As of August 16th, we have a new triathlon event in the mid-Atlantic region: The Lums Pond Tri/Drunkman Invitational. Please, allow me to explain… Ordinarily, you just race against all the other lycra-clad idiots that are into this crazy sport and if you do well they give you a medal. Or maybe a trophy. (And once a lawn chair!) But that’s it. However, with my friend Kevin and my cousin’s husband, Chris, also registered for the race, we decided to mix it up Pete Rose-style and put some beer on the line. Each of us contributed a 6-pack of decent libation for a winner-take-all smackdown.
But when comparing my training schedule with theirs, plus each of our respective past results, it became very clear that some kind of handicap would need to be put in place. After much discussion, Chris and Kevin were matched up as even with me racing at a 20-minute handicap. (So, for me to take home the brews I had to finish 20 minutes or more ahead of both of them. No easy feat in a sprint-distance race!)
The morning of the race was warm and clear, with the water temperature hovering somewhere in the ‘lukewarm bath’ area. So, of course, it was no surprise when they announced that the swim would be WETSUIT LEGAL. I give up. I am going to start bringing comically large thermometers to races and very obviously taking the temperature where everyone can see. This might be the season’s most blatantly skewed reading yet!
As we lined up in the water for the start I overheard a few younger guys talking about their swim team’s practice sets and figured I had found my feet. The race started and it wasn’t long at all before we were pulling clear. Except I was off the front. This wasn’t the plan. I’ve really been enjoying the drafting thing recently so I slowed a bit to let someone else take the lead. Two other guys came up, went to the front briefly then backed off again. It was kind of cool to have the swim turn tactical and all along the main portion of the swim three of us took turns surging and regrouping, trying not to pull while also not letting the pace get too slow. I’m not sure what this was doing to the group behind us, but all three of us made the final turn towards shore together and came out of the water 15 seconds up on the next guys.
As we exited the first guy out of the water immediately slowed to a walk. He’d been going all out to win the non-existent swim prime and clearly wasn’t too concerned about getting out onto the bike quickly, so it looked like, for the time being, it was just going to be down to two of us unless there were some superbikers just behind.
The other guy and I came out of T1 within about 6 seconds of each other and I planned on just hanging back for a few miles and not showing any cards. With nearly 20 miles of riding I figured there would be plenty of time to make a move on the bike course. What I didn’t count on was the duathlon congestion on the road leading out of the park! Made me wonder about the length of their ‘two mile’ run as with a head start of only 5 minutes it didn’t seem possible that so many runners would have been out of T1 in under 15 minutes.
As we exited the park, my plan to hang back went out the window. I felt good so just made a move and hoped this other guy wouldn’t be able to follow too closely. I’ve been riding a ton of hills lately so I feel like my power is coming up, this ride would be a nice chance to put that assumption to the test.
Unfortunately, it was an exceptionally (like, Eagleman-caliber) flat course, so there was no really opportunity to get a big gap…instead Lums Pond is all about steadily adding to your advantage. So, I just kept my head down and tried to keep it smooth and on pace. Having ridden the course before, I knew it would be slightly tougher on the way back with a headwind and slight uphill grade. Best to just keep it sustainable.
Amazingly, about 10 miles into the bike I saw a group of riders taking up most of the right lane with some sitting up and other at the front pulling. It looked like a pack of racers but I figured it couldn’t be. Who would be so blatant about cheating to sit in a pack of 12? (And why at the local Lums Pond race? There’s no prize money at stake, trust me…) Given that it was a Sunday morning on a quiet Delaware road I had to assume it was just a club’s group ride that happened to wander onto the course. I made myself known with an ‘on your left’ and the group calmly called out that there was a rider back. Yet, as I passed them, I saw they were all sporting race numbers! I couldn’t believe it. Despite seeing some ‘ethically questionable’ riding at a few races this year, this was my first sighting of a full-on pack of cheaters who weren’t even trying to hide it.
