessions over the past weeks, so I’m certain that those skipped sessions didn’t help me along at all.

The bike was a really challenging course for me. Lots of hills, false flats, sketchy pavement, some really tight, fast turns. Couple that with my brakes being too loose, you have the recipe for a good time.

I got a great deal of encouragement at this race. Friends from Vancouver and locally came out for the express purpose of cheering me on. During the run, I crossed paths with Brent McMahon, who not only told me too keep it up, but also gave me some in-race tips on form. His comments helped me to refocus and relax.

Also, before the race, I was chatting with Jasper Blake and he said something like: “Go suffer. This is not about fun.” I reflected on this quote a bit as I rode (and suffered). As my energy would wane, I’d use it to refocus.

The advice and support from friends and athletes alike really helped me have a much more positive race this go around. Thank you all for your support and interest. It means so much to me and it actually helps.

My next race is fast approaching. I’ll be packing my tri bike in my EVOC Bike Bag and heading down to Portland, Oregon for the Rev 3 on July 10th. Laura is joining me for the weekend, as the race date is also her birthday, so I’m intending to enjoy the city with her once the race is completed.

The Rev 3 is going to be a flat, fast course, so I’m looking forward to seeing how I’ll perform at that venue. Adam is also coming down to race, so I’ll have yet another chance to try to best him! If anyone has a disc wheel to sell/lend me, do drop me an email.

Victoria Half: Coming Soon

Leif Baradoy — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 19:10:51 +0000

Two days from now, I’ll be hammering out a half-iron at the Subaru Victoria Triathlon. My last race—my first attempt at the half iron distance—provided the opportunity for many painful lessons. I am looking forward to finding out what sort of student-of-triathlon I am on Sunday.

I’m really looking forward to this race. The run course around Elk Lake is familiar terriritory and there is something about the vibrant vegetation that I find calming. My hope is that this sense of connectedness will help me as I suffer through and make a worthy effort at racing.

I’ve not seen the full list of competitors yet, but I know that many of Victoria’s experiences pros will be racing this weekend. I look forward to racing against familiar faces, although I’m not expecting to receive or give any sort of mercy on the course. Adam O’Meara—friend and training mate—placed first at this race last year, so I’ll be looking to challenge him more seriously than I did a few weeks back. I do know that this race will require some real suffering, and I think I am more mentally prepared for this weekend than I was at Shawnigan Lake.

So, stay tuned for results.

Thank you to Dynamic Footworks, Oak Bay Bikes, SOLE, Pen Run, EVOC, and Vega for helping me be competitive at the pro level. Special thanks to the abundantly talented and utterly committed Noa Deutsch of PT Performance Training for her coaching and nutritional help. Without Noa, I wouldn’t be as far ahead as I am (although there is still a long, long road ahead).

Good safety, suffering, and fun to all those racing this weekend!