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Death Valley Marathon - Laura Novak - 2/8/2009
A quick note for those who have asked about the race in Death Valley this weekend: It was definitely not the race I signed up for – but was, without a doubt, an adventure!
Quick run down:
- The average rainfall in Death Valley for the month of February is 0.42 inches and only 2.33 for the entire year. On the day of the race it rained nearly an inch. And it rained the day before!
- I saw the most incredible scenery including a double rainbow (the day before the race), one of which was so vibrant – you could see the violet end of the spectrum.
- I was so excited to take pictures of the rainbow, I jumped out of the car before it was in park – and it ran over my foot. Okay – not entirely, but enough to snuff my shoe off.
- Due to flooding and 15 inches of snow (yes – snow) in Titus Canyon, we had to run the alternate route (trail run) to Badwater (below sea level).
- It rained nearly the entire race.
- It was windy.
- The new course was an out and back. It was a significant two mile descent to start and a gradual decent to the turn around. The reverse was true for the return.
- I think I added significant distance to the race weaving around the puddles and avoiding the mushy sand to find the best line to run.
- On the return – I no longer tried to avoid the mud puddles. There were just too many!
- Mud can be slicker than ice.
- You could see the finish line for three long miles.
- I only stopped once to walk for 20 seconds. I yelled at myself to keep running.
- The last two miles were the longest two miles I’ve ever run. I shuffled the entire two miles. I think it would have been faster to walk.
- I was a wet, cold, muddy mess when I finished.
- They had the BEST tangerines at the finish line. I think I ate the equivalent of 8 before they dragged me away!
- I wore shorts and a long sleeve shirt. My legs were freezing and my shirt was so wet – it stretched over my hands.
- My feet were pruned.
- My shoes were full of mud and water.
- They may charges us extra to clean the rental car!
- It was miserable.
- It was incredibly fun.
- And I shared the experience with some great people – a couple friends I’ve known for a while and some I just met. I am in awe of the athletic talent of my friends!
And yes - I’ll definitely do this race again!
Philadelphia Half Marathon - Allen Delaney - 11/23/2008
2008 was proving to be the year that I’ve had to take a few steps back and just be thankful for being able to get outside and exercise at all. By April I was having enough pelvis and leg pain that I wisely decided to prevail upon the St Croix Half IM race director to allow me to downsize from the half to the sprint distance. 60+ years of reckless abuse of my person had left me unable to swim for most of the spring, while a massive snowstorm collapsed the roof of our only pool in January, so there I was as probably the oldest male starter in the sprint race in St Croix with no age groups. I think I was 10th male across the line, but by that afternoon needed enough drugs to kill a horse, to get comfortable. But, on to Philly…
I signed up for the Philly Half Marathon while I was recovering from subsequent back surgery two weeks after the St Croix Sprint, to remove a blown lumbar disc. I destroyed that disc helping my son move a monster TV, just prior to finishing it off in St Croix. After 40 years of road racing, and including 12 years as a triathlete, I had grown accustomed to often bringing home hardware, so the Philly race signup was a brilliant idea by my wife, Mary, to get me out of my post-operative depression and my wallowing in self pity. As I started rehab from my back surgery, it felt awfully good just to be outside moving again under my own power.
For weeks, nay months, after surgery I couldn’t run. One of the hard lessons I’ve had to learn as a physician is that the rules I had applied to patients for a third of a century also apply to me! And, one thing one must minimize after back surgery is the risk of re-herniation of disc material in the early weeks post-op, before the disc annulus has had a chance to heal. But I could cycle, and ventured out on my road bike after a couple of weeks with a new, more upright position that involved less trunk flexion that came with a new, short, steeply angled stem. I’ve been telling my coaching clients for several years that “cycling can improve your run, but not necessarily vice versa.” So that’s what I did until almost 3 months after surgery. Up to 13 hours per week I biked. That, together, with core strengthening exercises let me back on the road running up to 11-12 miles by the end of September and not ever thinking about my back. New operating rules included a 100 lb wt limit for lifting, and no bent-over, unusual positions anymore.
I ran my first road race, a 5 Km run, in Florida 40 yrs ago this coming February to celebrate my 21st birthday and to help overcome my shame at nearly being destroyed walking just 18 holes of golf the previous October. I started making time regularly to maintain my health and to exercise, which I’ve continued to this day. Also, I have a string of sub-1:36 half marathons going back over 25 years, and I began to dream of getting as close to that time as I could at least once more to celebrate my 40 years of racing. I once could go around 1:30 as a halfway split on my way to 3 hr marathons. Those days are long gone, but since other injuries still prevented me from swimming, I decided to head back to my athletic roots as a runner, and see what would happen. By, mid-October, I was again able to enjoy a training staple from the past, and that was hour+ long tempo runs, with 45-55 minutes at 10K race pace after a warm up.
If you race antique vehicles (or animals like myself, for that matter) new aches and pains and recurrent issues from the old ones are a fact of life. By the end of September, the rapid rise in my training hours and distances had set off Achilles tendonitis, but physical therapy from my wife, and orthopedic taping for support allowed continued training, with actually some resolution of my symptoms by race day.
As I started to taper, and began to plan the trip, I could feel my old enthusiasm that had kept me out on the roads for almost a half century coming back. I wound up with three companions, two for the half marathon and another trying to qualify for Boston in the marathon. We planned a three-day venture to incorporate a family visit for Thanksgiving. NOAA wasn’t exactly projecting peachy racing weather, with the forecast for sure being very cold, and plus-minus snowing. I’ve run often in the snow in the past …maybe 20 years ago. So, we found a hotel close to the race site (well 14 blocks away.) By, Saturday it was obvious from the forecast that temps would be in the mid-20s or lower at the start, but snow disappeared from the forecast.
On Sunday, we headed out on the street about an hour before the start at 23rd. Use of heavy sweats and pants acquired at a thrift shop helped keep us all from freezing. The City of Philadelphia collects these clothing items discarded at the race start to help out the area homeless, so hanging them on the corral fence 5 minutes before the start can be done with a clear conscience.
I started in the 2nd group behind the elite runners, and save for the fact that a couple of folks that, on their best day have never run faster than 14 minutes per mile lined up at the front of our group, the start was much smoother than I remembered from very large race starts in the past. By mile 4 things really thinned out. The first part of the race tours numerous sections of old Philly. There are street obstacles just as in most big city races. However, as the race progresses, the street surface progressively improves. This was not a day for fast times, as my entire race was at temps well below freezing. This made the water stops very interesting, especially near the river as all water hitting the street surface immediately froze! I had carried a bottle of my standard triathlon electrolyte replacement drink, so was able to stay out of most opportunities to practice skating in my running shoes with several thousand new acquaintances, and ran around all the water stops.
As the race progressed, I was pleasantly surprised that my race strategy of setting my heart rate about 1-2 beats per minute under my old pre-surgery, 10K race pace HR was holding up. The splits at 3, 6, and 8 miles stayed on track for a 1:34-1:35 finish. Damn! I thought, and then met the largest hill on the course at 9.1 miles. During that climb, I made a novice’s mistake and went rather anaerobic and paid the price afterward with an 11.5 min mile. I then failed to recognize early signs of a bonk, didn’t eat my gel I had carried for 12 miles and plowed through the finish in 1:42, not what I was capable of, had I raced a smarter race, but good enough for an AG 2nd place. Then the fun started!
As I stood around the finish area looking for friend Rob, and wife Mary, I put my lightweight cap and jacket back on, got a drink, and waited in the sunny, breezy, 28° warmth. The mob at the base of the “Rocky steps” was incredible, probably 10,000 racers and spectators. After 10-15 minutes, hypothermia began to set in and I passed on down the exit area to the food tent, the hot chicken broth was great, but as my shivering slowed, I was asked to “pass on thru” by the volunteers. After another 20 minutes outside searching for my friends, the shivering was becoming uncontrollable. I’ve been cold before, but as a confirmed southerner most comfortable racing in 100° temps, by now I was about as cold as I could ever remember, so started the slow stumble back to the hotel 14 blocks away. On the way, I finally passed the old downtown Salvation Army building. The staff there graciously let me in to stand in the hall for 20 minutes because by that time my coordination was so bad from the cold I was having trouble walking. I’ll have to remember them with some $$ this season.
Altogether, this is an excellent race. It apparently is the largest distance race owned and managed by a city in the USA. This was the 15th year, and they have the formula for competent race management down well. Race results were available practically on the fly within several hours on the web. The chips are a newer disposable type, and chip splits were recorded at several points on the course. The volunteer group is well organized. It pays to find a hotel very close to the race course, so if you want to race in 2009, make your hotel reservations now. There were several hotels within 400 yards of the starting line. Slight improvements in the wave starting system would eliminate the very manageable crowding issues in the first several miles.
Looking forward to this race helped me immeasurably work through the issues with recovery. I’m not quite washed up yet!
Tour De Skyline - Katie Davison - 5/01/09
This year would be my 3rd attempt at Tour de Skyline.
What is the Tour de Skyline?
RATS (Reston Area Triathletes) holds this event annually. The Tour de Skyline (TdS) is two-day ride from Front Royal to Waynesboro (day one) and back (day two) along Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. Said another way, TdS is two days, 220-miles, 20,000 feet of climbing, and too much fun. Even though TdS has a nice three-letter acronym, it's much more casual than you would think. Roads are not closed, there are no aid stations, and there are certainly no t-shirts.
DAY 1
6:45am Friday morning...Neva, Dan, and I met up at Worldgate to drive out to Dickey Ridge and the start of Tour de Skyline. I was feeling soso. Had not been feeling top notch the past week...
We arrived at Dickey Ridge right around 8am. This ride always brings a great group of riders together...saw a lot of friends and also some unfamiliar, soon to be friends, faces. Got all geared up and Neva and I were on our way....210 miles or BUST. No cue sheets necessary...just straight 105 miles from Dickey Ridge to Waynesboro. I was really happy to have Neva there this year...the ride can be very long and lonely by oneself. As we started my legs felt somewhat stale. I had done a lot of riding last week (including Mt Weather)...but the legs had been feeling solid. Oh well..there was ample time to feel awesome and to feel miserable. We hit Mile 31 (our 1st rest stop). We stopped for a quick bathroom and water break and were back on the road. Then some serious climbing began (not that there had not already been serious climbing). This ride is either going 10mph or 40mph...there is not much inbetween. The climbing is not out of the saddle climbing....just steady grinding on the quads. My stomach, which had been feeling rough all week, was not feeling so great. guh. Felt like I might be sick. I told myself to suck it up. Mile 46, Matias blows by us...scared the heck out of me...but good to see him. We made the big climb into Big Meadows (Mile 51) and stopped for lunch. I had some pretty bad vegetable chili...but it warmed me up a bit. The weather was decent. We had had some drizzle on and off with temps in the low 60s. Although the temp seemed to have dropped and rain picked up as we got into Big Meadows. I put more clothes on.
Neva and I were back on the road. I was feeling recharged. That only lasted about 10 miles. I started to overheat. Bonzai SAG passed us about Mile 60 and we stopped to drop off some clothes and get some more snacks. Then we come up on Dan, who had some technical difficulties. He continued on with us. At this point I was at a low. I did not feel like eating or drinking and felt nauseated. Some parts of this section are foggy. We came to Mile 80 and had a quick bathroom/water break. Only 30 more miles to Waynesboro. All I could think was..."And I am supposed to do this whole thing again tomorrow?! Yaaa right." I then decided to take it 10 miles at a time. My neck and shoulders were starting to hurt. My longest ride this season had only been 55 miles...so the body was starting to feel it. I had been trying to eat every hour. Nothing seemed to be doing much. I had some LUNA Moons...YAHOOO...finally something gave me a 2nd wind. Mile 95 and I was feeling a little better. We reached Mile 105 and exited the park. The 3 of us were ecstatic...it was 5 miles mostly downhill to the hotel. We arrived there with HUGE smiles.
Got checkd in, showered, drank beer behind a dumpster, went to dinner, searched for chocolate with Dan, and was in bed around 11pm.
DAY 2
I slept like a log. Woke up feeling ok. My stomach seemed to have calmed down after drinking half a bottle of Mylanta the previous day. Got ready to go, had some breakfast, and Dan, Neva, and I were back on the road at 7am. holy shoot...my butt...it was gone and it felt like I was sitting on a pillow. I had switched from tri shorts to cycling shorts for Day 2. I hate cycling shorts and NEVER wear them. It was going to be a rough day. First 10 miles are mainly uphill. Dan and Neva seemed to be doing well and chatting amongst themselves. What the beep was wrong with them?! buhaha I was very quiet and everything really hurt...but that was the lesser of my worries...felt very nauseated. The thought of eating or drinking anything made me feel volatile...not good. We entered the park...I felt like throwing in the towel. Started pondering how long the Bonzai SAG would take to get to us if they left at 8am...could be awhile. Suck it up. Mile 80 (counting back down now)...we stopped for bathroom/water. Spirits up a bit knowing that the hardest part of the ride was over. 10 miles at a time. Then Nate Miller came at us form the toher direction...yipeeeee. I felt better. He is twice my size...so I got on his wheel and he rode me into Big Meadows...lunchtime! Had some more bad vegetable chili. I was going to finish this thing.
Back on the saddle. I felt refreshed and like the end was in site. Dan, Neva, and I hit Mile 31 in no time...quick bathroom stop and back on the road. I was ecstatic...less than 30 miles to go. But also dreading the serious 3 mile climb at Mile 24. That might just kill me. My knees and neck/upper back were hurting the most. The nausea had become better...LUNA moons and Clif blocks were keeping me going. Then we hit it...Mile 24, 3 mile climb...holy shoot. Felt decent the 1st mile, 2nd mile was a struggle, and 3rd mile I wanted to get off my bike and punch myself in the face. buhhaha This is crazy. Finally it ended...and we were going downhill...fast...into fog...it was cold...and I was seeing stars. Maybe I was delerious...oh well...just hold on only 15 miles to go. In and out of a lot of fog for awhile. Mile 10...yAHAHAHAHAHOOOO. Almost done. And then we were back at Dickey Ridge...I was SO happy and SO proud of myself.
solid 210 miles!
Polar Bear Sprint - Nils Tcheyan - 5/2/2009
Swim = 1:45/100yds
Bike = 20.22 mph
Run = 10:03/mile
Here's my race report:
The Polar Bear Sprint Tri in Brunswick, Maine was my first race of the season and I was using it as a tune-up for the upcoming Columbia Tri and other olympic distance races. It's a 525 m swim, 12 m bike, and 5k run. This is my third year racing. This year I am focused on olympic distance races and especially improving my run and mental toughness, and working with R2R I am already seeing improvements in my pace.
I would normally have done a race closer to home, but this race had extra excitement for me. We had gotten to know Brunswick because my oldest son Zach (23) had graduated from Bowdoin College, the host for the event. Zach's girlfriend Carolyn, a student at Bowdoin, was registered, and her mother Kate was coming from Wyoming to race as well. In the weeks prior to the race, I encouraged Zach to train, and took a few opportunities to let him know how my training was progressing, including a PR 10k race. So the pressure was building as race day drew nearer. Picking up our race packets on the afternoon before the race, Carolyn casually wondered aloud whether I expected to beat Zach in the race. And earlier, my second son Michael (21) had called to tell me that Zach was worried he might come in behind me..."Just go for it Dad," he said, "just get that competitive fire going!" So the table was set, as they say.
The morning of the race was beautiful, crisp, sunny, after days of rain. We arrived early to set up. I looked over my bike carefully, reset a part of the front tire bead had come off the rim since I had replaced the tube after a flat. I went through my warm up routine, and felt good, relaxed, ready. With about 400 participants in the tri and duathlon the energy level was high, students, age groupers, and spectators mingling in the brisk morning.
The race started as scheduled at 8:30. Kate's wave started at about 9:30 and then Carolyn's. Our swim wave was set for about 10. Zach and I set ourselves up to swim in the same lane and I casually remarked to the lane judge that "All the pressure's on him. No one expects me to win, so all I need to do is swim my own race." We pushed off the wall and I watched with one eye on Zach. He kept up for the first lap or so, but was working hard. I pulled ahead and by the end of the swim I had lapped him. I was excited and moved quickly to T1 and the bike. The adjustments to my bike fit that I had made over the past weeks had shown faster paces in training, and the extra adrenaline from the race gave me extra energy. I knew that my only chance at winning was to try to extend my lead because the run is my weakest leg by far, and Zach's a strong runner. Off the bike, a slight delay in T2, but still no sign of Zach as I left the transition area. "Keep going," I kept repeating to myself, "you still have a chance." I was starting to see myself crossing the line ahead of him. Still no sign of him at the first mile. And then I heard a voice from behind yell out, "Hey Nilo!" I recognized Zach's voice. "Oh *@&*@," I yelled, and then quickly apologized to the woman running nearby. I looked back, and there was Zach, running easily, his head bobbing left to right a bit, a trademark of his form. He smiled broadly at me as he passed and encouraged me, "Great job Dad, come on, keep up with me..." I watched him run in his relaxed way and move steadily ahead. With that part of the race decided, I refocused and worked at keeping my run pace. At the finish, Zach, Carolyn and Kate cheered me coming in. Zach finished with a 4 minute lead, Carolyn second about 3 minutes behind Zach, and then myself and Kate. My overall time of 1:19:47 was built on my fastest swim and bike splits yet. My run was better but not what I wanted it to be.
So where do things stand at this point? This race reminded me of the challenges I face to improve, and gave me the joy of sharing a passion with my son. It renewed my enjoyment of the sport. Plus, the season is just beginning. A rematch is coming, June 20 at the Hot Springs, VA sprint. My youngest son Lucas (16) is entered as well. Zach had already done his analysis of the course, and pointed out the advantage I would have since it’s a longer open water swim and bike course. Between now and then I have weeks to continue to train, as well as the Columbia Tri this weekend. So I should show up on June 20 with my game ready-- it's still a close match up and I'm not done yet. And who knows, Lucas is in the mix too...so maybe I have a shot at taking him if Zach gets out of reach...
St Anthony's - Steve Grassi - 4/26/2009
My friend Joe and I headed out of Northern VA Thursday morning at 4a and drove straight through to St. Petersburg, FL. The trip was uneventful which was exactly what we hoped for. It took us approximately 14hrs... just enough time to check in, unpack all our gear, grab dinner and hit the sack.
Because we drove all day Thursday, we had the luxury of sleeping in Friday morning. We grabbed breakfast at the hotel then left to scout for parking areas near transition. I was happy to see there was an abundance of parking close to the beach so we only had to walk two blocks to the race start for our practice swim. The weather was awesome.... 85 degrees and sunny. It was cooler down in Florida then it was in Northern Virginia (in the 90's). After our swim, we walked over to packet pickup, spoke with several people we knew from the DC area, purchased a few items from the expo, then headed back to the hotel for showers and had dinner with friends.
Saturday started just like the previous day; sleeping in and a continental breakfast. This time after breakfast we headed to a bike trail for a short, "traffic-free" ride. We got a little carried away and ended up riding 16 miles. The whole way back to the truck we were pedaling into a head-wind. It was 2p, the sun was beating down and I started thinking to myself, "this may not have been the smartest move." After our ride we drove to the beach to put our bikes into transition. That's when I found out my bike rack was in the main lane three racks up from the bike/run out. Same as last year..... Schwweeeeet!! After racking our bikes we went for a quick swim. The wind continued to blow making it interesting. Because our ride was longer than we planned, we just ended up swimming 1000M. Swimming is normally hard for me but I was happy to find the wind and choppy water didn't make it any harder.
Race Day: The alarm sounded Sunday morning at 5a... we ate, got dressed and headed out the door to get body marked. While we were in line we heard someone say the swim was going to be optional because it was too windy to get enough boat support out into the water. I realized a breeze was blowing but it didn't feel any harder than yesterday. I was a little concerned, though. One part of me wanted to try the swim 'cause I figured I could do it, but the other part didn't want to get half way around to find that I should've opted out. After entering transition the announcer said the swim was cancelled with the exception of the pros. The next couple of hours felt a little strange because everyone was walking around with puzzled looks on their faces.
After the last pro finished the swim and T1, the race officials lined up race participants by waves and race numbers allowing them to start one-at-a-time every 2-3 seconds from the swim out. Participants were allowed to wear anything, including bike shoes, gloves, helmets, etc. Most people ran into T1 already fully dressed in their bike attire, grabbed their bike and headed out.
T1 - 1:19 (fastest for me by far w/ no wetsuit, no exhausting swim and wearing most of my bike gear)
Because the swim was cancelled I planned on going full tilt on the bike just to see what happens. Out of T1, I hopped on my bike and pedalled down the two brick roads that start the bike segment. Then I noticed a couple minutes later I never started my watch.... Great! I started it right then it so I could at least use it to monitor my heart rate. A couple minutes later it started beeping at me telling me my heart rate was up to 168. I felt pretty good so I figured I'd just keep the pace I had... well, the darn thing beeped the whole ride. I decided to use it as a metronome to help me keep my pace which actually worked out quite well.
40K Bike: 1:09:12 (21.6 avg)
T2 was uneventful but faster than usual for me: 1:55
I was a little tired for the run and it was hot like it usually is there. Several factors crossed my mind on why I could've been tired but I figured I'd ponder that later. I kept my strides short with a high turn-over. It didn't take long to get the feeling in my feet back. I made sure I grabbed a disposable bottle of my InfinIT solution before I left T2 so I was good to go. I like having the choice of using the aid stations.... today was mostly water dumped on my head.
10K Run: 50:16 (8:06 avg)
Total Time: 2:02:41
Overall it was a great weekend and a great race. I PR'd in the bike and run, but w/out the swim (draining most of my energy) I can't really compare it to any other races. Regardless, I still had a good time and I'm ready for Mooseman in June.
St. Croix 70.3 - Steph Colburn - 5/4/2008
May 4, 2008 was my first full distance 70.3 race and why choosing St. Croix is beyond me. All I kept hearing was how hard this race is and being one of the hardest races at this distance made me rethink my decision more than a few times.
The training was hard to accomplish with the weather this winter. Cold, wind, rain was the complete opposite of the conditions in Croix. Sun, hot, wind and rain, well at least two of the conditions I was use to.
Traveling to the race is always an adventure in its self with the availability of bikes getting on the plane with you and there were a lot of bikes that weekend. However our bikes made it with no problem which is a blessing.
My nerves were on edge and I was waffling back a forth about doing the race at all. I kept having problems with my rear wheel days before the race and I had resolved myself to not doing the race if I was going to have to stop frequently to add air to my tire. That would make anxiety levels rise even more. The bike course is really challenging in it self without me having to stop all the time. I finally got my bike wheel fixed and now I had no excuse but to do the race. Yikes!
The day we all went to the harbor in Christiansted for the group swim it was windy, very choppy and rough and that didn’t help my nerves at all. I still got in and swam a short distance and happily got out. At least I got a little used to swallowing salt water. Not a good idea except that did help my salt intake for the day.
It was another early race morning. Awake at 4, try to get some breakfast down and ride to the start and be there by 5am. Body marking, set up transition and then wait to swim to the start. You know in a way that is good. Riding to the start helped with warm-up along with the short swim to the start on the Cay in the harbor. You would think that helped the nerves, well, not mine. We had to be at the swim start by 6am. More waiting. I read an article once and the reporter remarked on how Triathlon was a hurry up and wait day. He is so right.
The waves started at 6:30 with the Pros first and all waves followed 3 minutes apart from there. I had to wait longer because my wave was the very last one. Don’t you just hate that? The last wave? I must say for my swim I was cruising along. I had a good first ocean swim. Even though I swallowed a small amount of water, yuk, and felt a tad bit nauseous everything was good. As I reached the end of the swim I reached up to grab the poles to climb out and these two hands reached in and fetched me from the water. Wow, that was great! I wondered if he could be with me on the bike with those helping hands on all the hills. I guessed not! I ran to my bike, trying not to loose my cookies from the salt water and was off on the bike.
This is where the rain started. Great, the last thing I wanted to happen. They had just paved parts of the road which was slippery enough without rain on top of it. Did I mention it was pouring? Within the first 2 miles there was a crash, not mine thank goodness. That girls is going to have a long day. I rode conservatively knowing the roads were slick and not to mention it was going to be a long day for me. I had made a pact with myself saying that I was going to ride as hard as I could when I could and grind it when I had to. At mile 20 or so was the infamous “BEAST.” That climb that starts at 14% and tops out at 21%. OH MY GOD STEEP! Well knowing what was coming at the end of the bike and with 34 or better miles to go I walked it. Walking was faster than some riding but that bike seemed to weigh 100lbs or more then. I was ok with walking . The rain had stopped before the “BEAST” which is really good because the descend is steep and a sharp turn at the bottom. So I am riding along and at mile 32 I see this person on the side of the road and I could not believe my eyes. It was Rob. I never expect to see him until the end of the race when he is waiting for me at the finish. (I’ll let him tell his story of why he was there). So I stop briefly to see if he was ok and I rode on. I left him on the side of the road to stew about his situation. When I reached the east side of the Island the winds kicked up. Head winds and cross winds with significant climbs, one after another. Yeah, that was fun! At least I had names of the hills sprayed on the road for my reading enjoyment. This is about the time you are so ready to be off the bike. And it could not have come sooner.
With the running what it to be said but you gut it out. It had been such a long day for me, longer than I had wanted. I just reminded myself about not time goal, just finish. Finish one of the hardest 70.3 in the world. Now that is something to accomplish. I just kept reminding myself of that when I came running into town , looking at the finish, just to turn around and head back out for my second loop. Man, can’t I just run over that line now? Please? And just to add salt in the wound I was running into town again just to turn and run away from the finish line again before I turned to come back down to the finish. I was spent, hot, sizzling shoulders from the sun and ready to be over this race as I ran over the finish line. Now that is one picture of the finish I don’t want.
With all my fears and hurdles I over came that weekend my biggest one was finishing this race. It has taken a few days for me to come to the understanding of what I just did. 18 out of 27 in my age group not to bad for my first 70.3 race. Just think positive and all will be alright!
Double Luray - Mary Delaney - 2008
So, you have no doubt heard of the Triple T triathlon challenge. Well, that ain’t nothin’ compared with the Double L! These races, otherwise known as the Luray Triathlon Festival is held the third week in August at Lake Arrowhead, in LU-ray, Virginia.
This is a fabulous venue at Lake Arrowhead park nestled in the central valley of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Olympic distance triathlon is Saturday and the Sprint is Sunday. But, the diehard triathlete studs “Do the Double.” The reward for mastering both events? A beautiful wineglass, etched with the race name and logo. And, in 2007 if you raced both days, you received a complementary entry into one of the 2008 races. At press time, it had not yet been announced if that would apply to the 2009 race, as well.
August 16 dawned foggy and cool. But, the weatherman promised clearing and sunny, warm weather. The Olympic competitors lined up for body marking and chip pick-up. This increasingly popular race closed prior to race day.
Lake Arrowhead is a fairly shallow body of water, so the cool weather of the previous week had dropped the water temp into wetsuit-legal range. (In 2007 wetsuits were not allowed.) After a beautiful rendition of the national anthem was sung at the beach, the first wave walked across the soft, sandy beach to the in-water start. My wave was 4th of 5, as is the usual position of 50+ women. The first 50 feet of water was very stirred up and there was no visibility, but I kept my eye on the yellow turn buoy ahead. I felt great and started pulling myself through my wave, soon passing caps of other colors. (That is always a good thing!) Soon, I was taking the 2nd of the 2 loop swim course, up the boat ramp, peeling off my cap, goggles and getting the wetsuit to my waist. Ended up improving my swim time by nearly 7 minutes!
Up the wooden stairs between rows of cheering spectators. “Go Mary, Go TriCats!” came the cheers. (Truthfully, I had not worn my TriCATs race singlet recently, and had forgotten how many cheers it always brings!) I picked up my pace and exited T2 without incident.
The fog was lifting and the sun was emerging to warm my chilly self, as I took the left turn out of the park to face the first of many Luray hills. These hills are notorious for not looking that bad, but kicking your butt while you try to figure out what the problem is with your bike or yourself. On the first of those stinker hills, Laura Novak came up behind me and said, ”This has got to be the worst part of the whole course!” As she rode on, I yelled, “Oh yea!”
Laura is a total triathlon animal! She also did the Double L in 2007 as well as this year. And this year, she had her 10 year old, Brendon with her. They camped out. Brendon, an accomplished triathlete and veteran of the Principle Fitness Kids’ Triathlon, was one of the loudest voices in the crowd! Look for him on the podium in about 4 years!
There are several rather sharp turns on the bike course, which the police and sheriff’s department monitor well, keeping the cars back for the bikers. They have the flares and the flags. Many, many volunteers wearing day-glow green t-shirts do everything from traffic control to in-water support to directing you to the least crowded porta-potty! They were outstanding!
It is a 2-loop bike course for the Olympic distance, in the shape of a lollipop. It is a little mystery how it can be uphill both going out, and coming back in, but that is Luray! Working my way through the hills, a guy flew by me, and I noted the E on his calf. My first thought was, “Wow, they started the Elites last?” Just then another E-calf speed demon was by me like a shot. Oh, right, they are on their 2nd lap…was I hypoxic already? Hardest part of the bike ride is just as you think it is time to hit the park and you are cruising along on a great winding downhill grade, you take a bend and look straight UP the last and biggest hill on the course. I knew it was coming, from last year’s race, so I just downshifted my Litespeed and cruised on up the hill. Not so for many. Several dropped chains, dismounts and groans were produced by this little bump in the road. And, we got to do it twice!
Finally, back into the park and through T2 and out to the 2 loop run course which was, SURPRISE, hilly! Actually, I like this run course. There is some shade, some sun and lots of rollers. There is a water station just as you leave the park and then another just after the turn-around at 1.1 mile. On any run, longer than 5 miles, I always take my own bottle with our custom Infinit mixture. I don’t drink water on the run, and don’t like Heed, so I just avoid the aid station crush, except to grab a cup of water to pour on my head.
Al, my husband and partner in Rehab to Racing, has been sidelined from racing since his back surgery in May, but he was volunteering and he was the flagger at the junction where the bikers were still entering the park and the runners were turning around. As I made the turn, he pointed a finger into my face and yelled, “YOU!...Are second!” After I recovered from the surprise of that move and regained my bladder control, I yelled, “I know!”
I know the gal who was in first place in my AG. I was out of the water just behind her, but had a faster T1, because she came up behind me on the bike and I didn’t see her again until the run. She had a good 20 minutes on me, so that was out. No making up 20 minutes in an Olympic race. I concentrated on keeping a good high cadence, staying hydrated and watching for runners I knew! There were a lot!
Last corner into the park, thanked the volunteers and cruised to the finish line. Gotta love that feeling! Good results for me for this course. Set a PR on the swim, solid bike time and good run. Finish time 3:04. Took home a little 2nd place hardware, well, glassware.
David Glover, the mastermind of the Luray Triathlon Festival, awards his winners with a variety of glasses or decanters, etched with the race logo. Very cool!
Ken DelRaso (another TriCAT stud) handily won his AG.
Sunday, August 17. The 2nd half of the “Double L.”
“OK, whose stupid idea was this?” That was the mantra of the day! (I have to admit this was also the question, last year, when we concocted the idea of doing 2 races in 2 days.) And, I have to admit that it was Rob Colburn and my idea, but we blamed it on their dog, Theo.
Today’s race had a 9 am start, as opposed to yesterday’s 8 am start. This race was full, as was the Olympic. Many first-timers in this race, as evidenced by lots of breaststroking in the swim, many apologies when two bodies collided in the water and lots of sneakers on the bike pedals. But, we have all been there, whether we choose to remember it or not.
My buddies, Stephanie and Katie took our warm-up run and pulled on the wetsuits.
The water had warmed 2 degrees but was still wetsuit legal. Most racers did not wear a wet-suit. Me? If it is allowed, I wear it. You are always faster in a wetsuit, assuming you can get out of it quickly. That means, practice it!
I swam around many breaststrokers and sidestrokers to hit the beach and up the stairs. PR’d this swim by 3 minutes! Not my best T2. I was slow getting out of my wetsuit today. What’s with that? One lap on the bike and one lap on the run…sweet! Finish line…even sweeter! New PR for me at this race 1:52.
Cheered in lots of racers and loved watching the smiles of the finishers! Also we loved the pizza at the “feed station!” The live music gave way to the award ceremony, which was very efficient and entertaining. Ken DelRaso had “upgraded” (as he said) to the Elite group today. He was 2nd in that group. You should see him fly! Amazing. And he beat David Orton. Go Ken! Expect incredible things from him, going forward. Andy Potts, watch your back!
I took home one size larger wine glass trophy today. That is always good!
Many thanks to Case, Adam and Rebecca for the support at the TriCATs tent! The bagels, bananas and watermelon were great!