The one silver lining - as I found out after the race from Chris, who’d spotted the pack as they came out of the turnaround - was that they had split just after I passed them. Apparently a small group tried to jump on my wheel, couldn’t hold on, and ended up stringing out. So, I guess I did a small part, but really, I just find the idea of intentionally cheating in a race like this so odd…
After some vehicular congestion (and a bit of swerving on my part) coming back into the park, hit T2 leading the tri (though with a few of the ‘du-ers’ still ahead.) Just three miles to go, but as always I was ready for some fleet-footed guys to come up from behind. I felt good and was still in the lead at the turnaround. Spotted second place about a minute back and did my best to look confident and smooth on the run. (For me, this requires some Oscar-caliber acting!) But actually felt rather good and even managed to pass 5 or 6 guys from the Du, including one wearing a duathlon national champion jersey! (OK, so it was from an age-group more than a few brackets above mine, but still…)
Came into the finish feeling strong and ended up taking the overall by about 35 seconds. Interestingly, my ‘3 mile’ run took me 16:50, a 5:37 pace. (No, I haven’t improved that much. I mapped the course later and it ended up being 2.8 miles. But that still put me at 6:02 per mile, by far my best sprint run of the year.) Most exciting was that I finally managed to crack the top 10 for run splits, having the 8th fastest of the day. It’s getting there…
But the real race was still on! I crossed the line with a total time of 1:14:33 so Chris and Kevin had until 1:34:33 to get themselves home if they wanted the beer. I have to say, I could almost taste a cold Honey Moon, followed by a nice, dark Yuengling Porter and then finished off with a Yuengling Lager. Mmmmm…
As the time drew ever closer, still no sign of them… That beer was as good as mine! But then, there was Chris, in the distance (and easy to spot as he’s English and hence one of the mid-Atlantic regions paler competitors) running for the line. He put on a finishing sprint and…well, we didn’t know. I hadn’t bothered to remember the anything past the minutes of my time, thinking he’d either be under or well over. This one was going to go to the clock!
After the typical post-race snacking, the results were posted. Chris’ time: 1:34:26. Unbelievable! He’d beaten the 20 minute handicap by 7 seconds and rightfully claimed an 18 bottle prize. (Actually, it was 17, I dropped one of mine on the way to the race.) I took some solace in the fact that apparently I’m a pretty good triathlon handicapper, but that sure wasn’t going to quench my thirst. Alas, I won the war…but lost the battle. (And yes, just about every day I get some reminder from him about how he just barely has time to do something, but usually makes it by 7 seconds…)
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Why I Will Always Ride Argon18 Bikes...
Over the past few weeks my racing bike, an Argon18 E-112, has developed a bit of a creak. I’ve chased it everywhere. So far, my ride has gotten a new bottom bracket, new chain, new brake pads and I’ve regreased and retorgued every single nut and bolt I could find, from the rear dropout screws to bar end shifters. Nothing. Until I checked the tiny bolts holding the derailleur hanger in place. Aha! One of them was stripped. Could this be the cause of the noise? It seemed likely. But I’ve got a race this weekend and there’s no way I’ll be able to find a replacement on Wednesday for a race I’ve got Sunday… But worth a try anyway.
I give Argon18 a ring at about 10:00 AM Wednesday morning and explain my predicament. Though they prefer you work through the shop that sold you the bike, I knew I’d never get a part that had to be shipped to another company and then to me in time for a race. I prepared to beg…
But I didn’t have to. The guy I spoke to said, “No problem, we do keep some spares on hand for racers and emergencies. What’s was your address?” I gave it to him with profuse thanks and he said it should be here by Friday.
Cut to 9:00 AM this morning (less than 24 hours after I made the call) and a replacement hanger and bolts was being delivered to my door by FedEx. Unbelievable. It’s incredible to see a company step up like this. I had the hanger mounted within the hour and as off riding soon thereafter. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the cause of the noise, but it still needed to be replaced as soon as possible and Argon18 made sure I literally had to go less than a day without my beloved bike. Amazing. When I compare it to the offer AT&T made me to replace my broken iPhone for $100 MORE than I paid for it (plus the $18 ‘early upgrade’ fee and extended contract I would need) it makes me hope Argon stays in business for a long, long time. I knew the bike was fast, but now I know the company is also incredibly reliable, and I think that’s probably just as important…
I give Argon18 a ring at about 10:00 AM Wednesday morning and explain my predicament. Though they prefer you work through the shop that sold you the bike, I knew I’d never get a part that had to be shipped to another company and then to me in time for a race. I prepared to beg…
But I didn’t have to. The guy I spoke to said, “No problem, we do keep some spares on hand for racers and emergencies. What’s was your address?” I gave it to him with profuse thanks and he said it should be here by Friday.
