Yesterday I ran in one of Denver’s biggest road races, the Running of the Green 7k. It’s a hilly course that starts in downtown Denver and winds up through Highlands, most of the race is spent going up or down some pretty serious hills.

I was really excited to race since it’s been awhile, and an even longer while since I’ve been in shape! I’ve been really happy with how my run has been progressing now that I am focusing on that 100% (no swimming and cycling for me this year). Still, it’s hard to put an actual gauge on fitness on workouts alone so I was looking forward to testing myself in the 7k.

The race draws about 4000 participants and the start area was complete pandemonium. People, strollers, dogs, and beer flooded the street and I didn’t think I would make it up to the starting line in time for the gun. Luckily I made it with 2 minutes to spare.

I got out well enough and went through the first mile in 6:00, before slowing down on the uphill. The second mile was way too slow (6:59!) and I fought to get my head back into it. I caught a couple of the girls I had let pass on the second mile and started to feel strong in the third mile where I put in a 6:10. For awhile I thought I could keep accelerating and move my way up to a top-5 finish, but I faded with a 6:25 4th mile. I ended up in 8th at 28:01.

I’m not that happy with it, but I can’t be too disappointed either. I pinpointed some things that I definitely need to work on (i.e. more consistent splits, staying focused…my usual suspects). Next Sunday I’m racing the New York City Half Marathon, which has been my focus for the past 2 months. I’ve gotten in some solid longer runs and though yesterday afternoon I was definitely rethinking my somewhat outlandish goal of 1:19, I’m not ruling it out. It will take it a great day and I’ll have to suffer like never before, but I think I can do it. I’ll have great support from my parents and family who will come up from New Jersey to watch (and my cousin is also running!) and I can ride high on great memories of high school track races in Manhattan. But, more about that next week.

Here’s a little video Jordan put together of the race. Not surprisingly Michael Aish totally dominated the race, but our good friend Matt Kempton had a solid race and finished 3rd!

Amy Dannwolf finishing at Escape from Alcatraz.

Riptide’s newly minted pro, Amy Dannwolf, finished 8th overall at the iconic Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon on Sunday May 2nd. Dannwolf positioned herself well on the 1.5 mile swim that starts with a leap off a ferry anchored next to Alcatraz. She lost a couple of places on the bike, but was able to use a strong run to finish in 8th in a star-studded field that included past World Champions and Olympic medalists.

Fellow Riptide athlete, Jordan Jones, finished in 11th place overall, using swift bike and run splits to move up after a lackluster swim. The men’s field featured many Olympians such as Bevan Docherty, Hunter Kemper, and Andy Potts, as well as former Ironman World Champion Chris “Macca” McCormick .

Jordan Jones finishing at Escape from Alcatraz.

The Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon is the Boston Marathon of triathlon, with 1800 athletes across the globe all facing the once thought impossible 1.5 mile swim across the San Francisco Bay from Alcatraz. The bike leg is 18 miles of steep, winding hills through some of San Francisco’s most scenic neighborhoods. The run is nearly as infamous as the swim, 8 miles across soft sand, steep stairs, through tunnels, and of course the 2 to 3 minute climb up the “sandladder” – like running up a sand dune with oddly placed wooden beams across it.
Dannwolf and Jones are both looking forward to returning to the race in 2011.
Next on tap for Jones is Riptide’s Littlefoot Triathlon on May 16th. The following weekend he’ll race in Ixtapa Mexico at the ITU Ixtapa Continental Cup. Dannwolf is aiming to race again at the New York City Triathlon July 18th, but first must recover from chondral softening in her knees that should sideline her for the next couple of months.
Also racing last weekend was Matt Balzer and Josh Merrick at the Avia Wildflower Triathlon held in Bradley, California. Merrick finished in 24th place and Balzer 29th. It was Balzer’s first time covering the half-Iron distance of 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. Wildflower is a notoriously challenging course, with steep and long climbs on both the bike and run legs.

Full Escape from Alcatraz Results here.

Full Wildflower Results here.