This is a perfect race for newbies as well as the experienced triathletes. It is close, a gorgeous venue and very well run! And, you can show how much of a triathlon animal you are by “Doing the Double L!”
Race for Life (Part I) - Dave Conover
During the 2005 racing season (my 13th) I had been training for an Ironman race (my first with coaching from Gail L and Eric S of Principle Fitness). At the time I was 54. I was training an average of 10 and 12 hours per week and was scheduled to compete in appropriate races (Blackwater, Timberman Half, Columbia and a few Sprints). The season was going well, as was my training. I come from a swimming background (Catholic University late 60’s) and have always had difficulty training or racing the run especially when it is hot and humid. I know about hydration and calorie intake and think I have always had that in check. So as far as I know I was doing all the right things to train, race, prepare, etc. for the 2005 season.
Timberman Half in late August (a great race and venue in the middle of New Hampshire) was cloudy with light mist during the swim and light rain to cloudy during the bike (32+ swim and sub 3:00 bike). When I started the run the sun came out, with increasing humidity and heat, so the run was a little more difficult than I would have liked. I wear a heart rate monitor and then, as now, my HR for the swim is rarely over 130 and for the bike it is typically 140 to 155, unless really pushing up a hill. The run will always be 155 to 165 unless I really back off. Anyway, the run was not easy and I was going slower than I would like, but just didn’t want to push it through the heat, etc. The last half-mile of the run I turned it on and finished strong going in the mid-170's (in my ~100 races I can count on one hand the times I really put the hammer down at the end of a run). Anyway I felt fine right after finishing, just hot, tired and thirsty.
Thirty minutes after the race, while getting my stuff out of TA, I experienced a very sudden clammy sweating accompanied by a “3 out of 10 pain” at my sternum. (In the medical field the Visual Analogue scale [VAS] is used to describe pain from 0-10, with 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain you can imagine.) I had just had a soda (something I had never, never done after a race - but I felt so thirsty for something cold) and figured the pain was gas. I got in the lake and the pain and sweating did not go away. My son Mark, who had also done the race, and my wife Louise (a competitive tennis player) took my bike out of TA and back to where we were staying, a short walk up the road. I went to the medical tent where they took my BP and pulse and said all seemed normal given this was post race and it was hot, but if I wanted, I could go to the ambulance and see them. I did and walked there with my backpack from TA with the “3 in 10 pain” in my chest and a little sweating.
The EMTs asked me about symptoms, took BP and said it was likely a hydration issue, IV’d me and said it might be best to go to the ER to have things checked out. They took me to the ER (Mark and Louise followed). During the 3 hours I was in the ER, they constantly monitored BP, took a chest x-ray, did blood work and an EKG. After three hours the pain had gone away and they said I was OK and released me, advising me to take it easy.
I went back to our B&B and we went to dinner. I felt fine. I hung out on Monday, relaxing in NH. I did take a short hike with Louise and noticed when I exerted myself going uphill, that sternum pain came back at “1 in 10” and when I stopped walking it went away (remember the ER said take it easy so I figured an easy hike was harmless). Tuesday, before driving back from NH I took a short easy swim and again, that small pain. Then it happened again when we got home that evening and were unloading the car. I never had any inclination of what was going on since I went to the ER, and they had cleared me. Also being fit and having just done a Half Iron nothing of any significant medical concern really entered my mind.
I decided the next day (Wednesday, now three days after the race) to see my GP (Dr. Greg Bentz). He advised me to see a cardiologist. I got an appointment with Dr. Jonathan Yager in Reston (Cardiac Care Associates) who examined me that afternoon. He secured my EKG from the NH ER, my historical EKG from Dr. Bentz and took a new EKG, looked at the blood work from NH and said "you had a heart attack.” I was shocked, being an athlete and all, that this could happen to me. From the race until Dr. Yager’s diagnosis, a heart attack was never brought up by anyone and I certainly never even thought "I wonder if it is a heart issue.” Anyway, I got a chest x-ray that afternoon as instructed and I was placed in a room at the IHVI (Inova Heart and Vascular Institute) at Fairfax Inova Hospital. The next day Dr. Andrew Keller gave me a cardiac catheterization and inserted a stent in one of my arteries. Apparently, while running hard that last half-mile some plaque in the artery broke loose. It took 30 minutes or so for a clot to form inside the artery where the plaque had been, restricting the blood flow to the heart muscle. They said everything else looked good. I know now from volunteering at IHVI in CVOR Pre-OP (300+ hours since April 2006) that if the catheterization had showed anything abnormal, I might have been getting a CABG (cardiac artery bypass graft) and not a stent. I was sent home 2 days after receipt of the stent, given a regimen of pills and told to take it easy for a week or so but also take some short walks.
Having been through this myself, and seeing others come to IHVI at 5 a.m. Mondays when I am helping in pre-op, I can honestly say even if you are a "healthy" athlete, eat right, compete, have no weight issues, you are not immune to injury of any kind…in this case a heart issue. Looking back on it maybe the long hot runs and feeling "punk" at times during the summer may have been a precursor, but the results of the catheterization said other than the clot, all else was OK. In the end it happened and changed my outlook on life.
We think we know why this happened and the key is that I listened to my body and was in good shape already. Not listening and/or not being in good shape might have changed the outcome. Anyway five weeks after the event, I officiated the VA Tri Series race at Serrando Lake and seven months later did the Kinetic sprint (and 5 other VTS races in 2006). The moral of all this is to listen to your body, react accordingly and never take anything as normal, without checking it out.
That's the story with the heart issue. The next deals with the embolism four days after the stent (yes I listened to the pain when I took a deep breath) and then after that I’ll cover the cardiac rehab and back to racing.
Check back for parts 2 and 3 of Dave’s story.
IM Louisville - Neva Fulkerson - 8/31/2008
So my race reports have a tendency to be a little long. Hopefully if this does get long, I can at least keep you interested.
Pre-Race:
The morning of was a bunch of nerves! I was really going to do this. All those months of training and sacrifices all for this day, my first IronMan. I had a decent sleep the night before. Got into bed around 10 but woke up at 1, tossed and turned for an hour or so and finally drifted off again to wake up two minutes before my alarm at 4:30. I ate my normal race-day breakfast of two pieces of bread with peanut butter, banana and some strawberries. Probably not enough, seeing what other people eat the morning of but I know this works for me so I stuck with it. I grabbed some Gatorade and powerbar as the race start was still over 2 hours away. I wasn’t sure I would be able to eat it but at least I would have it just in case. I grabbed my special needs bags and headed down to the parking lot to meet up with Craig, Brian Crow and our gracious driver, Sam. We headed over to the transition area. As we were walking to the area, it hit me. I had just left all my fluids back at the hotel! I frantically called my husband back at the hotel and after 4 tries he finally picked up. While I was waiting for him, I pumped up my tires, laid out my jersey (I stupidly forgot to put that in my bike transition bag the day before), and dropped off my special needs bags. After a few more frantic moments with Craig giving Bryan directions to the transition area, I met up with Bryan, got my fluids, and dropped them off at my bike but not before realizing that I had told Bryan to use the wrong powder, I accidently had him make my ‘high calorie’ drink with protein powder rather then my perpetuem. I tried not to think about it knowing that I had more than enough gels and bars to survive. I just prayed my stomach would be okay with that.
We finally made it down to the swim start. Got bodymarked, dropped off our morning bags and headed to stand in line. We had about an hour until show time. I waited for my family and friends to show up. I desperately needed those last minute hugs. I finally saw them with about 20 mins to spare. The anthem was sung and at 6:50 the Pros took off. Now it was show time. For those that don’t know, IMKY is a time trial start instead of a mass start. So that means we have to stand in line and patiently wait to jump in the water. They said it would be about 1 person per second and that turned about to be about right. (Total time to get everyone in the water was about 43 mins.)
Swim:
The clock said 7:15 when I finally jumped in the water. It was a little warm. We were told the temp was 84.3. No wetsuits, which was fine with me. I had purchased a speedsuit a few weeks back and was looking forward to actually using it. (And I had not even brought my wetsuit thinking all along that I wouldn’t be able to use it.) I don’t know if I just got lucky or what but the swim was good. It seemed that every time I looked up and thought I was about to run into a group of swimmers the next time I looked up it seemed like the sea of swimmers had parted. I maybe got hit once or twice but nothing big; only small taps. I fell into a good rhythm soon after the turn, it was hard to find that rhythm in the channel just because of the amount of people but everyone spread out right after the turn. Some people went towards the middle of the river as we were told the current was at the strongest there. I started to move towards the middle but didn’t want to get too far off course and swim much more than I needed to. Before I knew it, I was going under the second bridge and knew from the practice swims that I had only about 10 mins left in the swim. I kept up my rhythm and cruised into the finish. I got out of the water and immediately checked my watch. I was shooting for sub one hour, just missed that goal but maybe if I hadn’t been sidelined from swimming for 10 days starting just two weeks earlier due to flying over my handle bars on my last long training ride I probably could have done it. Oh well no regrets.
Swim time: 1:04:18 (115 overall, 5th in my division)
T1:
All the help from the volunteers was so unusual but so appreciated. I ran up the ramp, they called out my number and all I had to do was run by and grab my bag. I ran into the changing tent. I sat down and had two volunteers to myself. One pulled off my speedsuit while the other dumped my bag and pulled out all the stuff I needed. I got on my socks, halo sweat band, little bag of goodies, sun glasses and I was off. I got a quick spray of sunscreen on the way out and I was off to grab my bike. I saw Scott and Reid just outside the tent. It felt good to see some familiar faces. Then up by my bike I saw my whole crowd. Of course my sister was yelling the most and the loudest. I never missed my posse when my sister was near! Threw on my jersey, grabbed the bike and threw the ‘I love you’ sign into the air to my family and friends off to start my 112 mile journey.
Bike:
My goal on the bike was to do under 6h30mins. I felt pretty confident that I could do it but I had driven the course on Friday and it was a lot hillier than I thought it would be. I felt ready for it as I had done almost all my long rides out in Purcellville on as many hills as I could get. I started out on the bike feeling pretty good. In my mind I had broken the course up into sections to make it a little more manageable rather than trying to tackle 112 miles at one time. While heading out River Road, lost one water bottle about 2 miles into the race going over the rail road tracks. Unfortunately because of the fluid mishap and not having the perpetuem I couldn’t afford to lose my Gatorade so I had to quickly stop, turn around and grab it. I continued out River Road and was thrilled when I saw a little change in the course. I thought we were going to have to go up this huge hill only 9 miles into the course but we breezed right past that turn and took the much flatter route. I couldn’t help thinking that things seemed to be falling into place for a good day. I knew that there was much more to come and now wasn’t the time to get ahead of myself but it did bring a little smile. I cruised along toward the out and back which I was considering to be section two of my broken course. I tried to keep my HR down as much as I could knowing that most of the day was left to come. The winds had starting to pick up a little but I just kept telling myself that everyone had the winds and we were all at the same ‘disadvantage’. The second ‘section’ was an out and back. This was considered to be the hilliest part of the course and I would have to agree. I had ridden part of this on Friday after driving the course (a huge storm rolled in and so I only did half which made me nervous on race day, the second part looked worse then the part I did). They had warned us about the bridge at the bottom of the hill being extremely bumpy, and my biggest concern was water bottles popping out. I made it out with no problems but this was the part that I had done before. I did the turn around and grabbed my first bottle of water. Oh, cold water felt good. The second half was thankfully uneventful as well. It got fast going on the downhill which freaks me out a little but I survived and thankfully survived the huge uphill waiting on the other side as well. Once I finished that, I knew the next section would be the loops. I was looking forward to starting this as I knew one I would see my friends and family soon and eventually we would have a tail wind! The next section to La Grange with all the many spectators was pretty uneventful. There were a few couple close calls with officials and drafting calls but luckily none for me. I saw Scott and Reid just before La Grange. Scott gave me my update (as he would all day Thanks Scott.) telling me I was 5th in my division. It was hard to really know because of the type of start but at least it should have been somewhat close. I then saw Steve and Brad and knew the rest of the gang couldn’t be much further. All I had to do was look for a 6 foot sign being held up by bright yellow swimming noodles. Oh and just listen for my sister too, those lungs were still going strong. I saw them, gave a smile and blew a kiss. I couldn’t wait to be back for the second loop so I could see them again. I kept moving along hoping to keep the day uneventful but no such luck after the next turn. It was on a single lane road, one that when I had driven it two days before got me a little nervous with it being so narrow and lots of blind turns. It turned out the narrowness and blind turns weren’t the problem. It was my chain! I dropped it twice on this road, once on an uphill, that was fun! And not the type of drop that I could pedal backwards and get it back on, no it went over the front and wrapped around my pedal. I had to stop the bike and manually put it back on. Dropping it twice in less than 2 miles really got me nervous. From then on I made a very conscious effort when shifting gears. Shortly after this I was starting to feel tired and hungry. Not a good sign. I knew I could not let it get any further. I had been trying to stay up with the calories but guess not enough. I managed to eat half a power bar and down some fluids. I quickly started to feel better and just made sure that for the rest of the race I focused on my nutrition. Then at the beginning of the second loop I dropped my chain again! This was getting frustrating. I got it back on quickly but still had one girl in my age group pass me then and this was the only time I let it get to me. I figured we had enough miles I could over take her again at some point. All day I kept telling myself to race my race and not let others passing me get into my head. I had no idea how this run was going to feel and didn’t want to make it worse by overdoing it on the bike. I did manage to pass her within the next couple of miles and settled back into my mindset. I didn’t have too many other girls in my age group pass me all day, one girl and I played cat and mouse most of the second loop, we even chatted a little about it during one pass. On the last stretch home she took off so I let her. I really did not want to push it too hard on the way home to try and conserve some energy. I did get passed by two more girls in my age group in the last 10 miles of the bike but for some reason I didn’t get too concerned, which is amazing because for those of you that don’t know me very well, I am extremely competitive. Somehow I managed to keep that in check for this entire bike. Not sure how but I did. Well, I was finally back to downtown Louisville. I had survived the bike and did better than my goal. I gave another smile to my family and friends and strolled the bike down to the volunteers and went off for my T2 bag.
Bike Time: 6:18:06/17.77mph (7 in my division)
T2:
I remember grabbing my bag and feeling like I was in a complete fog and a little woozy. I got really nervous there wondering if I could survive the last portion, oh only a marathon run. I had already done 114.4 miles, what’s another 26.2? (Please note the sarcasm.) For that fact, I didn’t rush in the changing tent. I knew not to stay too long but didn’t want rush it. The best part was the port-a-potty. I had tried to go on the bike, for almost 4 hours of it but my husband had placed bets the night before saying no chance I would be able to do it and he was right! That is harder then it sounds. Finally time to start the run…
Run:
The run started pretty smooth. I had not scoped out the course but a few had told me it was pretty flat. I was happy about that. I like hills but not usually for a marathon. I was keeping track of my miles and felt like I was doing a good job of keeping a good pace. I was feeling okay, the bike had left my chest very tight and deep breaths hurt a little. All the fluids and food had left me feeling really full, not a good sign for my acid reflux. Mile 3 is about where it started to go downhill. I will leave out most of the gory details. I will just say from about mile 3 to mile 13 I think I threw up about 10 times. My acid reflux was back with a vengeance. It had been pretty calm during most of my training. I couldn’t keep any fluids in me and to top it off I was having GI issues. When I saw my friends and family at mile 5, I told myself just keep smiling. Don’t let them know you are hurting. I think that helped some and knowing that I would see them again soon helped too. I had caught up with Doug Steele early in the run, I think about mile 6 or so. He was seeing that I was struggling and recommended the coke to help settle the stomach. I think eventually it did help (Thanks Doug!) though I knew it wasn’t good for my acid reflux. The run was two loops out and back with the end of the first loop passing right by the finish line. For some that might have been torture but for me it just pushed me more. I couldn’t wait to finish the second loop so I could be one of those crossing the finish line. I remember seeing Scott right after the start of the second loop. He asked if I wanted another update and of course I said yes. He told me I was 4th, which surprised me because I thought I was 3rd. I think this gave a little push. He told me to just keep going steady and strong. I was a little doubtful because of how much I was throwing up but very soon after that something just clicked. I switched over to just water at all the aid stations. I walked through each one to make sure I got all the water, took endurolytes at every other station and a gel at every third station. After the half way point, I never threw up again. My body just started feeling good. I saw my family again just before mile 16 and they couldn’t believe how much better I looked. They gave me another update as well and this time they said I was 3rd. That was more like it! I was slowly picking up the pace. I noticed that I was finally under 10 min/miles again. I had broken the run into section as well and at this point I was waiting for mile 20, all that was left after that was a 10k. The turn around was very soon after that and that fueled me even more. I knew this was the home stretch. All this hard work and months of dedication were about to pay off. I don’t know how I did it but somehow managed to cruise the last 1.8 miles in an 8:08 pace (just a little over 8 miles before I was barely making an 11 min/mile). I absorbed every bit of the finish. The crowd was amazing. It didn’t matter who you were; they were cheering for you like they knew you. I crossed that finish line with the biggest smile on my face. I had done it. I was an Iron(wo)man. No words left to describe it…just simply amazing.
Run Time: 4:09:52 (2nd in my division)
After an interview with the local news station (yep, you are talking to a celebrity!) we made it down to the convention center for my massage and food. After the massage, I noticed they had posted the some of the race results. I quickly found my name and could not believe that it read I was second in my age group! Oh my goodness, I just qualified for Kona! What an amazing way to top off an already perfect day.
You bet your bottom dollar I took that slot to Kona so I get to do this all over again in 5 weeks. Scared? A little but I plan to just go enjoy it. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am going to enjoy every minute of it.
Duke Liver Center ½ Ironman - Arlene Klauber - 9/14/2008
Well, I had my pre race melt down Thursday night and I wasn’t sure at that point I could do this. Before this I was always somewhat confident of finishing, but not this time. The race update was issued and I read it very literally and thought I’m starting with a 24 minute deficit. I was in the 7th wave, scheduled to start at 7:24. In the instructions the statement of “course closes 8 hours after the start of the race” had me panicked. I know they start my time when I start but. . . . Fred and I started our journey driving to Raleigh, NC. We left home before 7 on Saturday, September 13, and made it to Raleigh just after 11. It’s great having a Garmen. We went to lunch then to packet pickup since pick up didn’t start until noon. It’s a small race so no expo but if you get a chance, you have to check out Inside-Out. It’s a wonderful tri-store- I think it’s a chain in North Carolina. Nice stuff. At packet pick-up I learn my race number is 57 (the year my sister was born-must be good luck). After packet pick up we drove over to the race site to check out the lake. Water is calm and wet suit legal-77 degrees. We drove the bike course so I could get a little familiar. It’s a tough course, long hills, rollers and some nice down hills and flats, a little bit of everything. There is a nuclear power plant on the lake and the bike course has us passing it twice. After viewing the bike course, we head to my sister’s house in one of the suburbs of Raleigh. One of the reasons for registering for this race is that they have never seen me race. After registering I realized that this race was listed as difficult. Oh well!!! My sister fixed a great pasta dinner then we just relaxed for the evening. Early to bed since the alarm will go off at 3:30 am. Fred had to learn to use my blackberry to keep friends at home up to date of my progress. Had trouble sleeping.
We arrived at the race site around 5 am. It was dark but lots of activity. The first announcement I heard was the official water temp is 79.1 degrees. No longer wetsuit legal. We could wear out suit but would not be eligible for USAT championship points or what I found out later, age group awards. Who needs those “stinking championship points anyway.” Decision made, I'm wearing my sleeveless wetsuit. I’m not proud. Next announcement was temp is 71 and expected to go to mid 90s; my plan is slow and steady Just get to the finish in 8 hours.
Transition is set up. Sun block on. We sit in the car and wait. Then another announcement, the race would start late. Lifeguards got lost on way to the lake and they can’t start the race without them. A 10 minute delay. Now I thinking about it being hotter by the time I start the run. With the 10 minute delay I’m projecting starting the run at 12:45 in the afternoon. I don’t care how shaded the run course is, it’s going to be hot.
Finally started the swim and took a little bit to get into a rhythm but once I did I felt OK. I was actually able to draft off of a guy in front of me for a while. I didn’t have any trouble seeing the buoys this time. I got excited because on the last leg of the triangle, I was able to pass a number of people. A couple swimmers were in waves that started before me and I knew that they were struggling to finish the swim and what that felt like from my previous swim struggles. The swim took 55:27.
Not many bikes left as I entered transition but that’s OK. Could find my bike easier. Left transition with another woman and we stayed together for a while. I passed her on the road going toward the power plant. Never saw any of the USAT officials but there wasn’t much of an opportunity to commit a foul either. I felt great on my bike and was very aware of hydrating. I was able to stay in the big ring for most of the ride only dropping to the little one for the short steep hills. My left foot started hurting about 6 miles before the end of the ride. Don’t know what that was all about. Rolled into T2 in 3:48.23. Not too shabby for the hills.
The run wasn't pretty, had to walk a lot because of the heat. It was a 2 loop course so we got the same hills twice, plus the first 2 miles was up hill. It’s a packed dirt/grass path through the park. Yes there is some shade but it didn’t matter. IT WAS HOT!!! Walked the hills, ran the flat areas and down hills. I just couldn’t keep my heart rate down. Did the course once go back close to transition and start over again. On my first loop, I was headed back and past a guy that was on his second loop. He thanked me for raising money for Team In Training because he lost his father to lymphoma 10 years ago. He gave me words of encouragement to finish. The second loop was very difficult. Fortunately, they had wet towels at each of the aid stations and not only did I take advantage of the towels but I stopped to put ice in my cap just to cool down. As I was nearing the finish, I saw my sister Donna and my husband, Fred coming toward me to greet me coming in. I had nothing left and knew that I left everything out there on the race course. My official time was 7:54.18. As I crossed the finish line, the clock was no longer on so I wasn’t sure that I beat the cut off until I sat down and looked at my watch. I didn’t get a finisher medal at first and asked if I missed the time cut off. I was told they ran out and said that I would have to email them and they would send it to me. Needless to say, I was very disappointed, my first half Iron man and nothing to show for it. I would be heading home with nothing but pictures that Fred took to show for my effort in the blazing sun. Another athlete was standing there and heard the conversation. He said that I had to have a medal for my first so he gave me his. He said that he sees the race director every weekend and it would be easier for him to get another one than for them to mail one to me.
Some thoughts after the race, I found it difficult on the run because there were no mile markers on the trail so I never knew how far I was. I will also be more careful in race selection, check out the courses before registering. I was also happy that my sister got the chance to see what triathlon is all about. I don’t think I can recruit her but she did say that she was proud of me after crossing the finish line. I think it was one of the most difficult things that I have attempted to do. I have to figure out a plan for next year.
ChesapeakeMan Aquavelo - Karen Ashbrook-Barnes - 9/27/2008
ChesapeakeMan AquaVelo
Total Time: 8:31
Age Group – 2nd/5
I signed up for this race just a couple months ago, with the intent of
only doing one 56 mile loop of the bike. I just wanted another long swim
to prove something to myself, having done the Bay swim slowly with torn
ligaments. But, not wanting to be a wimp, I gradually admitted to everyone
that I actually was intent on finishing the race. But at mile 56 of the
bike, I wanted off that bike bad. I had trained for 2/3 of this race
distance.
Swim 2.4 miles – 1:26:45
This was my favorite open water swim after 8 years of competing, better
than the Bay swim. The start was cool, with the rain, dark navy ominous
clouds rolling low on the horizon... It looked beautiful and dangerous at
the same time. This was also the easiest mass start. We all started in the
water at once, and I hardly had to maneuver for room. From what I could
tell the water was black, all muddied from the rain. Perfect for me
because I couldn’t see a thing. For the first time I know I grabbed many
jellyfish, but I wasn’t stung. I love my new DeSoto wetsuit, I was very
comfortable in the 70 degree water, and even got hot after 20 minutes.
The conditions were great, a little bit of chop and swimming straight
into it only on one leg of each 1.2 mile loop. I was really happy with my
sighting, stayed very straight, warily eyeing the occasional swimmer who
looked completely lost. People who can’t sight, or just don’t, irritate me
because they are unpredictable. One guy kept shadowing me and finally
decided to turn left – directly into me. Unfortunately he got cussed
heavily until he apologized. He didn’t know he crashed into my already
broken thumb, or that he caused me to have a severe calf cramp… I had been
trying to get away from him for 10 minutes already. Otherwise it was a
perfect swim.
T1 – 7:54
I didn’t plan on a fast transition – good thing. I knew I could not sit
aero for 6+ hours in my tri-suit, so I planned to change into bike shorts
and jersey with big pockets for all my food. Between changing clothes,
socks, using ear drops, staggering about, it took forever. But my heart
rate never went down. I figure that is what matters; I was still racing.
DeSoto wetsuit again is awesome, 20 seconds to get off.
Bike 112.8 miles 6:56 Avg 16.1 mpg
I spent much of the ride averaging 17mph (according to my bike computer),
but between the multiple toilet stops, delirium, cycling through rain and
river, giving away my bike tube, my average plummeted. In general I was
way slow; I averaged 20.6mph at Reston. Oh well. This was certainly the
most money I have ever spent for the honor of riding my bike all alone, in
rain, at times feeling completely lost. But it was a great race, I never
did get lost, there were bottle exchange/toilet stations quite often. All
you had to do was ride the bike. Huge wide shoulders, often completely
empty roads. The first loop through the Blackwater Wildlife Refuge I saw
an eagle, and I loved watching the colors of the marsh change with the
light/dark of the sky. But the second loop through I just wanted it to
end.
Since the high tide was higher than expected, the marsh flooded the road,
so there was a 2 mile section covered in water (salt water). Covered
intermittently the first loop with 2-8 inches of water, and completely
covered for the second loop. As I plowed through the water, filling my
shoes, shorts, I watched large schools of little menhaden fish darting
across the road. Not often you see schools of fish passing under your
front tire when you ride your bike down the road.
My lovely bike got special treatment after the race: a shower and rub
down in the hotel tub. Good Kuota.
I managed to stay aero for the entire 112 miles, but I had to get into a
routine of sitting up and stretching my back about every 30 minutes. One
calf cramped for about half the ride, so I will be working more stretching
into my workouts. The tendinitis in my shoulder gave me agony for about
the first 60 miles, and then was better.
I seem to have done really well with nutrition, I drank too much in the
beginning and had to stop a lot. But, I started with a plan of a gel every
30-45 minutes, alternating with cliff bars and peanut butter crackers. I
never was hungry or weak, never became desperate for real food, and my
last 2 hours I rode stronger and faster than the whole ride. I really
wanted off the bike by then.
Now that I have done 2/3rd of an Ironman distance race, and I realize I
could have done the whole thing, although I’m not sure I want to… I was
able to run with the kids after the race; surprised to find that my legs
still worked. My muscles are tight, but I have not had any soreness since
the race. I must have done something right.
Things to work on for next time:
Faster transition, stop less often, more speed/distance
Osprey Sprint - Karen Ashbrook-Barnes - 10/4/2008
Age group: 4th / 30
Overall women: 20th / 141 (very exciting!)
.5 mile swim - 15.2 mile bike - 3.1 mile run
1:29:33
Pre-race
I took 15 minutes of my fastest sprint distance races, and not just because the swim was short! I supposed the swim distance could have been close to accurate since the heavy wind was behind us…
We like this race because it is a fun, end of the season race, and the grandparents live 1 hour away, so we can actually both do the same race. It is a beautiful place on the Chincoteague Bay, very quiet. Normally the water is calm. I seem to be getting better at this (after 8 years… finally). No nerves, I was very calm at the swim start. Short lines at the toilets helps a lot also! I managed to eat a banana, some bread, and a gel just before the start. My major failure this time was in forgetting my goggles. Fortunately Charlie had an extra pair. Unfortunately they were a 10 year old pair of prescription goggles, from before my laser surgery. No salt water in the eyes, but I couldn’t see a thing.
Swim - 11:14
The Osprey Sprint often has trouble getting their distance measured correctly. This was not a half mile swim (I don’t swim a mile in 22 minutes). So it was certainly not worth putting on the wetsuit. It was windy and very choppy and cold. Starting out was straight into the chop. I couldn’t see anything due to the chop and bad goggles. But I swam as fast as I could, in whatever direction I was pointed at the time…
T1 - 2:17
Still really need to improve transitions. This time I spent the last couple minutes of the swim thinking about my transition, planning it out. It didn’t help much.
Bike - 48:02 avg/19.0
I don’t agree with the time breakdowns from the timing of this race. My bike computer has been accurate with every race. I clocked 15.8 miles and 19.6 average. I lost some time at the start with a mysterious clicking on my bike. Must ride bike BEFORE the race to adjust cadence meter (it often gets moved). Once adjusted, my cadence meter no longer worked. That throws me off, because I train with it. So I pushed hard and passed many. There are no officials on this course, so drafting and blocking are rampant. Almost completely flat, it was also windy, with occasional breaks in the trees. Still a lot of fun.
T2 - 1:19
I suppose this transition was better. Still need to improve. I only needed to change shoes and hats.
Run - 26:42
I knew I would cramp on this run, as usual. My whole abdomen had generalized cramping, and my legs were tired with slight cramping. I had not run in 2 weeks, so went for a short run the day before to wake up the muscles. I paced myself slow at first, hoping the cramp would improve. It slowly did. My first mile was 9 minutes, the second mile was 8 minutes. That is if they were measured correctly. The 3rd mile seemed rather long. Completely flat run, and exposed, so a bit hot. I forgot my metronome, so I had to imagine my 90 cadence. I think I managed it for the most part. Near the end of the bike I was passed by a 50 something ironman finisher. I was quite happy passing him on the run.
Iron Girl - Katie Davison - 8/24/2008
***Iron Girl DISTANCE***
Swim: .62 miles
Bike: 17.5 miles
Run: 3.4 miles
***RESULTS***
Overall: 1:36:54, 10th/1632 overall, 1st in age group
Swim: 13:48
Bike: 54:22/19.3avg
Run: 25:56/7:38avg
***PRERACE***
Iron Girl was the 2nd of our Team LUNA Chix DC events and my 1st Iron Girl event. Friday and Saturday were the Iron Girl Expo. We set up our Luna tent both days to promote LUNA, BCF, triathlon, and to raise some money for BCF. This year we decided to do a raffle for Shonny Vanlandingham's jersey and a LUNA saddle. Both were hot items and we were able to raise over $600! During my time at the tent I talked to so many great ladies and was really inspired by everyone. The Expo/Packet pick-up were huge...so many vendors, goodies, etc. I was a bit overwhelmed. I left the Expo around 5pm and headed to Centennial Park for bike check-in. That was easy and I wa son the road back to DC by 6pm. Got home, got my stuff ready, and was in bed by 9pm.
Up at 430am on Sunday and on the road by 445am. Got to the park around 530am and headed to transition to set up. I did not expect to see any of my LUNA teammates until after the race...I was in the 1st wave at 645am...the elite wave (also the pro wave). A lot of the team did not go off until after 730am. It was still dark and I had somewhat of a hard time pumping my tires and lubing my chain...I think I lubed the whole area. nice. A girl I met in transition really calmed me before the race. She was a riot. Her name was Erin, it was her 1st triathlon, and somehow she had gotten herself into the elite wave. She thought it was pretty hysterical. I loved her laid-back attitude. She had forgotten water bottles, so I ran back to my car and grabbed her some LUNA bottles. She was very grateful and my new best friend.
It was then time to head down to the water. I was freezing. The water was 84 so wetsuits would not be allowed. Once I got in I would be fine.
***RACE***
SWIM - They called us up to enter the water. We all waded in and all lined up treading water. Thew ave was only about 25 people so it was not hard to find a spot. I positioned myself on the end right of the line and waited for the strange Aflac duck go signal. BUHAHA. We were off. It seemed like a more calm start than usual. I had positioned myself on the right so that I could just site off everyone to the left (I breathe to my left). We started to separate. About 6 ladies were out in front...I was not far behind them. And I did not see anyone to either side, just a lot of splashing behind. I settled into my rhythm and started to focus on myself and not everyone around me. It was sort of a rectangular course. On the long side I saw no one around me, just the few out in front, and felt someone at my feet constantly. ARGHHH someone was really drafting me. I just tried to kick a lot :) Finally I spotted the finish chute. I sprinted in. As I ran out of the water I saw Laura and Andie, they were there cheering me on.
T1 - Nothing too exciting. I was off on BANANAS. YEAHHHHHH BANANAS.