Cut to 9:00 AM this morning (less than 24 hours after I made the call) and a replacement hanger and bolts was being delivered to my door by FedEx. Unbelievable. It’s incredible to see a company step up like this. I had the hanger mounted within the hour and as off riding soon thereafter. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the cause of the noise, but it still needed to be replaced as soon as possible and Argon18 made sure I literally had to go less than a day without my beloved bike. Amazing. When I compare it to the offer AT&T made me to replace my broken iPhone for $100 MORE than I paid for it (plus the $18 ‘early upgrade’ fee and extended contract I would need) it makes me hope Argon stays in business for a long, long time. I knew the bike was fast, but now I know the company is also incredibly reliable, and I think that’s probably just as important…
Friday, August 21, 2009
Steelman Sprint Race Report
The weather forecast for Quakertown’s Steelman Tri leading into the weekend looked fantastic. Moderately warm, dry, sunny…ideal. I hadn’t raced a sprint distance tri since the Harrisburg race in June, so I was quite excited at getting to race near the red again, without having to worry about a long run to sucker punch me at the end. Plus, my good friend and fellow swimmer (San Francisco State and faster than me!) Diz was coming to race as well. It was all set to be great weekend.
But as I lay in the back of my van at a local campground near the race venue I was only seeing many, many reports of foul weather heading our way via the Weather Channel app I had freshly downloaded to my iPhone. Visions of triathlon victory glory were fast giving way to duathlon nightmares. No swim? Run Twice?! NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Despite my misgivings, I soon found myself drifting off to the ever louder sound of raindrops on my roof, apprehensive about the next day, but also fully aware that there is not a person on earth with the ability to alter the weather. What the skies held tomorrow was still uncertain, but there was nothing I could do about it.
As expected, 4:50 came around and the skies were not cooperating. Then again, things could certainly have been worse. The rain was falling in a steady drizzle, but there was also no evident thunder and lightning. Best to just head down to the race site and see what was doing…
Fortunately my campsite was only about 2 miles from the venue, so I managed to be one of the first ones there. Since the racks were only numbered by wave, not by individual spot, my early arrival gave me a primo location in an end spot. Why directors don’t put the bike and swim/run entrances and exits at diagonals to make it fair I don’t understand, but I sure wish they would…I could sleep in a bit! However, these directors were about to completely redeem themselves with the following announcement. “The water temperature is 78.4 degrees, so wetsuits are not legal for this race.”
What? Are my ears working correctly? Am I being punked? It sounded like someone actually took a legitimate reading and was following the wetsuit rule properly! Sad that this is a surprising revelation… But sure enough the tri would stay a tri and, even better, have a legit swim! Finally a chance to see if my Sugoi Velocity suit was up to the challenge when not shrouded by a wetsuit.
Of course, even though the water was warm, the air was not! I was very pleased to be in the first wave as standing around waiting for the race to begin in the rain was definitely shiver-inducing! I felt bad for Karen P. who wasn’t due to start for at leats another 20 minutes. Finally, we were given the go ahead to make our way into the water. Interestingly, the Olympic distance race had already started and the sprint swim course was really just the second half of the Olympic one. Should make for an interesting merge!
As the horn sounded about 5 guys jumped and went into a full sprint. I hung in the middle of this mini pack and in 200 yards we were down to three and I sat comfortably in the middle of the two other guys. The one in the lead seemed to be giving it full bore in an effort to drop me, but I found the pace just easy enough that I could hang and wait a bit to see how things would play out. As we hit the second turn buoy that marked the merge with the other course the guy who’d been at the front was clearly hurting and started dropping back quickly. I made my way to the front and soon was picking off people from a later wave of the Olympic distance. I didn’t know it at the time, but as I struggled to find clear gaps amongst the many swimmers who had switched to breaststroke, I was steadily putting time into the rest of my wave. I hit the beach in the lead by about a minute (and finally picking up a long overdue swim prime, as mine was the fastest of the day.) My time of 11:54 leads me to believe the swim was a bit long as even sans wetsuit I should have been in under 10:00, but a quick run through some slick mud and I was off onto a very wet bike ride!
