Hello everyone!
Day One
Friday, I traveled down to Los Angeles to compete in my first Elite race. While the day was rater uneventful Lauren one of my core supporters traveled down with me for the weekend to watch and enjoy the event. We left a little later in the day which was a plus and minus because there was no traffic but we were both tired when we were taking our turns driving. It was a beautiful drive though, coming through Santa Barbara there was a large lightning storm that was passing through and lightning storms are just awesome while your driving if you are the passenger. Unfortunately during that part of the trek I was the driver so I didn't get to watch it too much but just being in the midst of something that powerful is incredible. We check into the Fog harbor Inn in Marina Del Rey, a very quaint inn about ten minutes from the race venue. The hospitality was wonderful but let me tell you there was one woman at the front desk who was just in awe of the sport triathlon, she could not believe that it only took 2 hours to finish this grueling race and thought I was getting prepared for the Marines or the Navy Seals. It was hilarious hearing her keep repeating " a mile swim a 25 mile bike and a 6 mile run" over and over again trying to put it together in her head thinking "is that really humanly possible or is he just yanking my chain..." Got settled in the room and went back upstairs to confront the hospitality lady again. Walking through the office with my bike she just could not help but asking "how are you supposed to ride that thing it looks like you would lay down on it" After a short half an hour explanation of how to ride the bike and why lay down on it due to aerodynamics I was able to get back to the room and hit the hay!
Day Two
Saturday morning was great woke up at six to a rerun of the ITU World Championship Grand Finale. Those Brownlee brothers are phenomenal I can't wait to get to that level and line up with them to duke it out. Went for a morning swim at the swim venue and checked out to see if it was possible to walk to the course from the hotel, It was! The water was so warm compared to here in San Luis Obispo a very warm 67 degrees unlike the 55 degrees I'm used to swimming in. After my morning swim I headed back to the hotel for breakfast and a quick cat nap. After my nap Lauren and I headed to the shoe store so I could get some brightly colored laces and Lauren was going to try on some new running shoes but unfortunately that didn't work out. Next we headed back to the hotel Lauren got to work on psychology homework while I had to head out to race registration and the mandatory pro meeting. After signing my friend Berto and myself in, I headed to the Pro meeting. Let me tell you, there is no way you could make the Herbalife building more confusing. Luckily I spotted another elite athlete and followed him. He looked rather experienced in this field and navigated us to the meeting room. Turns out it was Cameron Dye, good guy to be following to the meeting. That was probably the most nerve racking part of the weekend, sitting in the Pro meeting all I could do was sit there saying to myself Greg Bennet 2 time Olympian and many time world championship race winner, Cameron Dye crazy hair and super fast biker, Lisa Norden Olympian 2 time winner of LA tri and me, a few amateur wins and the youngest by at least 6 years. The most important thing I learned about the race at the meeting is you are running through a movie set for the new Batman movie so don't be alarmed if there is snow and there are New your cabs and busses around you. You are not going the wrong way (I thought that was quite cool). After getting to the hotel we did a slight walking tour of the area surrounding the hotel and watched the boats and paddle boarders. At around 5 my coach Dave Sullivan came to the hotel and we all headed out to dinner at the cheesecake factory next door. I had a delicious Lemon Herb Chicken. After we had eaten dinner Berto finally showed up (not a big surprise) unfortunately he was caught at work and got stuck in an accident. He too had dinner we sat around talking about racing and a little smack talk too while Lauren went back to the room. By the end of the night we went from two people in the room to 4 people with putting a twin size air mattress in the room two bikes and a bunch of other tri equipment everywhere. Lauren was definitely a trooper with three men and a bunch of stuff i applaud you!
Sunday was race morning wake up at 4:15 thinking man where did the hours go. We quickly eat breakfast and as quietly as possible Coach Dave, Berto, and I were off to the venue. We arrive at 5:00 and start to set up the transition area. Unfortunately there were no lights and luckily my coach as awesome as he is brought a head lamp so I could see what I was doing. After a half hour of screwing with my bike wheels and getting changed I was off to warm up. Warm up felt great I was hitting stride went back into the transition area to check my bike once or twice. I was just about warmed up when I saw 4 or 5 officials piled around my bike and I began to stress what is wrong what is wrong, finally I went and asked and luckily I had no problems they were complimenting my set up and the simplicity of it all. 10 minutes before transition closed one random guy racks with the elites and slams his bike next to mine and his bars got stuck on mine and I walk in thinking something happened and luckily it just got stuck on mine. I was rather upset but it happens. 5 minutes before the race started I broke my goggles out of nervousness and luckily packed two pairs. I get into the water and was relieved to find it just as warm as yesterday.