BIKE - I had never rode the exact course. Came out the beginning of May to ride the Columbia course with DC tri and I knew it was hilly. Which is good...my strength. The girl who had come out of the water right behind me passed me after a few miles. I wanted to hold my place so did not want her to get out of my site. I was feeling decent. I had taken a few weeks off riding and did not feel as strong as I had been at the beginning of the season...but not bad...legs did feel fresh. Each hill I gained on the girl that had passed me. There were 2 roundabouts on the course. After the 1st one I saw I was not too far behind Dede, the leader. Exciting! With about 5 miles to go I passed the girl who had passed me. I felt I was maybe in 7th or 8th place overall as I came into T2.
T2 - Quickly got outta there...Newtons...no socks...should be interesting :) My blister situation has been much better. I have been putting iodine all over my feet and they were pretty tough now. But still for anything longer than say 4 miles I should wear socks.
RUN - I was in 8th. I wanted to make top 10. So this is where I get nervous...and people usually start passing me. I could see someone behind me maybe 100 feet. Yes, she would surely pass me. I tried to set into a pace with high cadence. Looked behind again about 5 minutes later and no one. Mile 1, still no site of anyone behind me. Mile 2, same...no one behind me. I picked it up a bit...if no one passed me on the run that would be ridiculous....I would make it happen. Mile 3, no one behind for as far as I could see. GEEZ...haha I guess I am pretty paranoid when I run. Only .4 to go! I busted it to the finish. Crossed the line in 8th!
***POSTRACE***
All of the sudden I was sweating like hot yoga. I needed water. I talked with Megan, who had finished 5th! and then headed to the LUNA tent to hang/regroup and wait for others to finish. My teammates started coming in. Everyone was in the best mood and really happy with their strong finishes. Then I headed over to get a post-race massage...never done that...why not though..it was free!
Iron Girl was an excellent event and Team LUNA Chix DC did good....promoting the sport, raising money for BCF, and team togetherness. :) Thanks everyone! I love you all.
Reston Duathlon - Karen - 9/7/2008
2:28:20
5th place AG 35-39
32nd/156 women
Reston was my first international distance of the year after tearing all the ligaments in my ankle during the Culpeper sprint May 18. I am so happy with my result (2:28, 5th in my age group). If only it had been a real triathlon instead of the duathlon, my legs are still shouting about the abuse of 9 miles of running in a day. Haven’t done that for a while. But I want to do another half marathon by spring, so it was perfect training for that.
Despite the tropical storm, babysitter with a bloodclot, kids with colds, my recurrent and persistent bronchitis and breathing difficulty, and the medication that left me nauseated and foggy headed on Saturday - we actually made it to the race. Arriving was the first hurdle.
I really wanted a full triathlon, but when there is no swim involved, I don’t get as nervous. So that was positive. Stomach was fine before starting, which is very rare, and I was calm. It felt just like a big run with friends. Of course, no warm-up, and minimal stretching. I still need to work on that. And there wasn’t much benefit to me warming up, since it was too dark to bike, and I definitely did not need to do any pre-race running. I have improved the pre-race nutrition: strawberry smoothie and a banana. It worked.
I drank Cytomax (with salt added) before run, during bike, and during 10k. I also used my favorite Gu-food before run, T1, during bike, and T2. I need to get more practiced doing this while moving. My transitions are way too slow.
Run 2.50 miles - 19:32
I don’t think it was quite 2.5 miles, so I averaged around 8:00/mile. New higher cadence is awesome. Felt pretty good, I just tried to maintain pace. I didn’t really like the constant up/down on a wet and muddy path, I am so worried about re-injuring my ankle. But I held up, and finished faster than I had planned.
T1 – 2:18 - I really need to work on transitions
Bike: 1:09:08 avg 20.6mph
Bike was excellent. I started hard (I wanted to pass someone who was ahead on the run, so I powered off, first goal accomplished). Since I was in the 3rd wave, I had lots of people ahead to pass. The roads were marked way too narrow in places, where we got the half of the lane with debris, and the cars didn’t. And the number of people who simply won’t stay to the right is frustrating. I didn’t see anyone with penalties for blocking, but I encountered it a lot. Since my injury in May was from tripping over a traffic cone, I was really unhappy with the hundreds of traffic cones along the bike route.
I found myself passing many cyclists in the first lap. By the second lap I ended up with a couple guys who would not stay dropped. I probably leap-frogged with one yellow bike 30 times. We finally chatted briefly. It was always crowded on the bike, we didn’t have the swim to stretch us out. It was really hard to avoid drafting by accident, it was often too narrow to pass in the woods. This was my fastest bike time ever: 1:09/avg 20.6 mph. I’m really happy with that. I love my new Kuota, I stayed aero 99% of the time. The bike portion was awesome, despite my complaints, I had an awesome time. I even heard my name a few times, but I had no air to spare for yelling back. I just gave big grins. Between grinning and gasping for air, I stayed pretty busy. My right leg cramped in the last lap, and my abdominal muscles started cramping a little. I think because I was pushing hard, and my body is adjusting to the aero position. This is the first time I have had leg cramps.
T2 – 1:30
Run 10k - 55:47 – 9:00/mile approx
Since I always cramp on the run, I gave it everything on the bike. No sense holding back just to end up crying during the run because of the cramp pain. So I was prepared to be passed by everyone on the run. I used my metronome to keep me at a cadence of 91 or higher. Reston always has a crowded run, so I only turned on the metronome occasionally to keep me on a steady pace. It would really annoy me to hear someone else’s metronome, so I turned it on when I was alone briefly, to be polite. My time reflects jumping and dodging mud/gravel/debris and slowing on the many tiny slippery hills, otherwise I thought I should have been just a little faster. But because I kept a very constant pace, and didn’t let myself go too hard, I gradually passed many people who trotted past me at the start of the run. That was very rewarding. I paced one woman for a couple miles, her speed was perfect. That is until she slowed very slightly, and started doing heavy breathing, very measured as if she was in labor. I really did not want to speed up, but hell if I was going to run behind someone who sounds like she is in labor. I wanted to focus on me! So I gradually pulled away from her, until finally her Lamaze breathing was gone.
I told myself that I just needed to run my own race, not race anyone else. So I got in the zone, where nothing else mattered but my pace/cadence and not falling. Time actually passed quickly by concentrating only on those two things. I stayed very focused. I suppose I did break the 9:00/mile, barely. I could feel that my legs were close to cramping in the run, on the last couple hills even my quads started cramping. I’ll have to investigate what is going on there. Starting with a massage tonight!
Considering that this is my “comeback” race, my “A” race, it was my second run of a “duathlon” that I had not planned on, AND I haven’t trained over 5 miles, I am very happy with my time.
Leadville 100 - Chas Ryan - 2008
I rarely do race reports but I think many of you out there will appreciate this one. It also has some triathlon tidbits as well so hope you enjoy even if it is a bit long but heck it was a long race!!
Background: In 2007 I convinced my brother in-law to lottery for this race and to my dismay he was selected and I was not. Now, the RD for the Leadville MTB 100 and the Leadville Trail 100 Run is Ken Chlouber, a local resident and former Colorado State Representative. Ken and his wife Merrilee started the trail run almost 26 years ago and the MTB race 15 years ago. The process to get in to the race may be a “lottery” but it is definitely skewed to Colorado residents and those that have done the race in the past. You see, Ken and Merilee want the races to be a family affair and are always referring to the Leadville Family. They want people to come back year after year and they recognize those that are members of the “Thousand Mile Club”, who have done all the races, or are Leadmen or Leadwomen if they have done both the trail run and the MTB race. So, we fast forward to December 2007 and my sister Kathy wants to do the race with her husband Michael, me, and her other brothers-in-law Mike and Tim. Because my sister is a Colorado resident we get in the race as a family entry. Unfortunately Tim has a hernia and could not race so he was the crew chief with my nieces and nephew.
A week prior to the race Kathy called me and said that local rumor has Lance showing up to do it this year which was the same rumor as in 2007 but he could not do it because of a schedule conflict. Anyway, the closer we get to race day it is confirmed in Velonews that Lance is locked-in and he says his goal is top-10. The current champ, Dave Wiens, has won 5 years in a row and holds the course record of 6:58 and is the favorite. For those that have never heard of Dave he is 44 years old, a former MTB National Champ, and winner of world cup races back in the mid-90’s.
I arrived to Colorado on the Thursday before the Saturday race and stayed in Breckenridge which is about 45 min from Leadville. As expected the altitude had me breathing hard and I was nervous as to how I would race on Saturday. Sleeping was difficult that night and I woke several times slightly out of breath. Michael and Kathy live in CO so there were no issues and Mike (from Lake Placid area) had only minor issues as he has spent months at altitude for many of his alpine and mountaineering adventures so he adapted much quicker than me. For the next day and race day I was just out of sorts because of the altitude. Unlike some of my other races my expectations were low and I just wanted to come in under 12 hours and earn the coveted silver belt buckle.
Friday is a mandatory pre-race brief by Ken and the race doc in a tiny, old, rickety gym that barely holds the racers, families, and crews but my bro-in-law Michael said it had a lot more attendees this year because Lance was there. So, after some of the standard pre-race rules and warnings Ken introduces Chris Carmichael and holds-up the gigantic sub-9 hour belt buckle that Chris has tried to earn for the last two years. Then, Lance comes to the mic and trash-talks about Carmichael a bit and then gives us a little pep-talk before he passes the mic to Dave Wiens. The last thing Ken says is that “anyone that finished in the Top 100 in 2007 and TDF Champs get to stage in the corral on main street. Everyone else seed yourself fairly”. He then goes on to say “Now, did I miss any other TDF Champs in the race that I did not recognize and should be in the corral” and the crowd cracked-up.
Race Day: We woke just before 4AM to eat, load bikes, and depart for Leadville. I slept as well as could be expected the night before a race this daunting but was still out of sorts and not on all cylinders.
We arrived to Leadville by 5:30AM, used the loo, and then kitted-out in clothing that would work well in the 49 degree temps for race start and the eventual high for the day of 66. I opted for armwarmers and a vest and in hindsight I only needed the armwarmers as a long climb began at mile 5.
All of us staged in the 11-12 hour grid and there were 850 total riders. The Mayor starts the race with a shotgun blast at 6:30AM and all racers are escorted by police out of town for 4 miles until we reach the first dirt road when the cop cars peel off and the racing begins.
At this point I was trying to warm-up and pick my way through riders to avoid a wreck as it is very crowded on the double-track. I warmed-up very quickly and realized the vest was overkill. I was also working very hard and trying to control my HR but it was difficult. The first climb was about 4 miles on wide double-track and I was able to keep moving at a slower than expected pace. I was soon passed by Michael and Mike but was able to ride with them or close to them for the next few hours.
This race does not have any “single-track” like the Shenandoah 100 or the Mohican 100 and is on-paper a faster course but the altitude is the great equalizer. So, I moved efficiently on the double-track, the wide but technical descents on the Powerline, but just could not push a big gear on the flat and rolling paved or gravel terrain. It was really frustrating that I just could not get enough oxygen and blood in to my legs. Moreover, altitude causes headaches, dizziness, nausea, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, and loss of brain function in some people. For the entire race I was breathing very hard and was never really hungry except for one point about the 40 mile mark. Drinking while riding was really tough as it would throw-off my breathing rhythm and I would almost hyperventilate. Eating the standard Powerbars while riding was even more difficult so I took in most of my calories at the aid stations and only nibbled from my Bento while riding.
After exiting the Powerline section of the course it was flat and rolling to the first major aid station. I stopped for only 2 min with Michael and Mike and ate a half PBJ, some water melon, and had a cup of Powerade. I was also popping endurolytes every hour as you can dehydrate easily at altitude. Right after this aid station I dropped off the pace of Michael and Mike and just had to ride my own race. The terrain was flat for about 7-8 miles and I could not push a big gear as my legs had no stamina. Additionally, I continued to struggle with my breathing and just could not get in to a race mode or get some adrenalin going that would make me feel like I was racing.
My pace was efficient if not fast and I moved along on the rolling roads and double-track to Twin Lakes. Now, this is where Leadville is truly different from the other 100s out there. The aid-station is about the same size as the others with 20+ volunteers but here there is room for about 200+ family, friends, crews, 40 tents lining the road, and just local supporters. Our crew of Tim, Ryan, Kate, and Maeve ran to get me food and fluid and after eating a banana to help fight my cramps I was back on the trail in a few minutes.
Right after Twin Lakes the terrain is moderate and mostly dirt road for a mile or two before you begin a 7 mile climb up to Columbine Mine. The first 5 miles or so is all dirt road so I was just trying to maintain a rhythm but I was really struggling. This kind of long-dirt road climbing is one of my strengths but I just could not focus and almost got off the bike to walk. I just kept turning the pedals and moving forward.
The race is an out and back and while on this long climb I was able to watch Lance and Dave blow by me at close to 30 miles per hour. They were only a few feet apart and had a huge gap on the 3rd place rider. Shortly after my nano-second brush with fame of being in the same race with Lance I arrived at the toughest part of the race course. The last 2 miles to Columbine Mine. Here is where the trail gets tough and is a long hike-a-bike up a loose and rocky jeep trail. At this point I was really struggling and was mentally just out of it—the loss of brain function symptom I guess. I think it was mostly altitude but I also felt a bonk coming-on. My steps were painfully slow and my balance was out of whack. I gutted out the last two miles to the half-way point of the race and was at the “Race Across the Sky” point. This is the highest point of the race at 12,600 feet and truly is a top of the world kind of place but I was just too disoriented to really appreciate it. At this aid station I stopped a bit longer, ate some more, took in some Fritos for the salt, had some more banana and watermelon, and then began my descent. I also overheard from another rider that we were at the 6 hour point of the race so under 12 hours was still viable. I managed the technical descent pretty well even though I was still breathing very hard and not pedaling. I passed my sister Kathy who was on her way up and she was struggling as well. My intent was to use this long descent to recover from my minor bonk before I had to start working again on the flats.
I made it to the bottom of Columbine in about 35 minutes and hardly turned the pedals. My hands were sore and numb from controlling the bike but I had recovered a little from the climb. The next stop was back at Twin Lakes and I ate a bit, had the crew lube my chain, and was told Michael and Mike were about 15 min ahead. At this point my legs were fading more and I struggled to push the big ring and was in the mid-ring more than I had planned. I just kept moving forward to the next aid station.
After the 80 mile-mark aid station I had to renegotiate the Powerline but now I am going up. This was a steep hike a bike (where Lance and Dave rode it) and a one-foot in front of the other sufferfest. From mile 80-90 the recovery from any bursts of effort on a climb or hike-a-bike seemed to take forever and I was gasping and moving at about 3 miles per hour. After the Powerline there was a long paved descent and it had started to rain. For some reason the rain did not bother me that much and after the descent, a scenic ride along a beautiful lake, I began a painfully long and slow paved climb to the 90 mile point. With fresh legs this climb would have been a breeze but at this point I was just keeping the bike moving forward. I did stop on the climb to take some endurolytes and eat a gel pak because I had not eaten in over an hour. I also looked at my watch and saw that it was 9:53 total time but I was not sure where I was. I was estimating that I would be cutting it close to come in under 12 hours. About 30 min later I made it to the last aid-station—The Carmichael Training Systems Station—and had another gel, took in a cup of broth, exchanged for a Carmichael bottle, and was told I had 10 miles to go with about half of it down hill. I knew at this point if I could only manage 10MPH I would earn the buckle.
The descent was efficient and non-technical but all my energy was focused on controlling the bike and not speed. I did not want to risk a wreck because it was at this point on the course that Lance wrecked and Dave Wiens took the lead for good and Lance told him to go on—“he was done”.
http://livestrongblog.org/2008/08/11/once-again-from-leadville/
I made it to the bottom of the climb and was soon off the dirt road and on to a short section of pavement and here is where I was able to push the big ring a bit. It was a 1% descent and I was able to pass about 5 people before I reached the 2 miles of dirt road ascent of maybe 2% grade that would bring me back to town. This last two miles was so demoralizing as all you want to do is finish and you had to limp up this rocky dirt road to get to the last half mile or so of pavement. Well, I had enough gas to slowly pass 4-5 more riders and then when I made it to town I pushed real hard and emptied the tank to the finish. Finish Time of 11:26:26.
The finish at this race is Ironmanesque. There are several hundred people lining the streets to cheer you on as you ride up-hill to cross the line. Michael and Mike, the Crew, and my older sister Macey were in this crowd cheering for me. After crossing the line I was totally spent and could only take-in water for a while as my stomach was just out of whack.
After peeling my kit and donning dry clothes all of us stayed at the finish to cheer-on the other riders and wait for Kathy. The Mayor is counting down the minutes as the clock approaches 12 hours. Two riders crest the hill that is 600 yards away and they have 2 minutes to reach the line. All the fans are cheering and waving for these two guys and both of them were hammering to make it to the line. They came in with about a minute to spare and the second guy earned the “Last Ass Over the Pass” trophy awarded to the final finisher under 12 hours. Both riders looked as if they were going to vomit as they collapsed over the handlebars.
As the Mayor counted down to the 12 hour mark a husband and wife tandem team (yes, there are MTB tandems) had crested the hill. Ken fired off the shotgun as this couple was struggling to make it to the line. They crossed at 12:00:31 and the woman was in tears.
We knew my sister was about an hour behind me so we hopped in the car and drove the half-mile to the beginning of the paved road leading to the finish. As Kathy (mother of four and IM LP and IM MOO finisher) emerged from the last dirt road we all cheered her-on and then followed along side to keep her motivated. The look on her face showed that she was very discouraged as she trained really hard for this event and desperately wanted the buckle but it was not her day. She crossed the line at 12:31 and earned an official finishers medal. She was in tears as she left everything on the course and we hugged for a long-time in the finish area. I owe much of my enthusiasm for endurance events to her because of her interest in adventure racing and prodding me to do IM a few years ago.
Postscript: On Sunday morning I felt that the race was just too hard and not much fun for a flatlander like me and that I would not return but this was before the awards ceremony. When all of us returned to Leadville the line had already begun outside of the gymnasium and by 8:15 it was over 3 blocks long with racers, family, crew, and others to watch the event.
At 8:15 Ken took the mic and started off with talking about the husband and wife team that came in 31 seconds late. He was a bit tongue in cheek as he talked about the 12 hour rule and that the buckles are expensive and that they need to save money up in little Leadville. Then he says to the crowd “what do you think? Should we give these two a buckle?” Well, the entire gym erupted with applause and cheers and Ken gave them their buckles. That is what the Leadville Family is all about and why I would be willing to do the race again.
Ken went through name by name everyone that finished under 12 hours and stopped to recognize members of the 1000 mile club, a 71 year old friend of my sister’s that did it in 11:15, the oldest woman finisher in her 50’s that did it under 11, and the AG winners to include Lance who said “this is the first time since I was doing triathlon that I won my AG”. Also, to my surprise and a few others the woman’s overall winner was Susan Williams. Yes, the same Susan Williams who won a bronze medal in triathlon at the Olympics and who won the Columbia Tri in 2005. For the record, Michael did a 10:58 and credits my Sister’s disciplined training for improving by 42 min over his 2007 time and Mike had a superb 10:39.
One other anecdote to add is a friend of my Brother-in-Law, Matt, who I had dinner with on Sunday night. This guy is one tough athlete and Kona qualifier and finisher. For Leadville he had a broken finger and a cast covering his hand so he built a bike with shifters and brakes on the left side of the bar and hammered the course in 8:58.
Triangle Triathlon - Katie Davison - 7/13/08
Distance: 750 meter swim, 15 mile bike, 5K run
***RESULTS***
Overall: 1:16:25, 12th overall female, 8th open female
Swim: 11:12
Bike: 39:55
Run: 22:02
***PRERACE***
Another busy but very FUN weekend adventure. Original plan was to head to Raleigh, NC Saturday and then over to OBX Sunday to visit my dad on vacation. I decided it would be fun to find some ride or event on Sunday morning. We ended up at the Triangle Triathlon (part of setupevents NCTS). Matias's crazy work traveling had him back in FLL early early Monday morning...so OBX fell through and we would head back home Sunday.
The past month has been a beater trying to recover from some solid training this season. I have been having some breathing trouble, especially while biking. I feel as though I can not get enough air in and when I do take a real deep breath it feels as though I have strained some chest muscles. The breathing problems started before the Savageman training ride and chest pain began after that. After some doctor visits and talking with The Delaneys (Rehab To Racing) they diagnosed bronchospasm, or contraction of the windpipe...usually allergy related. With this occurring it would be easy for me to strain chest muscles, especially during these beater rides. I was feeling better knowing what was going on but still worried about overdoing it.
Saturday - After a nice long swim, while Matias ran, we were on the road for Raleigh, NC. We hit a lot of traffic leaving the area and did not make it until around 6:30pm. We checked into the hotel, found some good eats at Outback, and were in bed at a reasonable hour.
Sunday am - We arrived at Lake Crabtree County Park by 5:30am for packet pick-up. Matias decided to switch over to the Open/Elite category and convinced me I should do the same...so I did. We got our race packets and headed over to transition to set up. Matias and I ended up right next to each other in transition...so that was fun :) It was really a strange feeling not knowing anyone at the race besides ourselves.
***RACE***
SWIM - Open Male and Open Female started together in the 1st wave. Everyone looked SO serious...and they all seemed to know each other and had on the same uniform, except Matias and I. Cripes...what had I gotten into. Most of them were on this Triangle Multisport-Inside Out Sports Triathlon Team (TMS-IOS), a team of elite amateur and professional multi-sport athletes from around the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area. The water was 86 degrees (no wetsuits allowed)...I love warm water :) As the starter counted down we all lined up in a row...and shortly we were off. Busted start...everyone was all up in my space. Ughh...no getting away in this one. Hit the turn around and it calmed a bit. I felt like I was in the middle of the wave. I sprinted into the finish beating another female out of the water by maybe 2 seconds.
T1 - Pretty uneventful...was off on Bananas.
BIKE - The course was a 4-leaf clover...out of the park and around a mostly suburban area. It seemed the start of each loop was in a small valley with some climbing at the start of each loop and descent back into the middle. A female passed me before getting to the 1st loop...then came some climbing and I started to catch up and pass her back. Another female came up on us and shouted at me..."YOUR DRAFTING...GRR." And then she passed the other lady and yelled to her that I was drafting :( They were TMS-IOS teammates. I felt bad...I was not trying to draft off her. GEEZ...not sure about this Open category. For about 5 seconds I was sad and then I decided no more nice Bananas. I passed her for good then. Felt strong throughout the ride. I gained on people on each climb...even caught a few people.
T2 - Socks or no socks? Last few races I have gone without and paid for it. I could NOT get one on...NO SOCKS. GEEZ. Then I ran out the wrong way to get out of transition...NICE.
RUN - Take 50 for the Newtons. After some serious blister issues, I was still sure I was faster in these shoes and was determined to break my feet into them. I had been putting iodine on my blisters several times a day for the past month...I was told it would make my feet tougher. And had also been putting moleskin on my feet where blisters were likely to occur. I had started out with some on but it fell off..the usual. I started out and felt good. I am definitely becoming more used to the bike to run feeling. Less people are passing me on the run. Hit Mile 1...no blisters. Mile 2...I picked up the pace. I felt strong finishing and NO blisters! The TMS-IOS tri team finished really strong. Matias finished 2nd overall and won a pretty awesome mug...HEHE!
***POSTRACE***
I feel I am recovering from running and racing more quickly now. Before I would have to take at least a week off running after a race involving running. Now its maybe only a few days. My body is getting there. And thanks to Mary and Al for helping me figure myself out yet again :) I love you guys.
***LESSONS LEARNED***
-Practice transitions.
National Duathlon Festival - Doug Landau - 4/27/08
If you want to experience a course that has been the venue for the National x-Terra Championships, the recent Worlds Long Course Duathlon, and, for the next 2 years, the National Short Course Duathlon Championships, come to Richmond. In short, I have been training on the islands off downtown, and they are wonderful escapes in the middle of the state Capitol, surrounded by the James River.
The Richmond Sports Backers have created a terrific weekend of events with elite, age group, junior, open and kids off-road races on Saturday and on-road events Sunday. We watched the off-road racers negotiate the course, and saw several nearly wipe out. There was a free running clinic by Danny Abshire, developer of the Newton running shoe, and if you were really feeling as crazy as "Triathlon Trial Lawyer" Doug Landau, an opportunity to race both days !
The 10km run, 40km. bike and 5km. run format usually does not lend itself to spectators. However, the Sportsbackers created a course with excellent opportunities for watching the racing. First, the run was 2 loops, out of a beautiful lawn down to a pedestrian bridge below the Manchester Bridge and onto the cross-country course on Brown's Island. There are no killer hills, but the course is rolling, with gravel, dirt and bridges. It's a refreshing change from the 100% paved courses, with city pollution and no scenery. The roiling James River goes alongside the course and the uphill finish to each loop is good for spectators. Even better is the fact that spectators can sit on the governor's mansion lawn and watch the entirety of the transition area. And the bikers have a steep switchback hill to climb in view of T-1 before they get on Byrd Street and then roll down 2nd Street toward the ramp to the Manchester Bridge. The race then took us down the river to Lee Hill Park, where there was a hairpin turn at the bottom of a sloping parking lot. We then returned along the river and train tracks, across the bridge to the transition area for 4 loops. In other words, spectators and family saw us a minimum of 6 times, usually going "slow-mo" up to the run finishes and up the bike switchbacks. That was the general idea. It will be a great race next year if the weather is like it was for the XTerra racers - sunny, warm, gorgeous.
However, on Sunday it was a different story. It was cold, having rained all night, drizzly, windy on the bridge and treacherous for the road bikers. I saw more people crash and walking their bikes in this one race than I have seen in all my other races combined. One rider wiped out in front of me in the park's hairpin turn and another trying to negotiate the switchback's uphill turn. I saw intrepid racer Kristin Didomenico shivering on the side of the road by the park asking for a jacket. I rode hard to the transition area and asked if I could get an extra windbreaker from my bag. The USAT officials would not let me hop the fence, even though I offered to leave my chip & bike outside and told them I knew I had another lap to go. When I got back to the park, Kristin was in a police officer's poncho. I hope she made it back in time for the Nationals game she and her family had tickets to attend. I tip my hat to all who finished, and the times are remarkable as this was the opposite of the Mason Ohio course last July.
As for your weary correspondent...
Good news: I stayed upright, did no stop or cramp or have any blisters.
Bad news: Easily the worst race of my life. Passed NO ONE in 1st run, biked like an old lady & second run nearly did 8 min. miles! Started 2nd run as people I was keying on were finishing! Could not feel hands during bike & could not feel feet for 2 miles of the run. Actually sat down during T-2.
The numbers don't lie. I flat out stunk. This was the longest time I have been out on any course, even longer than when I got lost at Naylor’s Beach. My bike, wheels and Newtons were filthy afterwards, but it was the rider, not the equipment that failed this time. I'll take it easy for a couple of days & then regroup.
Doug Landau: 2:34:48, 165th of 286 finishers. AG: 21/32, 140th of 200 male finishers. 40 dnf's.
168th 46:02/10k 7:25/mi., T-1 1:13 168th 1:21:41/40k 18.3 mph, T2 1:12 157th 24:41/5k 7:57/mi.
Pike's Peak 10K - Katie Davison - 04/27/08
After many attempts at running races, not only did I register this time...but I actually made it to the event and raced! First time in 3 years. I am running now.
On the drive to the race I thought...this is pretty cool...I really have no expectations of myself. I am nervous...but not because I hope to do well but because I did not want it to hurt. I made it to Rockville about 7:00am in time for packet pick-up and to get situated. I was cold. It was in the upper 50's and raining. Awesome. I had overdone it a bit by riding 62 miles on Saturday morning and was unsure how running would feel...but usually riding the day before running is good for me and helps get my hip warmed up.
As the start time (8:00am) approached I hung out where my wave (wave?! are we swimming?) was positioned. There were A LOT of people. It was go time. Not a fast start with so many people. I tried to bust on through the crowd. I got out of the jumble and was off. My legs felt cold...but quickly I warmed up. The 1st mile (8:00) marker came up pretty quickly. My goal was under 50 minutes, so I was on track. I was unsure of how to pace myself so held a bit back. At about mile 3 I was starting to feel good so picked it up a bit...started hitting the miles at 7:15 to 7:30. I really feel I am getting more used to forefoot striking. Most of my runs I alternate between forefoot and midfoot running, while I seem to be leaning towards forefoot now. This is good...it seems a lot less pressure on my hip. Mile 5 came up (1 mile to go). I picked it up all the way to the finish. Hooray my 1st ever 10k.
Time: 47:16 (7:37/mile) 126/1317
Tale of the Speedo 5
Peesburg,VA - They strode into Peesburg Criminal Court flaunting JC Penney suits and shoes from Kohl's, confident and defiant, but left a few short hours later humbled and under the supervision of a small town Probation Office.
In a criminal case that rocked the small town of Peesburg, big city arrogance bumped heads with country justice. The so called Speedo Five faced judge Cleetus Buford and the Floundon County Fish and Game Deputy Office. Represented by a prototypical big city lawyer, the Five had been charged with criminal trespass and illegal swimming. In addition, all Five were said to be clad in newfangled rubberized suits thought by county scientists to make illegal swimmers almost invisible in the water. They also were charged with wearing some sort of black market goggles. Charges are still pending in the subversive and illegal clothing case. Judge Cleetus is contemplating a consultation with County Homeland Security Officer ( and Jiffy Wash owner) Gomer T. Redbone on how to proceed and what charges to bring.
The horrifying case of illegal swimming unfolded in the early morning hours of July 14th at the Cleaverdam Pond. Reliable eyewitnesses who swear to their sobriety made a report to Officer D. D. Scungilli of five bodies swimming very rapidly across the normally placid pond. Scungilli, no doubt aware that most Floudon residents can not swim knew he had a major problem on his hands.
Staking out a surveillance location, Scungilli spotted the big city offenders using the new top secret spying device known in the spy bidness as binoculars. After a full forty five minute wait, the five swimmers emerged from the water. Scungilli, using his two weeks of police experience, immediately detained the dangerous, rubber clad five. Drug tests were administered since the probability was high of abuse; county sources confirm that there is no record of anyone in the surrounding area ever swimming for a full forty five minutes. Such a feat of endurance raised an immediate red flag for the observant Scungilli.
Upon interrogation the Speedo Five admitted the following: they are from the Metropolitan Herndon area, a known trouble spot. They were indeed swimming and were not under the influence of drugs, alcohol or chew tobacco. They stated they were training for the sport of triathlon.
At this point in the discovery phase , the Speedo Five were placed under arrest, ticketed for many, many violations and made to shed the rubberized suits. Officer Scungilli knew at this point he had a solid case. "Afterall, anybody in the law enforcement bidness in this county knows, there ain't no such sport as triathlon. Why, that don't even sound like football. How can a body catch a ball underwater or on a bike, anyways?" Anyways indeed.
At trial, the high powered Metro attorney F. Lee Landowner, pleaded for mercy for the Five. After a long session of banter and legal wrangling, Judge Cleetus levied his ruling. The Speedo Five have been given the maximum sentence, which shocked courtroom observers. The harsh ruling is usually reserved for moonshiners, but according to State's Prosecutor F. Barnard Fife, " Judge Cleetus wanted to send a message; nip this kind of crime in the bud."
Nip it he did. The Speedo Five was sentenced to eight full hours of clean up duty on the local trail, The S & M Railroad Park. In addition, the five will be attired in orange and white striped jumpsuits. No consideration was given to the commonly held opinion that this model jumpsuit is cruel and unusual attire. It is thought to make the wearer's hips appear uncommonly large. Attorney Landowner said his clients would just have to "suck it up and feel fat for a day."
In a related case, Officer Scungilli said that reports of a "super swimming small blond mermaid" followed by a buff mystery kayaker are "simply urban legend."
Reported by RW Midpacker, ace reporter and town mule skinner
World Championships 70.3 - Ben Davis - 11/10/07
From the view of a grateful age group athlete.
A race like none other…
There were many valuable lessons I learned this weekend in Clearwater, FL. I hope you too can share these discoveries with me. Please read on if you so wish...
Pre-Race:
This being my second year at this venue, I didn't get too hung up in the planning and typical stress that comes with our sport of triathlon. I arrived at the airport on Tuesday to catch a flight to Orlando, where my parents reside. As I arrived to the airport, I was informed that my flight was going to be delayed due to "winter weather" in Buffalo. It was then suggested that I catch an earlier flight that was already on the ground. The only downside was that my bags, including my bike, would arrive later, since they couldn't get the bags on the plane prior to departure. I was assured my bags would arrive on the very next flight, which at time was good enough for me. When I got into town, I was picked up promptly and headed to a nice dinner at Seasons 52, which by the way is a great restaurant that I highly recommend. After dinner we promptly went back to airport to pickup my bags, since that plane had just arrived, or so we thought. Long story short, they were lost. The airline representative wasn't even sure what city they were in. Not to worry, it was just thousands of dollars worth bike and gear. Two or three hours later they were found in Norfolk, VA. The flight that had the bags touched down in Norfolk where the wrong bags were taken off the plane. Since that was the last flight of the night, I would have to wait until morning to retrieve them. They were eventually couriered out to me the next afternoon but not without a large amount of struggle and stress. This should have proved as an omen for the remainder of the week. All in all things worked out okay but this is the last time I separate myself from my bags, recommended or not.