The cool part about Steelman was the closed (and very fast) course. There’s a quick half mile climb out of the park that goes at about 10%, but after that it’s just long rollers on what is essentially a very boring stretch of country road. It certainly would have been faster without all the rain, but I still managed to get some good speed. This seemed to be a popular race and I always assume there’s some kind of crazed super runner just waiting to take me down…so I’d better build any cushion I can.
Now, if I may digress before I continue… How is it that so many (like, half) triathletes cannot seem to grasp the ‘ride to the right’ concept. Seriously. I actually overheard a few racers talking about how they stayed wide because it was hard/took so long to get back to right. I have to say, I ALWAYS move back to the right whenever possible. And it’s extra annoying to when someone is so close to the center as to make passing them properly dangerous. Anyway, I know that no one reading this is causing these issues, but maybe if everyone tells two people at a race word will spread. Back to our regular scheduled programming…
I hit the second turnaround and headed back for the park entrance completely soaked but otherwise feeling good. I picked off a lot of Olympic tri riders, but since I there was no way to distinguish them from the sprinters, I couldn’t tell if there was anyone from my race nearby. Interestingly, when I turned to head back into the park for the run, more than a few volunteers started yelling, “You have to do another lap!” I guess they couldn’t tell the difference between the two races either. This confusion was actually kind of a theme for the day.
In a cool twist, according to all of the past results I’ve found, no one (not even Andrew Yoder when he raced here) has ever gone that fast on the sprint course, so I’m declaring it a new (unofficial) record!
Hit the run feeling good, though again had to ask which way to run on my way out of transition! It’s funny, the Steelman folks sent along a 45 page ‘athletes’ note’ that contained everything EXCEPT maps of the course. Bummer. But I was soon off and running towards the first turnaround which was a ¼ mile down the shore before the course headed back the way it came and into the woods for the last 2 ½ miles. As I passed by transition no one else had started the run so I knew had a buffer of at least three minutes. That was good! I always like to do calculations on the run and I figured that meant that even if I ran 7:00 miles someone would have to hold 6:00s to catch me. But I planned to hold 6:20s…so if I could do that, they’d have to hold 5:20s, and that’s tough for even the fast runners!
Hit the first mile at exactly 6:30, so my plan to negative split was working. Even better, the run to the turnaround was slightly uphill the whole way, which I figured couldn’t hurt this goal. I passed mile 2 with another 6:30 and was still feeling good so I picked it up a bit. Having not raced a sprint since Harrisburg in June, I wasn’t used to having so much spring in my step at the end of a race. It sure was nice! Saw my friend Diz just before the path split to head up towards the finish, and was told by a volunteer that I was at the loop marker for the 10K! I think Diz’s wife Erinn was correct in her assessment, they really didn’t plan on the sprint taking as little time as it did. They simply weren’t expecting us as we neared the finish. This was even more apparent when I had to run behind the three volunteers who were supposed to by signaling the way. I don’t even think they knew I went past! Good thing I checked out the course the day before as I think I might have gone right by the final chute otherwise!
Hit the finish in first but yet another race with no tape. I know it’s lame, but someday I’d like to break through one of those! But, I did win a cool pint glass, which isn’t as nice as a check, but still more useful than a medal or trophy. I do wish they’d given me something to fill it with though…
But as I lay in the back of my van at a local campground near the race venue I was only seeing many, many reports of foul weather heading our way via the Weather Channel app I had freshly downloaded to my iPhone. Visions of triathlon victory glory were fast giving way to duathlon nightmares. No swim? Run Twice?! NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Despite my misgivings, I soon found myself drifting off to the ever louder sound of raindrops on my roof, apprehensive about the next day, but also fully aware that there is not a person on earth with the ability to alter the weather. What the skies held tomorrow was still uncertain, but there was nothing I could do about it.
As expected, 4:50 came around and the skies were not cooperating. Then again, things could certainly have been worse. The rain was falling in a steady drizzle, but there was also no evident thunder and lightning. Best to just head down to the race site and see what was doing…
Fortunately my campsite was only about 2 miles from the venue, so I managed to be one of the first ones there. Since the racks were only numbered by wave, not by individual spot, my early arrival gave me a primo location in an end spot. Why directors don’t put the bike and swim/run entrances and exits at diagonals to make it fair I don’t understand, but I sure wish they would…I could sleep in a bit! However, these directors were about to completely redeem themselves with the following announcement. “The water temperature is 78.4 degrees, so wetsuits are not legal for this race.”