Day Three
And from here the race begins it was a mad house getting in the water this also was the first time I did dolphin dives which is jumping off the bottom doing a butterfly stroke multiple times until your out deep enough to swim, after that it was war. I unfortunately swam to the wrong buoy which was the exit buoy and had to make up ground being one of the fastest swimmers in the field I moved up from last to 5th by the end of the swim I just kept thinking I was as my coach puts it "Gilligan lost at sea" and I would never make it back in. I definitely need to work sighting in the off season. I managed to get out though in 5th place. With the swim I had I should have been out first but could of would have should have. After having a flawless transition the fastest in the whole race actually I was off on the bike. I was not able to get warmed up until about mile 5 but I was still not feeling great until about mile 12. After that I was able to turn it up and felt great. I could now undertand as well why ic had cost an arm and a leg to race in LA. It was beautiful and how often do you get the chance to fly up and down the streets with out cars and stop signs, never. I loved coming right into downtown LA surrounded by monstrous sky scrapers that make you feel like an ant next to them especially when you were coming into transition. I was able to once again flawlessly move through the transition zone again even though I had to run nearly a quarter mile before racking. I had the 3rd fastest T2 on the day. Coming out of transition I felt great good tempo and good technique thats all that was on my mind. I could Hear both Dave And Lauren up the road yelling and screaming as well as an awesome cow bell. I didn't look over to them as I had two elite guys in front of me within a few hundred feet, Dave and Lauren both yelling stay on there feet test them let them have it. We get to the mile long climb and I pass both of them run down the mile hill and loosen up as i'm passing another Brazilian guy in the elite race by this point I am fired up. We get to the turn around point and one of the elite guys I passed was still clinging on to me waiting to see me crack I made it up the climb again and cramp right in my side I'm huffing and puffing trying to hold off my competitor as I felt myself slowing I ended up getting passed by him with less then a mile to go we end up duking it out back in forth to the finish my coach yelling somewhere only 90 seconds to go anything can happen we keep fighting it out I finally hear Lauren again telling me to go go go near the chute and he ends up toeing me and passing me. I ended up 8th overall. I couldn't complain I had the run of my life by 2:20 and my bike was within a minute of my best, my swim was about 3 minutes slow. sitting in the finish chute I realize i'm bleeding in my shoes and get taken care of just a few popped blisters but a bit of blood.
Race Time!
After the race I warm down a bit and we wait for Berto to finish as well as the penalty time to show up. We wait a long hour for a massage which felt great afterwards and by this time the penalties have been posted. One big lesson my coach taught me was to always check penalties for yourself and your field because you never know what will happening close races. We look at the penalty board and in my race there were 4 men with penalties. Luckily I was no one of those men, but it did help me secure a 7th place finish. The race in total was a great experience I learned more in depth of my weakness' against an elite field in which those weakness' can sometimes be hidden when you blow apart an age group field. They gave me great insight on what needs to be done in the off season so that I learn and that I improve for the coming year. This weekend will be my final triathlon of the Season. I will be racing the Scott Tinley's Triathlon sprint race on Saturday the 1st of October. I am looking for a course record being the first guy under 59 minutes as well as a screaming run split under 18 minutes. Look forward to the race and I will update afterwards!
About Me
- Casey Bateman
- San Luis Obispo, CA / Belize City, Belize, California, United States
- Hello, My name is Casey Bateman. I am a professional triathlete on the Belize National Team. I am currently working on making the 2016 Olympic Team and the 2018 Commonwealth Games Team. I came from a swimming background in the USA and have since switched my focus to triathlon.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
week of 9/19/11 update!
Hello Everyone,
How is it going? This is my last week before my first Elite Race in LA this coming weekend. I've been studying the course and watching the waves to observe what I will be working through so far it looks to my advantage. This week will be my first taper of my triathlon career and I'm feeling great. I was planning to taper for National Championships this year but as noted in previous posts I was hit by a car and taper was off the table so that i could just get in reasonable shape for the race. Now though I'm feeling great the run is coming together really well, the bike fitness keeps growing stronger and my swim is at par again. I have been finally swimming double nearly everyday to get back to where I was and biking has been the priority. Got the bike cleaned up last night and best part of taper after cutting the workload is practicing on the race wheels on my bike rides. They are so awesome and look so good! I'll be leaving on friday morning for LA in which I will hang out get a few ocean swims in and then race day will be Sunday morning! I will keep you all updated through the week!