Clearwater Beach:
If you haven't been there, go! This is the most densely populated area in Florida with lots to see, great beaches, and awesome weather. The place was crawling with foreigners and Who's Who of triathlon. It was reported that 52 countries were represented and 45 different states. I met people from Germany, Sweden, Austria, Scotland, Canada, and the list goes on. I checked in directly in front of Kate Major, I am a huge fan. Later, I ran into Greg Welch, Lisa Bentley, Sister Madonna Buder, Major Rozelle, Robert McKeague (an 82 year-old finisher), Team Hoyt and that's just a few. I couldn't help but think, "Wow, am I at the right race?" I felt out of place.
Race Morning:
I woke early, 5AM, as I always do. Race nerves seem to override the need for sleep. Wow, the hotel opened at 5 for a brunch/breakfast specifically for the athletes. This was the first time I have experienced this anywhere. Usually, we athletes take the local Starbucks by storm, eating some crazy "triathlete breakfast". Not this time, the Hilton earned serious bonus points with this one. I ended up eating breakfast with a variety of different athletes. Man, the waffles were great!! Waffles still prove to be the best pre-race food for me. My wave didn't start until 8am, the very last wave of the day. Age groupers, 25-29M would be bringing up the rear. This was fine by me for many different reasons. First, we should be passing people the entire race which is a huge moral boaster. Secondly, this gave us plenty of time in the morning as long as we didn't get to anxious. And lastly, we for the most part would not be demoralized by men/women twice or age zooming past us in a blaze of glory, this was good, really good. :)
The Swim:
My goal; to have my best swim ever (sub 30). Lofty goal, maybe, but are there any other kinds of goals? The morning before, our practice swim was choppy and rough. Yet race morning, as they say, the gods smiled on us. The water looked like glass, a generous chill was in the air and it was proclaimed to be a super fast day. Everyone was poised to break records. Later, results would show that 25 people went under 4 hours. It was a perfect day. The running beach start was not something I was used to but went pretty well. I was clocked at a 29:46, my fastest swim to date which put me in the middle of the pack. Thanks, WorldGators!!!
The Bike:
One down, two to go. It felt good having all those bikes still in transition a T1. I love that feeling but I knew they were right behind me. So, I quickly flew out of transition and out onto the bike. As I got comfortable, I started fueling right away. This is when things started to go wrong. I should have seen the writing on the wall early but didn't. First, I have to take electrolyte replacement pills because I typically lose a lot during the race. Oops, I dropped them at about mile 10. Nutrition would have to be adjusted. "Well, it could be worse…" I said to myself. Five miles later I lost a bottle of my special formula off the back due to a bump in the road. Again, I shook it off and forged ahead. Then it happened!! It was around mile 25 or so. We were racing down the inside lane with traffic on the left of us. The area was strictly coned off and monitored by police and others directing traffic. The problem was that this stretch of road had shopping centers for miles on both sides of the road. This created a large number of vehicles that would need to cross our lane to do the typical Saturday shopping. As I zoomed past a large shopping center, a woman directing traffic waved a van through. I instantly knew I was in trouble. It was a quick decision, either cut to the left behind the van or speed up to try to make it past. Well, neither happened. I was struck by a white van traveling at about 22+mph. I heard the impact as a thud then felt the back of the bike slip out from under me. It happened so fast, I wasn’t really sure what took place. It wasn’t until later I was able to piece it together. I tumbled and found myself in the median of the shopping center entrance right next to a sign post. After about 30 seconds of digesting what just happened, I started analyzing the situation. My main concern was, would I be able to finish? “I have never DNF’ed… not to mention this is the World Championships,” I thought to myself. My leg had slid on the pavement, hip landed on the curb, elbow in the mulch, and shoulder directly into the traffic sign. This all meant I was relatively okay. “What about the bike?” again I thought. After further review, the van struck me directly behind the seat and broke both cages. Everything else on the bike was fine minus a few bruises and scratches. As the lady on the scene radioed for help, the terrified lady in the van offered her assistance. She was shaken up even more than I was. It was then I realized how lucky I am. Not how lucky I was but more so, how lucky I am. Or we are, for that matter, we triathletes. Circumstances kept getting in my way. I guess that’s what this is all about. Local papers would later report nine other known bikes that were struck by vehicles, not including mine, for it was never reported.
I had really lost sight of the joys in the sport. “Had I really ever pushed myself in an effort to give back to the sport that had given me so much?” I thought. I, a little bloody but not too bad, then laid the hammer down, against my personal best that is. My new outlook put a smile on my face and gave me the inspiration to cheer others on. I finished averaging 22.99 mph on the bike, including the time I spent recovering from the accident. I would be lying if I said there was no drafting going on. There were packs upon packs of riders blistering the course. On such a short course there was really now way around it.
The Run:
T2 was fast. They literally rack your bike for you. We were spoiled, aren’t we? Socks, Newtons, visor, shot of Boast, Hammer Gel, and I was off. I paced the first half of the run to finish at a 1:30 which would certainly be a PR. I felt great, mainly because I had made it this far considering the circumstances. I should have been really banged up, but I wasn't. I took great joy in that and went with it. Later in the run, I began to fade and finished with a 1:42 half marathon. In total a 4:45 my personal best regardless of obstacles in the way. This earned me 87th in my age group, just a few spots from the podium. Get ‘em next year!
In moments like these there are voices screaming at us all. The question is: Will we listen?
Miami Man - Gail Lohman - 11/1/07
Chuck and I decided to end our season with Miami Man, a race I’ve always wanted to do because of the run through the Miami Zoo. We’ve heard good things about this race and having done it now, we agree that it’s a great venue for a triathlon.
The communication from the race directors leading up to the race was outstanding as was the organization. The major sponsor was Mr. Coffee, so we got travel coffee mugs and bags of coffee in our goodie bags – very nice. There were three races going on at the same time, ½ Iron distance that we did, a ½ Iron Duathlon, and an International Distance. From our perspective they carried it off flawlessly. I don’t know how they do it.
Parking for the race and expo was very convenient. The race takes place in a park which is contiguous to the Miami Zoo. There is a campground in the park which a lot of people took advantage of. Not us though, we like our creature comforts.
The swim takes place in a clean lake. You could actually see to the bottom and see the feet in front of you. It was a two lap swim for the ½ Iron where you exit the water, run around an obstacle and back in the lake. T1 was very long because the transition area was 1/3 mile from the lake. I decided to leave my crocs along the path so as not to have to run barefoot. Here there was a nice surprise – wetsuit strippers – a very nice touch.
The bike course was extremely well marked, even I couldn’t get lost. It a lollypop shape with an out and back stem, then two loops of the pop. It was mostly flat with a very few slight grades, but we had lots of wind. Accelerade, water, gels and fruit were served on the bike. The volunteers were well trained and really knew how to hand off a bottle.
I was really happy to be off the bike at the end of 56 windy miles and was ready for a new challenge, the run. This I was really looking forward to. The run was two laps starting outside the transition area and for about 1.5 to 2 miles and then into the zoo. It was a cross country run on grass and unpaved, uneven trails until the zoo. Some of it was shady which we appreciated; here the headwinds were actually cooling and felt good. Once inside the zoo, we were running on asphalt. There were cooling misters set up and plenty of distractions. Beside all the people who were visiting the zoo, there were the animals. We saw eland, elephants, great apes, rhinos, birds and a whole lot more. Very fun! It was a big help to have so much to look at on the second lap of the run when we were really hurting and ready to be done.
The winners of each age group got a high-end Mr. Coffee coffeemaker and all award winners received commemorative mugs with their age group place on it.
Would we do this race again? You bet we would!
Marine Corps 10K - Paul Duncan - 10/28/07
Pre-race routine:
Of course I started with a serious head cold on Friday which quickly accelerated to plugged sinus on Saturday -- call in the decongestants BUT also call in having to pee all the time. Drank copius amounts of fluids on Saturday. Was up late Saturday night watching football; didn't get lights out until about 12:00.
Alarm went off at 5:20 -- Note to self: don't take Nyquil 5 hours before you're supposed to get up. Was in a SERIOUS fog; didn't get out the door until almost 6:30. Had a bowl of Lucky Charms to get something in my stomach -- no Fiber One Flakes for me (learned that lesson the hard way last year!) Stopped at Starbucks and got a small coffee; made it to the metro by 7, and after being packed in the metro like a sardine, finally got to the Pentagon start line around 7:45.
Event warmup:
Warmed up with stretching and general walking around. Had to pee every 10 minutes it seemed - damned decongestants and coffee... The wind was brutal from the north, but the sunrise was spectacular. Everybody was in a great mood.
Run
Absolutely fabulous run for me. Here are the splits:
1: 8:34
2: 7:44
3: 7:19
4: 7:51
5: 7:55
6: 7:48
End: 3:56 (0.542 miles)
I was wondering about keeping the pace at the mid point but my HR was below my LT by 3-4 beats (~ 161), and I felt absolutely fine. Kept my strides short, cadence up as much as I could, and kept leaning forward into the wind. I did peak coming up the Iwo Jima hill (sprinted) at 186 BPM, which is a new max HR for me. Spent over 33 minutes in zone 5.
What would I do differently?:
NADA. Fantastic race for me, and will do it again as long as my knees can hold up.
Post race
Walked around the finish line looking for a few folks I knew; grabbed some raisins, a nanner, and some drink and headed towards the Roslyn metro.
What limited my ability to perform faster?
My weight, more time running.
Absolute incredible race venue. Highly, highly recommended! :)
Run - 10k
Total Time = 48m 51s
Overall Rank = 230/1553
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 17/82
Great Floridian - Rob Colburn - 10/20/07
So I'm standing on another sandy beach, this time in central Florida, and the
wind is whipping up the water and now a warm rain is falling from a dark gray
sky. Am I really going to attempt my second Ironman race in six months? From
the looks of the wetsuit clad folks around me and the fact that a cannon just
sounded, I guess so. Didn't I just do this in Idaho? Don't my legs and ego still
hurt from that attempt? What is wrong with me?
All good questions that must be addressed later; like I said , a cannon just
fired so I better start swimming or my day will be over before it starts.
2.4 mile swim....the forecast t-storms & lightning have held off; it's just a
steady pouring rain so the swim is on. Better yet, the tri-gods have smiled upon
us and the water is a frigid & wetsuit legal 77F. (H2O temps were 79°F the night
before) The sky at 7:30am however is gray to black, droopy, and heavy; a perfect
morning to sleep in and watch Three Stooges movies on the tube. A boat with a
bright white spotlight signals the first left turn of the inverted triangular
course. The water has a slight chop to it but my line is good and contact is
minimal. The markers are large enough to sight without disrupting my stroke and
I am able to maintain good form. Before too long I exit the water for a short
beach run...first lap done in approximately 33 min. Shallow water dictates a
prolonged run before dropping off enough to start the swim process again. The
second lap seems much like the first; good lines and clear sighting. I do feel
some arm fatigue on the long second leg of the triangle probably because of a
slight current effect. I battle through and round the last big marker for the
finish. I had a strong year of swim workouts and saw much improvement thanks
to coaching & swimming with my Worldgate Masters group, and I used that as
motivation to drive through the last few hundred yards of the swim course. I
exited the water and crossed the timing mat in 1:10. Right on target and a nice
start to the day.
112 mile bike...lest you think that Florida is pancake flat (yummmm, I said
pancake) the GFT has many, many surprises in store for you and your quads.
For my Virginia training mates, picture the Waterford- Lovettsville loop for the first
40 miles or so. Nothing drastic but enough elevation to test your leg strength and
your heart rate. Like IM Wisconsin, the hills here are relentless. After the hills
flatten out the course heads west. The morning rain gave way to warming temps,
some sun, some humidity and a rather strong headwind. It is Florida, after all.
Temps leveled out in the mid 80's, which seemed to be cause for much
celebration among the Southerners. For old hockey players from the North....
not so much. (It could have been much worse though. Thursday & Friday were
in the mid 90's!!). I settled in to a nice cadence and hammered the middle
portion of the course. My nutrition was going according to plan. I had made some
major changes to the types and amount of calories I was going to consume. So
far, so good. At mile 95 the heat and sunshine were becoming a factor and lo
and behold, the hills were back. Hadn't planned on more hills. These long
grinders stretched on for the next 12 miles or so, sapping valuable time and
energy. Bike fatigue was setting in and I was ready for the dismount sign.
Finally, at the bottom of the last hill, I caught sight of the incredible Joe Bonness
running by on his first (maybe second) loop, so I knew my journey was about to
switch gears to the run. I had two more blasted hills to climb, a nice descent and
I coasted into the bike handoff zone. A nice volunteer took my bike and another
volunteer fetched my run bag. Bike time was a respectable 6:17
T1 and T2...my first transition was a smooth, competitive 7:52 affair, which
was fourth quickest amongst my old guy 50-54 age group. T2 was 8:35 (11th
slowest) probably slowed by the fact that I applied several coats of sun block
and changed into a spiffy new run shirt/hat sun protection combo.
Run 26.2 miles....run started at approx 3 PM, the heat of the day. Within 3 miles
my heart rate was zooming, breath was shallow and sweat was pouring off me.
Oh.... not again. I slowed to a walk, took in some water, Gatorade, gel and some
electrolytes. The first five miles is an out and back. I soon caught sight of my
training buddy Johnny(super biker) Yendt about 600 yards behind me and my
brother Joe another 600 yards behind John. Well, the nutrition sure helped but I
am convinced that having those two age group/ friendly rivals on my tail, lit
the competitive fires and got my butt in gear. I slowly picked up the pace and
was running from aid station to aid station, taking on appropriate nutrition. As
I started to tire, I increased my walk breaks but also maintained a relatively
strong run pace. The Florida heat does not disappear with the setting sun, so I
was constantly pouring cold water and/or ice cubes on strategic body parts, At
mile 17 I switched to chicken broth and warm coke to compensate for salt loss
due to excessive sweating and continued on. I actually enjoyed running miles 21
through 24. The thought of those guys gaining on me, plus my desire to place
well in my age group kept my mind off the pain. The back side of the lake was
pitch black by my third loop and the solitude was comforting. Long stretches of
real estate would pass and I would not see another person. This part of the
course rewards mental toughness and I am as hard headed as a country mule. At
mile 24 the sights and sounds of the finish line are palpable and my only
problem the last 2.2 miles were stabbing cramps in my legs. I punched the
proverbial ( and imaginary ) time and went to work on a strong finish. The heat
was a real foe today but I ran an OK 5:13 marathon. I was hoping for 4:50.
My time was 12:57:47 and I happily took 4th place in my rather large age group,
good enough for a spot on the podium. I do love this sport. That's why I find
myself standing on all those sandy beaches in all those little towns.
Once again, many thanks to Al & Mary Delaney at REHAB to RACING. This is a
complicating sport sometimes and if you want some help figuring out how to be
your best, go to the best!! 'nuff said.
Thanks to Stephanie always. What a happy and joyful year of training and racing
we've shared together.
Cool runnings always
General Smallwood Sprint - Scott Yaunches - 9/23/07
Goal - Finish!
For those of you that know me, I have not been training for a tri at all. I have ridden my bike a total of 4 times in 2007 and have run maybe 2 dozen times. I figured that I would do this sprint just for the fun of it, just to see if I still had it in me. The plan was simple: Kick ass in the swim (top 20 or better), do what I can on the ride, no pressure but keep it under 1 hour, and if my leg feels OK, then jog/walk/crawl the run, but finish the race. Well, as expected, things don't go according to plan.
The results:
Swim - 17:13 ??????????????????
T1 - 4:56
Bike - 53:13
T2 - 2:12
Run - 28:38
Swim:
So the one and only event that I am good at, I ended up completely blowing! What happened? I'm not sure. I have some ideas, but they sound like excuses. This is an easy 12 min swim for me. I'm just going to chalk this one up to a fluke and figure out ways to make sure that it never happens again.
T1:
There was a good run from the pier to T1, which accounts for most of this time. Otherwise, slow but uneventful.
Bike:
With almost no saddle time this year, I was not expecting much from the bike. As with most courses I have done, there always seems to be a nice uphill from the swim and this was no different. Within the 1st mile, I was passed by 3 different people on mountain bikes. After my stellar performance in the swim, this really made me wonder how I thought that I could do this. Over the next 2-3 miles, I guess I got my biking legs. I got the mountain bikers back and passed quite a few people who had passed me earlier. At about mile 8 I caught up to the back end of a group of about 15 people spread out over 1/4 mile. It was kinda fun picking them off 1 by 1. My Garmin said 16.13 miles, avg 18.5mph. Not bad considering the limited riding I have done. The fun part of the ride was the end! I really hope that someone got a picture of me wiping out at the dismount! Having not ridden my bike for so long, I failed to notice that the rear brake had locked up (could not squeeze the lever.) Come to the dismount line, right foot out and swing over, front brake only, bike decides to endo, can't get my left foot out in time and down I go. Surprisingly, very minor scrapes and bruising, but, I felt my right calf cramp, the one I had surgery on, ouch.
T2:
The spill probably caused the most delay, had to pick up pump and water bottles that came loose. Please be a picture!
Run:
Decision point. Terrible swim, bike brought my spirits back up, spill and cramp are on the forefront of my mind. OK, let's just go out, take it easy, loosen the legs and calf. Walk if you have to. Remember, I have not been training for this, I'm just out to have fun. The 1st mile was tough, mostly uphill and I was passed yet again, by quite a few people. I forgot what I brick feels like and trying to get your running legs. The leg and calf were tight, but not too bad. Over time, the legs felt better and I was able to push it a little more. The cool thing here is that I negative split each mile: 9:50, 9:42, 8:30 (last mile was pretty much downhill.) I felt very strong at the end and actually wished that the run had lasted a little longer. I guess that is just a lack of knowing how to properly pace myself.
Total - 1:46:10
Disney Triathlon - Gail & Chuck Lohman - 9/23/07
The Good:
The actual race course was well designed. The swim was well marked and easy to navigate. Bike course was really laid out well and was easy to follow, there were a few rolling hills which is different and nice for Florida. There were a couple of “No Passing Zones” at the beginning and end, which everybody ignored, by the way. There was little drafting that either of us saw. That was good because neither of us saw one official. The run course was also well-marked; it was two loops with about 30-35% on unmowed and uneven grass. There was excellent support on race day. Thank you volunteers, we couldn’t do it without you. The rain and thunder held off until the majority of people had finished the race. I believe all were off the bike when the rain began.
The Really, Really Good:
Wearing our Mad Dog shirts pre- and post- race, meeting the Mad Dogs that were there, and getting howled at. Since the transition area was over crowded, Mad Dog, Claire, and I shared a little set-up area that we designed. Very cool. Claire and Annette – nice meeting you both.
The Bad:
The actual race venue was 2 – 3 miles from the parking. Bikes had to be racked the day before, so we rode them there from the parking lot and buses took us back. Race day we took shuttle buses with all our gear, not thinking about how we would get the bikes and all gear back to the car. We had to walk, humping all our gear after the race in hot, steamy conditions. Not too much fun. The expo and registration was confusing and no one seemed to know where to direct us so there was a lot of extra walking around. For that matter, getting around Disney World, in general, was very confusing even for our GPS. In the two weeks leading up to the race, there was a lot of emailing about amoebas in the hot lake water in Florida. They did not cancel the swim, but they issued us nose clips and Listermint breath strips. Here’s a tip for you…if you plan to wear a nose clip, don’t put sunscreen on your nose, if you do, the nose clip slips right off. I didn’t see any nose clips on noses during the swim. There was no getting in the water to swim the day before the race and no warming up allowed on race morning. It was just get in and do the swim. If you do this race, be prepared as there is only one water bottle handoff on the 36 mile bike course. Also, be prepared and bring your own post-race food and drink because there was little to eat and drink.
The Really, Really Bad:
Our runs. We both had really bad runs. I had to walk way too may times. Ugh!
The Unbelievable:
We both took home hardware without having to stop at the hardware store!
Big Lick Triathlon - Mary Pickering - 9/22/07
As a preface to this report, I will say that I
absolutely had a blast, no matter the results.
Short report:
Swim (virtually no training) - just under a minute
slower than my fastest Olympic time over 2 years ago
Bike (virtually no training) - comfortable and
reasonably fast
Run (extensive training) - my run demons got me and I
collapsed completely.
Long report:
My friend and fellow TriCAT, Nina bullied me into this
race. It was to be my only race of the season for
various reasons, so I figured, why not? Not having
been swimming for over a year since Mooseman last
year, I figured that I just needed to get in enough
training to survive the swim. Four weeks was enough
time, right? And surely I had enough base from a
week's bike tour way back in July, right?
My *one* goal for this race (aside from having fun and
surviving the swim), was to race the run. I *never*
manage to race the run. I usually settle back into my
slow plod and never manage to push myself. I've done
a few road races this year and been getting stronger
and stronger on the track, so I would have liked to
have been able to push myself just a little at the end
of a triathlon.
Nina and I drove down to Smith Mountain Lake in record
time on Friday (only 3.5 hours away), where it was
raining and cold. Uh oh - this wasn't forecast. But
Saturday dawned clear and dry. The race starts at 9
am, so we knew we'd be out in the heat of high noon.
The race starts on a beautiful sandy beach and the
lake is green but clean and calm. I got into the
water, leaned over and was suddenly horizontal. I
love my wetsuit! The swim went well - I never
panicked and more importantly, never once thought "OMG
- that buoy is soooooo far away," so I count that as
grand progress.
Swim - 33:09 (18/21)
T1 - I practiced the uphill mount (following my own
advice, for once) and was pleased to be able to mount
without making a right charlie of myself and power off
the line.
The bike is wonderful - rolling hills with nice long
uphills where you can get into a good tempo and easy
downhills. The roads are really nice - even the
roughest was pretty smooth and had some nice technical
downhills which I 'woohoooed' down and managed to hit
40. The road marking was clear and the volunteers
plentiful, warning of upcoming corners and tricky
bends in the road. I did push it - big chain ring,
aerobars most of the way (mostly top of Z3, some Z4,
fueled appropriately). Legs started to tighten
towards the end, so I took the time to coast and
stretch. I wonder if pushing it had something to do
with what was to come?
Bike - 1:21:53 (14/21)
T2 - uneventful
The run is also wonderful - completely inside the
state park, rolling hills with equal amounts up and
down. Nothing super steep like Columbia, but
constant. I went out way too fast - 9:14 for my first
mile (very fast for me in a tri - *and* it was all
uphill). I ground to a halt between miles 1&2, felt
dizzy (only in Z3 at that point) and decided to walk
some. I suspect that I would have recovered enough
with run/walking by mile 3 and could have shuffled the
rest, but by that time my mental demons completely
took over and I didn't consistently run until mile 5,
although I did have a nice chat with a fellow
Arlingtonian who was cramping, so I gave her some
Endurolytes. I did regret not carrying my own water
since the time between aid stations got greater and
greater. I found that I'd need to walk whenever my HR
got into Z3 which is a bit pathetic really. Very
disappointing considering how much run training I've
been doing, with very real results - on the track
anyway. Races are a different beast, eh?
Run - 1:12:53 (19/20)
I feel as though I did everything right (except
perhaps not training!). I warmed up, took in Shot
Blocks and Endurolytes before the race start, 16oz
Accelerade, 8 oz water and Endurolytes during the ride,
Shot Blocks and Endurolytes on the run. I never felt
out of fuel, dehydrated or ill. I just couldn't get
my muscles to run. I'd run a couple of 8:15 miles off
a 25 mile ride the week before, (although the ride was
much slower and the run, flat) so I thought I was
prepared for this brick stuff. Sigh.
At the end of the race was a great bbq steak and
chicken meal and this was one of the few tris where
there water is completely inviting afterwards to stand
in and cool down. All in all a fabulous race and I
highly recommend it.
Lessons learned - I don't need to train on the swim.
Yeah!!!! Carry my own water on the run, start off
SLOWLY on the run, expecially if it is uphill (in
which case I just have to get over my mental demons
that won't let me speed up).
Bonuses - a fun weekend away, a Saturday race so we
could deservedly enjoy the local ice cream (which was
truly great), G&Ts and a substantial meal on Saturday
night. And getting to meet members and the coach of
the Georgetown team who were racing in the
Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Championship. They took
second place out of roughly ten schools competing,
setting them up well for nationals in April.
Unfortunately, none of them were racing in my age
group, so I can't blame them for my 'back of the pack'
finish.
Fun race.
Savageman - Katie Davison - 9/16/07
Sunday I participated in the 1st SavageMan Triathlon in the Aquavelo division…it was the most miserable as well as awesome bike course I have yet to experience. Usually my thinking the worst about something before it happens makes the experience somehow seem less tough…however, this was NOT the case…it was as challenging as I made it out to be in my head prior to actually doing it…
***RESULTS***
swim – 27:54, 1st female
T1 – 6:14
bike – 3:35:57, 6th female
6.5M 1730' CLIMB "THE WALL" - 43:08, 9.04mph, 40/160 overall, 4th female
total – 4:10:05, 2nd female Aquavelo
***PRE-RACE***
The pre-race festivities began as soon as we arrived in Deep Creek Friday afternoon. Ken, Cosmo, and I arrived at Carmel Cove to find Chas, who had just gotten there. We shortly headed over to the log cabin where the Clarks were staying. They then made us dinner and continued to give us wine. Shawn entertained us with his guitar, singing songs about who knows what…but it was great as usual. Next it was off to Kyle’s for packet stuffing and race preparations. The night then finished with sitting in the hot tub back at Carmel Cove with a bunch of CATS.
Saturday morning started off with a preview swim. It was maybe 50 degrees outside and the water temperature was about 70 degrees…steam was coming up from the water. UGHH this was a bit cooler than I was expecting, making me a bit nervous for race day (I hate being cold). Julie O and I headed down to the water early. I love swimming with her. We are about the same pace and breathe to opposite sides so we can easily follow each other. I was ok with the temperature once I started swimming and felt really good. We swam out awhile and back and were then met by a bunch of RATS and CATS. I then went out again with the group. Then I got cold and decided that was enough swimming for me. RATS and CATS then gathered at one of the houses for a yummy breakfast prepared by Chas. Next it was time for the preview ride. We all geared up and headed out. Geoff Beaty led us on the SavageMan Olympic course. After about 8 miles I decided I had better turn back and start resting up. Ran into Chas on the way back and we went for the pre-race meeting, packet pick-up, and bike inspection. Cripes I was getting exhausted. Finally made it back to the house to find a disgruntled Ken and Julie who were in need of a hammer/staple gun to hang signs on the bike course. Once they got the goods we all headed out to hang signs and drive the bike course. Alright now I was nervous…we came to the start of Westernport Wall…looking up from the bottom you just see an everlasting hill through the town with a very steep cobblestone section at one part maybe ¼ mile up. People would be given awards for going up this part...I could barely walk up it. I was exhausted…too much pre-race day activity. I was bonking and ready for a nap. We pressed on with our sign hanging and finally made it back to the houses in time to leave for the social at the Shaw’s house. The social was a good time, but I had really started to get nervous/scared after driving the bike course, being freezing all day, and knowing the air temperature would be in the high 30’s the next morning. My transition was going to be slow as I put on most of the clothes I had brought as well as clothes from others.
Case gave me some wool arm warmers and Reid gave me some booties, which Norm helped me cut holes in and fit to my bike shoes (thanks for everything guys!) After getting everything ready, I was finally in bed by 10pm. I did not sleep well at all…my head was racing…I could not stop thinking about the Wall…
Then next morning we packed up and were headed to the transition area by 7am. After setting up T1 and getting body marked (I told Suzanne, who was marking me, it was not really necessary because no bare skin was planning to be exposed throughout the race…but I guess it was mandatory) it was time to go. I was SO cold….ughh I was not too happy.
***RACE***
SWIM – I was in the 1st wave along with the Clydes, Relays, and Elites. We were herded into the water between the docks. The fog was so thick I could not even see where the 1st buoy was. The horn sounded and we were off from a floating start. I did not see what direction we were swimming towards so I followed the group. For a while everyone was swimming in a pack and it was hard to get into any sort of rhythm…then a few others and I broke out of it. I could see a few in front of me and someone just beside me…it was Randy! I tried to keep with him…he was too fast. Shoot…I needed to keep with someone because I had no idea what was going on. Then I noticed Dave Cascio (with a bright green cap…our wave had mixed color caps due to the different divisions) was swimming on the other side of me…he is a strong swimmer and I would try and keep with him. I managed to stay with him. HAHA I had no idea where we were going…I was totally trusting his sense of direction here. Then people were swimming at us and across us. WHOA WHAT is going on?! I dove under a few swimming straight at me. It was like a bad dream. I managed to stay with the bright green cap. When would this end?! Then I saw some poles and the docks a bit away…we were at the end!
T1 – I ran out of the water and out towards transition. It was a bit of a run to transition and my feet froze along the way and were really stinging. I was greeted by Ken, who told me I was at the front of the pack and doing really well and motivated me for the ride while I started piling clothes on. The adrenaline was keeping my body warm and I went without the booties after all that hard work. “GO LUNA CHIX,” I heard someone yell as I was off on my bike.
BIKE – Off on Luna Bananas. Hmmm it was chilly…but the wool arm warmers were going to keep me warm I hoped. The first 30 minutes were pretty uneventful. Then the frightening downhills started. WARNING SLOW yellow signs were everywhere. Then next 30 minutes I have never been so cold on my bike. I continuously blew into my hands and wiggles my toes to keep them from being numb and stinging. I started to get nervous to come up into Westernport. Mile 20 - I came upon the paper mill, a LARGE factory right before you come to Westernport. I felt like I was riding my bike inside. The paper mill and the mountains made me feel so small and I could barely see the sky. It was menacing. I rode into the town and decided I was officially crazy. Who does this?!
Anyways, I made the left and there it was…the beginning of Westernport Wall. BEEP! My hands and feet were still numb. Get over it…I went over the timing pad (we were being timed for the next 7 miles of climbing). I came to the base of the steep section with 0 momentum after an already steep climb. I saw a couple guys go down on it right in front of me. Ken ran down, “Are you going to do it?!....Come on ramp up for it down this side street!” SHOOT…people were screaming, whistling, and bells were sounding…it was a riot and making me more nervous. “I CAN’T…I am gonna go around…UGHHH.” Ken said, “smart decision, you don’t know what you are up for.” Oh Great. I continued on around and there was Ken again! He was everywhere. He told me I was 3rd female!
I had not been passed by too many and was feeling pretty good. I went on for the serious climbing. Someone was playing Spooktronica…that was some good stuff. Every mile and % grade of the climb was marked…somewhat torturous. I passed some people over the next few miles of the climb. Toward the end of the 7 mile climb I felt good but better be careful of quickly losing energy and ate a Think Bar. I had been good about doing 1 gel/hour (my usual race plan along with Gatorade and bars when I start to get real hungry). I had skipped the Gatorade this time, with it being so cold I figured gels and water would be easier. Mile 27 – some more frightening descents. I started to get cold again. Then up to about Mile 35 it was sole riding on what seemed to be some serious false flats. Mile 35 – RATS rest stop and back to climbing. Keith, Kurtis and some other RATS were there. Keith yelled and motivated me all the way up the hill going from this rest stop. My legs were getting tired…this hill HURT. Mile 40 – only 16 more! I tried to give it all I had left (Make it hurt or what is the point?!) Fireball time. I start to feel nauseous sometimes after the gels and fireballs are usually the answer. Somewhere in the next 10 miles came a few more climbs along with a hill that was almost a "get of your bike and walk" type of hill. I somehow made it to the top. Mile 50 – steep descent and left turn. Almost home! I then began to recognize where we were from the preview ride. Nothing challenging was left to come. I was home free and pushed it hard to get home. And finally I was at the finish. That was ABSOLUTELY ridiculous!
***POSTRACE***
I felt delirious the rest of the day. I went and hung by the finish to watch people finish. Everyone did so well. What an accomplishment and awesome weekend.
***NEXT YEAR***
I hope to be ready for the whole half. And now that I know what I am up for I will attempt The Wall…
Savageman - Pete Warner - 9/16/07
To be honest, I really didn’t know what to expect from myself at this inaugural event. Just the name of the race sort of scared me at first. Without going into a lot of detail, this course is absolutely amazing and challenging to say the least. The scenic setting of Deep Creek Lake and the surrounding area is beautiful.