What? Are my ears working correctly? Am I being punked? It sounded like someone actually took a legitimate reading and was following the wetsuit rule properly! Sad that this is a surprising revelation… But sure enough the tri would stay a tri and, even better, have a legit swim! Finally a chance to see if my Sugoi Velocity suit was up to the challenge when not shrouded by a wetsuit.
Of course, even though the water was warm, the air was not! I was very pleased to be in the first wave as standing around waiting for the race to begin in the rain was definitely shiver-inducing! I felt bad for Karen P. who wasn’t due to start for at leats another 20 minutes. Finally, we were given the go ahead to make our way into the water. Interestingly, the Olympic distance race had already started and the sprint swim course was really just the second half of the Olympic one. Should make for an interesting merge!
As the horn sounded about 5 guys jumped and went into a full sprint. I hung in the middle of this mini pack and in 200 yards we were down to three and I sat comfortably in the middle of the two other guys. The one in the lead seemed to be giving it full bore in an effort to drop me, but I found the pace just easy enough that I could hang and wait a bit to see how things would play out. As we hit the second turn buoy that marked the merge with the other course the guy who’d been at the front was clearly hurting and started dropping back quickly. I made my way to the front and soon was picking off people from a later wave of the Olympic distance. I didn’t know it at the time, but as I struggled to find clear gaps amongst the many swimmers who had switched to breaststroke, I was steadily putting time into the rest of my wave. I hit the beach in the lead by about a minute (and finally picking up a long overdue swim prime, as mine was the fastest of the day.) My time of 11:54 leads me to believe the swim was a bit long as even sans wetsuit I should have been in under 10:00, but a quick run through some slick mud and I was off onto a very wet bike ride!
The cool part about Steelman was the closed (and very fast) course. There’s a quick half mile climb out of the park that goes at about 10%, but after that it’s just long rollers on what is essentially a very boring stretch of country road. It certainly would have been faster without all the rain, but I still managed to get some good speed. This seemed to be a popular race and I always assume there’s some kind of crazed super runner just waiting to take me down…so I’d better build any cushion I can.
Now, if I may digress before I continue… How is it that so many (like, half) triathletes cannot seem to grasp the ‘ride to the right’ concept. Seriously. I actually overheard a few racers talking about how they stayed wide because it was hard/took so long to get back to right. I have to say, I ALWAYS move back to the right whenever possible. And it’s extra annoying to when someone is so close to the center as to make passing them properly dangerous. Anyway, I know that no one reading this is causing these issues, but maybe if everyone tells two people at a race word will spread. Back to our regular scheduled programming…
I hit the second turnaround and headed back for the park entrance completely soaked but otherwise feeling good. I picked off a lot of Olympic tri riders, but since I there was no way to distinguish them from the sprinters, I couldn’t tell if there was anyone from my race nearby. Interestingly, when I turned to head back into the park for the run, more than a few volunteers started yelling, “You have to do another lap!” I guess they couldn’t tell the difference between the two races either. This confusion was actually kind of a theme for the day.
In a cool twist, according to all of the past results I’ve found, no one (not even Andrew Yoder when he raced here) has ever gone that fast on the sprint course, so I’m declaring it a new (unofficial) record!
Hit the run feeling good, though again had to ask which way to run on my way out of transition! It’s funny, the Steelman folks sent along a 45 page ‘athletes’ note’ that contained everything EXCEPT maps of the course. Bummer. But I was soon off and running towards the first turnaround which was a ¼ mile down the shore before the course headed back the way it came and into the woods for the last 2 ½ miles. As I passed by transition no one else had started the run so I knew had a buffer of at least three minutes. That was good! I always like to do calculations on the run and I figured that meant that even if I ran 7:00 miles someone would have to hold 6:00s to catch me. But I planned to hold 6:20s…so if I could do that, they’d have to hold 5:20s, and that’s tough for even the fast runners!
