Patriot Triathlon in Rio Rancho

In keeping with the theme of late race reports, I was the only Triatomic that did the recent (September 14) Patriot Sprint Triathlon in Rio Rancho—Nathan Romero was the only other person from Los Alamos that I saw there. This race is one of two new ones in the Southwest Challenge Series this year that will use the same course that includes the new Rio Rancho Aquatic Center. The other race is the Jingle Bell Triathlon (December 7) and will be the same course, but run as a reverse sprint. The inaugural Patriot race had about 300 participants and had a time-trial swim start. The race was chip timed with ChampionChip which I think always do a good job of timing (including transition splits) and reporting results on their web site within days after the race. The water was a bit on the warm side, but the aquatic center is very nice with spectator seating and large locker rooms. The transition area was in the parking lot (race parking was at adjacent facilities, like the Rio Rancho Library). The transition area was sufficiently roomy and well organized as was the whole race, actually. The bike course was well marked and very similar to the Defined Fitness Duathlon (which is cancelled this year and likely beyond) and actually overlapped part of that course around the big casino-convention center area. There are some moderate hills, but nothing really steep. The road was mostly in good condition except for the last couple of miles, which they said would be repaved by next year. The run was a bit dicey for me. The first mile is paved and a steady uphill, then it turns and the next mile is hilly on loose dirt and gravel, which was problematic for my bad back, especially on a couple steep downhill sandy parts—I forced myself to walk most of this part thinking about my Dr’s advice about not doing anything stupid to hurt my back. The final mile is on pavement again, thankfully. I got 5th in my age group (out of 21) and 35th woman (out of 140)—consequences of walking in the dirt, I guess. Nathan was first in his AG and 7th overall male. Interestingly, I had the second shortest time for women in T1—doing something right in transition. There was a photographer there that took nice pictures (and offers them for sale on her web site). The awards were engraved picture frames that looked pretty nice. There was a military band there that played pre race—kinda cool. There was a lot of military participants as this race honored military personnel, police, fire fighters, and such. Post race, there was cut up fruit and bagels and all the oreo cookies you could eat. So, for a race that you can actually drive to on race day, this was a good one and would be good prep for the Elephant Man that comes two weeks after and has a similar type of bike and run course.

IM Wisconsin

A little late on the reporting end. Sorry 'bout that.
I'm pretty uncomfortable with Jeff's overall assessment but I do have to admit - I had a good day; although the last half of the marathon hurt. Especially between miles 17 and 23. At one point both hamstrings were so cramped up I hobbled like those old guys you see at the end of a race who can barely move and it hurts even to watch them. I stopped and stretched a bit and then got back at it. The cramping was always lingering just in the background but no more needs to stop. Had a 29 year old woman pass me with about 25 yards to go to the finish, and I passed her back but at the wrong time – there was a false finish and then the real finish. She had enough oomph to regain the lead between us for the finish that counted; ah well – a mere youngster with more juice left than me.

Ok, let's back up. I specifically chose IM WI because I turned 45 at the end of August and figured that if I wanted to go to Hawaii again, my chances would be much higher if I raced after August 22 this year than before that date. One of my training partners, Tamsen Schurman, turned 50 in August so we both had the same mindset in signing up for this race. Also, I have a cousin living in Chicago so it was a nice way to tie a family visit with a race. I arrived in Chicago Thursday night, did all the registration stuff Friday, then Dan and the boys came in Friday night. Doing the family thing, and renting a small SUV meant we did not get up to Madison till mid-day Saturday and still had to put the bike together because assembled bike, loose bike box, luggage, and kids would not all fit in the back of the car. No big deal, though, right? We assembled the bike in a parking lot near the transition area, and I took it for a quick test spin before dropping it off with my gear bags. Whoops – my front derailleur cable snapped. It's 12:20, I need to have everything dropped off by 3:00, and my cable is shot on my internally-routed frame. I quickly buzz over the InSide Out bike mechanics tent and wait in line, with a very sinking feeling in my stomach. The guy works on it for quite some time, and in fact at one point we had three people working on it, trying to get the cable properly routed through. It's finally ready, I take it for a test spin, but something still doesn't feel right and I have to go back. The new cable was already showing signs of wear! The guy (Les, my hero) looks at it again, mumbles about the crappy frame design and then has an “ah ha” moment and makes everything right with another new cable and a couple of tie-wraps. [Turns out he did such a good job that the bike shifts better now than it ever has and I spent a good part of the race just marveling at the responsiveness of the front shifter. Very very cool]. Oh, and look, I have 20 minutes to spare for gear drop-off Got everything dropped off on time but still spent the rest of the day essentially sick to my stomach. So much for thinking I handle unexpected circumstances calmly and cooly. I had so little time to do my last minute pre-race thinking things through that I slept even more poorly than usual before the race, having different things come to mind that I had meant to take care of Saturday afternoon but had not. Anyway, enough whining. Taz joined Dan, the boys and me for dinner Saturday night and was my ride to the race early Sunday morning so that all Rees boys could sleep in a bit.