Team Riptide is prepping to race this weekend after a lull in team racing following the Mazatlan ITU Continental Cup.
Matt Balzer and Josh Merrick will travel to Wildflower for the half Ironman distance race.  They will face one of the most challenging courses in the world on the famed hills of Wildflower.  Not only that, but they will be going up against one of the toughest fields around.
In San Francisco, Jordan Jones, currently ranked 24th in the United States, and Amy Dannwolf will compete on another challenging course at the Escape From Alcatraz triathlon.  The race starts with a jump into San Francisco Bay just off of Alcatraz Island.  From there, competitors must “escape” to the shore of San Francisco where they will bike and run.
We’ll keep you posted in the weekend action in next week’s newsletter.
Also in next week’s newsletter will be a phrase to win a $25 gift certificate to Boulder Running Company at the Denver Tech Center.  BRC’s new Tech Center location opened last year and has quickly become a busy place.  The store is on Arapahoe Rd. just a block west of I-25.  With a Jamba Juice and Chipotle across the parking lot, it’s a great place to stop by after a workout.

Boulder Running Company Denver Tech Center

Co General Manager of the Tech Center store, Brock Quimby, has been a major Riptide supporter for two years now.  Make sure to say hi to him when you stop in.

Another person to talk to at the store if you want incredibly knowledgeable advice is Michael Aish.  Michael is a 2 time Olympian for New Zealand.  He has won the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon in 2:13 and perhaps more impressively has run 13:22 for 5k and 27:46 for 10k, both on the track.

Michael Aish jokes with Riptide's Amy Dannwolf at the Tech Center BRC

More photos of the new Boulder Running Company Tech Center store:

Competitive runners and triathletes will appreciate the selection of racing flats

Men's Shoe Selection

Jones and Dannwolf post-race

Team Riptide had very promising results over the weekend at the Austin 3M Half Marathon held in Austin, TX.  The race is one of the largest half marathons in the country with over 4,000 finishers and is also one of the most competitive.  Jordan Jones finished 11th overall with a personal best time of 1:09:08 (5:16 per mile pace).  Amy Dannwolf was the 16th female finisher in 1:24:36 (6:27 per mile pace), also a personal best.

The team is excited to post such strong run performances during the swim focused winter season and these bode well for the coming triathlon season.

Combined start of the 5 and 10 mile races

Team Riptide posted strong results on Saturday, January 16th at the Frosty’s Frozen 5 and 10 mile races.  In the 5 mile race, Jordan Jones won in 26:32, his second win of the Winter Distance Series.  Amy Dannwolf won the women’s race in 33:37.  Josh Merrick finished second in the 10 mile race with a credible 56:52.  The two races combined for 755 finishers.

Dan Mackenzie scored his first win of the year with a come from behind win at the Rattlesnake Triathlon.  In his Rocket Science Sports Rocket wetsuit, Mackenzie recorded the fastest swim of the day in the 451 person field.  Mackenzie yielded time on the bike and entered the run in 3rd place, nearly 3 minutes behind Cedric Wane.   He rapidly worked away at the time difference to Wane but was the run long enough for him to catch up?  Mackenzie charged hard at 5:40 pace at the 5,000ft plus elevation.  At mile 5 he took the lead and ran home to the win and $500 first place prize.

Amy Dannwolf continued her strong form with a 3rd place finish.  Dannwolf had the 8th fastest swim of the day (male and female) and got out of the water within a minute of Olympic Bronze medalist Susan Williams.  After a tough bike, Dannwolf rallied with the 15th fastest run out of all finishers (male and female) to finish in 3rd place.

Riptide juniors also competed with Lindsey Schmidt winning her age group in the Olympic distance race and Taylor Harp winning her age group at the Sprint distance race.

Amy Dannwolf traveled to The Big Island of Hawaii to compete in the Honu 70.3 on Saturday.  In her first half-Ironman distance race (1.2mi swim, 56mi bike, 13.1mi run), Amy finished 24th overall, including the pro women.  After a strong swim, Amy struggled with back pain on the bike, but came back with a strong run over the hilly and hot half-marathon to finish in 5 hours and 12 minutes.  

Building off their teammates’ successes at the Pan American Championships the previous day, the Riptide Elite and Junior teams raced strongly at the Littlefoot Triathlon in Morrison, Colorado. Presented by Riptide Multisports and directed by Sean Wendt, Littlefoot again proved itself as a top-tier early season event.

The team was lead by Jordan Jones on the men’s side and Amy Dannwolf on the women’s, both taking home 2nd place finishes. Both Jones and Dannwolf utilized their much-improved swims to place themselves in the mix from the gun. Jones used the second fastest bike split of the day to move up past teammates Adam Truex and Matt Balzer, and into 2nd place. Dannwolf exited the swim in 2nd place and maintained that position until the finish.

