seanjefferson - Tumblr blog

[seanjefferson]

Win some, lose some. #summerschool 📷 @jwjeffer @tower26

[seanjefferson]

Here is a short race recap from the ITU website about my recent race in Huatulco Mexico where I finished 12th, my highest placing in a World Cup to date. 

The World Cup in Huatulco Mexico is a brutal race, hot and humid conditions combined with a short steep hill makes the race one of the tougher courses on the ITU circuit. It was formerly an omlympic distance event, but this year it was changed to a sprint event. Even as a sprint race the heat and hill were tough to race on. It was a battle not to blow up during any portion of the swim/bike/run. 

I flew into Mexico on Wednesday because the only flights I found for Thursday included an overnight layover in Mexico City, which I did not want to deal with pre race. Fortunately a Brazillian athlete that lives and trains in LA was also traveling on Wednesday and was familiar with the area from racing previous years. We roomed together a couple nights before the rest of the USA athletes arrived and he showed me around the town. 

The swim was really rough. Probably the most physical swim all season. I was hit in the eye twice, once by an elbow and again much harder by someones heel at the first buoy, resulting in a black eye. I had to try stop for a brief second to adjust my goggle on the left eye, it got knocked up shutting my eyelid and I couldnt see anything. I was able to recover well and really had to work hard the last 400m of the swim to regain contact with a pack. Exiting the water I had no idea where I was. I thought I must of been towards the back with how much I got knocked around, but once I started running to transition I saw some good swimmers near by and it was a long line to T1. 

The bike was relatively uneventful. The hill was hard but no one attacked too hard. Half way through the race a French athlete went of the front alone, but he didnt get too far away and we caught him towards the end of the last lap. The sketchiest part of the race was descending the very steep hill. Guys were hitting speeds of 50+ mph on the down hill. For the climb I chose to ride a compact crank and 11-28 cassette, which allowed me to climb the hill without getting out of the saddle, leaving my legs feeling much better at the top of the hill and into the 5k run. (In Auckland earlier in the year I made the mistake of riding up the hills too many times in my big chain ring and out of the saddle, which resulted in much tighter calves on the run.) On the last lap I made sure to position myself towards the front of the pack and be close to the front for T2. 

Exiting T2 with a large group. I moved up to around 8th in the early part of the race and held that position for around 1600m, I was passed by a few guys around the 3k mark and passed another 1-2 leading into the finish. The run was more of a survival than fast paced race. People were blowing up and cramping at various parts of the run. I felt ok, but couldnt manage to hang onto the pack of 4-6 guys that were running 10-15 seconds right ahead of me. In the end I finished 12th, securing my best place in a World Cup and two solid races in back to back weekends. Now time for a training block back in LA, I am excited to get back to work with Gerry and look to maintain a consistent and healthy block of training before racing again in July. 

Special thanks to my coach Gerry Rodrigues for prepping me to race well. Also I need to thank my nutritionist  Dr. Phil Goglia to making sure I am nutritionally in top form. We have worked hard to drop body fat percentage and maintain lean muscle weight, especially leading into these hot and humid races. I was able to race confidently knowing that I the leanest I have ever been and still holding power in training. 

[seanjefferson]

Was expecting this! Until Alan Webb crashed this past weekend in Dallas. It was the final loop on the bike and we were riding in the front group only 2k from T2 when Webb got tangled up with another athlete and went down. 

Heading into this weekend I was excited to get back to racing after changing coaches and putting in a solid block of work in LA with Gerry. When I arrived in Dallas I found out the race was being changed into a Duathlon due to hazardous contaminants in the water from the recent flooding. The new format a 5k run, 20k bike and 2.5k run, A race perfectly suited for two former track runners to square off again and it was playing out that way until the final portion of the bike. I wish Alan a quick recovery and look forward to more opportunities to race in the future. 

The plan leading into the race was to run conservatively, expend as little energy as possible to stay with the front group. I sat in the back and made small moves to stay connected. I entered transition at the tail end of the group and had a clean transition onto the bike and into the front group. The lead group initially had 10-12 athletes and we dropped a few around some of the early U-turns, notably a CRP runner who led into T1. I put in a few small surges at times to see if anyone was motivated to get away, but nothing came of the attempts. I reserved energy and focused on setting up for a strong run. 

The final run was hot. A young american kid went out quick and pushed the pace, which I thought was too fast. Another Canadian kid went with him and I was sitting in 3rd. West the American started to slow with 1k to go and I began to push to catch him. With 600m to go the Candadian still had a gap and maintained it to the finish. He ran a great race and deserved the top spot. 

The best thing about being back in LA is getting back to the support structures I have set up here. Since I have been back I returned to my sports nutritionist Dr. Philip Goglia we have been working hard to make sure I am doing everything I can nutrition wise to fuel my training and have me prepared for each race. Secondly I am back to using Brian Panosian for massage and flexibility, which keeps has kept me healthy and training consistently.  

