Tagaman 2011

I hadn't intended to stay in Saipan for Tagaman, but due to the earthquake last week, and the possible radiation leaks in Tokyo, we decided to stay on. This meant I was going to miss Singapore 70.3, which was my first chance in 2011 to try and qualify for the 70.3 World Championships, this year to be held in Las Vegas. I was disappointed, but was pleased to be safe in Saipan. After finishing high up in last weekends xterra race, I decided to enter Tagaman as a Pro, which basically meant I was eligible for money, if I did well. Tagaman starts at the PIC with a 2km swim, then the 60km bike section rides north up the island to the Banzai cliffs, the Grotto and then to Suicide cliffs, and then finishes back at Memorial park, for a 15km run.

Just as last weekend in Xterra, it was raining on Saturday morning, and it looked like it was going to rain for the whole race. The swim at the PIC is very well protected, due to the encompassing reef, vastly different to what we experienced in Xterra. It was still dark as we got down to the water at 5:45am for a 6am start; Kaisei was doing the swim leg of a team event, so in we jumped for a quick warm up, the water was crystal clear, and actually warmer then the air temperature.It was a 2 loop course, and the Pro's had a 1minute head start to give us clear water. The swim was a quick start, being surrounded by just pro's there was certainly a very clear difference in people's starting speed's. Often I get into clear water quickly, but in this race, I was middle of the pack and having to fight for my space. I fell into stroke with a couple of the women pro's, it was a much quicker stroke rate than I was used to, but I felt good, and was happy to push myself to stay in contention. We stayed together for the first lap, and after the start of the 2nd lap, but I soon fell off the back, and noticed my stroke rate started to slow as I lost contact, I then saw Kaisei streak past me! I made it in to the beach in 33:25, not bad for a 2km swim with no wetsuit.

Onto my borrowed bike from Russ Quin, an unexpectedly nice Specialized carbon Transition, it was a bit big for me, but compared to racing this on my Stumpie, it was a pleasure. At the prospect of rain, I had made sure I had included my little pump (no gas cartridges on the island), its hard to spot any crap on the roads when they are wet. Well lets just say it was a bloody good job I did, I ended up getting 4 punctures! Almost a whole life time's worth in one race. I think it ended up costing me about 20mins, most of that was pumping! The bike in the dry is a lovely ride, with the Northern end of the island offering some spectacular riding, but in the rain and with the punctures, I was just happy to get it done. I ended up running in from about 1/2km out, as the tyre was flat again, which made me 2:05:37 for 60km, not great!

After my crappy bike ride, I was determined to try and salvage something decent from the run, this was my first Pro race, and it hadn't exactly gone well so far. I went through the 1st 5km in 21:30 not a bad clip after 60km on the bike, the sun was out intermittently and when it was it was hot. I could see the other Pro's coming back against me, and I was trying to count how far back I was, alongside picking people off further up the run course. The turnaround at the Toyota garage was about the 7km mark, and I could see a number of runners ahead of me, I was now on a mission to hunt them down. Although they were probably a good 750m ~ 1km in front, I steadily hacked away at the distance, over the next 5km. By the time I got to the northern turnaround, I had caught them and was legging it for home. 15km's finished in 1:08:07, which when extrapolated to a 1/2 IM is about a 1:35...so not bad.

Unfortunately I ended up coming 7th in the Pro field, and missed the money by 1 spot. Great race though and would certainly do it again!

Xterra Saipan 2011 - Podium Finish

The Saipan Xterra race this year was unfortunately overshadowed by the huge earthquake that hit Japan on the Friday. There was much speculation as to whether the race would be cancelled, or at least the swim cut, due to the Tsunami after effects, (on Friday evening the whole island had been evacuated to higher ground due to the significant warnings). Thankfully the Tsunami passed the island without issue (had a lot to do with the deep Mariana's trench, soaking up a lot for the power).

After arriving at the race site on Saturday morning, and hearing that the race was on, and the swim would go ahead, i prepared my gear accordingly. Although a lot of conversations were obviously on what had happened and how families were in Japan rather than the conditions (it had rained hard overnight...so I now had the wrong tyres on (dry instead of wet), the forecast had predicted a week of sunshine...but with no time to change, I had to go with what i had on.

All the race participants and spectators held a minutes silence before the race started and there was understandably a certain amount of trepidation about the swim. The water in Saipan generally has spectacular visibility, but this morning it was churned and and looking quite threatening. After a quick last minute decision to switch the direction of the swim due to the strong currents off we went. It is a 2 loop triangle swim, I managed to find clear water quite quickly, and was working my way through the currents (R>L). I ran up the beach after Loop 1, to see my 14 year old nephew who had started 1minute behind me, was actually in front of me...he does do 100m's in 1:07...so I wasn't too downhearted! Entered into Loop 2, and the conditions had changed dramatically in the space of a few minutes, on Loop 1, the water was shallow enough to dolphin dive, now it was much higher, the currents had switched direction by 180 degree's and was now running L>R. I fought my way into the beach, unsure if the conditions were due to tsunami issues, or we had just caught the turning tide, either way I was pleased it was over. 1.2km's in 22:28.

Out onto the bike, 25km's on the MTBike. I was kicking myself for not having the right tyres on from the start and I was to curse myself even more later. The rain had been heavy overnight, and the tracks were very wet. Although the swim had been hard, I had come out in front of quite a few of the pro's so was surrounded by them as the race progressed. This is my 4th year doing Xterra Saipan so I know the course quite well, and managed to speed my way through the first half and keep in contact with the front groups. The trouble was the whole top section had changed and I hadn't had a chance to ride it in practice so in I went blind, and this is where I was really cursing my tyre selection. The top section consisted of a whole set of very steep coral rodes, the coral when went secretes a slimey substance, making a wet road even more treacherous...just when I needed those wet tyres...arghh! Oh well, managed to fight through this section, 1 quick endo over the handle bars, luckily I landed on to long grass, rather than coral. Finished in 2:04:30, which was not a bad time considering the conditions.

Dumped the bike and legged it on the run. If the rain had made the bike course difficult, it made parts of the run course down right dangerous. My mate Paul, had passed me on the bike, and I was gunning to try and take him back on the run. The hills are extremely steep on the course, and I was struggling to find a rhythm. The 1.5km rock canyon was very slippery, and it was difficult to make any head way, and by the time i got to the 1.5km beach run, I just didn't have the legs.

I finished in 3:41:13, which is almost exactly the same time as last year. Bearing in mind the guy who won this year and last year was 20minutes slower than his time last year, it safe to say that I have advanced significantly since last year. Finished 3rd in my age group...and would have been 4th in the pro's!! Next year...maybe I will make some money! Qualified for Xterra World Champ's in Maui...not a bad result.