The Riptide Elite Team placed many within the top-10 with Tate Behning in 3rd, Joshua Merrick in 4th, Matt Balzer in 6th, Adam Truex in 7th, Cyrus Severance in 10th, and Cailee Andersen in 14th. Adam Truex had the fastest swim of the day and Tate Behning had the fastest run.

The Riptide Junior Team got their season off to a great start with several impressive finishes. Thomas Hill and Taylor Fogg lead the way with strong placings overall. 14-year-old Fogg was the 5th overall female, including pros and elites!

Taylor Harp and Morgan McCormick again proved themselves as strong up and coming talents taking 2nd and 3rd respectively in the female 16 & under category. Lindsay Schmidt, a perennial leader on the Riptide Team, finished 1st in the 17-19 age group. James Hill, who has shown big improvements in the pool over the winter finished 1st in the 16 & under category.

After some tough outings at early season races, Riptide got the lift it was looking for with outstanding performances at the Barkin’ Dog Duathlon held in Cherry Creek State Park this past Saturday.

After sweeping the Mile High Duathlon Series in 2008, Josh Merrick showed that he is still the class of Colorado duathlon with a dominating course record setting performance.  Taking it hard from the gun, Merrick gained more than a 20 second lead on the first run.  Next behind him were fellow Riptide athletes Jordan Jones at 22 seconds back and Tate Behning at 25 seconds pack.

On the bike Merrick continued his push, putting in the 2nd fastest bike of the day to enter the final run with over a minute lead on the field.  Jones was gapped midway through the bike by Justin Hurd but battled back over the final miles of the 30k bike to enter the final run in 2nd place.

From there Merrick ran the fastest 2nd run of the day to finish in a new course record of 1:11:54, obliterating the previous course record of 1:13:59.  Jones held on to 2nd place, finishing in 1:14:38.  Behning meanwhile was running to the 2nd fastest final run to put himself into 5th place.  From there Riptide had strong performances from Dan MacKenzie in 9th, Matt Balzer in 11th, and Cyrus Severance in 14th.

On the women’s side Jocelyn Petrella showed her fitness with a 2nd place finish.  Petrella started quickly with the 2nd fastest women’s first run of the day.  Onto the bike she held strong, only being passed by eventual winner Uli Bromme.  With a strong 2nd run Petrella earned her podium finishing in 2nd.  Amy Dannwolf also competed with a 12th place finish.  Petrella is primed to race at the ITU Oklahoma City Pan American Championship next weekend along with Riptide athlete Pete Mallett.

With over 400 finishers, the Barkin’ Dog Duathlon is the largest duathlon in Colorado and is consistently the largest duathlon in the Western United States.

Merrick and Jones go 1-2.

Petrella finishes 2nd.

Team Riptide traveled to St. Petersburg, FL to start their racing season and get back into the swing of racing.

The race was marked by the cancellation of the swim for age group competitors due to dangerous water conditions in Tampa Bay. Winds caused significant chop and waves that professionals were tasked with battling before setting off on the bike.

Jocelyn Petrella had the highest team finish of the day in 16th place. Petrella exited the water in 19th, lost a few spots with the 20th fastest bike of the day, but rallied to a 38:45 run.

On the mens side, Matt Balzer and Dan MacKenzie were the first Riptide athletes out of the water with Jordan Jones following one minute behind after a tough swim. On the bike, Jones pulled through the field and got off the bike seconds behind Balzer. Jones hit the pavement running and recorded the 7th fastest run of the day, covering the 10k run in 32:53 at 5:18 pace. This placed him in 19th at 1:55:02. Mackenzie was next to finish after a solid 33:42 placing him in 28th. Balzer finished in 33rd place.

On the elite amateur side, Bethany Handley, Amy Dannwolf, and Cyrus Severance raced. After dedicating her off season to improving her run, former University of Tennessee swimmer Handley rode solidly and posted the 3rd fastest amateur women’s run. Handley finished in 16th and looks forward to getting in the water for her next race, where she will be a formidable opponent to any amateur woman in the country.

Less than 2 minutes back was Dannwolf in 24th place, a solid placing in the competitive elite amateur women’s field of 62. Riptide’s emerging women’s program is off to a strong start to the season and hopes to finish much better when the race includes a swim.

Severance finished 33rd out of 69 elite amateur males. The lack of a swim was a slight disappointment to Severance who worked extensively on his stroke throughout the winter. Watch for him to place well in his next race at CapTexTri.