I also have to thank all my sponsors for their continued support. Tower26, Herbalife24, Skechers Performance and Ventum bicycles. Special thanks to Gerry Rodrigues for taking over the coaching duties. We are off to a great start. Race result here.

Next weekend I am off to race in Mexico and the Huatulco World Cup. This will be a big test of where I am at, find my strength and weaknesses. 

[seanjefferson]

Back to LA

As most of my friends and training partners in Tower26 already know I am back training in LA and it feels right. I had an amazing opportunity to train with a well respected ITU coach and a phenominal group of international athletes over the past year. I traveled all over the world and raced at the highest level on the WTS circuit. 

Brief update 

Jan-April 2015

The beginning of this year training went really well. I was consistent, injury free and ready to get back to racing. I went down to Puerto Rico and placed 5th in a continental cup. I then headed out to Australia to do some Big races. The first World cup was a sub par 21st place. The second and very important race AucklandWTS ended on the run when I felt my calf restrain. It was a reoccuring injury from training the previous week. I had to jog in the back half of the 10k run and was devestated, especially with GoldCoastWTS only two weeks after. The race in Gold Coast was a step in the right direction, I finished and I finished healthy. I by no means ran well, but finishing a 10k run with a healthy calf was a good step and gave me confidence leading into CapeTownWTS. In Cape Town I had a very poor T1 and was fortunate to have another US athlete there to assist in chasing the large main group. We caught and I was out of T2 with the leaders, I held onto finish 26th which is my 2nd best WTS performance.

After Cape Town I knew I needed a change in coaching and the only option I was ok with was heading back to LA and working with Gerry Rodrigues from Tower26, I have worked with him the past 3 years in my swimming and he knows me the best as an athlete at this point in my athletic career. Training since returning to LA has gone really well, its been consistent and healthy. I have a few races scheduled that I am excited to see how training is progressing.  

Dallas Continental Cup- June 6th

Huatulco world Cup - June 14th

[seanjefferson]

5th place in Puerto Rico continental cup February 1st. Solid start to what's going to be a long year. Still working on making another jump in swim performance to get me closer to the front. Next race March 7th Abu Dhabi or Australia TBD.

[seanjefferson]

Winter update:

Winter in LA doesn’t really feel like winter most of the time. The last two years it seems like November has been one of the nicest months of the year. Beach days with temperatures in the 80’s, winter swells rolling in and unstructured training with family and friends.

This winter I put a very high emphasis on gym work and physio treatment, before moving into a typical base building phase. I was able to run with my good friend and former OTC teammate Will Leer and swim with Tower26. I wasn’t concerned with paces on the run and times in the pool. My coach Darren and I wanted to use this 6 week block to focus on technique and form before getting to training camp where the volume and intensity would increase.

By the end of December I knew the investment in strength, physio and technique was a good idea. Even though I wasn’t training for pace and time, I felt stronger and fitter and the times were taking care of themselves. When I did start testing myself in a few workouts I was surprised at my level of fitness.

The last few weeks I have been back in training camp in Chula with the team and training has been very good. This weekend I am looking forward to my first race of the year in Puerto Rico, which will hopefully define my race schedule over the next few months. Possibilities include Abu Dhabi, mooloolaba aus, New Plymouth NZ, Auckland NZ and Gold Coast aus.

[seanjefferson]

Sitting on a wall with @stancesocks on #fanoreason #mdr #california #la #losangeles

[seanjefferson]

Less than 10 days from the #nycmarathon are you ready? @skechersperformance will be there with limited edition apparel and shoes, make sure and check them out at the expo. #gorun #run #marathon #gospeed

[seanjefferson]

Cozumel and Cartagena race update.

The last two races of the season turned out to be the most frustrating races of the year.

Entering Cozumel training had gone really well and my fitness was near lifetime best. The day of the race I didn’t feel great and being ever so slightly off in the swim put me in a frustratingly slow bike pack, which put me way behind on the run. I finished up around 50th and was extremely disappointed.

Coming into Cartagena I was determined to have a better race and finish the year on a high note. The swim was good for me, but not great and I pushed hard on the bike for two loops chasing a large 3rd chase group. The merging group now ballooned to around 25 guys and on lap 3 a massive rain storm came in. With in one lap there were huge puddles and 30-40 mph gusts almost blowing people off the bike. It was a miracle everyone in our group stayed upright and made it to T2. As I went charging out for the run I was hoping for a top 20 finish. I was feeling good in the first K and moved past a few guys and leading a pack of runners when I felt my soleus tighten, I backed off slightly and let some guys pass and tried to tuck in, it kept tightening and seizing and 500m later I had to pull the plug. It wasn’t loosening up and I wasn’t going be able to run another 8k on it. So at the 2k point in the run my season was over. It was pretty shocking and insanely frustrating to have to DNF. I have struggled through some rough performances and always try to finish a race no matter what place, unless finishing means damaging my body even further.