Hit the first mile at exactly 6:30, so my plan to negative split was working. Even better, the run to the turnaround was slightly uphill the whole way, which I figured couldn’t hurt this goal. I passed mile 2 with another 6:30 and was still feeling good so I picked it up a bit. Having not raced a sprint since Harrisburg in June, I wasn’t used to having so much spring in my step at the end of a race. It sure was nice! Saw my friend Diz just before the path split to head up towards the finish, and was told by a volunteer that I was at the loop marker for the 10K! I think Diz’s wife Erinn was correct in her assessment, they really didn’t plan on the sprint taking as little time as it did. They simply weren’t expecting us as we neared the finish. This was even more apparent when I had to run behind the three volunteers who were supposed to by signaling the way. I don’t even think they knew I went past! Good thing I checked out the course the day before as I think I might have gone right by the final chute otherwise!
Hit the finish in first but yet another race with no tape. I know it’s lame, but someday I’d like to break through one of those! But, I did win a cool pint glass, which isn’t as nice as a check, but still more useful than a medal or trophy. I do wish they’d given me something to fill it with though…
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
NJ State Tri RR
As a long time lover of the greatest state in the Union (better known as New Jersey) the NJ State Olympic Distance Tri has been on my calendar for months with a little star next to it. Besides being right in middle of my two biggest races, Eagleman and Nations, how cool would it be to have the title NJ State Champion? (A distinction I never gained in swimming, despite many attempts…) Unfortunately, sometimes life does not always agree with your plans and I hit the race feeling a bit flat. With my grandmother passing away the Friday before and the combined fatigue of a New York work trip and my epic 3-race weekend, I wasn’t even sure I should toe the starting line. On the other hand, there is something to be said for seizing opportunities, not passing on them and, sure enough, I was lined up at the water’s edge on an early Sunday morning at Mercer County Park, NJ.
Now, I don’t want to sound too pessimistic here, but how are the officials taking water temperatures these days? It was almost laughable when the official reading was given as 77.9 degrees (conveniently 0.1 degree below the wetsuit cutoff, hmm….) It would be nice to actually participate in a race where swimming was a real factor, but I digress…
Despite my recent avoidance of the pool (every once in a while it just gets plain unappealing, what can I say?) I felt good in the water. More and more I’ve been making an effort to keep things mellow on the swim and put a little more into the bike and this was a great race in which to execute this strategy. Unbeknownst to me, there was actually an elite wave on offer, which hadn’t known I could sign up for. That went off first, followed five minutes later by my age group. It would have been nice to know about this as that wave contained some guys I’ve raced against before and it’s always more motivating to go head to head against your closest competition…but at least I’d have some folks to chase!
Came out of the water first in my wave at 19:20, a very good time considering the effort I’ve put in and my recent lack of pool time (Hopefully that will be down to 18:15 by the end of August) but had an uncharacteristically bad transition as I couldn’t get my wetsuit to release its dastardly grip on my ankles. (I blame my wetsuit-less warm-up swim, which definitely knocked a good deal of Pam off of my legs). I hoped I could make it up on the bike course. After a long run up to the mount line (always an equalizer for me) I was off with a good flying mount. I didn’t know how many people were ahead of me, but I made it my goal to pick off as many of them as possible.
The bike course for this race was rather unusual in that we exited the park, went about a mile on the main roads, then had a 3 mile technical ride through Mercer County Community College. After this, it was a long loop around the park, back through the college again and a final return to the park via an entrance on the other side. This was definitely a course where you had to pay attention, as well as one that would reward power AND bike handling. Should be interesting…
I picked up a few guys before the college and knew that I’d get a look at the rest of the field in that section as there was a turnaround halfway through. Sure enough, coming down one of the straights I saw the escort and the race leader. I checked my watch to find the differential between his passing that point and mine, knowing that if it was under 5:00 I’d be the (as the they say in Le Tour) virtual leader on the road. Sure enough, when I went past the same place I was only about 3:45 down on the first rider, placing me in the ‘front.’ I picked up a few more guys as we powered along the long straights the ringed the park, but did have a few ‘exciting’ moments involving boat-towing trailers and a rapid transit bus… Not that things ever got dangerous, but it can get frustrating when all your room to pass is taken up by vehicles, especially if you’re just coming up on someone slower!
I came into T2 ‘tied’ for second (though my later start put me ahead time-wise) with the guy that I beat two weeks ago at Diamond in the Rough. I guess I wasn’t going to be lucky enough that he wouldn’t recognize me. After all, I remember everyone who’s ever beaten me to the line. Cough, Rick Fesler, Cough. Had another bummer of a transition as re-racking my bike caused another to fall to the ground. Annoying as it wasn’t my fault that the bike was tenuously secured, but I wouldn’t want anyone to leave my ride laying on the ground so I did the right thing and put it back on its rack.