Leading up to the race, I had fully convinced myself that a road bike was the way to go. In hindsight, I definitely think my tri-bike would be the better choice next time…did I just say next time??? I think my decision was based too much on the 3 days of riding a group of us did about a month prior. It always seemed like we were climbing. I had forgotten how much of an advantage I would have had being aero on my time trial bike throughout the first 18 or so miles and last 8-10 miles. I did have a buddy that loaned me his Specialized Tarmac road bike just for this race. Thanks again, Patrick! It was a tad small for me so I had a hard time adjusting to it and feeling comfortable on the descents, but it sure made climbing a lot better than my steel road bike. I also didn’t realize until Saturday that the speedometer/odometer was dismantled from the bike, so I was going to have to race just on feel with no concern for speed.
It was also at that point I decided not to wear my Heart Rate Monitor. I didn’t really want to be too concerned about my Heart Rate because I knew it would spike all over the place. I didn’t want to get psyched out by my effort. As they say, it would be a race based solely on perceived exertion. My only real goal was to finish sub 6 hours; which I thought was very doable, but I really had no idea. I also wanted to redeem some confidence I had lost last weekend during the Annapolis triathlon where I had mentally cracked during the run and lost 4-5 minutes from my goal time.
On to the Savage race…
There was a definite chill in the air as the temperature early in the morning was in the low 40’s. Fog filled the air and lowered visibility to around 50-75 yards. There was a bass fishing tournament starting before the race and it looked pretty cool to see all the boats sitting out in the fog laden water by the boat ramp. I was still unsure what exactly to wear in order to stay somewhat warm without overdoing it so I asked Ted & Sean what they were doing. The consensus seemed to be; put on a dry jersey, throw on a light vest with some gloves and arm warmers with a light beanie cap under my helmet. This worked perfectly since I could pull the arm warmers down on the climbs as I heated up and I didn’t need to stop to drop anything. Oddly, I did see some competitors dressed as if they were going on a mid-winter ride. It appeared a little excessive.
Foggy Swim:
This was going to be interesting. Since the fog had limited visibility, sighting the buoys was just about impossible unless you were about 50 yards away. Thankfully, the shoreline was visible so I knew if I could keep it in sight I would eventually hit the turnaround buoy. In reality though, once the gun went off I got into a pack of what seemed like 10-15 swimmers and just decided to follow some feet hoping the leaders were sighting well. Before I knew it, we were at the turnaround buoy and heading back. This is where the pack started to break apart and I was left to my own devices for sighting. It wasn’t that bad. It was so unique that it was pretty cool. Once I saw the dock, I knew there was a last turn buoy about 50 yards directly out from it, so I made a bee-line for it and worked my way to the boat dock. As I jogged up the hill to transition I ran into Ted & Sean changing. I think everyone was a little bewildered by just how long it took to get everything on. It definitely was unusual to have a few more items to deal with. Bring the pain…err bike.
This was the marquee stage of the race. I think there’s a pretty firm consensus that this would be one of if not the most difficult 56 miles in all of triathlon. With a solid mix of climbing with sharp elevation gains and technical winding descents, this was purely a course designed to separate the field. It was me against the Savage. Mano e Mano.
My legs were feeling good the first five miles which is always a nice omen. During the long descent to Westernport, my legs got pretty chilled so I tried to get out of the saddle as much as I could to keep the blood flowing. I pulled over during the descent for a brief nature break because I knew at mile 19 the climbing was coming.
How you doing Westernport! This small town turned out in droves to witness what has been dubbed the start of “The Westernport Wall”; a short, riveting climb up through the center of town climaxing with a 25% grade pitch that has long been closed off to traffic since it is so steep. But the town only serves as the start of the “The Wall” since you keep climbing for about 7 miles afterward until you are over Big Savage Mountain. As Kyle said at the race briefing, “You would have thought the Olympics were coming to town.” I overheard someone say that the local Church service was suspended so the town folk could come support the racers. How cool is that! It’s so rare to find a community that actually supports Triathlons. Usually everyone bitches and moans to the local gov’t that they got stuck in traffic for 15 minutes one Sunday morning on their way to the grocery store a half mile away. Yet, they didn’t bother reading the signage that was posted the week prior telling them there was a race coming up and to avoid the route. Sorry, off on a tangent there. Back to the good stuff.
Now I for one was going to do my best not to disappoint. There were two fellow racers slightly in front of me, so I started to climb rather timidly trying to create some separation and let them either get up the climb or allow enough time for them to fall and get out of my way. Both riders unclipped about ¼ of the way up, so I slowed even more to let them move from the right side where I was planning to go full steam ahead. As soon as they moved, I gave it everything I had. I put my head down and grinded away. Fifteen seconds later I was elated to be at the top and still on my bike. Hooray! It is sort of funny, I don’t remember recognizing anyone, but I heard people shouting my name up the climb. I even remember hearing Igda’s voice say, “Go, Pete! Go, Pete!” I just had to block everything out and focus on turning over the pedals. Igda later ask me if I saw Laura B. running next to me. I told her, no. I didn’t remember seeing her. I guess I was in la la land.
Here are some links to a few short video clips Igda took at the “The Wall”. It figures our battery would die before I got there.
1. Watch the cameraman fall over the Basset Hound after the cyclist swerves all over the place. Hilarious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqIjuyHOveI
2. Here’s a fall: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h91H-N-lEY
3. Here’s a few crushing it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCDOXFiQWOI
After that, I just got into a rhythm and started cranking away. Maybe it was the training from a month earlier, but I never felt like I was overly exerting myself. Somewhere about ¾ of the way up Big Savage Mountain I crept up on Haig and we had a nice little chat for a bit. This is where I think starting in the last wave paid off. When I saw a rider out in the distance, I would just focus on reeling them in. It kept me motivated and focused on the here and now.
As the bike course wound on, I just kept repeating to myself, “here and now”. Stay in the moment. If my mind started to wonder about how much farther I had left or I began to think about how the hell am I’m going run 13.1 miles after this, I went back to “here and now” and just focused on turning the pedals. It started to get pretty lonely out there for the last 15 miles. I don’t think I saw but 1 other rider during this stint. My nutrition plan appeared to be spot on. I’d prepared a 900 calorie bottle mixed with Carbo-Pro and Powerbar endurance drink that I planned to work my through during the ride, supplemented by a few gels and 2-3 endurolytes/hr with generous amounts of water. I avoided any stomach issues and seemed to have a good even level of energy throughout the ride.
I cruised into transition where a pretty nice crowd had gathered to cheer everyone on. I ran to my rack and started to change. Note to self: when you have bundled up for the ride it would help if you started to undress a bit before transition. It seemed to take me forever to get my gloves, arm-warmers and vest off. It took me about 30 seconds to realize it would all be a little easier if I took my freakin’ gloves off first. It was nice to get some words of encouragement from Chas as I was changing. Thanks, Chas!
Oh, there’s a RUN?!
I immediately darted to the porto-john, which was a good sign which meant I’d taken in adequate fluids.
Now as much as this race was touted for its bike segment, the run was no picnic either. I hadn’t previewed the run course and to be frank, I didn’t really want to know how hard it was going to be. I was just going to gut it out. It was slightly down hill for the first mile which appeared to loosen up my legs and I was feeling rather good. What a tease it would prove to be. Thankfully, a young lady had just started her run as part of a relay, so I figured I would use her as my rabbit. If I could stay with a pair of fresh legs, I knew I would be doing well. I did have time to give Igda a quick kiss before I made my way out into the jungle.
Okay, what the hell is going on here? As I diligently stay about 20 yards behind my rabbit the course starts winding its way UP through the campground a little after the first mile. It doesn’t really look all that steep, but it’s getting noticeably harder. Once we get through the campground, we hit the rock/boulder laden trail where it’s not too bad, but then somewhere I think around the 2.5 mile mark it makes a massive turn skyward. I remember thinking, “Oh, Christ. How long does this last?” I felt like I was taking baby steps as I rambled my way at what seemed like a pace I could walk faster at. I just kept repeating “here and now” and focused on not letting my rabbit go. This carried on for about a mile and half until I finally reached the aide station at the top of hill by the fire tower. Yippee!
Now from what I recalled before the race, the course then heads downhill for a couple of miles down a fire road. I thought to myself, “Cool. Just let your legs go.” But wait, I was suddenly hit by what felt like a bolt of lightening in the back of my left leg. After two good long strides, my left hamstring completed cramped into a knot. Crap! What the heck!? I rarely cramp, so this was a little new. I stopped and tried to stretch it out, but it seemed to make the cramp worse. I was determined not to let this stop me. I started to walk and gently started to get back to running. As my strides gradually got longer, the cramp thankfully evaporated. Now I started popping more Endurolytes like an addict and taking as much water as I could stomach at the aide stations. Somehow I even managed to catch up with my rabbit by the bottom of the hill. I kept her in sight as I went through the halfway point which is also the finish line after the second loop.
I did get a little chuckle as I was passing by the finish line and noticed Bart waving at me and pointed to the finishing shoot. I have to admit, I was a little dazed and confused. As I got closer to him, he realized I was not who he thought I was. See, I happened to be wearing my Principal Fitness race jersey which Flanagan was also wearing during the bike. For an instance, he thought I was Michael. Michael, it was good to be you even if it was only for a few fleeting seconds. Killer race by the way!
I gave Igda one more quick, salty kiss as I rolled by. One more tortuous loop to do! Again, I just kept repeating “here and now” to myself. As the next round of climbing began, I also added, “Don’t stop!” Somewhere along the line I lost my rabbit, but fortunately there were more bodies out on the course so I would just set a target and try to reel them in. I got a nice little boost of encouragement at the TriCAT aide station at around mile 2…thanks everyone! And then the run “wall” smacked me upside the head as I made my way up to the fire tower. I just kept repeating, “Don’t Stop” as I precariously clawed my way up the hill passing a number of racers walking. I tried to mutter some encouragement as I passed, but my heart rate was going through the roof and my legs were dangerously close to giving out. Low and behold I made it to the fire tower where I then could start to smell the finish line as I let my legs go. I nearly tripped and face planted down the gravel path but ungraciously I saved myself the disaster. I managed to catch a fella that was keeping a pretty good pace so I decided to hang about 15 yards behind him for the duration. I wasn’t sure if it was his second loop or not, but at that point I didn’t care if I finished one more place down, although wouldn’t you know it, I did check his calf for his Age Group marking. He was one group younger, so I wasn’t worried.
Those last couple hills before you hit the steep downhill into the park were a killer. I came around the final bend and made my dash to the finish line. Hallelujah! I grabbed the young volunteer’s shoulder and silently just stood there reflecting on what I had just accomplished. It was by far the hardest 13.1 mile run I’d completed as well. I then went over to Kyle and called him a murderer before collapsing on the grass…well I didn’t really but the thought did cross my mind.
Finish Time: 5:57:27. I hit my sub 6 goal and I mentally didn’t crack during the run. I’m a happy camper! Just too darn bad I just happen to have two insanely fast friends, Ted and Sean, in my Age Group who both had great performances or I would have made my AG podium. Well, I guess it’s always good to have a dream.
Conclusion:
It’s really hard to describe my precise feelings for this utterly challenging race. I think the timing of the race falling at the end of the racing calendar is very fitting. It has left me feeling deeply satisfied with my overall race performances this year and longing to develop a plan for improvement in the off season. I’ve met a lot of great people throughout the year, many of whom have pushed me farther than I thought I could go. For that, I am grateful.
Real accolades need to go Kyle Yost, David Glover, Greg Safko & the Joanna M. Nicolay Melanoma Foundation’s Board of Directors for managing to put on such an incredible event. It was by far one of the most organized and enjoyable races I’ve ever participated in. The enormous challenge for garnering approval and support from all the various organizations is no small feat and all the more impressive as it were executed.
The volunteers; from the local support crews, Tri-clubs, numerous Team Z’ers, Police departments, Deep Creek Park personnel, Garret County government officials and spectators were remarkable. It’s hard to imagine it getting better in the future, but I look forward to seeing it happen. I forgot to mention the Pre-Race “Champion” dinner was very enjoyable as well and I would encourage future participants to plan on attending it.
It was also rewarding for me to assist in the fundraising effort for the foundation. As I had the pleasure to meet just about everyone on the Board at the “Champion” dinner, I was really impressed with the organization as a whole and its commitment to raising awareness and aiding in the research to find a cure for melanoma. I’d also like to thank my family and friends that generously contributed toward my fundraising goals.
I’m off to go put my “This Triathlete has climbed Big Savage Mountain” bumper sticker on my car so everyone tailgating me from here on out will know just how Savage I am.
Pine Barrens Long Distance Triathlon - Steph Colburn - 9/15/07
I guess after Luray I just did not have this tri on my radar. As Rob and I rode to the site I realized I was doing my first long distance triathlon. Not having participated in one before, I was not sure what to expect. How is my body going to react? How am I going to react? This was a very low-key race, so that was good for me.
We walked to the start of the swim. It is an in water start, again a first for me. Boy, those buoys really look far away. It is funny how the swim always looks long. The lake was calm and beautiful. Cool, so wet suit legal. The swim started and we were off. I hurried to get in my groove and went for it. It was not a crowded swim so that again was a plus for me. It started to rain a little on the swim but that really doesn’t matter when you are already wet. I came to the turn around and headed back. Just an out and back swim and I am not sure whether I like the 2 loop or the out and back. I finish the swim. Wow, I finished faster than I thought. I was glad to be moving on to the bike.
The bike was two loops, flat with maybe two risers. I made the first loop in good time, again faster than I had thought. On the second loop, the wind started to pick up and that slowed me down some. I thought for sure the wind was going to blow me over or even off the bike. I made it back in 2:48 and was very happy. Now I have the run ahead of me.
The run was on nature trails that consisted of hard and loose packed sand, pine needles and in some places pretty deep sand. Very well marked, which is a plus because I think you could get lost if it was not. It took a while for my legs to loosen up but they did and I was running strong and consistent. My second loop of the run felt even better. I’m thinking,” ok I can finish strong” so in the last mile or so I picked it up. I really wanted to be careful with my footing because of the terrain. So what happens? I trip and down I go. It all happened so fast that I don’t think I missed a step. Down I go and rolled on my shoulder and right up to my feet and after a brief moment of getting mad, I picked it up even more and finished the race in 5:32. I was very happy! Rob was waiting for me at the finish and he said I looked like a warrior with all the dirt on me from the fall. Oh well. At least I fell gracefully and did not hurt myself.
This is the last tri for me this season. Now I have my sights set on my 3-day, 60 mile Breast Cancer walk in 25 days. Then I would like to run the Philly half marathon and PR!
When I injured my calf a couple of years ago I had to pull out of several races that I had hopes of doing. This year has had its ups and downs. Happy times. Disappointments. Yet with all of it behind me, I really had a good year. I had raced a few triathlons years ago and this year I started back. I raced five times placing 3rd twice; 2nd twice and today I was first in my age group. Can’t complain about that!
Next year I hope to be even stronger and I will have to be, what with St.Croix looming in May. The Savage Man of the Caribbean and featuring the Beast!
We have to start training when??
Special thanks to Al and Mary DeLaney for all the great coaching they have given me. From where I started with my cranky legs, to where I finished the year has been a gratifying journey. I could not have done it without them. Cool runnings!
Pine Barrens Long Distance Triathlon - Rob Colburn - 9/15/07
If you’re looking for an old school, throwback, organic, laidback triathlon, we’ve got just the race for you. The Pine Barrens Long Distance Tri is held in the middle of southern Jersey’s Pine Barrens, a million plus acres of sandy soil and scrub pines dotted with crystal waters tinged red from iron and cedar. This really is what triathlon used to be about and is a real escape from the overcrowded, over-hyped testosterone fests that have seemingly taken over the scene.
RD Bruce Perazzelli runs a loose-knit type organization that always seems to magically run on time. The race start was a civilized 9 am. My feeling is that he’d like to max out with 200 to 250 competitors. The race and course are USAT-certified. Amenities are basic: a simple T-shirt and light snacks for after the race. Out on the course this year he had ample volunteers and plenty of cold, fresh water. So, if you are looking to simplify your racing experience, this is a nice change of pace. If you are looking for big crowds and plenty of goodies, stick with the M-Dot races.
The venue is almost perfect. The small transition area sets up in the parking lot of the Atsion Lake Rec area and you can walk the 50 yards or so back to your vehicle with no worries. The pavillion has ample rest rooms and hot water showers to boot. Atsion Lake is a pleasure to swim. The cool 69-70 degree water is very clean and the thigh high in- water start is wide enough to provide a contact-free start to your day. The swim is down and back, no annoying and crowded 2-loop affair. You exit the water onto a sandy beach, which gives way to smooth grass and finally the parking lot surface.
The bike course is a flat fast track laid out in a 2 loop deal with little traffic. There is some car traffic on Rte 206 but only 4 miles per loop is here and the bike lane/shoulder is plenty wide. The rest of the course is lightly traveled, nicely paved shaded country roads.
The run is what makes the course so unique. Barring heavy rains the run course is 100% cross country. You’ll run on crushed cinders (nice); you’ll run on hard packed sand covered with pine needles (very nice); you’ll run on meadow grass fire roads and some sections of loose, beach like sand (tough.) I know of no other run courses like this in the Mid-Atlantic region. It is tough on the legs but really fun. Off-road provides plenty of shade and cooler temps too.
After the race, the RD really flies thru the awards unlike some races where the awards ceremony is as long as the race. A couple of Gatorades & South Philly soft pretzels, a quick shower and you’re on your way home; or out to find a hoagie joint. Nothing better than a big fat cheesesteak and some Tastycakes after a hard day.
Oh yes, results:br>
Rob: swim - 31:30 approx
bike - 2:16 approx
run - 1:38 approx
4:31:19 - 3rd overall male!!
Steph: swim - 36:00 approx
bike - 2:48 approx
run - 2:02 approx
5:32:01 - 1st in her age group
This was Stephanie’s first long course race!!!
Grand Columbian Triathlon - Mary & Al DeLaney - 9/15/07
M: We started the year with a ½ IM triathlon and so we are ending our season with the same….several thousand miles away. The Grand Columbian Tri is held in Coulee City, WA. For those of you that are geographically challenged, this is in north central Washington, about 1 hour west of Spokane. I signed us up for this race because I loved the idea of riding our bikes across Grand Coulee Dam (which you can’t cross anymore, since 9/11, except for this triathlon and a Mother’s Day race in May.) And the run is advertised as being an out-and-back along the Columbia River. Sounded perfect to me! If you haven’t been out here, it is an incredibly beautiful part of the country, scoured by huge glacial melts thousands of years ago; it is rugged and barren, yet fertile, covered in wheat fields on the mesa tops. At this point our kids would cry out to stop the geological stuff. OK.
A: So, we have done 4 triathlons in the last four weeks….. Einstein, AKA Mary, my coach, said we would peak at the end of the season. So this is the Peak?
By the end of the day we will have raced and trained ~300+ miles in the three sports this month. Oh, well, after 10 years and 54 triathlons, I guess I’ll eventually get used to it. Our scouting trip three weeks ago clearly showed that this bike course is on a par with St. Croix and Buffalo Springs for a challenge. This is definitely not a course for a beginner who is not approaching this from a professional biking career.
M: This is not an M-dot race. It is an independent race, IM and ½ IM. So, the entry fees are less (about $100-200 ea less). The week before the race brush fires were burning nearby, creating a lot of smoke. Rumors flew that the race course would be changed. And so it was. The night before the race, at the athletes’ meeting, the RD revealed that the formerly 2-transition area would now be one transition site and both the bike and run courses would be changed to keep the athletes from being exposed to the smoke. Ironically, as we sat there listening to the RD, it was a beautifully clear evening without a trace of smoke in the air.
We would not get to bike across the dam, nor would we get to run along the Columbia River, but he assured us that his main priority was our safety and it would be for the better. We were a little bummed, but we got very cool hats and race shirts, so OK.
A: I was glad we saved the $200, no more M-dot races this year.
RACE DAY:
M: The IM went off at 7 AM. The ½ IM went off at 9:30. How luxurious! I stretched, ate breakfast, finished my book and still got to the race site with plenty of time to spare. It was very smoky when we got up. I guess the RD knew whereof he spoke.
A: This was the only race we did this year that started at a decent time. Why do we have to set up in transition at 0530 for a 0630 or 0700 start? This was great, almost human! Wow, starting a triathlon at the same time most bankers go to work. If all business including races started at this time, this would be a better world.
SWIM:
M: Banks Lake, a beautiful clear lake, about 68-69 degrees and perfectly calm! Not a wave in sight. Men and relays went off first, then women. I really worked hard to keep my head down, as Katie had told me at the last swim practice, “You are lifting your head again!” I felt like I was going good, passed a lot of men in the wave before me, and was loving life! Ran up the grassy hill, grabbed my “swim-to-run bag” and into the changing tent.
A: WOW, I was out of the water in 35 minutes. This is great, especially since I could barely swim for 4 months this spring due to work demands and tennis elbow on my right side. At 7 minutes faster than my ’04 2000 meter swims, I might just have a chance to be something other that an athletic supporter for Mary in ’08.
T1:
M: I pride myself on quick transitions…it’s free minutes for which you don’t have to train! We ran into “changing tents” to strip our wetsuits and put on our bike shoes and ran out to get the bikes. It was strange that way, but, oh well. I guess it was set up mostly for the IM folks who would change clothes.
A: It was like getting to wear “grown up” pants for the first time. Since I don’t have time in my life to train enough to race IM distance, and don’t race anything longer than ½ IM distance; being forced through the changing tent was a new change. There is a first for every thing I guess, having a seat to sit on to strip the last of my wet suit off was a new experience.
BIKE:
M: The course had been changed somewhat, to keep the athletes from going into an area that was very smoky from the brush fires. But still, the bike course is a killer! You ride ¼ mile from the swim and take a hard right turn up the “Almira Grade.” Now we rode 2000 feet up in about 3 miles. We knew what was in store for us, so we were ready, but it still kicks your butt! Good grief, 2 women ahead of me with my AG on their calf…that won’t work! I decided to ride hard, hard, hard and drop them. If they wanted me, they were going to have to catch me! Then there were 50+ miles of “rollers” into the wind. In Washington State, their “rollers” are BIG! It was tough. I had some hamstring cramp issues, but downed lots of Endurolytes which helped. Did not see those 2 women again! Yee Haw!
A: This bike course is enough to get your attention! I’ll never be a very strong biker due to the Polio I had 53 yrs ago, but felt like I was climbing rather well, thank you… until the last switchback, when a guy with a 55 on his calf blew by me like I was drinking beer under a tree by the road. I had been climbing at about 105% of my AT, so I only stayed with him for about a mile until it became apparent that there was just no way to keep up. This same phenom happened four more times over the next 54 miles on the bike. Each time, the same thing, although I was averaging 21-22 mph after the turn onto Route 2. Those guys were just faster Saturday morning.
I’ve been slowly recovering my run strength since my last knee surgery Dec 28th, 2006. We’ll see what happens on the run! It is really dry today, and getting in enough fluids and salts requires constant attention. The low humidity can fool you into bad thinking since sweat evaporates instantly as it forms. At least staying cool is easier. I wished more than once this damn bike would get itself over. Tried to keep my HR 146-150, except on the hills. Once I saw a 165 on the Almira grade, which is my absolute max.
T2:
M: Oh yea…get me off the bike, already. The bike course was 60 miles, and that was enough! I swung my leg over my top tube at the dismount line and my hamstring grabbed me BIGTIME! Oh, WOW! Coaxed it over and on to the street and the volunteer said, “Can you walk?” I guess I looked bad. Exchanged my bike shoes for my run gear and ran through the changing tent (again) and was off on the run.
A: It’s about time! Damn! Those folks doing the full IM get to enjoy this ride one more time, they’re better men than I am today. And their reward is another 2000 foot climb to start the second lap.
RUN:
M: It’s funny how my mental state has evolved through the 10 years I have been competing in this sport. I was thinking about this as I started out on the 13.1 mile run. I am saying to myself, “ok, here I go just 13 miles and I am done….yup, just 13. It is what I do! Time to punch the time clock and rock on! Oh, great there is the 1 mile marker. Whoa! That means only 12 left…but that is better than 13! OK…pick it up…the faster you run, the sooner you get finished…gosh, lots of walkers…I am not walking…aid station….ice…excellent! Some for the hat, some for the sport bra…no, the volunteer can’t pour the ice down my back…all the way to Steamboat Rock…looks like a long way away…oh, there is Al…yes! High 5, he looks great! Ok, here is the turn to the ½ way point…6 miles, no problem…damn, getting that blister thing going again…oh well, who cares? This asphalt is hot! Aid station ice!” Pick up the pace! Relax your arms! Faster cadence!
Pass a young buck who is walking and as I pass him he says to me, “what pace are you running?” I say, “The get-me-there-pace.” Never saw him again. The men, especially, the young men, HATE when a women with a 54 on her calf speeds by! Oh yea, show me the finish line!
A: Well, just a little run thru a spectacular canyon and we’re done. For the last decade, my run was my strength in this sport. The last three years have been really, really frustrating since I’ve had recurrent knee injuries. Each surgery has been followed by periods up to 9 months or so to try to recover. Only during the last six weeks have I been feeling really strong running and feeling like I am beginning to recover the running form I remember from the past (like 2004.)
The heat and low humidity have left me covered in more salt than a french fry.
After 3 ½ 24 oz bottles of Infinit with extra salt and a dozen Enduralytes, I can tell that I’m still dry. Even after grabbing a Gatorade at the first two aide stations, I begin to cramp up. These resolve with the last half of my run bottle; I take 6 more Enduralytes, and with a brisk walk for a ½ mile the incipient cramps resolve; and I’m off. Actually feeling rather good all things considered! At mile 4 I put in an 8 minute trot to the 5 mile marker, and get a huge rush by running down the first of the old men that passed me on the bike. I try to take in all I can afford to drink at each aide station, and put the pedal down. God, this is beautiful country to be running through!
The next 4 miles fly by as I get recurrent blasts of adrenaline and testosterone from passing another guy in my age group and four younger folks in the 50-54 group. At this point I’m reunited with a great guy from Montana I had run with earlier, and his youth pushes me onward until I finally spot the third guy in my age group that passed me about 50 miles ago near bike mile 11. Speed came from somewhere, and in about 400 yards I was on his heels. God, it’s been so long since I could do this, I’ve almost forgotten what it feels like! At this point, a pass has got to be authoritative, and I have to push hard enough that he’ll have no hope of catching me. Staying on his heels for a few minutes clearly shows that he is really at his limit, and beginning to lose his coordination. I’ve had this feeling many times before, and it’s hard to explain, but at this point it really doesn’t matter how bad it’s going to hurt to do what comes next. After another 7:50 mile, I’m rewarded with another 50-54 age grouper, which makes climbing the last hill back into Grand Coulee and the finish much easier. That’s 8 passes in 13 miles, and I’ll take that thank you very much! And I was worried that 6 hours wasn’t possible today?
In a few more minutes, it’s time to turn off the road to the finish line. My place in the race really doesn’t matter any more at this point. The feeling that my ability to run well is returning, even if false, has made today all worth it. Even if I can’t pull off a run like this again, this has been a great day!
M: As I turn into the finish area, and go that last 50 yards towards the finish line I can hear the music and pass another guy who says, “If you were in my group I would race you.” I say, “My race is over, my friend!” I speed toward the finish line and hear the announcer call my name and marvel that I am here from Herndon, VA. God, I love this moment!
A: few minutes later I find Al, already enjoying the post-race Mexican food! YUM! We exchanged a kiss, a few words and immediately went into the lake to cool off our legs! Ahh, I have been thinking about this dunk for the last 10 miles!
RESULTS:
M: I finished 2nd, in 6:27. Hoped to be closer to 6:15, but I will take it after that bike course. I am so thankful for what I am able to do and that I have the time to do it. Best of all…next year I age up!!
A: Well, I’ll be glad to take third at a total time of 5:54. I was just seconds from having the fastest run in my age group. Mary wants to try to qualify for Worlds in ’08 and to avoid being a cheerleader, I have to get close enough to the front of my new age group 60-64 to make the cut. We’ll see … my time puts me second in my new group… As I write this the day after the race, my knees don’t really even hurt. After ~30,000 running miles over 35 years, all I can say is that I’m very thankful. I don’t pray for much, but maybe I’ve one more good race in these knees. Maybe if I lose 4-5 pounds and spend a lot of time in the weight room this winter?
FirmMan - Yvette Ziols - 9/9/07
The prep for this race began some time ago; details I just can’t leave out.
This was the last and only “A” race of this season for me. It was a challenging year, including not only personal challenges but also injuries and rigorous training—something I think we can all relate to and have faced at one point. I consider myself an average athlete so it was difficult for me to consider using a coach let alone justifying needing one; however, my perspective changed and now I wanted a coach; I needed a coach.
When I called the DeLaney’s I wasn’t sure what was possible. Would I be able to meet them, plea my desperation to finish the largest race I’ve ever done and accomplish these goals before time ran out? Before I began working with them, I had thoughts of giving up racing, but after tapping into their vast knowledge and skills of ‘repairing injured athletes’, I was back to training. We worked hard over several months; tweaking schedules and methods, conducting daily check–ins and anything to get me on track. I finally felt I was making progress and I certainly wouldn’t be writing this race report if it hadn’t been for them, so thank you Mary and Al!
TRAVELING: It was zero dark AM and I was antsy to get in my Jeep and go; so antsy I was up well before my unfailing alarm belched out the ‘song du jour’ (which you will find me singing off key, underneath my breath the rest of the day.) It would be at least a seven (7) hour drive to the sleepy town of Narragansett, RI, a small beach town which comes alive in the summer and for this race. The drive took 7.5 hours with a small pit stop to at Ground Zero. As we approached Narragansett, my excitement grew similar to that of a child approaching a theme park; my dreams were materializing before me!
DAY/NIGHT BEFORE THE RACE: Many things transpired from the Thursday afternoon arrival to the night before the race. However, one thing all these months of work wouldn’t prepare me for regardless of how many previous races I completed is the night before the big race. Did I have enough pasta? Enough water? Truth is you are never really prepared until you are mentally prepared. I took a moment of introspection, a moment to review some wise words from my, yes MY, Coaches: ”You will do great, Smoke ‘em!”
OK; Got it. The inn-keeper of the quant B&B I stayed at let me know the other two guests in this three bed home were also doing the race, and ”David” wakes up at 04:30 to get ready for the race. Ok great. Not only am I doing this race, but I am doing this at an un-Godly hour! I mean really – it’s only a half Ironman, so what’s the need to open the transition area at 5:30? Well it’s for nervous individuals like me who didn’t get ANY sleep the night before. Yep. Didn’t even need an alarm clock; didn’t even have to use my beloved snooze button.
TRANSITION AREA SET-UP: I arrived well before Mr. Sunshine even thought about an appearance; great. Nerves are everywhere and I am a wreck talking to anyone who would lend me an ear. I finally find my rack and begin the arduous and partially neurotic process of setting up my little 2x3 area on the towel. Good. I am “set-up,” now I can go get marked up! I know my number, I told it to just about everyone, even the little schnauzer that was at the entrance, I am “#127!” He didn’t care, I did and I laughed. I sauntered through the transition area to the body marking area only to experience a “momentary laps of memory.” WHAT was my number? Oh yeah – 127! OK, on with the marking and back to wrestle with the wetsuit! It’s on and I am on my way, 20-minutes early, to the start.
SWIM: Yes, we are running late. Great more time for me to think about what I have gotten myself into. Finally, the horn blows and I instantly recall the tricks to cut through the surf with dolphin dives from my lifeguard days. Since swimming comes naturally to me and is my favorite part of the race, I usually do the best here. I make it past the small surf and eventually merge with the swimmers. I try not to think about the rumors I heard about the ‘freaky sunken barge’ that casts an eerie shadow, similar to that of a shark in the waters below; just keep swimming and pass those two girls ahead of me. I hustle past the barge, past one of the girls and made it out of the water in second place, in record time and happy to be peeling off my wetsuit! I thought to myself, “I am on track. This is great!” I run up the beach, wave to my support group and move towards the bike on the rack.
T1: Peeling off the rest of the wetsuit gave me an extra moment to gather my breath and take in the transition area scene before I streaked out of there.
BIKE: I am now running out of the transition area with my pants on fire! I felt like I ‘could’ be an elite athlete with as many bikes left on the racks, that were waiting to be commanded through the creative 56 mile course. Let’s face it; Rhode Island is not even 48 miles wide! I hustled down the road to secure my spot and then I heard a noise. Shoot! I dropped my inhaler! I had to circle back (in traffic) set my bike down, run out to the middle of the road (how typical), pick up the pieces, run back to my bike and start all over again.