How is it going? This is my last week before my first Elite Race in LA this coming weekend. I've been studying the course and watching the waves to observe what I will be working through so far it looks to my advantage. This week will be my first taper of my triathlon career and I'm feeling great. I was planning to taper for National Championships this year but as noted in previous posts I was hit by a car and taper was off the table so that i could just get in reasonable shape for the race. Now though I'm feeling great the run is coming together really well, the bike fitness keeps growing stronger and my swim is at par again. I have been finally swimming double nearly everyday to get back to where I was and biking has been the priority. Got the bike cleaned up last night and best part of taper after cutting the workload is practicing on the race wheels on my bike rides. They are so awesome and look so good! I'll be leaving on friday morning for LA in which I will hang out get a few ocean swims in and then race day will be Sunday morning! I will keep you all updated through the week!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Catch UP!
Hello All,
Sorry for the delay in updatesit has been a very hectic couple of weeks so i'm back to weekly updates and race reports! first and foremost i will bullet below some of the past highlights
Sorry for the delay in updatesit has been a very hectic couple of weeks so i'm back to weekly updates and race reports! first and foremost i will bullet below some of the past highlights
- San Luis Obispo Triathlon (DNF) unfortunately after creating a three minute lead ahead of past collegiate champion I was hit by a car on the bike course 2 blocks into the race. after a trip to the ER we determined i had a gradeII separation in my shoulder a sprained ankle and sprained toe as well as a bit of road rash.
- Picked up a new Premiere sponsor: Endurance Films Racing team check them out at endurancefilms.com
- 2 weeks following the accident I was racing again at the Santa Maria Tri-The-Bull super sprint race, where i placed 1st overall and age group while breaking the course record by more than 5 minutes.
- 2011 USA Triathlon National Championships: final time (2:09:04) top 95th percentile on swim with only a week swimming under the belt due to the accident. Great showing finished in the top 10 % overall and was invited to first elite race!
- 9/11/11: first trail race 10 K lopez lake run first place overall by two minutes final time 0:44:12
Sunday, July 17, 2011
week of 7/17/11 update
Hey everyone,
Hope you guys had a great week! I sure did. Lots to tell you about this weeks too! This past week I went down to lovely San Diego, California for a 3 day training camp and man was it beautiful! I took the train down on thursday where I met up with some of my best Friends with of whom I would be rooming at over the next few days. After gettting settled in and going for a nice easy ride, we headed to the go-cart track for some fun, my competiveness prevailed and I was the fastest among my friends and 5th fastest of the day. Friday I set out early for a time trial speed workout on the bike. I tried to make it out to the beach but got very lost and never found it haha. Later that day I headed to La Jolla Cove for a open water swim from the cove to a beach a little over a mile away. That was very awesome. we ended up going to and from the beach and cove, being somewhere between 2-3 miles round trip. During the swim we saw so much wildlife it was amazing i have never seen so much in the ocean at once. In the cove where we swam to and from there were thousands of fish many different types as well. In the middle of the kelp forest we swam through there was another school of fish that had to number in the thousands. I also caught a glimpse of a ray and the largest jelly fish I had ever seen which was a bit scary it was probably a foot taller than I am. You could also hear the dolphins communicating back in forth between one another that was just awesome. I'm slowly letting up on my fear of the ocean swimming. Saturday was a good long bike practice that i actually got to the beach that time and today was my running time trial day which was fairly successful but my leg still has a nagging pain that we are trying to shake loose.
Race Updates- This weekend I will be racing in San Luis Obispo on the 24th of July with the very last start time of 1:00 P.M. this will be one of my last tune up races before heading to Burlington, Vermont on August 20th for the USA Triathlon Olympic Distance National Championships.Drop on by the Race at Sinsheimmer Park and come suppor your local athletes including me as they train and race towards there many goals. Can't wait to see you all out there!
Hope you guys had a great week! I sure did. Lots to tell you about this weeks too! This past week I went down to lovely San Diego, California for a 3 day training camp and man was it beautiful! I took the train down on thursday where I met up with some of my best Friends with of whom I would be rooming at over the next few days. After gettting settled in and going for a nice easy ride, we headed to the go-cart track for some fun, my competiveness prevailed and I was the fastest among my friends and 5th fastest of the day. Friday I set out early for a time trial speed workout on the bike. I tried to make it out to the beach but got very lost and never found it haha. Later that day I headed to La Jolla Cove for a open water swim from the cove to a beach a little over a mile away. That was very awesome. we ended up going to and from the beach and cove, being somewhere between 2-3 miles round trip. During the swim we saw so much wildlife it was amazing i have never seen so much in the ocean at once. In the cove where we swam to and from there were thousands of fish many different types as well. In the middle of the kelp forest we swam through there was another school of fish that had to number in the thousands. I also caught a glimpse of a ray and the largest jelly fish I had ever seen which was a bit scary it was probably a foot taller than I am. You could also hear the dolphins communicating back in forth between one another that was just awesome. I'm slowly letting up on my fear of the ocean swimming. Saturday was a good long bike practice that i actually got to the beach that time and today was my running time trial day which was fairly successful but my leg still has a nagging pain that we are trying to shake loose.
