Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Tri to Beat Cancer Sprint Triathlon Report

The best worst race...

It was hard to know what to expect since this was the first time this race had ever been held and since there was nobody that I knew there. Sounded easy enough, 400 yard lake swim, 16 miles of rolling hills for the bike, and a double loop 5k course. This race was more of a challenge than I expected, although most of that was probably my fault.

I drove over Saturday picked up my packet, wasn't wowed by the expo so I headed to the lake to check out the course and get in a little swim. The water was hot and I was a little concerned about the size of the swim course. It looked tight and with a wave start I knew it could be dicey; I was right. I drove both the run course and bike course and both proved to be a little hillier than I thought, but that isn't terrible since I'm used to hills.

I'm not convinced this was a mistake, but perhaps I'm wrong. Athens has some good beer and how could I pass up my all time favorite? Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar was delicious and well worth it.

So it has been really hot all summer and staying hydrated on training rides and runs has been a challenge. I made sure to get up and drink plenty of water, take some salt pills and get my body ready. The problem with that is, the sun didn't come up till about 6:45am, the race started at 7:00am, and it never really got that hot. I absolutely over hydrated and I paid for it later.

I knew the swim would be key. More than 100 people on a small beach racing toward a tight square 400 yard swim course. I started in the front, the plan was to hammer out of the gate and then settle into a easier pace about 100 yards in. The first 50 yards went as planned. I was not leading, but near the front and in pretty clean water. Then it was like I was torpedoed. goggles knocked off, punched, kicked, I felt like a guest on the Jerry Springer Show, being tackled by a security guard and two pissed off women at the same time. I was no longer in clean water, I was in a war zone. The remaining 300 yards it was all about survival and breathing. Hands down the most physical swim I've ever done. I left the water feeling like I had work to do and probably had the best transition of my life. Third fastest transition of the race.

The bike is where I do my work and this course turned out to be some work. Tight roads, a lot of bikes, a good number of cars, and a tractor. I hear that some police even stopped bikers to let cars pass through. There were several occasions where I had to cross the double yellow to complete a pass simply because there was so much traffic. I guess this is the nature of sprint triathlons, especially when swimming is not your strength. The bike leg was going smooth until we hit a sharp turn, exiting the turn I shifted gears to try and hammer to the next downhill and then my chain slipped off. It was stuck in my back gear ring but I was still going 25mph down the hill. First thought was maybe I can fix it while I'm on the bike. Hand would not reach. Maybe my foot can do it. After almost cutting off my toe with a spoke I decided I needed to stop. I was at the bottom of the hill anyway. No idea how long it took me to fix the problem, but long enough for a cop to stop and ask me if I needed help. Bike split ended up being pretty fast, but I assume at least a minute.

Coming off the bike the legs felt good, but the stomach did not. I had the overwhelming urge to puke and this did not get much better. Immediately I was passed on the run by about three guys, one of them an old man with white hair and a ridiculous mustache. Not a confidence booster. Luckily I was able to keep that group in sight and settle into what I thought was a nice pace. This was the second race without a watch so I had no clue where I was on any of my times. Despite feeling terrible the pace stayed consistent, and I kicked a little the last half mile. Crossing the line I felt tired but not dead. Here are the results

Second place in my age group, I was almost two minutes out of first, but 30 seconds out of fourth. It was good enough to qualify for Age Group National Championships and even though I'm not going to race the National Championships it's nice to know that I could have for the second year in a row. I guess they need to make the qualifying standards a little tougher.

Now back to Ironman training.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Tri to Beat Cancer Preview

A couple of months ago someone pointed out to me that there was a race in Athens, GA. I'd never heard of it, but was interested since that is where my brother and his family live. I haven't seen my nephew Drew in a few months and since he is only 15 months old he's changing a lot from month to month. I'm real excited to see the little guy, maybe be a bit of a bad influence like a good uncle should. The race itself is Sunday and I'm not sure what to expect. This is the first year they have held the race so I'm sure there will be some issues. What I do know is that its a short race. Swim is just 400 yards, bike is 17 miles, 5k run. I'm not expecting a very tough field but I guess I'll find out Sunday. If I can finish top 10% in my age group I will qualify for the USAT Age Group National Championships. Even if I qualify I doubt I'll do the race, but it would be nice to say that I could have done it. Two weeks ago at Mountain Lakes Triathlon the race went great. I missed the top 10% mark by just 5 seconds but still finished 5th in my age group and really had a race I could feel proud about. The new race strategy of just going out and racing worked out great. No watch, no goals, just racing till the finish line. I figure this weekend will be a good fun one no matter what so I really can't lose.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

New Approach

Based on the fact that I have never followed an actual training schedule it would be a stretch to say I have ever taken races that seriously. One might think the natural progression would be to adopt an actual training plan and get a little more serious. Nope. I'm going to go the other way. From here on races are about fun. Sure, I have an Ironman this November and I want to do well, but if I don't, oh well. My first race in awhile is this weekend. A short sprint distance race. I am going to try and go fast, but really, who cares! I will never be a pro. This is supposed to be a hobby, why should I take it that seriously? So the motto now is go out, race hard, have fun, and show me the beer tent.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Building back is difficult

I was excited when I was cleared to start training again. Not only was it great to get back to work, but I had also managed to gain only minimal weight. Surely this meant that I would be back in form in no time. Not exactly. Turns out I had lost quite a bit of muscle and replaced it with some tasty fat. Now, I can't swim worth crap anyway, and when running I go through spurts where I can keep up with the crowd, but on the bike I'm always out front. The last few weeks I've watched a lot of people riding away from me. I've spent a lot of time bonking and midway through a ride, I even had to get off my bike and walk it up a hill at one point. Big time reality check.

This past weekend I did a nice 100 mile ride with my friend John. About halfway through things were looking bad. John was pulling away in spots and I was coming to terms that I still had about 50 miles to go and temps were in the mid 90's. Lucky for me I got a bit of a second wind about 70 miles in and finished a lot stronger than I anticipated. Am I back, not yet, but at least I am starting to gain some confidence.

In other news Blue the fat Cattle Dog (AKA Blujo) has lost a little weight. He's down about 10 pounds, and we have at least 10 more to go. The heat is killing him but at least he's figured where the AC vent in the car is located. Hopefully this fall he can get his mileage up when the temperature starts to drop.

Two upcoming races in August. Mountain Lakes Sprint Triathlon and a Sprint Tri in Athens, GA at the end of the month. No real expectations, I just want to have fun.

That is all the official news I have for now, but I sense there could be some interesting things in the works so I'll keep you posted.

Gotta Run!