OK - I am back in the saddle regaining speed. This is the perfect time to drop the pre-race tensions and loose myself in the moment. I wanted to enjoy this and have fun. So I did. Don’t think I abandoned competitiveness to the side of the road like an old hubcap, I didn’t; I picked targets and I kept them throughout the race. In fact, there were a few targets. It was an Irish woman and a spry young male. After several miles of passing and being passed, suddenly the three of us were, as the guy coined it, “A happy family of three.”
We continued to catapult each other through the race (of course adhering to the USAT race rules) to the finish line. It was invigorating, all the way up to the 50 mile mark, then it turned into the longest six miles of my life. “I’m sorry, was it 6 or 66 I saw on the pavement?” I pushed through the last six and managed to catch up to the motorcycle with the USAT rule/sanction guy. Now I really felt like I was lurching closer to the ‘elite athlete’ status and into the transition area I went again!
T2: Can I get a massage? Leg swap? Anyone…help!
RUN: Well… that feeling of being on top of my game changed just as I parked my bike, unclipped the helmet, put on my hat and slid on what I had hoped to be my ‘magic slippers.” Unfortunately, it happened to be a “not so much” moment as I took the first few steps of many. “I’m sorry; did someone switch my legs with lead? I’d like a return please!”
As I continued my path away from my spot on the rack, I did everything possible to keep from grimacing, puking, crying and falling all at once, so I smiled, waved to my support group once again and put one foot in front of the other. I had to recite and repeat, recite and repeat this new found credo: “Just put one foot in front of the other.” All the way up until I hit the “1 mile” marker. Then an outbreak of wicked thoughts flurried though my mind which was already preoccupied with fighting to protect the momentary ailing legs below me. “Are you kidding; 12.1 more of these painful reminders?” If I didn’t get a handle on this I would end up walking the entire way and turning this race into a pledge for ‘fresh’ legs than finishing the race I entered with pride.
Slowly I gained the strength and pushed forward to meet fellow racers encountering the same trip off the bike. I am momentarily relieved to relish in the shared misery; all the way until they take off without me and I am left behind gripping my legs searching for some “on” switch. A sarcastic “Greeeeat” escapes past my lips as I dig for my pain coping mechanism. I am now on the hunt for mile marker 13.1, otherwise known as the finish line… “Has anyone seen this character? I had a great relationship with him last at my last race and I would desperately love to reconvene this adoration complete with a medal, water and a rub!”
Well my friends, according to this sign, I will have to wait another eight miles, a dozen or so more rest stops, more hip and leg cramps, a few cycles of stretching, wise cracks and a few more GU packs for that to happen. I turn the corner and I see my support group along with an inconveniently hairy man in a grass skirt, coconut bra, a Hawaiian lei and a noise maker. Am I hallucinating? Or is this weirdo vision really some random guy here to cheer us on and encourage what he would think of us as his ‘fellow crazies’ to finish the race? Whatever it is it works and I find myself peeling down the road stopping at each water stop to refuel until I see the glorious 12.1 mile mark.
It was then I make the promise to myself to at least run the last mile, I mean someone could actually be watching me now, never mind everyone I once passed on the swim or the bike had now passed me. I was only a mile out! YIPPEEE! Yes, it was great ¾ mile all the way up until the trail leads me to the beach. “WHAT?!” Is this a mirage or the latest cruelty? Running the last quarter mile in the sand? Welcome to F.I.R.M. Man racing.
I FINALLY finished the race and was even happier to see my entire support group standing there with their home made signs from old beer cases! I had finally done it. I finished my first ½ Ironman and not even moments later was I collaborating with my support group for next year. What was I thinking?! Well I guess that’s WHY they call it your support group. Now my versatile old beer case/sign sits proudly on the mantle awaiting next year’s race.
Annapolis Triathlon - Jenn Brown - 9/09/07
I had originally signed up for this race with
grand expectations to train specifically to do
really well here. But as the summer progressed,
a few obstacles began to pop up in the way of my
motivation: chronic shoulder injury, sprained
ankle, and the love of my mountain bike. So
basically, since July, my training consisted of
a lot of rest and a lot of cycling. Not ideal
when getting ready to race a TRIATHLON. My
attitude going into the weekend was poor...I was
pretty well convinced that I was getting ready
to put up my slowest Olympic distance numbers of
my tri career. That is, if I didn't DNF on the
run.
Pre-Race:
I spent all day Saturday training coaches for
GOTR, so I was on the road up to Annapolis by
5pm. Thanks to Vergil and Eric, who picked up my
packet, switched out my wheels, passed
inspection and racked my bike by 7pm. And thanks
to Vergil's boss, Bill, who let Laura B and me
camp out on his boat (aka yacht.) That's a
pre-race first!
Race Day:
Woke up at 4:00am (ouch) and was on the road by
4:30. With only one road leading into the Naval
Academy Stadium (parking and T2), we were sure
there would be traffic. All was clear when we
arrived, but not 15 minutes later, there was a
LONG line of traffic waiting to get in. Good
thing for anal planning.
Set up T2 and was on the shuttle down to the
waterfront by 5:45am. Set up T1, got into my
wetsuit (always a fun thing) and then settled
down to wait for my 7:35 wave. Was still
incredibly nervous, but calmed down a bit when I
heard from a number of sources that the
jellyfish had finally left the area where we were
swimming. YAY! One less thing to freak out
about (still left the sharks though....hmmm.)
Before I knew it, my wave of ladies, 14-29 was
making its way down to the launch dock. As I was
getting my watch ready, I heard one of the most
familiar voices I've come to recognize from my
races this summer....Dharma! She and Chris Scott
were in a double kayak just to the right of the
swim start. "Girl, you're a rock star!" My nerves
immediately vanished and I was excited for the
race...finally. My friends had come out to
support me. SO cool.
Swim:
After a quick analysis of the swim course, I
lined up all the way to the right of the pack,
so I'd have a clean shot at the first buoy, and
hopefully avoid the fray of arms, legs and
neoprene...at least for the first 30 seconds.
The gun sounded and we were off....and I was
SHOCKED at how my start position allowed me to
get out in front of the pack, FAST. It wasn't
long though, before the rest of the group caught
up to me and I began the full-body-contact that
is a triathlon swim start. Did my best to hold
my own and keep a strong stroke, while being
kicked, punched, and swum over. The rest of the
swim was rather uneventful. I honestly expected
to loose all steam about 1/4 of the way through
(convinced I'd lost all swim endurance since I
hadn't been to masters' practice in what,.....2
months?), but was pleasantly surprised that I
felt pretty strong the entire swim. I came out
of the water almost exactly in the middle of my
Age Group....and faster than I'd planned! Sweet!
Transition #1:
I really wish they gave out premiums for
transitions. Clearly an athletic sport...getting
out of the wetsuit and putting on your helmet
are big parts of the event and require lots of
training! I've been teased about being proud of
being fast in transition, but if you look at how
close finish times are at the end of the race,
it's obvious that saving those few extra
seconds, or even minutes, in transition is a big
deal. The clock is still running! Get in and get
out! I was out on my bike in just over 1 min 30
sec, which was good for 8th fastest T1 of all
the women.
Bike:
Clearly, this was where the last
month-and-a-half of training paid off. Felt
great on the bike and LOVED the course. Just
enough rollers to make it interesting and one
pretty tough, short climb about half way through
that separated the men from the boys. MTB
training coming through in the clutch! I started
the bike in 44th place, and was back to the
stadium in 13th place....so I was psyched.
Having zero confidence that my ankle was going
to allow me to have a good run, I figured I'd
just bike as hard as I could and see what
happened (rather than the typical
hold-back-a-bit-for-the-run technique.)
My legs were hurting, but I felt fast and strong...and
was still having fun. Bonus!
Transition #2:
Again quick in, and quick out...this time in
just over a minute (and good enough for 6th
fastest overall woman. See? I wasn't joking
about being competitive about my T-times!)
Run:
I have no idea where my run came from. I have
not been running. I don't really enjoy running,
and I was fully aware that there is NO
substitute for run training. You don't get
faster unless you get out there and train. And
when you don't, you're slow AND it hurts. I knew
I had no one to blame but myself for the pain,
so I just gritted my teeth and put one foot in
front of the other. The first 1.5 miles of the
run consisted of a bunch of loops in around the
parking lot of the Navy Stadium, which allowed
for a number of connections with Dharma and
Chris. If not for them, my attitude would have
definitely plummeted at this point...since the
run is where I tend to hurt the most. But every
time I turned a corner and heard Dharma, I
couldn't help but smile!
Once we were outside the stadium and away from
the crowds, it got tougher. The pavement was
more cement-like (harder on your knees) and
there were no mile markers, so I really had no
idea how far I'd gone. I came up on an Annapolis
Triathlon Club member that I'd met a few times
at the lectures I'd done for them, and ended up
running nearly the rest of the run with him. Tor
was setting a great pace (thanks to his marathon
training), and having someone to chat with made
the time go by a lot quicker. He also was
keeping tabs of the predicted mileage on his
watch, so it was great to have a sense of
distance traveled. The course took us to the
Severn River bridge....where we went up (ouch)
and then turned around to just come right back
down. Now that was just cruel.
On our way back to the stadium I lost Tor, (who
had to stop and stretch his calf) and as the
walls of the stadium got closer, I looked at my
watch, for the first time processing what the
numbers meant. I was going to finish in under
2:45. My predicted time had been 3:00-3:15.
"Must have been a fast course," I figured. The
finish was VERY cool....we entered the stadium
through the Midshipmen entrance and ran straight
to the finish, which was on the 50 yard line.
Huge video of the finish was being broadcast on
both jumbo-trons on either side of the stadium.
I was happy to be finished, and immediately went
to my car to change into clean (and dry)
clothes. Stuck around to watch all our Principle
Fitness Studs and Studettes claim their places
on the podium, and then had a great lunch and
beer with Dharma and Chris. It wasn't until I
got home and checked the results did any sense
of success really sink in. I was pretty sure
that finishing around 50% of the field was going
to be a good time. I'm totally psyched about
this race....and was really happy I did it. Now
just imagine if I had trained!
Final Results:
Swim (1500m): 33:22
T1: 1:37
Bike (38K): 1:10:32 (20.1 mph)
T2: 1:07
Run (10k): 55:03
Final: 2:41:37.75
14th of 80 in my Age Group (25-29) and
officially qualified for USAT Age Group
Nationals in 2008.
Reston Triathlon - Katie Davison - 9/09/07
DNF again...beginning to become a normal occurrence for me…and running/finishing seems to good to be true…
Why do I sign up for Reston Triathlon every year? I tell myself at sign-up time…you will for sure be running by then! Well 2.5 years later and still NO running. I am getting better (my causal response to anyone that asks why I stop or do not finish the race), honestly this time. With the help of Mary and Al DeLaney and R2R I will be running next year. In January they discovered the reason my stress fracture had not healed was because I have Osteoporosis as a result of Celiac Disease (when your body does not absorb nutrients such as calcium…causing complications such as Celiac). DOH.
Most years I do not even set up T2. This year I am starting to feel better (more energy and less pain in my leg)…so I set up T2 with the thought it would just be a game-time decision.
***PRE-RACE***
I got to T2 pretty early, parked the car, set-up T2, used the porta, got it together and rode to T1 for body-marking and T1 set-up. It was DARK riding over and I left without any bikers with lights or people to follow…so I alone rode over to T1 watching closely the white lines on the road. Once I got there I saw many friends and familiar faces. I chatted with Joanne, my GF Aquabike buddy, about what she was going to do. She has also been struggling with an unhealing stress fracture and was not going to be running. She said it was not worth jeopardizing next season. Then in came Emily T, one of my bestest friends, and I instantly felt much calmer. She yelled at me when I told her my plan of possibly doing the run. We hung together till it was time to head to the start.
***RESULTS***
swim – 22:59, 2nd fastest female overall, 1st in age group
bike – 1:01:59, 3rd fastest female overall, 1st in age group
run – DNF
***RACE***
SWIM – 78 degrees…Wetsuits were legal! I love my Orca. I was in the 1st wave , orange caps. I positioned myself front/center and got situated for the start. I knew most of the racers in the 1st wave, it was like one giant party. good times. Then the start…not so fun…AAAHHH…look down, swim fast, don’t breathe, get out of this mess. After a minute or so I was out and tried to get into a rhythm. I was out a bit ahead of the pack with a few others ahead of me and also one guy to each side of me which I could not seem to get away from. I believe I knew the guy on my left, Joe Lucas, who is 2 times as big as me. We dropped the guy on the right and Joe stayed with me uptil the turn. I was trying very hard to get away from him because I felt like he was not holding a straight line and I was getting pushed off course…GRRR it was a battle. We made the turn and I was still on the outside closer to the shore and being pushed towards it, maybe he was messing with me. Then I get side-swiped in the face (a bit of a black eye now). So I decided to get away…I stopped a sec and swam over him to get the the side closer to the buoys…sorry. Then I did not see him. I then noticed someone right in front of me…maybe a girl…SHOOT…GO…I stayed with her till the end. She beat me out of the water by about 7 seconds. It is always fun coming out with every cheering! GO BANANAS…Ken had made it to see me come out of the water! I smiled when I saw him. (he had woken up at 3 to go for a 20 mile run in order to see the start of the race…huh sounds like something I would do….
T1 – Uneventful…I think I had the 7th fastest T1.
BIKE – Off on Luna Bananas. I felt soaking wet and really tight at the beginning of the bike. ZOOooooom there goes stv. haha just like good old times….BUT then no one else came along to pass for awhile! I must be doing adequately. End of loop 1 and starting to feel better and warmed up. Still no one. The 3 loops is somewhat difficult with people entering/exciting the course at all times and trying to pass can be quite difficult. End of loop 2 and FeXY and Kevin go by. I had not seen the girl who beat me out if the water…was she ahead…not sure…people were yelling that I was in 1st. Onto the 3rd loop…where is Julie? Then she comes up on Glade…SHOOT. I pick it up…gotta make this hurt or what is the point. I still see her and gain speed and pass her back on Lawyers. Not able to hold it and she passes me for good and she gets into T2 about 30s before me.
T2 – Came in and saw Ken, Tom, and Reid…they were not necessarily cheering but watching intently on WHAT I was going to do? I knew they would all be angry if I ran but would not stop me. I stood there for a few and knew that running was not a good idea…I could feel some pain in my leg...what would the point of running be when I have not trained at all for it, I would not be doing it the rest of the season, and I would potentially set back next season…so yes I was done.
***POST-RACE***
I got some bananas and did not stick around for too long after I was done. Went over to Clarks for Shawn’s birthday and the post-race party and later to Crandall’s for more good times. It was a great day being surrounded by great friends and people who share my passion for triathlon (or aquabike for the time being).
***NEXT YEAR***
And I guess that is why I sign up for Reston Triathlon every year ?
#1!!!
OR...I could pick up my violin again and aim to be the one who gets to play the national anthem!
Lake Anna State Park Half Ironman - Neva Fulkerson - 9/8/07
Pre-Race:
I drove down Friday afternoon for packet pickup. They were checking bikes early so I decided to go ahead and get it out of the way. One less thing to worry about in the morning! While doing the check, the guys looks over and says ‘do you realize your headset is loose?” Oh no! I don’t know how to fix that. Luckily the race director did, so he came over and tightened it up for me but not before checking the rest of the bike and noticing that my pedals were sort of loose too. (Maybe that explains some of the weird noise I have been hearing.) He said that it should be fine for the race but I should have it checked out when I get back. (It is being looked at tomorrow!) All these bike problems were making me really nervous but I tried not to think about it so I wouldn’t get too stressed about it. I still needed to drive the course to see exactly what I am up against.
So I wrapped up packet pickup and drove the bike course (and most of the run course, since they overlapped.) I was pleasantly surprised how flat it was! There were a couple of small rolling hills but for the most part it seemed pretty flat. The biggest hills were inside the park! Well now it was time to get some dinner and rest up for the big day!
Race Day:
Results:
Swim - 34:56.15, Overall place 4, Gender place 1
Bike - 2:52:19.15, Overall Place 22, Gender place 4, Speed 19.5mph.
Run - 1:47:05.05, Overall place 14, Run Pace 8:10 min/mile
Overall Place 2nd Total time 5h17mins37sec
Swim:
The water temp was about 82 so no wetsuits. I wasn’t too concerned, actually excited for the challenge! The men went off first and we were to be off 5mins later. About 50 yards off shore, we see most of the men standing up and WALKING! Turns out there was a very shallow point but it could be avoided. The race director told us to stay to the right and we should be able to swim around. I lined right up front (it was a beach start) and all the way to the right. I want to swim, not walk! The 5 minutes were up and we were off. I stayed to the right and kept the wood post that the race director told us to steer towards and before I know it I was moving right along and swam right pass the “sandbar.” I came up on the first turn and caught up with first “lagging” group of men. I was feeling great and pushed on to the second turn. The long stretch was actually really nice, the sun was rising over my left shoulder, the water felt great, and the lake couldn’t have been any clearer (that probably had something to do with the nuclear plant that uses the lake for a coolan.) The last portion of the swim after the second turn was the hardest just because now the rising sun was shining right in my face which made it very hard to see the next buoy or even the finish. I finally made it and climb out of the water and hear the race director announce I was the first female out of the water. OH, now I am pumped! Onto the bike…
Bike:
My transition was slow but smooth. One female beat me out of the transition area but she didn’t appear to be in my age group so I wasn’t focusing on her too much. The bike was 2 loops starting with a steep short hill in the beginning. About 4 miles into the bike, I caught up with the first female but had just seen another female approaching fast. The second female passed me in no time, it was obvious she was a strong biker. I ended up playing cat and mouse with the other female for the remainder of the first loop. After the start of the second loop, I pushed a little harder to pull away for good. I got to the second water switch to grab two new water bottles, one of water and one of Gatorade and then I got the disappointing news…no Gatorade! They only had water at all bike bottle switches. Oh man! Well I was just going to have to make do. And that I did…I finished up the bike feeling strong, pulling away and securing “second female” to start the run. If I could only hold off any other females, I could secure a second overall!
Run:
The run start was awful! Straight uphill for about ¼ mile. My legs were feeling good, like usual after biking but my stomach was not the best. I was feeling really full and didn’t feel like eating or drinking anything but knew that I had to! I pushed on and once I made it up the hill and it leveled off things started to feel a little better. I didn’t get my split on the first mile but my second mile was right on track, actually a little ahead of schedule. I knew this run was going to be tough so it gave me a little play room. There were plenty of points during the run that I could keep an eye out for all the other females on the course. I saw the first place female and she was just too far ahead and looking really strong. Then I saw the third place female and I thought I looked stronger than her and thought I had a pretty good lead on her so as long as I kept my 8 mile pace I should be fine. The rest of the run was off and on. All the flat part and small inclines were good but any uphills were awful. It took all I had to keep running on some of those hills. What kept me going was knowing that if I walked at all, the third place was bound to pass me and I couldn’t let that happen. Well the 13th mile came (finally!) and it was a fabulous finish. All downhill for the last ¼ mile (the same one we had to climb) and I could see the finish line and hear all my friends and family cheering me on. I threw my hands up in the air and literally got tears in my eyes. I DID IT! All the hard work and all the weekends sacrificed paid off! I sprinted to the finish line and crossed with a smile on my face (which was also helping me not throw up.) I gave it my all and it worked!
Portland Triathlon - Mary and Al DeLaney - 9/02/07
“Organic, sustainable, a little bit weird.” How could anyone resist a triathlon that advertises itself as that? We were out in Idaho for about six weeks at our home at Schweitzer Mountain and were planning to head west to reconn the Grand Columbian ½ IM course, which we are doing later in Sept. So, why not make a road trip of it, visit some old friends and end up in Portland for this Olympic triathlon? Sounded good to me!
Race Day:
Beautiful clear skies looking over the Willamette River and Mt Hood from our hotel room, right across the street from the race site! Weather temp was about 55 before the sun came up. Startlingly blue skies, as only you get in the Pacific Northwest in the summertime!
The Race:
SWIM:
M: The swim was one loop in the Willamette River. Race day water temp was 69 degrees and wetsuit-legal. The three waves (men, women, relays and first-timers) all started from the dock at the marina. As the women jumped in, the woman next to me neglected to hold onto her goggles and they were gone! She decided to swim without goggles. I would have been done, as I swim with contact lenses. But, I also put my goggles under my cap to avoid that sort of thing. I didn’t feel that fast, sort of sluggish, but I kept my chin tucked and tried to catch some feet. We swam upstream under 2 bridges, rounded the far buoy and swam back to a rocky beach where 8 volunteers literally pulled us out of the water, helping us avoid crunching our toes on big rocks. Then we ran about 400 yards to T1.
There was plenty of room in the transition area and the racks were built of bamboo. Quickly shed the wetsuit and headed out on the bike. Al’s wave went first and I saw his bike was gone, so that was great!
Al: Swim was up-current the first half, down-current the return. The river is tidal at this site. As the tide was starting to come in, the return was faster than the initial lap. If you have tender feet, this site requires two pair of flip-flops as the water entry is 150 yards from the exit. I was able to find M’s second pair after the race.
BIKE:
M: The bike course was 6 loops (4 miles each) on the Naito Parkway along the river. The entire course was blocked to traffic. Going north was a great downhill run, but heading back south, was a climb...6 times! There was a section of the road that was really rough, and we hit it on the downhill, going Mach 3 with hair-on-fire…YIKES! ! I was in my aero-bars and seriously thought I was going to wreck! Fortunately, we stayed upright and took that section a bit more cautiously the next 5 times. Hard to judge where we were compared to our competition, as we couldn’t tell who was on which loop.
Al: At one point I was airborne for about 20 feet on the first downhill when I hit a 4” deep trough with a ramp on the downhill end. That was at ~35 mph. The climb on each lap was about 7/8th of a mile up to about a 3.5% grade. The other road hazards were some real gnarly manhole covers and the large number of first-time triathletes who didn’t begin to understand the concept of blocking. With only one official on the course, sometimes the ONLY alternative was passing on the right!
Volunteer and police support was great! Volunteers were at every corner, cheering and making sure crazed athletes stayed on course. Because of the 6-loop course, there were the speed demons racing side-by-side with the first-timers. The TNT folks had a novel idea, which was “rent-a-fan”, mostly young women with fluorescent wigs and short skirts, and cow bells. They went crazy for everyone!
RUN:
Al: The run was an interesting two-lap affair. After exiting T2, we cut hard right up onto the first bridge crossing the river. After that we passed north along the east river bank, crossed another bridge, and returned to the race site on the west bank to end the first loop. There was great scenery, both the human kind, and the city panoramas. The surfaces were generally smooth, hard, and had decent texture which would also be OK if it were raining. I felt real good starting the run which has been an unusual occurrence the past two years with all the knee problems I’ve had during that time.
M: I was glad to get off the bike. I really had to concentrate to keep the lap count, keep from flying off the bike over the rough sections and not hit the riders weaving all over the place. Ahh, the run…just one foot in front of the other. Now, I am not one that is usually so happy to get on the run. I have been struggling with foot pain issues for about 3 years and after the Cherry Blossom Run in April, I wasn’t sure I wanted to do much more running. Between the blisters and the bone pain, I was not sure how triathlon would be a reasonable sport for me any more. But, I tried the Newton running shoes with custom insoles (and that is another article) and since then, my foot pain has been minimal.
Anyway, I started out on the run and felt pretty perky. My plan was to just go out, see how my feet felt and if everything was good, I was going to push my heart rate up there and leave it, until either I finished or fell over. About a quarter of the way into the 2nd lap I saw a woman ahead of me who I guessed to be near my age. I decided to run on up and take a look…yup, 51 on the calf. I hung behind her for a minute or so and then “punched the time clock” and went by. Shortly we came to the stairs to the bridge and I ran up them 2 at a time and decided to try to drop her going across the bridge…at one curve I glanced back and I was pretty sure I had dropped her. (Wow! I have not been able to do that in a couple of years!) Ahead, I saw another woman who I thought looked younger (she was 53), but I went for her, as well and YES, got her. I was SO pumped! I had this vision of one of them catching me in the chute, so I really went all out in the home stretch! I didn’t even care about the placing, since I was so happy with my run.
RESULTS:
M: Having said that, it’s still fun to place….especially when the trophy is a bottle of wine! Since this race was all about environmental awareness and sustainability, the winners’ “medals” were hung from a used bike tube with the race name laser-etched on the rubber and hanging from the bottom was an old gear ring. Very cool! Final time: 2:58 1st place
Al: I had just gotten back to running well last Fall, after left knee surgery two years ago, so it was a bummer to tear another meniscus and have to have knee surgery on my right knee last Dec 28th. Since then, it was rehab, rehab, rehab the knee AGAIN! Finally, I am getting my running form back, and am very happy with some recent runs at a sub 8-minute pace. Unfortunately, I was run down at about 4 miles by the guy that took second place, but I’ll take that, thank you very much. However, it should be noted that I would have won both the AG above and below me, so I felt pretty stoked about that! Final time: 2:46 3rd place
The finish line was an arch constructed of planters with live plants, that will be taken apart and cared for, and used in next year’s race. The athletes got to chow down on pizza, gelato, and fresh fruit (peaches, plums, bananas.) There was even a Deshutes Brewery beer garden. There was a sign that said they required photo ID to enter…we didn’t go in, but I figured we could just show our calf.
The finish area was great, with live music and an excellent timing company putting up 3 sets of results on their leader board before the race was over. There was decent food, and a fairly prompt awards ceremony. The additional cost of staying at one of the major hotels on the river seems worth it since our room was about a 7-minute walk from transition and the race site. Downtown Portland is real funky, with a streetcar system, many trees, parks, and an unusual variety of restaurants. This could be a great trip to the West coast. The Columbia Gorge is about an hour from the city, as is Mount Hood. The Oregon coast is also only about 1.5 hrs west. Seattle is a couple of hours north, add another hour and you are on the Olympic Peninsula.
All together this is an excellent race venue that, with help from the Portland business community, could become a classic.
RANDY MOURI, USA, FRAME NUMBER 1957
PREPARATION:
In order to participate in Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) one must first qualify by completing a series of rides called “Brevets.” The distances of the rides are 200k, 300k, 400k and 600k. Each ride having a maximum number of hours to complete in order to qualify and register for the PBP. You must also be an active member of Randonneurs of the United States of America (RUSA) prior to the brevet series. Additionally, You must be a member of your local Randonneuring Club to participate in your local brevet series for insurance purposes. Lastly, you will need to be a member of the Ultra Marathon Cycling Association (UMCA) in order to attempt to qualify for the Race Across America (RAAM). If you’re not confused yet, you should be. I sure was and I’m supposed to know what I’m doing. To make a short story long, I completed the series, submitted my application to Audax Club Parisien (ACP -the governing body over PBP) through RUSA and notified UMCA of my intent to use PBP as a RAAM qualifier. In order to qualify for RAAM by riding a 1200k event, one must complete the event in less then 65 hours.
Ok, now that my application has
been accepted all I have to do is
figure out how to ride 1200k at a
pace faster than I rode my 600k
qualifier in order to qualify for
RAAM. Well, not to worry...I’ll
think of something.
THOUGHT PROCESS:
Randonneuring is loosely
defined as non-competitive,
self-sufficient means of cycling. Well it turns out the we have to
wait for the last U.S. flight to
arrive before we can depart the
airport. We were all somewhat
exhausted from the flight, so
many of us boarded the buses
and tried to sleep. 6 hours later
we were pulling out. Oh joy!
We arrive at the hotel, check
in, throw our luggage into our
rooms and then run back down
the “bike room” to assemble our bikes. Unfortunately, for some, their bikes never show up.
THE RIDE:
My ride goal suffered from the very start when I was not able to sleep on Monday afternoon. My plan was to sleep from noon to 6pm, grab some chow and then head over to the start. I was just way too anxious to get the show on the road and could never fall asleep. I didn’t bother trying a time limit to qualify in order to participate in PBP and you have a 90 hour maximum ride time in order to be an official finisher makes randonneuring a race. A race against time. I draft up a schedule based on a moderate ride pace. Starting out averaging 17mph and progressively getting slower further into the ride, reaching a rock bottom pace of 14mph. This allowed for 15 hours of “off bike” time. After calculating 45 minutes to process through each contol I had 3 hours for sleep over my 65 hour journey. I can do this. Let’s get this show on the road.
ARRIVAL:
Our flight into Paris is uneventful and the meals (dinner and breakfast) were fabulous with substantial portions. When it comes to stocking up reserves for a 761 mile ride, it’s all about quantity! We arrive at the gate around 8:15 a.m., funnel through customs, pick up our bikes and luggage and make our was to the buses (which were arranged by our travel agency).
to alter my internal clock by staying up late the night prior, since I knew I would be awake for such a long period of time anyway. So my new plan was to just ride as long as I could with the sleep that I did have. A very well thought out plan, if I do say so myself.
The 8:00 p.m. start time went in 3 waves. I ended up in the middle of the last wave, which departed at 8:30 p.m. I met a rider, Steve from Toronto. We chatted for a while and I discovered that we had similar goals. So we decided that we would try to stay together for as long as possible.
Our start pace seemed to be a bit slow at the beginning. I heard my name called out as we were heading out of town. It was fellow DC Rand, Ed Felkner. The person responsible for getting me into this club. He was registered for the 84 hour start, but was doing what he always does --encouraging fellow riders along the way. The tempo picked up as we started to catch some of the riders from the earlier wave and it started to rain. It was about an hour into the ride, which was much better than starting out in the rain. By regardless we were going to get wet and stay wet for a LONG time.
We moved swiftly from village to village. Locals were standing out in the rain cheering us on and directing us through the streets. A’goush (left), a’droit (right) was being called out through the dark. I looked over at Steve and laughed. “Do you actually see any of the arrows that are marking the course?” He laughs back and replies, “Not a one!” Oh well! I hope we figure this one out before too long.
Soon after this though a group of riders passes us in the opposite direction. “What the heck is going on!” The group shouts out in French that they missed a turn. This can only mean that our group missed the same turn. About face and back into the village of Gambais. Yes. We missed a sharp right after a traffric circle. And I get my first glance at an arrow that was place high up on a side of stone wall. No way was anyone going to see that. Many groups just knew. We only rode a few miles out, so that gave our group approximately 6 bonus miles. They call them bonus miles, but they really stand for “bone-head” miles.
Steve started feeling poorly and thought that he may be riding a little beyond his means. I also noticed that he was out of liguids. I had offered him one of my water bottles, but perhaps a little too late. He passed my his empty to me and I gave him my full. Luckly, I don’t drink that much. When we reached Mortagne Au Perche he vomited several times when he got off the bike. He told me to trek on, but I told him that it was still early and that I would hang with him until we reached the first control point and we could revaluate how to proceed. There was a little confusion in Mortagne Au Perche as the village had set up a little stand for riders to purchase food and drink prior to the official food stop. So when we rode by the official stop we thought it was a secret control. So we dismounted an looked to get our cards stamped and signed. A woman gestured that this was not a control and to move on. Time wasted, but that’s why we are called rookies.
It was a mellow ride into Villaines and Steve decided that he needed to eat and rest for a while before moving on, so I told him that it would be best if I continued on solo. I gave him my email address and asked him to email me after the ride to make sure he made it through ok. I was actually on schedule at departure, so I didn’t lose any time, but I didn’t bank any either.
I remember having to stop on the side of the road in the small village of Feins and putting on my space blanet to warm up for a few minutes. I’m not sure if it was helpful, but it seemed to make sense at the time. was cold, wet and sleepy. It seemed like there was so much activity going on around me that it was difficult to rest. So it wasn’t long before I was back on the bike. Little did I know, Tinteniac was less than 6 miles away. So many riders told me to abandon my cue sheet at the hotel that I figured though that many riders couldn’t possibly be wrong. Guess what?!
My pace was good into Loudeac, but sleep deprivation was getting the better of me. So I thought an hour of sleep was necessary. This decision cost me 3 hours of “off bike” time for the hour of sleep. One can’t imagine the time wasted from walking from building to building to process through the controls, getting food, finding the showers and the sleep area. Not many of the buildings were heated, so it was not very pleasant to shower and step out into the cold, though it was quite nice to put on something dry and to be out of the rain for a while. The dry was so MUCH appreciated.
Getting back on the bike in the cool rain was a slow process, but I knew that I was starting to falling behind schedule and I had not reached the half way mark.
By the time I hit Brest, I was two hours off my schedule, which was not bad, but sleep deprivation continued to haunt me and my riding was becoming unsafe. So I decided another hour sleep would be good. No more showers, just put on something dry to sleep in and crash. As I was changing into dry clothes I noticed how swollen my left hand was. Apparently, the watch I was wearing was pressing against the back of my hand and caused it to swell. I took the watch off and realized that it wasn’t even working. All the rain made the display go blank. So I stuffed it in with some wet clothes that later went into the back of my saddle bag. Again, the sleep preparation was a long process, but faster than in Loudeac.