Race day was great weather. Glassy water and reasonable temperatures. The bike course was a two loop course and by the time I started lap 2, the wind had picked up, but still nothing like the awful weather Dan had at IM Lake Placed (started raining at 7:30 AM, and ended sometime after 9:00 PM with more than 3” of rain having fallen). Taz and I ran into Cathy Tibbetts, the only other non-LA New Mexican I knew who was racing – I had met her at the Women's Masters breakfast at Kona last year - from Farmington. We all hung back before getting into the water at the last minute for the deep water start. The mass start was the usual confusion but not too bad as there is a permanent waterski jump that breaks up the starting line and therefore allows for a little bit of moving room in its wake. I still felt pretty packed in till more than ½ mile into it. At one point, some guy forcefully and deliberately uses my shoulder to pull himself forward, which ticked my off. The rest of the contact was a pain, but nothing as offensive (my bruised jaw from somebody's kick finally healed last week!). I got out of the water faster than I had expected – my crappy Kona swim was something like 1:17, so I was pleased with the 1:08 I saw as I ran out onto the beach. The transition zone is a bit odd with helix parking garage entrance / exit ramps having to be negotiated. Great volunteers helping get your stuff for you though, but it still seems to take forever to negotiate all of the distance from shoreline to change-room to bike to finally back down a ramp and on your way.

The bike course has way too many turns for my liking, and quite a few hills. Which I don't mind, except when they combine the hills with the turns. Which they did. You bike through beautiful farm country in some parts, but beware, dairy farms can be fairly pungent. I passed a few women early on, including Taz, but after that there were just a few that I continued to trade positions with throughout the ride. Of course there were also the usual speedsters who cruised past me like I was moving backward. As usual, the first half of the ride I was pleased with my speed but it fell off towards the end. I never saw anyone in my age group right after the beginning of the bike, so I just kept assuming there was a clump of them way up ahead that I just could never catch. (this is what always happens to me).

I was psyched to get off the bike and start the run. One of the stronger women on the bike started out with me. We both glanced at each other's legs and were both happy to realized we were indifferent age groups. So we ran together for the next five miles and enjoyed each other's speed and company. Bummer, though, she fell back and I was on my own. The course runs through the University of Wisconsin's football stadium as well as through its campus and by the state capitol – great for spectators. I saw Dan and the boys and enjoyed my favorite part of the race – hand-slaps from the kids. Finally got an update from Dan (after having to ask for it), and was shocked to hear I was first out off the bike! So, just like Florida a few years ago, I kept repeating to myself, it's mine to lose, just keep going. Felt really good during the first half of the run, but like I said, the second half was tough, and the last ¼ was quite hard. No more updates from Dan although I was able to see the guys quite a few times throughout the course. John even got the entire Fire Department to yell for me when I went by at one point. Finished 10:44:41 after I started. Boy, I sure felt bad at the end – that was the hardest I think I've ever worked in a race. Good enough for first in my age group, though, 52 minutes ahead of second in my age group; set a new course record but only by 5 minutes – Taz did a great job of not only winning her age group but setting the W50-54 record by more than 10 minutes! I think the speedy 45-49 year olds must all be waiting to participate in Kona next month along with Dan. What's the bottom line after all of this wordiness? We're going to Kona again next year and the boys are starting to think that Hawaii in October is a great Rees family tradition.

Heron Lake Brick Report

The brick workout and club camping trip up at Heron Lake a couple weeks ago was great! Most camped the night prior (after patiently snaking our way through a couple campgrounds with a five car caravan to find enough empty sites together) with great weather and a fun setting for the kids... it's a really beautiful area and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. The next morning we got organized around 8:00 a.m. and got in the water. We didn't communicate very well on the "group" swim, and so we got separated along the route leaving a few of us to swim on our own for a good part of the route; next time if we choose a destination OR a time, that should help. Or perhaps a staggered start with slower swimmers going out first? It ended up that people swam between 45 min. to 1 hr. 20 min... I was glad to have a full-length wetsuit on but it was great conditions and a nice morning to be out in the water. The water was glassy-calm and maybe in the mid-60s? The sun was out with clear skies as we headed out on a fun, 2-hr. ride out toward the Brazos Cliffs (absolutely gorgeous route). We came back and cooled off in the lake and joined in the kids catching crawfish, then packed it up and headed out. Thanks everyone for joining in. It was a lot of fun and we'll do it again next year. Here's a few pics:

Amy in IMWisc.

Amy just finished IM Wisconsin, and rocked the house. She has to be one of the best IM racers in her age group in the entire country. She was the 16th overall woman, 6th female age grouper, and has won her age group by at least 30 minutes. She was the 203rd finisher, meaning she was top 10% overall, and I think she beat Dan's Wisconsin time of a few years ago. I can't wait to hear the race report.

Cyndi Wells and James Wendleburger are also slicing and dicing, both hit T2 before the cut-off and are currently in the moveable feast of the marathon.

Tamsen Shurman and Dean Sprague from Santa Fe are also racing, it looks like Dean was 15th in 45-49, and Tamsen was second off the bike in her age-group. I didn't see any other New Mexicans, but didn't look all that hard either, so others might be competing.