It was a sporadic year with some great results and some poor races, I have learned more this year than ever before and I am already looking forward to racing next season.

Thanks to my sponsors, Tower26, Herbalife, Skechers, and Roka for their support. Thanks to my coach Darren Smith getting the best out of me. Thanks to Gerry Rodrigues and all the members of Tower26 who believe in me. Thanks to all my training mates who I learn from and who continue to push me to be better.

[seanjefferson]

[seanjefferson]

7th Place in Las Vegas SSTRIGP

Great shot from @n2photoservices form the @SSTRIGP race in Vegas Thursday night. #lasvegas #triathlon #interbike

[seanjefferson]

Drive from Boulder to Las Vegas for the sstrigp race.

[seanjefferson]

WTS Stockholm tomorrow at 12:46 local time.

[seanjefferson]

Friday afternoon cup of coffee in Stockholm @johanochnystrom

[seanjefferson]

Semi final run in #tiszy World Cup.

[seanjefferson]

Finals run in #tiszy World Cup, finished 25th. Highest place in a World Cup event.

[seanjefferson]

Here is the race video of the World Cup final. I can be briefly seen in the video, briefly because the final was a rough race for me.

After a relatively smooth semi-final where I swam in the second pack, rode strong and ran well, I placed 5th and auto qualified for the final. The final however was anything but smooth and was very frustrating.

The plan for the final before it started was to swim solidly in the 2nd pack, have a smart bike conserving as much energy as possible and then run very hard. In the semi final I was close to last to the first turn buoy and worked hard the rest of the race to get into the second group. In the final was determined to have a better swim, especially to the first buoy. When the horn blasted and I dove in the water I immediately searched for fast feet towards the right side of the course so I wouldn’t get pinched by the convergence of swimmers at the 1st turn. I was able to get right and get on some quick feet, but I wasn’t far enough right and got caught in the bunch at buoy number 1. I wasn’t last at the first buoy I found that out because I was grabbed, dunked under water and swam over once at buoy1 and again at the 3rd buoy. This grabbing and dunking happened again in the second lap and now I was very close to last and barely in contact with the group. I had to dig very deep on the third lap to reconnect and finish with a pack. It turned out to be the 3rd group on the road.

Out on the bike my plan was to be conservative, I had to make a decision either sit in and potentially lose time on the second pack of riders or work and try to catch them. On the first lap they were only about 15 seconds ahead and always in sight, but they were very motivated trying to chase to leaders and riding hard. I was feeling strong on the bike and decided to chase with a few other guys in my pack. It became increasingly frustrating when some of the group was working to catch the leaders, while others were sitting on the back going along for the ride. The last few laps were hard and we managed to catch the leaders right at T2. One of my big mistakes in the race was not being aware of what lap we were on in the bike. I was so focused on chasing the pack in front, I was convinced we had one lap left on the bike when we rolled up to transition and I was sitting in last after just taking a strong pull. This put me at a massive disadvantage and probably close to 10 seconds behind the leaders, plus my legs were now heavy from a hard ride.

In the first lap of the run I was struggling, I couldn’t get the legs to turn over and was losing time. The entire field was strung out 15-20 seconds in front and I didn’t have run legs. I was able to get a little smoother and faster as the run went on and I caught a few guys but could only manage a 25th place finish.

Looking back on the race the two mistakes I made that cost me a higher finish was 1) position in the swim. I put myself in a bad position that continually got me dunked and stopped in the water, using more energy to catch back up and only finishing in the 3rd pack, which caused me to abandon my pre-race plan and ride much harder. And 2) mental lapse of being unaware of when we were coming up to T2. I was at the front of the bike pack with 400m to ride, took my pull and faded to the back of the pack only to see the guys in front of me start getting their feet out of their shoes. I gave up valuable space and time on the course and lost 5-10 seconds on positioning.

WTS Stockholm All of the lessons I have learned over the last 2 months of racing will be incredibly valuable as I race the WTS Stockholm on August 23rd. The WTS series is the pinnacle of triathlon racing and will feature London’s 3 Olympic medalists.

This year has been up and down with getting sick twice, tons of learning experiences and exposure to European racing. These opportunities would not be possible with out the help of my coaches Gerry Rodrigues and Darren Smith. Their vision, guidance and support through this season has been the primary reason for my building success and I am very grateful for their help. I also want to thank my teammates who help push me day in and day out, they make the hard days easier and the really hard days bearable. Thanks to Rick my physio for keeping me the healthiest I have been in two years.

Sponsors make this possible and with out them I wouldn’t be here, thanks Herbalife24, Skechers, Tower26 and Roka.