The more controls I passed through the faster and more efficient I became. Ride up to the actual control location, decide on what you want to eat, have your bottles with you while checking in and hydrate and eat what you can while standing in line. It all makes sense, but until you actually experience the process it is diffult to predict what will move you through the smoothest.
continued on with little down time. My pace was steady at slightly over 15mph. So I had time for another hour sleep. This time I went for some dry socks, but my spare pair was soaked from sitting out in the rain. I tried to dry them off as well as possible under the hand dryer in the WC (wash closet). Then left them by my side as I slept. I was promptly awaken one hour later by a volunteer. I grabbed the semi-dry socks and put them on, noticing the swelling of my feet and the tenderness at the frontal bend where the foot and lower leg meet. It appears that the tongue of my shoes were pressing into that area causing discomfort. I couldn’t imagine that slight of pressure could cause so much pain. Oh well! No worries! I only had about 290 miles to go. My feet still looked like prunes after an hour of drying out. So I decided to wrap some plastic bags around my socks before putting on my Aqua Socks (guaranteed to keep your feet dry -- but not in over 40 hours potatoes. At the time I thought that there was no possible way that I could eat all of this food, but after a few moments of non¬stop shoveling I was thinking that seconds just may be in order. Within minutes the plate was cleaner than when pulled from the rack. I rode strong into Tinteniac with a warm, full belly. I ended up bumping into a fellow American just outside of Tinteniac. His name was Charles and I later learned that he was also trying to qualify for RAAM. He was being fully supported by his best friend, Thorton. They had known each since nursery school. Thorton was going through a divorce at the time and Charles offered him an all expense paid trip to London, after the PBP ride for supporting him.
Our pace would have to pick up at this point, but we still had time to make the 65 hour cut off. We had a little more than a 300k ride ahead of us. The ride into Fougeres started off fast, but slowed substantially toward the end. Charles was running out of gas and I was getting sleepy once again. The next control was Villaines La Juhel and it was painful. Fighting off the sleep monster was becoming a tough task and I came very close to missing a hard right turn at the bottom of a steep hill. It was decision making time. Press on without sleep to make the 65 hour cut off or get some rest and make it in safely. I chose the latter. So after reaching Villaines safely, I told Charles and Thorton that I was going to take a break. There would be another RAAM develop Shermer’s neck, which makes it very difficult/painful to hold your head up straight. This plagued me over the last two controls (Mortagne Au Perche and Dreux). I ended up having to hold my head up with my left hand and steering with my right. I soon learned that I was not the only one suffering from this condition as I saw many people wearing neck braces after the ride.
Susie met me with camera in hand. I wasn’t in the mood to have my picture taken, but stood huge plate of meat sauce.
and again...I had no problems putting it away. I was off for the final 141 miles. The miles clicked away, but I started to me on. I felt badly for a moment, because she has so supportive to not only me, but to our friends Dave and Linda as well. If any of you have served as a support crew you know what I’m talking about. It’s a lot of work and can be very stressful. Ok - my guilt was over and I was standing in line for my FINAL swipe, stamp and signature.
Susie was able to run around the building and met me inside with a change of dry clothes. My hero! I quickly changed and I was ready for a beer. Unforunately, the beer tent was on the other side of the field from the control and our hotel was in the opposite direction. The direction of the hotel won (believe it or not!) I decided I better walk back now while I was able. I could always have a beer after a nice bath. The walk was slow, but the time went quickly...at least to seemed that way to me. Susie later told me that we walked painfully slow. I agreed with the “painfully” part, but still thought we made good time. But time was no longer a concern of mine!
THE END:
Susie had the bath running with the complimentary bath soap. It was hot, but felt so good and relaxing. She asked what she could get me as I submerged deeper into the tub. I replied, “A beer, a glass of Orangina and Pringles.” She promptly retreived all three items and set the on a stool beside me in the tub. A few moments later she walked in to check on me and I had passed out. Beer, Orangina and Pringles untouched.
She let me soak for a while and then woke me and told me that I should dry off and get into bed. It was a slow process, but I managed to do this in a reasonable amount of time. Once in bed, Susie asked if I wanted anything. I again requested the beer, Orangina and Pringles. She brought them out from the bathroom and set them by the bedside. 15 seconds later I was sound asleep again. Beer, Orangina and Pringles untouched. It was around 9:30 p.m. at the time. I woke up once at 2 a.m. and drank the Orangina. Got out of bed and proceeded to drink the remainder of Orangina that was in the liter bottle, a coke, and a couple bottles of water (One with gas and one without. It’s a European thing.) Back in bed and I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow. I wake again at around 4 a.m. This time I finally drank my victory beer and ate the Pringles with no one awake to celebrate with. I thought about waking Susie, but she was equally as exhausted from tracking me each step of the way and sending her positive energy my way, when she saw that I was falling behind. I let her sleep. The beer turned out to be the best can of beer EVER and the Pringles were salted to perfection. I thought to myself, if physical abuse makes food taste this good, I think I may just have to do this more often!!!!
THANKS:
To my wonderful wife, Susie of course! If it wasn’t for her none of this would be possible. She was so supportive through all of the training rides, excessive bike equipment purchases and of course the increase in our grocery budget. She’s the greatest and I’m lucky to have her.
Mercury Publishing all pitched in and presented me with a care package. It included a very cool USA cycling jersey, which they all signed.
The DC Rands, all of our friends and naturally our family were so supportive with phone calls, emails, cards, etc. It always makes me feel so fortunate. For the truth of the matter is you all always make me feel special. Whether I’m getting fat over the winter, being a couch potato or training for a big event as with PBP...you ALL just seem to be there to offer encouragement and support. And THAT, my friends is a thing of beauty!!!!
Luray International Triathlon - Laura Novak - 8/18/07
I hadn’t planned to sign up for any races after Eagleman, but after my disappointing finish there, I knew I had to find another race before the end of the season and excise my demons. Between vacations and work travel, finding a race that fit into my late summer schedule was a challenge. I finally decided on the Annapolis Triathlon in September. About a week after signing up for Annapolis, my brother asked if I was interested in doing the international race at Luray in August. I mentioned the Luray race to Mary and Al DeLaney and they both responded that they were also doing the race. Well, now it was a party! I signed up that evening and followed up with an e-mail to the DeLaneys and my brother to make it clear, perhaps more to myself than to them that this race was “just for fun.”
The afternoon before the race I threw my stuff in a bag, printed the race information and directions, and jumped into my car for the drive to Luray. That was the extent of my pre-race planning. After packet pick-up, I went to dinner with several Tricats and then went to my hotel to check in. Some of the others decided to drive the bike course before heading to their hotels. I knew the bike course was hilly and I didn’t want to know much more, because after all – this race was “just for fun.”
When I got into my car the next morning, it was clear that the day was going to be perfect for racing – low humidity and mild temperatures. It was eerily similar to the weather during Eagleman. I quickly put thoughts of Eagleman out of my mind and found my way to the park. I organized my transition area, did a short warm-up and pulled out my pink cap as I headed for the swim. Before I go on, I want to make a plea to all race directors: I am tired of pink caps! I have far too many. I challenge race organizers to be more creative in cap color designation. Personally, I think pink caps should be assigned to the 20-24 males – then we’d really see what they were made of!
Women in their pink caps made up the final of four waves. The swim start was a little crowded but it eventually stretched out. I was excited about the swim, because during the previous week I finally figured out why I always veer to the left and I was psyched about swimming in a straight line without over compensating to do so! Eventually, the pink caps caught up with the green caps and then the blue caps which made the end of the swim as crowded as it had been at the start.
The bike course was as hilly as I had expected, but the beautiful scenery somehow distracted me from the difficulty of the course. This course was easily the prettiest race course I have ridden in my short triathlon career. Besides, with up hills you have down hills, and these down hills were white-knuckle fun!
Running is where everything usually falls apart for me. At Eagleman, I went from having a race of a lifetime on the swim and bike to a complete disaster on the run. But I learned from my mistakes at Eagleman. This time, I eased up a little on the bike, I hydrated well, and I took my electrolytes. As a result, I went into the run feeling strong and, more importantly, I didn’t get leg cramps. As with the bike course, the hills were tough, but I tried to take advantage of the down hills remembering to not brake by shortening the front of my stride. The run, like the bike and swim, was a two loop course giving me the opportunity to see the same people several times. And there were so many people I knew, including my brother, the DeLaneys and several Tricats, all of whom I had to wave or cheer on, prompting a nearby racer to ask me if I knew everyone that was racing that day! The problem with a two loop course, at least for me, is judging where you are in the context of the other racers. Of course, I’m not too competitive so it really didn’t matter (yeah right), but more importantly, this race was “just for fun.”
At the end of the race, I milled around and met up with many of the people I saw on the run. I started to leave as the awards were being presented, but decided to park my bike to see if anyone I knew was taking home any hardware. I pulled up a section of grass next to Mary, who coincidently placed second in her age group. When the announcer read the third place time for my age group, I turned to Mary and smiled– I realized that I was only two minutes off. I walked over to the results board, and was astounded to learn that I had taken 4th place! I certainly understand that this was a smaller race and that the competition was probably not as stiff as some of the larger races, but for me it was exactly what I needed - my Eagleman demons had been conquered.
Luray International Triathlon - Katie Davison - 8/18/07
I am still feeling somewhat of a let down from my tremendous weekend. It was the
Luray Triathlons at Lake Arrowhead Park Luray, VA made possible by David Glover
and Endurance Works. Ken (aka Single N‚ still waiting to meet Double N) and I
left the Northern Virginia on Friday afternoon and arrived in Luray around 4pm
in order to do some course preview action. We drove to Lake Arrowhead Park and
were met by some clydes, Shawn (aka Agave Boy) and Jon. We did one loop‚ felt
pretty awful‚ may have been the heat. Then we headed over to packet pick-up,
which was in the town. There we ran into The Delaneys and The Colburns and
tagged along with them to find some eats. After finding the 2 or 3 restaurants
in Luray to be completely packed, we then found our way to Uncle Bucks, a
friendly little restaurant. After dinner, Ken and I headed back to the Luray
Caverns West motel (which looked like something out of the Flintstones), got our
stuff ready, and were in bed by 10pm.
***International Triathlon***
***PRE-RACE***
Saturday was the International Triathlon (1500 meter swim, 25 mile bike, 10K
run). I was signed up for the full thing‚ although I was not sure yet if I was
going to walk/run the 10K. But knew that there were at least 5 people there that
would tackle me if they saw me out on the run course. So with my low chances of
survival I leaned towards not running. But either way it was a beautiful day and
I was surrounded by many of my favorite people‚ so things would be good.
***RESULTS***
swim - 25:21, 5th fastest female overall
bike - 1:19:50, 2nd fastest female overall
run - DNF
***RACE***
The water temperature was 82 degrees, so wetsuits would not be legal. I would
have to do it in my fancy pink TriWhite uniform. I am never to sure about
swimming in tri-shorts and feel mush more comfortable in a wetsuit. The swim
start is always the most anxious part of the race for me as it is for most.
There were 4 or 5 waves by age group/gender, set off 3 minutes apart. All of the
females were in the last wave (pink caps‚ FINALLY a pink cap‚ geez). I positioned
myself front/center, waited for the horn, and was off. I pulled out to the front
with a few others and we shortly caught the wave in front of us. The 2 loop
course was clockwise with sharper turns around 2 large yellow buoys. I felt good
and caught a lot of the wave in front of me and also noticed a lot of people
from the wave 2 ahead. It got kindof frustrating dodging people, but also made
it easy to know where you were going and not have to site much. I finished the
swim thinking there were maybe 1 or 2 females in front of me.
I had a smooth T1 and was off on Luna Bananas. It is funny‚ when I think back to
any transition I have had I realize that one is so focused a bear could be about
to maul them and they really would have no clue what was happening until it ate
them. So not really sure what went on at TI.
Anyways off on the bike. I love the Luray bike course. Lots of hills. The course
has you go out from the transition about 2 miles and then do 2 loops and then
back 2 miles to transition. I shortly passed 2 girls and wondered if there were
anymore in front of me. I felt good for most of the bike. I went back and forth
Josh (just like a usual good time ride) and Rob Urbach, who I later was
officially intoduced too and found out we swim on one of the same masters teams.
Towards the end of the 2nd loop Julie Gibbons passed me. Maybe I was 2nd or 3rd
female overall? As I came into T2 I got a bit sad...should I run? I am doing
really well. My body felt good but I was hungry‚ I had purposely only brought
one gel on the bike (that I took right after the swim) so I would not have
enough energy to continue.
***POSTRACE***
I was done. I went over to get some water and to watch my friends finish. Ken
finished in 10th‚ you are a stud, eventhough I know you shoulda gone faster.
Everyone seemed really pleased with their results. After the awards, we decided
to tag along again with Mary and Al for lunch and found ourselves back at Uncle
Bucks for some eats and drinks. After lunch Shawn was ready to start the
serious boozing (it is hard work to keep up the Clydesdale lifestyle). Ken and I
got back to the motel and he had a bottle of tequila ready and waiting. After a
retro movie, we headed back to the town to find some dinner with Josh and
Brian‚ more boozin. Hmm. Ken and I then decided to cut the boozing and check out
Harry Potter (a sub-par movie), while the others went to find more spirits.
***Sprint Triathlon***
***PRE-RACE***
OK try not to get to confsed here. Sunday was the Sprint Triathlon (750 meter
swim, 16 mile bike, 5K run). For the Sprint, Matt White and I had set up 6 teams
with the employees of White + Partners (one of my places of employment). We were
all very ready for the event and made team shirts, a banner, set up a tent, and
some of us even got fancy uniforms. The night before some of the team had
arrived and everyone was getting very excited. We all decided to meet at 7:30am
on Sunday morning to gather everyone and do packet pick-up together. The Sprint
was to start at 9am. The alarm went off at 6:45am and I was full of anxiety
about getting 6 teams of people, most of whom had never seen a triathlon, ready
for the race. I made the boys get moving. What are YOU a logistics Nazi?, says
Ken, while Shawn, a BIT hungover, just grumbles. We got moving and were finally
at the park for the chaos of getting 6 teasm through packet pick-up. I was
swimming with The Rugged Slugs and biking with The Slackers. So I would come out
of the water, pass my chip to Tom of The Rugged Slugs and then wait for Mel to
come out of the water to start the bike for The Slackers.
***RESULTS***
swim - 11:13 1st fastest female overall, female course record
bike - 57:30, 4th fastest female overall
Rugged Slugs (Katie, Tom, Adam) - #1 relay
The Slackers (Mel, Katie, Annie) - #9 relay
***RACE***
Today the water temperature had dropped to 76, there had been some rain
overnight. I was definitely going with the wetsuit. Again about 4 or 5 waves,
this time leaving 4 minutes apart. This time we would only do 1 loop of the
course. I hung at the start with the other 5 swimmers from White, answering
questions and addressing concerns about what to expect. I positioned myself
front/center, waited for the horn, and was off. I pulled aways from the group
and tried to settle into a zone. I did not let up the whole time. My goal for
this day was to have a fast swim. I made it out of the water first in my wave
and quickly ran up the stairs and passed the chip to Tom who was then off on the
bike for Rugged Slugs.
I was not sure how much time I would have in transition till Mel got there and I
would start the bike for The Slackers. I took of my wetsuit and got ready for
the bike. I noticed at this time how delerious people are coming out of the
water into T1. HAHA.
Mel came out and Annie (our runner) passed the chip and I was off on the bike
for The Slackers. My legs felt a bit sore from the previous day but not too bad.
I decided to push it and if I finished without hurting that was
unacceptable...HAA So thats what I did.
***POSTRACE***
TriWhite did GREAT! I am really proud of everyone! It was great being out there
with you all! The Rugged Slugs had taken 1st place relay! We got some cool
glasses and gift certificates to a health food store called The Apple Cottage
(with gluten-free products). Also for participating in both races a free entry
to General Smallwood Triathlon was awarded. Also I got the female swim record
and Ken got the bike course record. It was another great day.
***NEXT YEAR***
I will be back! Thanks David, you do a phenomenal job.
Luray International Triathlon - Steph Colburn - 8/18/07
I never thought I would be the type of person to get nervous. I guess I am good at convincing myself that I am not.
I have been training hard for the Luray Triathlon. With a year of nursing an injury back to health it has been a slow long journey. With Al and Mary DeLaney’s help I have made it to the starting line.
When I wake up the morning of the race I really think I am ok with the fact that it has been declared a no-wetsuit swim. What is it about that wetsuit that gives such comfort during a race? I first was not happy about that and then I started to doubt myself in my ability to be able to swim it without that crutch. If I so chose to swim it with a wetsuit then I would not be eligible for awards. “So what,” I said. There is no way I will place. I will be lucky to get out of the swim alive and with a good time. Boy, I will tell you that morning of the race my little demons were in full force. Doubt, fear, you name, it I had it all. As we walk to the swim start I am ready to burst into tears. I have always confronted my fears in my life and overcome them and this would not be the first time and probably not the last. I knew if I could just get in the water and start swimming I would be ok. I would find my rhythm and rock and roll.
The swim started and we were off. In my first tri swim I was too nice, but not this time! I was not looking forward to someone swimming over top of me. So I pushed my way through the crowd of people until I found my space and my rhythm. Besides my goggles fogging up and the sun in my eyes, that made it even harder to see, I had a great swim. Ok, I said to myself, now just run up these stairs, these long, long stairs that seem to reach heaven and to the transition area and jump on your bike and take off.
As I started my bike I hear this voice behind me saying, “You go rocket girl!” It’s Mary. I may have beaten her out in the swim, but she smoked by me on the bike. Well, that will just take the wind out of your sails. I let my breath come back to me as I rode and headed off to a very challenging bike course. The first loop, my demons were back. I was not having fun and I just wanted to stop. Those false flats are exhausting and I was convinced that I was going to have to stop. “After all, I don’t have to do this. This is a crazy sport. Why do I want to continue something that is not fun, just grueling? No way do I want to do another loop of this course.” And just as I said that to myself I found that I was turning to do the second loop. What just happened? I was not going to do this again. Well this is not so bad. I now know what to expect and I will be done soon.
I dismount my bike and run into transition. I take another puff on my inhaler, because I know I am going to need all the help I can get, and off I went on the run. Even though my run has been slow coming along, I felt pretty good. That is until those darn demons came back. I am exhausted just fighting those stupid voices. The first loop, again I was convinced I was going to stop. I am not having fun. I kept persevering and I tried not to let those voices win. I turn into the park and start my second loop and hear another voice yelling to me. It is my husband Rob, “Go Steph, keep up the good work kid.” Kid, I wish I were a kid right now. Some energizer bunny energy would be great right now. Well, this is the last loop and I actually am feeling pretty good. The turn-around seems to come sooner this time. Why is that? I chug my way to the finish line and I am done. Yeah! Where is the Coke?
That was a good day I placed 2nd in my age group and I whipped my demons.
After awards we went back to Uncle Bucks (can you believe this place is called Uncle Buck’s?) to get some lunch. I think we all were still a little delirious because before we knew it we were signing up for the Sprint the next day. Found a hotel room and why not? Let’s race again tomorrow! Ek-k-k!
My day was not filled with demons like the day before. Thank goodness! And remarkably, I felt good. Still did not like that last hill on the bike. My legs were screaming for no more. Yet, I managed to place 2nd again that day.
It is a good thing that I have learned through my life that stubborn CAN work to your advantage. When we have doubts and fears, somehow events happen in and along our path in life to help us recognize the strengths we have inside us. As long as we don’t let the fears and doubts win, we will always come out on top.
Culpeper Sprint Triathlon - Doug Landau - 8/05/07
With their respective camps claiming that the other was "ducking"
their man now that they are in the same age group, things finally
came to a head at the VTS Culpeper Sprint Triathlon Sunday
morning. The challenger, Rob "he of the legendary 8-pack" Urbach
would finally get a rematch with Doug "pity the fool that thinks he
can catch me on dry land" Landau for Virginia Maccabiah team
bragging rights.
Urbach's camp went so far as to suggest that Landau was "hiding
outside the Commonwealth."
Landau's handlers countered that he was merely trying cases for
clients in other states, and participating in the USAT National Age
Group Championships in Olympic Distance Triathlon, Aquathlon and
Short Course Duathlon. They added, "The Robinator's" comeback has
nothing to do with his remaining outside the jurisdiction.
Urbach's agents and representatives at Octagon weren't buying any
of this. Landau even went so far as to pull out from the annual
Reston Triathlon lineup, insisting that he wanted to volunteer, and
that he could not do the Nation's race, also in his backyard,
because he was concerned about some late season events...
Urbach came into this event with a new Serotta bike, fittingly
matching his infamous white cycling shoes, and having put in some
quality pool time. Landau came to the venue having raced here last
year (and copping a 3rd place their age group) and after having an
easy rest week.
Las Vegas was posting Landau as a 3-1 favorite, despite the new
bike course, due to his ability on grass (the run starts and ends
on the stuff), while Shulman's "Tri-Line" had him at 4-1. Schloss
said it could be as close as 3-2 odds, if Landau was kibbitzing at
the port-o-johns with less than 5 min. before his wave started.
Luckily, a false start by the women's heat caught Landau's
attention, and he made it into the water with the correct wave.
But NO ONE WAS READY for Urbach's feat of aquatic speed. Rob "the
torpedo" swam thirteen minutes without a wetsuit, through the
elodea canadensis & cabomba to take first in the AG swim, and over
2:14 faster than Landau. A quick T-1 pushed him 2:30 ahead, and
the "Triathlon Trial Lawyer" was going to have to work overtime to
catch the “Wharton Wiz.”
Landau put in a solid bike, for 1st in the AG, psyched to be passing a client’s
house that their winning case had paid for.
Urbach eased up at the end of the hilly bike leg and Landau was able
to pass at the dismount line! He had gained 2:45 on Rob, and
picked up another 20 seconds in T-2. Leading out onto the 1/2 mile
grassy strip, Landau thought that he would not see Urbach until
well after the turnaround. The 90% humidity and heat also played
to Landau's strengths.
But "Rob the Rocket" had other plans, and with about a mile to go
in the hilly 5km, he passed Landau! He then kept motoring, all
the way to the finish, for the first place run split to Landau's
2nd. Rob Urbach won the age group by 18 seconds, looking none the
worse for the effort. Both Maccabi athletes collected their cool
"Cooler bag" prizes. Shulman is already recalculating the odds for
their next match up, which may not be until '08. Stay tuned!
Official Results may be found at: http://www.setupevents.com/files/ CulpeperMRES.html
Lake Champlain 8-mile Swim - Julie Oplinger - 8/04/07
"I want to swim across this lake someday" I said as I sat on the ferry from Port Kent, NY to Burlington, VT. That was in July 2005 and at that time I had never raced anything longer than the 4.4 mile Chesapeake Bay Swim and I didn't even know if there was an organized swim across Lake Champlain. I put that thought aside, and continued to focus on triathlon. As 2006 approached, I knew I wanted to try a longer swim. Training was going well and some injuries forced me towards swimming rather than triathlon. I signed up for the 7.5 Potomac River Swim in June that year and it was canceled on the morning of the swim due to weather. I created my own long swim that summer, swimming 8+ miles in Deep Creek Lake during one of the Ironman training weekends. During the winter of 2007, still wanting to do an official long swim I began researching options. I soon found the Lake Champlain Swim and knew immediately that I would participate.
Before going into this past weekend's Lake Champlain Swim, let me quickly re-cap the events leading up to it.
June 10, 2007- Chesapeake Bay Swim- The conditions were nearly perfect and I finished in 1:46, faster than my previous personal best. I felt good during the swim, but it was way too much of a sprint from start to finish. I paid for that after the race, feeling nauseous for most of the day. This was the only race I used a wetsuit for this year.
July 7, 2007- Charlottesville 2-mile cable swim- I decided during the swim that I LOVE open water swimming and want to continue doing these non-wetsuit races. The 2-mile was tough and I still haven't figured out pacing for this distance and was very tired during the swim. I finished in 49 minutes and was the 2nd woman.
July 14, 2007- 10K National Championships- Huntington Bay, NY- I could write a book about this race, but not right now. It was hard. I was anticipating finishing in 2:30-3:00. The tide was against us for half of the swim and everyone ended up over an hour slower than expected. I finished in 3:46….that's 36 min/miles and was the 9th female. Way off any pace I have ever swum before, but so was everyone else. I really liked the distance and was thrilled to know that I have nearly 4 hours of endurance.
The Lake Champlain Swim is a fundraiser for the Burlington YMCA. Each swimmer is asked to raise at least $250 for the YMCA. It was very evident in the weeks leading up to the race that this was a very low- key event. It was never advertised as a race and there weren't any previous year's race results or times on the web site. I was excited by this because it takes the pressure off and I could just spend some time learning about distance swimming. Sure, I wanted to be the first person to arrive at the beach in Vermont, but I was going to be satisfied with last place if I leaned more about my ability to swim in open water.
Friday, August 3rd- 7:00 am. GOOD MORNING Katie Davison, and Mary & Al DeLaney! Mary and Al DeLaney were nice enough to be our kayakers for the 8 mile swim and also drive us, and the kayaks, to Vermont. We were anticipating about 10 hours in the car and to make it to Vermont for the 6 pm pre-swim dinner. Were we way off! Tired and hungry, we rolled into Burlington, VT at about 8:00 pm.
Saturday, August 4th- The big swim day! I jumped out of bed and was finally nervous for the swim. All of a sudden it hit me that I was going to swim from one state to another. We gathered our stuff, fixed our drinks and food and were off to the lake. We arrived and met Tad, the swim organizer and turned in our donations. "Are you two in High School?" he asked. "NO WAY" we both answered at the same time. Tad, the aquatics director at the YMCA was busy unloading kayaks and organizing the volunteers. Seems that everyone at this event thought we were in either high school or college. We made our way down to the dock to have breakfast and meet other swimmers and support kayakers.
We ran into Sydne and Jerry who we had been emailing with before the swim. It was a very relaxed atmosphere and no one seemed nervous. The kayaks were loaded onto a pontoon boat and we all boarded the "Nancy Ann" boat. Sitting near the back, Katie and I huddled together because there wasn't much space.
"Have you heard about the white fish?" Jerry said. "White fish?" someone replied. "No, Wife Fish, W-I-F-E, like husband and wife" he said. "If one bites you, just grab onto it and twist it to pull it out." Yikes! Good thing one of our kayakers is a doctor. I have searched and searched and can not find any evidence that this type of fish exists.
Then the boat started turning around. Big Al, the boat captain said that the pontoon boat was having trouble so we were going back to tie it to our boat and tow it to the other side of the lake. Once attached, we were off headed towards NY. Katie and I were just looking at each other wondering exactly what we had gotten ourselves into.
"WHOA, STOP" someone yelled. The pontoon boat, which we were towing, was sinking and several kayaks had fallen off. Oh dear! Several swimmers from our boat had jumped into the water and were chasing after the kayaks, gas can, and several other things that had fallen over. They said to make room on the Nancy Ann for the kayaks so Katie and I moved up one level and were now sitting with Captain Big Al. Once all of the kayaks and people were situated, we began the journey across Lake Champlain for the third time. With about 6 miles to go, it was clear that the swim wasn't starting at 9 am.
"I'm going to call that boat the Andrea Doria," Big Al said to us.
Blank stares from Katie and me.
"Oh, you don't know about the Andrea Doria?" he said.
"Nope," we replied.
"Well have you heard of the Titanic?"
"Of course we have!"
He proceeded to give us a history lesson about the crash of the Andrea Doria and the Stockholm. Next he told us about the tar that coats the hemp string that is used on boats, complete with a real piece for us to smell. Then we got a demonstration of all of the gadgets on his boat…the GPS, depth meter, "George" the radio, etc.
We made it to the other side, the kayaks were unloaded, we put on sunscreen, Katie got on her wetsuit and we’re ready to go. We jumped in the water which was a perfect 74 degrees, waited for a few minutes and then all of the nearby boats blew their horns and we were off!
Katie and I stayed together for the first mile or so. We were quickly able to separate ourselves from the other swimmers. Knowing that there weren't too many people in front of us, I settled into what I thought was a good pace. The water was pretty calm for the first two miles. Big Al had told us that the first few miles wouldn't be too choppy because the wind was coming over the mountains of NY and wouldn't affect the water until later in the swim. I had gotten a little sick in the first hour, but wasn't feeling nauseous at all.
Around mile two we started having a nice tailwind, which was nice except that with the larger waves, it was harder to stay in a rhythm. I didn't complain because I knew that the tailwind was helping! With Al still kayaking next to me, we made it to Juniper Island (mile 5) in just over 2 hours. I had a feeling that the swim was about to go more in the direction of the Andrea Doria and I was right!
As soon as we passed the island, I told myself, "It's only 3 miles, you do that all the time!" I had Al open the can of Coke that I had brought since nothing else was staying down. It didn't either, but at least maybe I was getting some caffeine. With a strong headwind trying to push us south, I tried with every bit of energy I had to keep going towards the finish which was now a little north. I continued to get sick and felt more nauseous then I ever have in my life. I held on to the kayak for a few minutes and just cried. I knew I needed to continue moving forward because every time I stopped we drifted farther south. There were times when I would try to keep my body as still as I could so that I wouldn't feel sick, but continue to move my arms. I figured as long as I was still making progress, it didn't matter what my stroke looked like. Any forward motion at this point was good. I kept thinking, just to make it to shore and then I could just sit down on the beach.
Finally the beach began to get closer and the water was getting shallow. I could see the bottom! I saw a few kayaks on the beach so I knew I wasn't first. There were only 3 kayaks so I wasn't last! Al paddled to shore and put the kayak up on the beach and walked back to me. I had taken my cap and goggles off and just started crying out of pure relief that it was over.
I crossed the finish line in 3 hours and 48 minutes (28.5 min/miles.) There were more hugs from Mary & Katie who had just finished 10 minutes ahead. We were so close, yet I never saw them after mile 2. Katie and I walked up to the showers and I instantly felt better, not nauseous at all. We sat there for a while and watched the finishers come in and watched the waves get larger and larger. There were reports that people's kayakers had to be picked up because they were getting flipped over by the waves. The very last person, our buddy Jerry who told us about the "Wife Fish," finished in 6 hours and 45 minutes.
I ended up finishing 4th overall (although the person who was 2 minutes ahead of me had scuba fins on.) Like I said earlier, this wasn't a race and people had on wetsuits, gloves, fins, and who knows what else. I wanted to learn about long distance swimming and I certainly did. I learned that I need to get the sea sickness under control before I ever attempt anything like this again. I also learned that I can still have a good swim even in tough conditions. It's so much of a mental game. If I had let myself get too frustrated or negative, I never would have finished. I didn't go all the way to Vermont to NOT finish. I knew I would do whatever it took to get to the other side.
I will definitely do this swim again. For now I'm looking forward to a nice calm 1 & 2 mile swim in Lake Montclair and a 5K swim in Smith Mountain Lake in September. Then it's back to the long distance with a possible trip to Bermuda for the 10K swim there. Next year, who knows? There are swims longer than 8 miles and I may decide to try one of those!
Lake Champlain 8-mile Swim - Katie Davison - 8/04/07
So Close, But Yet So Far Away...
Saturday I did the Burlington YMCA 8-mile swim across Lake Champlain from NY to VT. Shoot. What a crazy experience…
Mary, Al, Julie, and I left for Burlington from Herndon on Friday morning at about 7am. With a swim over about 5 miles usually a support boat is mandatory. So the DeLaneys, our friends and coaches, were going to kayak for Julie and me. They had rented kayaks about 3 weeks ago from Lark (thanks!) So we were off. What a great day for a 13 hour drive…my birthday! But who else would I rather spend it with? The drive up was pretty uneventful and went pretty quickly since we had lots to talk about. We stopped for lunch at Bennigan’s in Wilkes Barre, which we thought was about halfway. We then hit a ton of traffic at rush hour in Albany, and we probably tacked on 2 hours to the trip. We finally arrived in Burlington at about 8pm, a little too late for the registration dinner at 6pm. So we quickly went to the hotel and then went to Outback for dinner. We were then in bed by 10pm. I was nervous because I really did not know what to expect (water temperature, water conditions, etc.) I slept OK considering all the noise in the hotel. A bunch of yahoos outside were making quite the ruckus and the water system in the hotel was extremely loud. The person in the room above us taking a shower made it sound like the place was going to flood.
***GOALS***
I wanted to complete the swim in under 4 hours (under 30min/mile).