As we headed out on the run the sun really started to show itself and I was glad I’d opted to wear a hat. It was getting brutal! I tried to keep the pace mellow for the first few miles (despite several shouts that I was in ‘third!’) but still ended going out with a pair of 6:25s. A good pace, but a bit much for me to sustain in the heat (or the middle of the season for that matter!)
The run was actually two out-and-back loops, the first being used only for the Olympic distance and the second sharing the sprint course’s 5K. As we headed back to the end of the first loop I really started to feel that piano stalking my back. I was still in ‘virtual’ first, but there was no doubt the last 3 miles were going to REALLY hurt. I passed my parents, which made for nice motivation, but with no shade the wheels started to come off and it was difficult to tell if I was still within 5 minutes of the leader.
As he (a cross country runner from George Mason, great…) passed going the other way from the second turnaround it looked as though he had a bit over 4:00 on me, which was a bummer with 2 miles to go. And by now I was really hurting in a big way. Between the heat and my early run speed the race was exacting a mighty toll.
Somehow I managed to drag myself to the finish chute and pick up a little speed to the line…before promptly collapsing on the ground. It was by far the worst I’ve ever felt at the end of a race. Compared to this I was downright peppy after Eagleman! Shoveling ice down my jersey I made my way to the medical tent to see if I could grab a quick minute in the shade. Ironically, they were quite reluctant to let me in, saying they were trying to keep the area clear for people with medical emergencies. I tried to explain that I NEVER ask for any kind of assistance and my wanting to chill in there for a minute was in the hope that we could avoid a medical emergency in the first place. Eventually they relented and five minutes later I was feeling much better, despite coming in a disappointing :42 behind first place. Oh well, you can’t win ‘em all. (Even though I want to!)
Interestingly, the story doesn’t stop there. I hung around to wait for the awards and happened to notice an official posting a DQ/Penalty sheet. Since there was nothing else to look at, I took a peak and was very surprised to see that I had been disqualified for an ‘Entire Course’ violation! The referee said the timer had made the call and I should speak with him. If he felt there was a mistake he would then tell the referee and get everything squared away. Interestingly, the female winner from early July’s Metroman was also disqualified for the same violation. It was nice to make a new friend while seeking out some correction…and probably hilarious for those watching as we both sat in the Lin-Mark camper vouching for the other’s ability, despite having never spoken before!
In the end, her ride was called into question because it was so fast relative to her swim. (She’s a very poor swimmer, but a super-fast cyclist.) My 10K split had come up as 21 minutes because I was misdirected over the sprint tri’s transition mat. Since I still registered a finishing time that made sense the 10K time was removed and I was reinstated to second place. Got a very nice glass plaque, too!
Now, I don’t want to sound too pessimistic here, but how are the officials taking water temperatures these days? It was almost laughable when the official reading was given as 77.9 degrees (conveniently 0.1 degree below the wetsuit cutoff, hmm….) It would be nice to actually participate in a race where swimming was a real factor, but I digress…
Despite my recent avoidance of the pool (every once in a while it just gets plain unappealing, what can I say?) I felt good in the water. More and more I’ve been making an effort to keep things mellow on the swim and put a little more into the bike and this was a great race in which to execute this strategy. Unbeknownst to me, there was actually an elite wave on offer, which hadn’t known I could sign up for. That went off first, followed five minutes later by my age group. It would have been nice to know about this as that wave contained some guys I’ve raced against before and it’s always more motivating to go head to head against your closest competition…but at least I’d have some folks to chase!
Came out of the water first in my wave at 19:20, a very good time considering the effort I’ve put in and my recent lack of pool time (Hopefully that will be down to 18:15 by the end of August) but had an uncharacteristically bad transition as I couldn’t get my wetsuit to release its dastardly grip on my ankles. (I blame my wetsuit-less warm-up swim, which definitely knocked a good deal of Pam off of my legs). I hoped I could make it up on the bike course. After a long run up to the mount line (always an equalizer for me) I was off with a good flying mount. I didn’t know how many people were ahead of me, but I made it my goal to pick off as many of them as possible.