Race Updates- This weekend I will be racing in San Luis Obispo on the 24th of July with the very last start time of 1:00 P.M. this will be one of my last tune up races before heading to Burlington, Vermont on August 20th for the USA Triathlon Olympic Distance National Championships.Drop on by the Race at Sinsheimmer Park and come suppor your local athletes including me as they train and race towards there many goals. Can't wait to see you all out there!
Monday, July 11, 2011
2011 USAT Southwestern states 3rd Place Finish
Hello All!
Just got back from a very busy weekend! I headed out to San Francisco on Friday after getting a brand new pair of white wall racing tires! I got a bit lost looking for Crissy Field but got there eventually (6 hrs. Later) After stressing out about possibly missing packet pickup and getting to Treasure Island itself I was able to eat dinner and settle in for an early bedtime! Race mornings are always fun when you need to be up at 4:30 A.M but i did sleep well better than the night sooner from just being so excited for the races. After another stressful hour of just getting transition and everything set up I was able to warm up for nearly an hour get a small amount of nutrition and get my suit on. The race started promptly at 7:30 the water temp. for the morning was 58 degrees slightly chilly. It was also a bit chilly on the course until the run portion. The swim didn't go to great I wasn't happy with the time to begin with I added 2 minutes from my previous race but did exit the water 1st. Going onto the flying mount at the Transition 1 for the bike i cramped up on the back of the knee at the hamstring connector. after a half lap i was spinning up and feeling great. The bike course was six laps with 15 turns each lap, very technical but my average speed was the same as when i raced on a flat straight fast course so I am very happy with the outcome of that, the bike is getting better and better every week! I came off the bike in 5th place overall, not to bad. Going into the 10 k run i was feeling a little sluggish for the first half lap after shaking everything loose I started picking it up I negative split the three lap course but unfortunately with 1.5 K to go I cramped up and lost a little bit of time I couldn't shake the cramp up until the last 300 M or so and was able to kick hard into the finish. My efforts earned me a 8th place overall finish and a 3rd place state championship finish. I'm overall quite happy with the bike split and set up for the run and next time I'll be hunting for the win at national championships this August!
Just got back from a very busy weekend! I headed out to San Francisco on Friday after getting a brand new pair of white wall racing tires! I got a bit lost looking for Crissy Field but got there eventually (6 hrs. Later) After stressing out about possibly missing packet pickup and getting to Treasure Island itself I was able to eat dinner and settle in for an early bedtime! Race mornings are always fun when you need to be up at 4:30 A.M but i did sleep well better than the night sooner from just being so excited for the races. After another stressful hour of just getting transition and everything set up I was able to warm up for nearly an hour get a small amount of nutrition and get my suit on. The race started promptly at 7:30 the water temp. for the morning was 58 degrees slightly chilly. It was also a bit chilly on the course until the run portion. The swim didn't go to great I wasn't happy with the time to begin with I added 2 minutes from my previous race but did exit the water 1st. Going onto the flying mount at the Transition 1 for the bike i cramped up on the back of the knee at the hamstring connector. after a half lap i was spinning up and feeling great. The bike course was six laps with 15 turns each lap, very technical but my average speed was the same as when i raced on a flat straight fast course so I am very happy with the outcome of that, the bike is getting better and better every week! I came off the bike in 5th place overall, not to bad. Going into the 10 k run i was feeling a little sluggish for the first half lap after shaking everything loose I started picking it up I negative split the three lap course but unfortunately with 1.5 K to go I cramped up and lost a little bit of time I couldn't shake the cramp up until the last 300 M or so and was able to kick hard into the finish. My efforts earned me a 8th place overall finish and a 3rd place state championship finish. I'm overall quite happy with the bike split and set up for the run and next time I'll be hunting for the win at national championships this August!