***RESULTS***
3hr 38min (~27.12min/mile)
2nd place overall
***PRERACE***
We left the hotel about 6:30am to be at the boathouse by 7am. When we arrived we were greeted by Tad, the event director, who was getting some kayaks ready. Al asked him where he should fill out the remaining paper work for the kayak support info. Tad told him “ehh don’t worry about it.” The event was very laid back…which made me a little less nervous. So we got our kayaks and equipment all ready and headed down to the boathouse were we started to meet some of the other swimmers. They had provided a large breakfast. I decided I had better start eating so ate a banana, my new favorite 3 Bar, and a Gatorade. Here we met Sydne and her husband/kayaker from MA. She was really friendly and Julie and I talked with her for a bit. I needed to decide sleeveless or full-sleeve wetsuit. I asked Tad what the water temperature was. He said about 70. Eeeee OK cold full-sleeve for sure. But then I started to think it over because hardly anyone was wearing a wetsuit. Mary told me to stick with what I had decided and go with it…so I did.
Everything was finally loaded up and all of the swimmers/kayakers got onto the Nancy Ann to go across Lake Champlain to NY, where we would start the swim. The kayaks were all loaded on Tad’s pontoon boat. Then we were off to the other side. On the boat Julie and I nervously huddled together wondering WHAT we had gotten ourselves into. We met Jerry and his daughter Bianca, who was 9 and going to be kayaking for him! Jerry told us to watch out for Wife Fish, which would grab onto your leg. HUH…I can not seem to find any information on these creatures. About 10 minutes later, Big Al, the owner/driver of the Nancy Ann said we had to stop and wait for the pontoon boat which was having some trouble. So we were then slowly pulling Tad and the Pontoon boat. Then before we knew it the pontoon boat was halfway underwater and the kayaks were rolling over the sides into the water. OH SHOOT! Julie and I just looked at each other…”HOLY SHOOT!” I just thought that this swim may NOT be happening. Al DeLaney started to take charge and a bunch of the guys started jumping into the water to retrieve the kayaks. Somehow everything got pulled back together and slowly we continued. Julie and I had moved up to the top of the boat to get out of the way. For the rest of the ride Big Al taught us about sailing, told us stories about the Andrea Doria and the Stockholm collision, told us facts about Lake Champlain, and made us smell a strange rope. He must have sensed our nerves and was keeping our minds off swimming.
***RACE***
We finally reached NY around 10am (the race was supposed to start at 9am). We were not starting from land but just jumping off the boat. It was kinda difficult with everyone trying to get situated on the boat…but finally the swimmers were ready, kayakers were in the water, and the race was ready to begin. We all jumped into the water and swam to our respective kayakers. WHOA….I was really glad I choose my full-sleeve wetsuit. I swam over to Mary and was ready for the start. The horn blew and we were off. Mary and I stayed near Al and Julie for awhile but then I saw them gradually drifting to the left of us and that was the last we saw of them. It was a HUGE lake…may as well have been dropped off in the middle of the Atlantic. The only marker was a large island about 5 miles away. We were to go to the left of it and then the last 3 miles were straight in. At the start we were going with the current but also being pushed a bit to the right….so we had to make sure to stay way to the left of the island. The first hour was pretty uneventful. I felt adequate…not great but not bad….I just thought to myself…don’t worry it usually takes at least an hour to get warmed up and feel good. I stopped and had a gel and some water and asked Mary how I was doing…she said “GREAT! There is only one person ahead of us.” After about 30 more minutes I felt the waves becoming larger and the current was pushing me more to the right. I started to feel kinda queasy but told myself to suck it up. My lower back was also really hurting (sometimes that happens when I wear a wetsuit because my legs are buoyed up too high.) Mary kept moving further to my right, and following her made me feel like I was swimming in circles and going nowhere. 1hr 40min - I stopped and needed more something. I had a Clif Nectar Bar, some more water, and an Excedrin and asked Mary…”How far to the island?”…she said “Ohhh, about a mile.” Halfway I thought! That last bit to pass the island seemed to take forever, but finally we were passing it. 2hr 5min - I stopped again for water and Gatorade and Mary said that I had passed the island, 5 miles in 2 hours! And there was still only one person ahead of me, who I could see about 100 yards away. My whole body ached but my spirits were up. I swam for about another 30 minutes and then started to get REALLY frustrated. Mary seemed to be moving further and further to my left every time I took a breath. The current was pushing me to the right…UGGHHHHH. I ached and my stomach really hurt. I stopped and told her to hold up. I swam over and had another gel and some water and told her I was getting really frustrated and asked her… “How far to the finish?”…she said “Ohhh, about a mile.” OK not too far. I went at it again. Really frustrated…there I was going off to the right again. My arms hurt like no other and I felt delirious. I stopped every few minutes and asked her where exactly we were going because I could not see the finish. She would just say its right there at that beach and I would think OK I see it is not too far. This happened at least 10 times. So frustrated…kicking my legs real hard, flailing my arms, rolling in a ball, and diving down cause I was sad and wanted to be done. Then I told myself to GET AHOLD of yourself or Mary is gonna come beat you with that paddle. I had been doing so well and wanted to finish strong. So I tried to regain my mentality by playing games…10 strokes/breast stroke for a few/20 strokes/breast stroke for a few/30 strokes/etc…Then finally I was so so close….I was able to stand and just ran up the beach and through the finish. HOOOOORAY I had made it. I was so tired.
***POSTRACE***
I hung out on the beach and waited for Al and Julie to come in shortly behind us. Poor Julie had gotten sea-sick right from the start…but she made it too. We sat together on a wall at the beach watching the other finishers, talking about how we felt and what we had thought during the swim, and looking across the lake to the mountains you could barely make out on the other side in amazement that we had swam all that way. I was so proud of myself.
Thanks Mary and Al for everything. You guys are so good to me. And Mary thanks for putting up with me that last mile or so. I love you guys so much!
***LESSONS LEARNED***
- It really is all in your head...keep your focus mentally and you can do anything.
- I never got too physically tired endurance-wise during the swim. My main problem was that my body just hurt...most likely just from the small differences in muscles used between training in a pool vs. open water. I don't think I could have done much more swim training in a pool for this event. I definitely could have used more open water training. The problem is just finding a place to train in open water around here.
***NEXT YEAR***
I will be back!
Ironman Lake Placid - Bob Jennings - 7/22/07
Thanks for your support over the past seven months as I’ve pursued my goal to complete “The Iron Man”. Many of you requested a race report so here it is. Sit back, grab a cold drink and enjoy because this is going to take a while. If time is your enemy and you merely need a summary, here it is: I trained a lot and persevered through a painful shoulder separation three weeks before race day. I started the race strong, and finished despite many obstacles in 15:20:42:
Swim: 1:28:13
T1: 15:32
Bike: 7:46:32
T2: 23:33
Run: 5:26:54
Somewhere along the marathon route someone placed a motivational sign that said it’s not the destination, it’s the journey. My experience was indeed a journey so as I give you an “Average Joe” outlook let me start putting this journey in perspective. Two years ago while training for my first triathlon (1 mile swim, 27 mile bike, 5 mile run), I decided to attend a group bike ride. I arrived with my newly purchased road bike outfitted with state of the art platform pedals and my favorite pair of sneakers. Even though I did not know anybody, I was ready to ride and …. I was dropped on the warm-up lap! I learned so much, namely: cleats might be a good idea, platform pedals are not vogue (right Nina), and after three consecutive flat tires followed by a long walk back to my car, someone told me about this magical material called rim-strip. It was humiliating and to think that I considered cycling to be my strongest triathlon discipline. Clearly I had a lot to learn but with a challenge before me, I was determined to continue this journey.
I kicked off training in style on New Years Eve in New York City with Charlotte and my good friends Rick and Caroline. We joined 4,000 fellow runners, many in costume, for a four mile midnight run through Central Park. If you’re ever in New York on New Year’s Eve, this is a great way to ring in the New Year. It’s a big party with music, fireworks and champagne at the aid stations. There are also plenty of carbo loading opportunities at the pubs in the mid-town area. We carbo loaded shortly after crossing the finish line.
Training continued in earnest on January 3rd and each month brought a number of high and low points summarized as follows:
January: Isn’t this global warming thing great? Outdoor workouts in short sleeves, what more could you ask for?
February: Hey, what happened to global warming? Morning runs in 10 degree temperatures on top of the frozen snow with a wind chill are getting old. Three hour trainer rides are boring and did someone just run over my foot at Dr. Art’s? “F” bombs, sorry Mom, are formally introduced to my training regime.
March: Did I really just spend that much money on a tri bike?
April: Hmmm. If I train a little harder, maybe I can qualify for Hawaii. Never mind, I just reviewed last years results and decide to stick with my original plan to outlive the competition and qualify sometime around my 86th birthday.
May: My master plan to run the New York City marathon in the next three years has been accelerated. I’ve been selected by lottery; I never win anything, for the 2007 marathon. Looks like I’ll be in a New York state of mind since I’m starting and finishing my season in the big apple.
June: Six and seven hour training rides are getting old. When does the taper start?
Saturday, June 30th. Tragedy. It’s my last long training ride before the long-awaited taper, seven hours on the bike followed by a one hour run. I pick the Reston century. It provides rolling terrain and a convenient place to run afterwards. This is my best training ride of the year. I’m feeling strong in the saddle, maintaining a high cadence, my nutrition plan is dialed in and I’m going to ride for 110 plus miles for the first time ever. Even my bike computer is working – not a small task considering I’ve been through five models already. This ride is almost in the record books until a 10 year old girl rides her bike directly right in front of me without looking for oncoming traffic. I’m in my aero bars, moving at 20MPH, and I don’t have time to brake or swerve. It’s a direct hit and we both crash to the pavement. I hit the ground hard landing on my head and left shoulder. My helmet cracks in three places, the shoulder pain is instant and my bike is damaged. A small crowd forms and the little girl quickly disappears. According to the bystanders she does not have significant injuries. She is embarrassed but otherwise okay. I call Charlotte for help and reality sinks in: this could be a season ending injury, seven months of training wasted.
Traveling to the hospital, the outlook does not look good. It was going to be a long, painful and uncertain weekend. However, good news starts coming in small increments. The emergency room confirms that I did not break bones, I merely separated my shoulder but I may need surgery. I’ll need to see an orthopedist on Monday. Charlotte calls Al and Mary from Rehab to Racing. They provide a number of suggestions, call the orthopedist for me personally and have me scheduled for the first appointment on Monday morning. The orthopedist confirms that I have a grade 3 AC separation. His diagnosis: One, surgery may be required but not right away. It will depend on the healing process. Two, my shoulder will “hurt like hell” but I can not do additional injury. Three, I can do Iron Man if I regain mobility and feel up to it. Incidentally, the doctor tells me that he advises “normal people” to refrain from physical activity during recovery but triathletes are “different” because we are more physically fit and have a high pain threshold. Four, I should see Mary at Rehab to Racing to learn about taping and mobility exercises. A few days later Mary teaches “Shoulder Taping 101” and she provides me with exercises to regain mobility. They work great and my arm movement returns significantly. In fact, days after my visit I can raise my arm above my head.
Five days after the accident I resume training starting with the bicycle. There is pain in my shoulder but I can tolerate it. Eight days after the accident I begin to run again. There is more pain in my shoulder but I can tolerate it. As the days go by the pain gradually turns into discomfort. Two weeks after the accident and eight days before the Iron Man I go for the big test, swimming. Swimming is a graceful sport and technique is as important as strength. Now if you’ve ever seen me swim, it’s quite an experience because I lack grace and technique. As I entered the water I was hoping that my accident might actually improve my stroke. What wishful thinking, I was slower and sloppier than normal but I managed to swim for 45 minutes. I was headed to Lake Placid!
Although it seemed like I would never get there and you can probably relate since we’re on the bottom of page two of this race report, I finally arrived at Lake Placid. Since this is my first Iron Man, I decide to participate in all the activities (pasta supper, expo, Saturday morning swim etc…). I won’t ruin this part of the experience for anyone who may someday take this journey but let’s just say it’s special. In fact Charlotte practically went through a box of tissues at the pasta dinner. At the expo, I was buying last minute supplies and handed my order and money to the clerk. He rung it up, bagged the items and gave me my change, but this man did it without arms. Inspiring, this man performed a task most of us take for granted. Clearly I could persevere on Sunday.
After a sleepless night, race morning arrived and the weather was forecast to be clear and sunny with a high temperature in the 70’s. Throughout training, it seemed like I only trained in cold, windy and/or rainy weather. At one point I told my coach and swim-mates that when I get to Lake Placid I’ll be trained for any weather condition unless the skies are clear and the temperature 70 degrees. How ironic.
I’m entering the transition area for my final preparations feeling woefully unprepared. I did not have enough time to ready my bike, deposit my special needs bags, find the body markers and prepare for the swim. I would pay for this during T1 – another lesson learned the hard way. Even though I attended this event last year, I was not prepared for the spectacle that lay before me. There were people; athletes, volunteers and spectators everywhere. I’m normally very apprehensive at the start of triathlons because I am not a strong swimmer, but as I walked towards Mirror Lake, the energy calmed me completely.
Swim: This was not a normal triathlon – helicopters in the air, people everywhere you can see, a mass swim start – another first for me. Given the excitement, it was tempting to start quickly but I made a conscious decision to stick with my game plan and started slowly. After all three weeks ago I couldn’t even move my left arm let alone swim. I swam to the outside as Coach Eric recommended, settled into a comfortable pace and gradually moved towards the infamous cable that guides swimmers around Mirror Lake. As I neared the end of lap one, I was shocked by my time. It was not a record, not even a personal record, but I finished in less than 45 minutes and I didn’t feel tired. I thought to myself that this is going to be a good day.
Starting the second lap I decided to get aggressive and swim the cable. I did not swim any faster, I’m blaming the traffic, but I got kicked in the face, had other swimmers grab my feet and was otherwise slapped around in the name of good sportsmanship. But don’t worry, I returned the courtesy. The best part of the swim was the draft. I could feel myself getting pulled through the water. It was like body surfing the ocean waves.
T1: Stepping out of the water, I headed to my next iron man experience, the “strippers”. I was concerned about my shoulder and as they grabbed me I pointed to it and asked them to take it easy. Wetsuit in hand I began jogging to the transition area. I did not want to walk and waste time but I also did not want to run without a chance to savor another cool moment. Everyone was cheering and this for mortal athletes like me representing the back of the pack. I paid for my poor pre-race preparations in the changing tent, as I spent too much time organizing my gear and applying body glide, chamois butter and sun screen. 15 minutes later (yikes) I was cycling.
Bike: I’ve been warned about the Lake Placid bike course: start slow because the second lap will get you. I heeded that advice and started in a comfortable gear that kept my cadence high and heart rate low. I began my nutrition plan as I settled into my routine. I even passed some people, but I was passed by just as many. Entering the first aid station I began my strategy to stay hydrated by taking water and refilling the tank between my aero bars. It was also time for another test. Because of the crash, my left arm is weak and I’m not sure if I can drive through the aid station while grabbing a water bottle with my right arm and steering my bike with the left. The hand off went smoothly. Yeah!
Last year I volunteered at a bike aid station so I knew these volunteers were in for a long day. I had a great time cheering for everyone who came through my aid station and I enjoyed the support from this years volunteers. Each station was unique and festive with music, costumes, decorations and enthusiasm. Throughout the first lap I felt good, real good. This was going to be a better day than expected.
Approaching the final aid station, I decided to stop and rest not because I need to take a break but this station had special volunteers. Mom and Dad were schlepping water, Gu and bananas on their 46th wedding anniversary. Way to go! I bet you’ll never forget this anniversary, right? My sister Susan, brother-in-law Bill and nephews Billy and Ryan known affectionately by their favorite uncle as “Bucko and Bucko” were passing out oranges and Gatorade. Last but not least, my grandma, GiGi, 88 years young, was slicing fruit behind the scenes. Thanks family for volunteering your vacation time and making it to the finish line 15 hours later. You’re the greatest! My stop was brief and I told the family that I was feeling good. Ryan handed me a Gatorade and while I did not feel I needed it, I decided to take it just in case, a wise decision.
The first lap nearly complete, I merely needed to make it over the hills known as the “Three Bears” before returning to town for the second lap. While I’ve never been to the Tour de France, the final hill, Papa Bear, had a Tour de France feel. The people were boisterous. They lined both sides of the street in costume creating a narrow passage with loud cheering, blaring music and cow bells ringing. I felt like Lance climbing the Pyrenees. What a boost. The experience sent chills down my spine.
Just before the start of the second lap I saw Charlotte, my sister Elizabeth, brother-in-law Brion and their three children, Addie, age 5, Jay age 3 and Scarlet 11 months old. Elizabeth and I exchanged a high five and I pressed on. Elizabeth and Brion get special credit for entertaining small children, hanging out for the better part of the day, watching me race for all of 15 seconds and coming to the finish line later Sunday evening. Way to go guys!
I finished lap one in 3:30, a strong showing for me, and start lap two confidently. Everything is working per plan until I feel a small twinge in my right leg. What’s that, I ask myself? Am I cramping? Am I dehydrated? Is my nutrition plan failing? This didn’t happen in training. Climbing the hills near the ski jump, the small twinge spreads to all my leg muscles and the pain gets stronger. I recall a conversation with Coach Eric the prophet several weeks ago:
Eric: Bob, what’s your back up nutrition plan?
Bob: Back up plan, what’s that? I’ve been training and fine tuning this plan for months.
Eric: You need a back-up plan in case things go wrong.
Bob: What could possibly go wrong?
I’m beginning to doubt if I can finish the next hill let alone the second lap and make two assumptions, that my nutrition plan is not working and that I’m dehydrated. To make matters worse, a breeze, a headwind naturally, is starting. I proceed with corrective action. First, I shift to an easier gear thinking that I can recover on the upcoming descent and the flat terrain that follows if I survive the next few miles of climbing. Secondly, I adjust my nutrition plan substituting my Perpetuem, an endurance fuel, with bananas and increased consumption of Fig Newton’s and Gels. Third I start pounding Gatorade starting with the bottle Ryan gave me at the last aid station.
I finally finish what turns out to be a challenging climb and I’m looking forward to the downhill because I can recover and go fast. My downhill speed is approaching 40MPH and trouble lies ahead. The cyclist in front of me is having a bad day. I’m not a cycling expert, but it’s clear to me that his form could be better. He is in the middle of the road and begins wobbling to the right. He compensates by shifting to the left. He overcompensates and begins another correction this time to the right. He overcompensates to the left. He is out of control. He’s going to crash. I’m having a flashback. I’m thinking oh S#%T, not again, and hit the brakes. These events are unfolding in seconds, but they feel like minutes. Apparently the girl behind me is not paying attention and as I slow down, she goes for a pass. She sails right by me and runs directly over the fallen cyclist at full speed. It is not a pretty sight. The crashing sound is eerie. Not sure what to do, I stop with the other cyclists to offer assistance. Neither victim is moving. I don’t feel qualified to administer aid but know it’s important to not move accident victims as there could be head or neck injuries. After consulting with other riders we decide the best course of action is to find help. I say a quick prayer and continue slowly down the hill. After spotting a volunteer, I report the problem and press on.
Eight bananas and six bottles of Gatorade later, it appears that my new nutrition plan is working. My legs are tired and tight but the cramps are slowly subsiding. I stop at the last bike aid station and have an extended visit with my family. After telling them about the second lap, I advise that my marathon will be slower than planned. They wish me well and as I depart we agree to meet at the finish line in a few hours. As I head up Papa Bear the crowd is much smaller but they are still enthusiastic and supportive. I’m glad to see them because this bike ride is over! A quick note about the cramping, it was caused by the anti-inflammation medicine prescribed by my doctor for my shoulder. I found out later that my prescription causes dehydration. Another lesson learned. However, every cloud has a silver lining; the cramps kept my heart rate in a low zone 2 throughout the day.
T2: I believe I set a personal and possibly new course record for longest transition time: 23:33. Yikes! I’ve often wondered why some people take so long in transition. Now I know. Let’s say I spent some time in the porta potty. I did not train for this and will spare the details. After changing into running gear, I tracked down a masseuse because I was concerned that my legs would not make it through the marathon. I’ve never had a massage before, but this man worked magic. In a matter of minutes he managed to work the kinks out of my legs and I was off to the marathon.
Run: My biggest concern was a cramping relapse so I chose jog slow jog to include walking the hills and the aid stations which I planned to walk through anyhow. The first few miles were downhill to flat and lined with spectators, providing the mental boost and confidence I needed. It was also encouraging to stop and catch up with fellow participants from Virginia who I had not seen all day. It looked like I fixed the dehydration problem because I was out to set another personal and perhaps course record- most trips to the porta potty. I stopped at nearly all of them. Somewhere around mile six I bailed on my plan to consume gels because they were upsetting my stomach and opted instead for oranges and pretzels. Returning to Lake Placid to finish the first lap proved to be another test of wills because the refreshing downhill, that was so motivating when I started, was now a challenging incline. Somewhere around mile 12, I began calculating time remaining. I figured that I needed to maintain 15 minutes per mile and although it was a walking pace, I was beginning to doubt if I could maintain it, but vowed to continue. People in town were congratulating me as I approached the finish line not realizing I had 13 more miles to go. How discouraging.
Heading out of town to start the second lap was a mix of feelings. I was happy to be headed downhill again but the spectators were dwindling, the sun setting and the temperature dropping. This was beginning to feel like an early spring training run. Tired but committed to finishing, I realized that I needed to draw my energy from within and changed my tactics. I decided to count telephone poles. I decided to run the distance of four poles, then stop and walk until the next pole and so on and so on. It worked! I was beginning to feel stronger and I started noticing for the first time since I started running that I was actually passing people. Their feedback was encouraging. They told me how strong I looked and they told me to keep up the good work. And then I reached that fourth pole and walked again. Any doubts of not finishing vanished at mile 19. Clearly, I would finish. Even if I walked the final seven miles, I would not finish last. But walking was not an option because the temperature was dropping and I was cold. I added a new mental game to my routine and started counting people as I passed them. I also decided to start cheerleading, offering words of encouragement as we marched towards the finish.
As I headed into town, the size of the crowd was smaller but enthusiastic. Charlotte was stationed at the top of the hill standing lookout. I stopped, she snapped picture, gave me an encouraging kiss and I was moving on. Team Z always brings a big, lively crowd to cheer their people on and today was no exception. They were a presence on Mirror Lake throughout the day and their party got bigger and more festive with each passing hour. I saw Stephanie, a friend I met through swimming and Tri-Cats at the Team Z tent. I stopped for a quick congratulatory hug, high fives and short visit and I was on my way to the final mile. Spectators offered their congratulations and this time it was real.
Entering the speed skating oval that would take me to the finish line, I knew I could sprint to the finish but I wanted to jog and enjoy. I slowed down in order to let the girl in front of me have her moment even though I knew I could pass her. The girl behind had a different plan. She decided to sprint past both of us. A foot race is now in progress and one of the gals trips over the finish line. I’m thinking to myself damn, I could have advanced two positions but instead take time to savor my moment.
Seriously, the finish was electric. The people, the music, the cheers, Mike Reilly saying, “Robert Jennings you are an Iron Man”, were unbelievable. As I finished the last 100 yards, I could not help but think about the last seven months: dedicated training, six days a week most times two times a day usually by myself but sometimes with very supportive friends, you know who you are; persevering through cold winter mornings, hot summer afternoons and day long bike rides; overcoming a bike wreck that nearly kept me from the start line; words of encouragement and support from fellow triathletes, friends, co-workers and family; the good luck dinners, ice cream cakes, happy hours, phone calls, e-mails and cards; and last but most importantly encouragement from my family who came to New York to support me. You may be familiar with an old saying: it takes a village to raise a child. I can also tell you that it also takes a village to raise an Iron Man and a village crossed the finish line with me on that very special Sunday evening. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything.
But wait, the fun was not over. After visiting my family, they told me I didn’t look good, I posed for pictures and decided to get another massage. In the massage tent I started getting cold and dizzy and then my stomach started getting upset. I asked a volunteer for a bag as a precaution and sat down. Minutes later another volunteer tells me I don’t look good and suggests that I go to medical. In medical I was placed under the care of an OBGYN. Now I’ve heard that Iron Man changes people but this is a bit much, isn’t it? Turns out I lost five pounds and my body temperature dropped to 95 degrees. Before I knew it, I was buried under a stack of blankets, lying in front of a heater and on an IV. Imagine the irony: I have not required medical care once over the past twenty years, I participate in triathlon to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and over the course of the last three weeks in the name of “The Iron Man,” I’ve needed medical attention twice.
So I completed my Iron Man journey at midnight after two liters of IV. The day did not end as planned but I’m grateful nonetheless for finishing. I learned a lot and have already started analyzing my performance determined to do better next time. When I started this journey, Coach Eric and subsequently many others asked me why am I doing this. I never had a good answer other than it sounds like fun and I wanted a challenge. After the weekend at Lake Placid I can now tell you why I did “The Iron Man”. It was not to set a course record or qualify for a slot in Hawaii as many did. It was not to raise funds for a worthwhile charity like so many others. It was not to call attention to a worthwhile cause nor as many of you proclaimed because I’m crazy. I did this journey to celebrate life and bear witness that each of us can accomplish our goals.
This journey would not be complete without me thanking all the people who helped me get here but this race report is long enough, so let me single out Eric from Principle Fitness and Charlotte.
Eric never said this would be easy but he never discouraged me either. He helped me through every aspect of training and race day and had me thoroughly prepared mentally and physically. He was more patient with me than I’ll ever be and put up with me as I learned to give feedback. He was responsive to every need no matter how small or seemingly petty. Thanks Eric.
Charlotte, Charlotte, Charlotte. What can I say about Charlotte? She was with me every step of the way from registration, through training, to the finish line and the medical tent. She joined me for more training rides than you can imagine. She cooked me meals when the training got tough and even made sure I was getting just enough sleep. When it looked like the journey was over on 30 June, she comforted me amidst my tears, anger and frustration; she took me to the doctor, called friends for help and nursed me to recovery. She was everywhere on race day and when the going was tough; she encouraged me to press on. She provided more help and support than you can ever ask for or imagine. She is a special person who epitomizes the Iron Man spirit. Thank you, Charlotte. I could not do this without you. Are you signing up for Placid next year?
Lessons Learned:
- Bike wrecks hurt as much at 5MPH as they do at 20MPH
- Bike Paths are not for bikes
- Chamois Butter works wonders. Thanks Pete.
- Volunteering at an Iron Man, I did this last year, is hard work but fun and rewarding. I recommend it.
- A back-up nutrition plan is a real good idea. Thanks Eric.
- It’s easier to run a marathon after 2.4 miles of swimming and 112 miles cycling.
- There’s so much more to learn
Ironman Lake Placid - Geoff Beaty - 7/22/07
It has been a week since LP, so I thought I would get a RR out for you guys.
Race morning - Very chilly, crisp and clear morning. Hated to take off my warm comfy clothes to put on a wetsuit and get into the water...but i did.
Swim:
The swim at LP can be tough, since the famed cable is in the water you really
don't need to sight too much. Either you can see the cable or the people in
front of you can, so it is an easy swim in that sense of the word. This swim
will reward fast swimmers (such as Mitch Berry in '08) but it also rewards the
middle of the pack like me.
I prayed for a good swim and nothing crazy to happen ending my race. My prayers
were answered! I started on the right side of the course and swam diagonally to
the line, meeting the other swimmers there about mid way through the first
length of the swim. I managed to find some feet to follow for most of the first
lap, this was my first time ever effectively drafting in the water. Wow it
really helps, and it makes you feel faster cause you are right on their feet.
Very cool! I was surprised to find that I was on the cable for the back portion
of the first loop, had feet and no real problems. My theory is that everyone is
warned about the cable so they stay away, this was great it gave me feet and no
major issues. The hardest part of the swim is the last 200m to the shore line,
everybody is scrambling to get out of the water as soon as possible. I was
kicked in the right eye here and water started pouring in my eye. I was sure my
goggles were
broken! Getting out of the water before the second lap ended up saving me here,
i re adjusted my goggles and they were indeed not broken and I was off. I got
into the water, found some feet and the cable and cruised through the second
lap. Not blazing by any means but finished in just over 1:12, which i was
stoked about!
T1:
Very cool environment, red carpet lining the way to transition. Tons of people
shouting and all fired up. Passed a lot of people as they were walking this
area, not sure why; but you can make up a good amount of time running this
section.
Bike:
One of the most beautiful places to ride a bike. The course is not terribly
difficult if you are a solid rider and can keep your head about you. I took the
first loop very conservatively, probably more than I should have, but nothing
can be done about that. This is a course that rewards patience for sure, and I
saw a lot of people hammering out of T1 and by the climb to Wilmington they were
already fading. There was a lot of drafting out there, and I am not surprised.
The mass start lends a hand to this, and until they do a wave start this will be
inevitable. The out and back was absurd with drafting. There were packs of
20-30 people riding 4 abreast. The fact that the swim helps this, and that it
is hard to pass a pack and burn that energy I suppose a lot of people just gave
in. Not sure, but I did have to slow down at some points to stay back, and then
accelerate past the packs. Pissed me off, but that is life. I lost one of my
Infinit
bottles on this section and had to take from the aid station. My stomach
started feeling bloated around mile 60 or so. Felt like it was going to pop
actually. This is a terrible feeling, and if I tried to put an effort in and
"do work" it was worse. I started getting pissed off and wasn't taking in
calories as I should have. The thought of anything made me want to puke. I
ended up with a horrible bike and was very concerned about running with this
belly. I got off the bike in around 6:13, almost 45 min slower than I had
intended to. Ugh!
T2:
I changed quickly and realized I had forgotten socks! Crap this would be a
disaster. I asked the volunteer to get my morning clothes bag and he took off.
What an awesome guy! I had socks and I was off like a 3 legged turtle!
Run:
The first 2-3 miles of the run are downhill, and go fairly fast. At this point
my stomach was not that bad since I could coast down the hills. I took some
water to pour over my head to cool off a bit, but didn't drink any of it. It
started to warm up out there, not too bad and not humid so it wasn't really a
factor. Around mile 4ish I decided to try and take some water in to see if I
could dilute what was in my belly, it was okay. The bigger problem was that if
I tried to put in an effort my stomach started getting sharp pains and I started
to get dizzy. Darn it all! I seriously considered dropping out, it was not fun
and I had nothing to prove to anyone. Then I remembered one of my favorite
versus: "I can do everything through Christ who strenghtens me, Filipians 4:13".
I remembered that "I" am not the one that is in control of my life and "I" am
useless without God in my life. This gave me great resolve and strength. I
felt my self being
lifted up and my worries disappearing. I truly believe God was there with me,
running along my side helping me through a tough time. Then I started to become
angry at myself for wanting to quit, what kind of message is that to send to
people, that I am a quitter? No, heck no, that is not me. I had a long
conversation with God and got through the first loop. Now only 13.1 miles to
go. That is nothing, I could do that in my sleep! But my stomach was still in
knots I had to do something about it. So the first hill I came to I sprinted up
it thinking it would force me to puke. No luck, crap! I had to get my stomach
under control. So the next porto potty I came to I went in. I sat hoping I
could relive my belly, but no luck. Darn it I thought! Well only one thing
left to do. I stuck my finger down my throat to force it out! ( I know gross
huh?) It worked! I managed to get some out of my stomach, all water of course,
but I could feel relief.
Whew, that was tough. I got out of the porto potty and started running. I
managed to get into a rhythm for the first time on the run now. I took in some
Gatorade and a banana (first calories in over 3 hours) and they came up about 5
min later. Ugh, that sucked! Well I have to get Calories in, so I took in just
Gatorade this time. This managed to stay, thank goodness! At this point I was
about 7 or so miles from the finish and I decided to enjoy the rest of the race.
I was far off of my goal time and that was okay, I had gained a lot of strength
in my faith and that is worth more than any great race. I started to calculate
my time and realized I could take it very easy, enjoy the scenery and break 12
hours. This was comforting, a little too comforting. I saw all my teammates
out there, some doing good some having a tough day; but it is still an awesome
experience. I came into town and the people are yelling and screaming like wild
animals,
pretty neat feeling. I see some friends from MN, very cool to see them out
there. I take the turn to the Olympic oval, this has to be one of the most
inspiring finishes on the entire circuit. I came into the oval thinking I was
around 11:20, I round the corner and it reads 11:56! What the heck? Oh well, I
zip up my jersey, pull my number around and break the tape. Whew what a day!
So overall time was 11:57:02, not bad for a long day.
Thanks for reading and look forward to seeing you all soon,
Geoff
Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens - Benjamin Davis - 7/08/07
Pre Race:
Ah, where to begin... well, the weekend proved to be gorgeous. We all lucked out tremendously. Seattle isn't really known for that type of weather, but sure enough the sun was out all weekend and the temps only reached about t |