The bike course for this race was rather unusual in that we exited the park, went about a mile on the main roads, then had a 3 mile technical ride through Mercer County Community College. After this, it was a long loop around the park, back through the college again and a final return to the park via an entrance on the other side. This was definitely a course where you had to pay attention, as well as one that would reward power AND bike handling. Should be interesting…
I picked up a few guys before the college and knew that I’d get a look at the rest of the field in that section as there was a turnaround halfway through. Sure enough, coming down one of the straights I saw the escort and the race leader. I checked my watch to find the differential between his passing that point and mine, knowing that if it was under 5:00 I’d be the (as the they say in Le Tour) virtual leader on the road. Sure enough, when I went past the same place I was only about 3:45 down on the first rider, placing me in the ‘front.’ I picked up a few more guys as we powered along the long straights the ringed the park, but did have a few ‘exciting’ moments involving boat-towing trailers and a rapid transit bus… Not that things ever got dangerous, but it can get frustrating when all your room to pass is taken up by vehicles, especially if you’re just coming up on someone slower!
I came into T2 ‘tied’ for second (though my later start put me ahead time-wise) with the guy that I beat two weeks ago at Diamond in the Rough. I guess I wasn’t going to be lucky enough that he wouldn’t recognize me. After all, I remember everyone who’s ever beaten me to the line. Cough, Rick Fesler, Cough. Had another bummer of a transition as re-racking my bike caused another to fall to the ground. Annoying as it wasn’t my fault that the bike was tenuously secured, but I wouldn’t want anyone to leave my ride laying on the ground so I did the right thing and put it back on its rack.
As we headed out on the run the sun really started to show itself and I was glad I’d opted to wear a hat. It was getting brutal! I tried to keep the pace mellow for the first few miles (despite several shouts that I was in ‘third!’) but still ended going out with a pair of 6:25s. A good pace, but a bit much for me to sustain in the heat (or the middle of the season for that matter!)
The run was actually two out-and-back loops, the first being used only for the Olympic distance and the second sharing the sprint course’s 5K. As we headed back to the end of the first loop I really started to feel that piano stalking my back. I was still in ‘virtual’ first, but there was no doubt the last 3 miles were going to REALLY hurt. I passed my parents, which made for nice motivation, but with no shade the wheels started to come off and it was difficult to tell if I was still within 5 minutes of the leader.
As he (a cross country runner from George Mason, great…) passed going the other way from the second turnaround it looked as though he had a bit over 4:00 on me, which was a bummer with 2 miles to go. And by now I was really hurting in a big way. Between the heat and my early run speed the race was exacting a mighty toll.
Somehow I managed to drag myself to the finish chute and pick up a little speed to the line…before promptly collapsing on the ground. It was by far the worst I’ve ever felt at the end of a race. Compared to this I was downright peppy after Eagleman! Shoveling ice down my jersey I made my way to the medical tent to see if I could grab a quick minute in the shade. Ironically, they were quite reluctant to let me in, saying they were trying to keep the area clear for people with medical emergencies. I tried to explain that I NEVER ask for any kind of assistance and my wanting to chill in there for a minute was in the hope that we could avoid a medical emergency in the first place. Eventually they relented and five minutes later I was feeling much better, despite coming in a disappointing :42 behind first place. Oh well, you can’t win ‘em all. (Even though I want to!)
Interestingly, the story doesn’t stop there. I hung around to wait for the awards and happened to notice an official posting a DQ/Penalty sheet. Since there was nothing else to look at, I took a peak and was very surprised to see that I had been disqualified for an ‘Entire Course’ violation! The referee said the timer had made the call and I should speak with him. If he felt there was a mistake he would then tell the referee and get everything squared away. Interestingly, the female winner from early July’s Metroman was also disqualified for the same violation. It was nice to make a new friend while seeking out some correction…and probably hilarious for those watching as we both sat in the Lin-Mark camper vouching for the other’s ability, despite having never spoken before!
In the end, her ride was called into question because it was so fast relative to her swim. (She’s a very poor swimmer, but a super-fast cyclist.) My 10K split had come up as 21 minutes because I was misdirected over the sprint tri’s transition mat. Since I still registered a finishing time that made sense the 10K time was removed and I was reinstated to second place. Got a very nice glass plaque, too!
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