Friday, July 8, 2011
2011 USAT Southwestern States Regional Championships
Good Morning Everyone,
So today is the day before state championships and i can say that i have not been more excited for a race before! I could not even sleep yesterday and that is two days out from the event. I have my bags packed, bike cleaned and have checked through all of my equipment ten times now! Regionals will be taking place at San Francisco's Treasure Island tomorrow morning the 9th of July! The swim will be 2 laps in the chilly bay with an expected high of 58 degrees in the water. The swim will take place on a very technical bike course over six laps 8 kilometers each lap and then will finish with the 3 lap 10 k run! I haven't had a chance to preview the course to much yet but the plan is to do that when i drive in this afternoon! Wish me luck this weekend my goal time is 2:04:00 which would break the current course record as well as win me a state title!
So today is the day before state championships and i can say that i have not been more excited for a race before! I could not even sleep yesterday and that is two days out from the event. I have my bags packed, bike cleaned and have checked through all of my equipment ten times now! Regionals will be taking place at San Francisco's Treasure Island tomorrow morning the 9th of July! The swim will be 2 laps in the chilly bay with an expected high of 58 degrees in the water. The swim will take place on a very technical bike course over six laps 8 kilometers each lap and then will finish with the 3 lap 10 k run! I haven't had a chance to preview the course to much yet but the plan is to do that when i drive in this afternoon! Wish me luck this weekend my goal time is 2:04:00 which would break the current course record as well as win me a state title!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Week of 7/3/11 Update
I'd like to Start by saying happy 4th of July to everyone!
Last week was quite a workweek! Some very notable workouts took place especially during our lovely three day weekend! Saturday morning started out with a lovely 21 mile warmup from Oceano to Lake Lopez with a nice climb to finish warm-up. My coach and I get to the lake expecting to swim a mile to start the rest of the workout! Unfortunately though the lake was as green as the hudson on St. Patrick's Day. So we skipped the swim and I started the bike part of workout with the coach. That's when the fun started! the temperature was climbing quick and reached the high 80's as I started my hill repeats on Hi mountain Road. Those were a lot of fun especially coming back down the road racing my coach to start the second round of the climb. that was very motivating. Following two rounds of repeats we rode into the Lake and headed out for a short and quick run. first ten minutes were race pace then the finish was a recovery jog! I had never cramped up so much in my life but it was also one of the most fun workouts of my life!
sunday the 3rd was quite awesome as well went for a recovery run and a open water swim with the Avila Dolphin's. I swam about 1.5 miles I need to send out some kudo's and thanks to Duke and Chad on teaching me some sighting skills.
on the 4th Coach Dave, the crew and I endured the St. Patricks day water for a nice 2000 yard swim working on sighting and not drinking in Water! That went really well and felt great. Then i met up with Duke for a 70 mile recovery ride from Arroyo Grande to Cayucos and back. Let me tell you it was one of the most beautiful rides I have done in my life. I started to cramp up on the way back but they let up and after playing frogger through pismo and Shell beach. We made it safe and averaged just over 17 for the ride! Good recovery in my opinion. This friday I head up to San Francisco for Regionals looking for a win!Stay tuned during the week for more
Last week was quite a workweek! Some very notable workouts took place especially during our lovely three day weekend! Saturday morning started out with a lovely 21 mile warmup from Oceano to Lake Lopez with a nice climb to finish warm-up. My coach and I get to the lake expecting to swim a mile to start the rest of the workout! Unfortunately though the lake was as green as the hudson on St. Patrick's Day. So we skipped the swim and I started the bike part of workout with the coach. That's when the fun started! the temperature was climbing quick and reached the high 80's as I started my hill repeats on Hi mountain Road. Those were a lot of fun especially coming back down the road racing my coach to start the second round of the climb. that was very motivating. Following two rounds of repeats we rode into the Lake and headed out for a short and quick run. first ten minutes were race pace then the finish was a recovery jog! I had never cramped up so much in my life but it was also one of the most fun workouts of my life!
sunday the 3rd was quite awesome as well went for a recovery run and a open water swim with the Avila Dolphin's. I swam about 1.5 miles I need to send out some kudo's and thanks to Duke and Chad on teaching me some sighting skills.
on the 4th Coach Dave, the crew and I endured the St. Patricks day water for a nice 2000 yard swim working on sighting and not drinking in Water! That went really well and felt great. Then i met up with Duke for a 70 mile recovery ride from Arroyo Grande to Cayucos and back. Let me tell you it was one of the most beautiful rides I have done in my life. I started to cramp up on the way back but they let up and after playing frogger through pismo and Shell beach. We made it safe and averaged just over 17 for the ride! Good recovery in my opinion. This friday I head up to San Francisco for Regionals looking for a win!Stay tuned during the week for more
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