The End of a Season

Tom Robertson Photo

I looked at my blog today and realized that my last post was from France, oops!  In the interim I’m sure I was really busy filling other obligations or I might have forgotten about the blog world.  My travels since France have brought me to; Wisconsin, California, Florida, Colorado, and Mexico.  In the short 3 months I did some serious travel for racing, business, and fun.  Once again the end of the year has come as a surprise and I find myself attempting to wrap up everything in Montana before I point it South and head to Arizona.  Owen and I will be heading down to Tucson to set up The Cycling House for the year prior to Christmas.

130 mile rides are fun!

After returning from France I decided signing up for Ironman Wisconsin was a good idea.  France provided a much needed break from normal training but I was primed and ready for action upon my US return. I jumped in one sprint triathlon in Hamilton, Montana and this was the highlight of my IM build.  I decided to turn a 24 hour period into a brutal combination of training and racing.  Here is the brief of my 24 hours; 50 mile ride, Sprint triathon (1st place), 50 mile ride, pig roast, 5 mile run to race, 4 mile running race (5th place/pr 20:36), 5 mile run home.  The rest of my training included river swims, epic rides, and single track trail runs.  An injury free build set me up for a great race in Madison, Wisconsin on a course that suits most of my strengths.  I traveled with fellow Team Montana member, Adam Jensen to Wisconsin and stayed with my coach Jim Bruskewitz of Endurance Performance.  The race went well!  I finished 6th overall in 9:17 on a tough day with temperatures in the 80′s and high humidity.  I held of a late charge by Adam and he finished 7th less then a minute behind me.  Wisconsin was fun and I highly recommend the race to anyone considering Ironman.  The venue, race support, crowds, scenery, and course place Ironman Wisconsin at the top of my list for Ironmans in North America.

Owen and I ready to conquer the California swell!-Tom Robertson Photo

The second annual Cycling House camp in California was a huge success.  We were greeted by warm weather, sunshine, great surf, amazing produce, and epic rides!  The camp served as another good break from routine training and I traded the running shoes and googles for a surf board and waves.  The mental break from structured training served me well after France and I was hoping a  break in Cali would spark motivation for a late season push in racing.  The camp was epic and I was also able to ride on some amazing European like roads through wine country in the San Luis Obispo area.

Tom Robertson Photo

After California I returned to Montana for another 2 month block of training before Ironman Cozumel.  I decided to add in Miami 70.3 as primer for the hot humid conditions that Mexico would probably offer in November.  My training up to Miami 70.3 went well and I still remembered how to swim despite only being pounded by waves in California as I used my stellar surfing skills.  The week of Miami 70.3 I found myself getting sick and loaded my body with many different homeo-pathic remedies.  Nothing seemed to work and I toed the line in Miami with a slight cold in a freezing downpour.  I planned my trip to Miami for some good weather, warm racing, and of course babes on beaches but all I saw for three days was rain.  The start of Miami 70.3 was cold, wet, and dark and the feeling amongst the other pro’s seemed to be as unexcited as my own.  The race got better but rain, brutal winds, and humidity made the race tough.  I finished 22nd in a stacked professional field of nearly 50 male pro’s.  The race was not perfect but I also did pretty well, all things considered.  After the not so warm beaches of Miami I returned to Montana for what had potential to be another very cold month of training before Ironman Cozumel.  Training went well and I embraced my trainer and had some long sessions with my gas stove on high heat to get ready for some hot conditions.  Training was only interrupted briefly for a quick business trip to Vail, Colorado to explore the potential of some high altitude cycling camps.  Owen and I met with Rod Connolly of Dogma Athletica to explore some options for a camp.  After checking out Vail I’m excited to help host 2 camps in June 2012 with The Cycling House and Dogma Athletica.  Upon return from Colorado it was taper time and I had a couple days of rest before jumping on another plane for Mexico!

The trainer was my friend!

Ironman Cozumel started with a brief layover in Salt Lake City, Utah for Thanksgiving with my friend Blair and her family.  Ten hour layovers are not ideal unless you have a feast like Thanksgiving to get you out of the airport.  After gorging on some amazing food I made my way back to the airport for a red eye flight into Cancun.  Cozumel is a small island off the coast of Cancun so I lugged my bags and bicycle onto a ferry for a short ride across the ocean.  Cozumel was amazing!  I indulged in the local cuisine and ate Mexican food for every meal leading up to the race.  I avoided the local tap water and after a couple days of acclimitazation I was feeling great.  I was lured in by one of the many scooter rental companies and before I knew it I was rallying a scooter around the island.  Race morning was normal except for I forgot coffee and a pre-race gel but entering the warm 80 degree waters around 7am was quite enjoyable.  I had a great swim even though it was non-wetsuit and finished the swim portion in 57 minutes.  The bike and run courses were both 3 laps so difficult conditions would make this a real race of attrition.  The bike was extremely windy and I felt great until lap 3 and hit a very, very low point during a 15 mile cross wind section.  My feet hit the  ground for the run and immediately my swollen feet hurt but I quickly found a good rhthym.  I knew that many pro’s had pushed the pace on the bike and would probably be paying for it on the run.  I knew that I needed to run a 3 hour marathon if I wanted to break 9 hours so I pushed the pace and hit the half way mark in 1:29.  As I was returning to town for the start of the 3rd lap something weird happened in the road in front of me.  My blank gaze turned into total confusion as what appeared to be a wall moved closer and closer to me.  All of a sudden I was trudging along in a down pour and portions of the road were quickly disappearing under a small river.  The rain made the run extremely humid and a section of the course was under nearly knee deep water.  I continued my death march and finished the race in 9:04 in 13th place.  I was completely exhausted, depleted of fluids & fuels, and beat down from a long season of triathlon.  I was very pleased with my result although I’m sure the immediate look on my face did not show my pleasure even with my mustache.  The next days were spent lounging on beaches sipping cervezas and margaritas.  The off-season is now in full swing although I have found myself restless and ready to train.  The season was filled with many ups and downs; I raced 3 Ironmans, 5 half-ironmans, 1 olympic, 2 sprints, and 1 duathlon so I did pretty well.  The time has come for me to uproot myself from my Montana and plant myself back down in Arizona for another season working with The Cycling House.  I’m excited for the change and look forward to racing in 2012.