I am just beginning to understand the contradictions and paradox of these two opposing forces. For the most part, the KS 70.3 was quite a pleasure for me. Unlike last year, the weather was conducive to a faster swim and what seemed like a shorter, less taxing bike ride. The run was certainly not the pain that I remembered from last year, both physically and mentally when the course was closed down due to bad weather. In fact this year, the sun broke through the clouds, and it got painfully hotter towards the end.
This year’s event was at a totally different venue at Clinton Reservoir from the inaugural season of 2008. The day started out painful with the mass arrival of so many participants at one time that the staff could not direct traffic into the parking area fast enough. I am sure that it would have been interesting to have hidden mics in the cars of those of us waiting in line for over 20 minutes to park. I had to really hustle to get to the swim start at T-1, which was nearly a mile away from T-2. After quickly leaving my run gear at T-2, I bolted down the hill to T-1 with barely enough time to leave my gear at my bike and head to the swim start. Thanks to a helpful person in my swim wave, I was able to zip into my wet suit and get in the water. In an earlier day, I would have been completely unnerved by this lack of prep time, but somehow I was fairly serene, and the swim was pleasurable. I was only kicked in the head once, and only got off course once.
The welcoming crowd at the swim exit was much bigger than I anticipated. I felt that I was in the upper third of the 50+ age group wave coming out of the water, and all was good. Then, it dawned on me that I had not had any time to check my tire pressure on my bike before the swim. I made the decision that “oh they feel just fine,” and went on out with the bike. In retrospect, I think they were not fully inflated, but the more critical decision that I had made was to use my gear set and wheel that I used at IM FL. That probably was not so smart as I really could have used the lower gears that I use around Taos. Probably half of the bike course remained the same from last year, but it sure seemed shorter to me. The other similar sensation from the bike course was the feeling of being passed. I really did try to pay attention to my cadence level and keep at or above 80. (I have yet to check the readings from the computer). I really have to figure out why I do not seem to have any cycling power.
Despite these feelings, I really was thoroughly enjoying the scenery. Once again, here was pleasure, but there was the somewhat painful challenge of watching my hydration (I have had two fainting spells from not watching my hydration). I have taken to riding with a Camelback, which I know is not too aero or too cool. In fact, another cyclist came by and offered to straighten up the Camelback for me (that did not help) and another person said, “That thing must cause a lot of wind drag.” I am now on a mission to find the perfect bike-specific hydration system. If I had not had my prior bouts with passing after and during bike rides, I might not be so obsessive about this, but the Camelback has to go for IM CA.
As I was passing over the very flat dam at Clinton Reservoir coming back into T-2, my mind did wander to the fact that I had not finished the Sarah Peretsky novel, Bleeding Kansas, which was set in contemporary Lawrence, but contained a lot of local history that meant a lot to me since I grew up in Lawrence and knew Sarah’s younger brother in grade school. On Friday when I went to pick up my packet, I had an even more blast from the past as one of the registration volunteers was none other than the 80+ year-old mother of a school age friend. Her jaw dropped when I re-introduced myself to her as I am sure that she could not believe that that weird little neighborhood kid from the past was participating in this triathlon. And, what is her son doing these days? No time to dwell on this, let’s get back to the run.
The run course was tightly woven around the expo area and campground where there was a great crowd and music. The only exception was a leg that dropped down the hill to T-1. I started the run thinking that I felt so much better than at the start of last year’s race. Once again, more pleasure, but that feeling started to dwindle as time went by and once again, I was being passed. The course wound through a lot of the campground, and I was constantly fooled thinking that the turnaround point was just ahead. Was it just around the next curve. No, not yet, perhaps it is at the next curve? I knew that by this time things were becoming more mental for me. I really did kick it up for the final mile coming into the finish line, and I was so exhausted that I did (once again) screw up the summary readings on my Polar monitor so that I could not get my max and avg HR. I was gunning for a 6:30 finish time, it actually was 6:42.
Now, I am truly playing mind games with myself. Did I enjoy the day so much that I did not push myself enough? Should I have endured more pain to have the pleasure of attaining my goal time?
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Trackwork 6/18/09
I plan on showing up at noon, starting the workout at 12:15
5x1000M start at your 5k pace and either hold or descend your interval
200M recovery taking around 1/3 of the interval
I will start my intervals at about 88 - 89 pace, which is a 3:40 interval, take a 1:20 recovery and send every 5:00
The key to this workout is the short active recovery, so pick a sustainable pace such that you can maintain the recovery and execute the interval.
5x1000M start at your 5k pace and either hold or descend your interval
200M recovery taking around 1/3 of the interval
I will start my intervals at about 88 - 89 pace, which is a 3:40 interval, take a 1:20 recovery and send every 5:00
The key to this workout is the short active recovery, so pick a sustainable pace such that you can maintain the recovery and execute the interval.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Trackwork 6/11/09
I plan on being at the track at noon and starting at 12:15
today....
1600, 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400 all with a brisk walking - or timed-100M recovery. Negative split your pace as you descend the ladder.
So I intend to start at a 90 second pace and basis - and my recovery basis will be a consistent 75 seconds.
The 1600 = 6:00 (90s pace), send on 7:15
The 1200 = 4:24 (88s pace), send on 13:00
The 1000 = 3:35 = (86s pace), send on 18:00
The 800 = 2:48 (84s pace), send on 22:15
The 600 = 2:03 (82s pace), send on 25:45
The 400 = 80s
For all workouts other than speed/power oriented efforts I like to control the recovery for several reasons. it provides positive structure to the entire workout allowing us to incorporate the rest phase into the active phase of the workout, and it doesn't allow us to cheat the recovery. This type of training should keep you high in the aerobic zone for the entire workout and toggle your body in and out of the anaerobic zone. This will force your body to deal with the slowly accumulating byproducts of glycogen and oxygen rich energy consumption ultimately resulting in deeper aerobic capacity and a higher anaerobic floor, a phenomenon that ideally will be realized in faster results on race day. At least, thats what I think it does.
Also, my watch is kind of a pain to reset, so it is easier to keep it running.
All speed work should be contained and controlled. Necessarily it should get more difficult, even very hard as the effort evolves, but always controlled. Concentrate on your form and pace. As always, once you start catastrophically failing the workout as planned, quit it and call it a day...there is no lost honor in this. I quit several workouts a year because I overestimated my ability and simply went too fast with too little recovery or because I was too fatigued for the planned intensity.
today....
1600, 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400 all with a brisk walking - or timed-100M recovery. Negative split your pace as you descend the ladder.
So I intend to start at a 90 second pace and basis - and my recovery basis will be a consistent 75 seconds.
The 1600 = 6:00 (90s pace), send on 7:15
The 1200 = 4:24 (88s pace), send on 13:00
The 1000 = 3:35 = (86s pace), send on 18:00
The 800 = 2:48 (84s pace), send on 22:15
The 600 = 2:03 (82s pace), send on 25:45
The 400 = 80s
For all workouts other than speed/power oriented efforts I like to control the recovery for several reasons. it provides positive structure to the entire workout allowing us to incorporate the rest phase into the active phase of the workout, and it doesn't allow us to cheat the recovery. This type of training should keep you high in the aerobic zone for the entire workout and toggle your body in and out of the anaerobic zone. This will force your body to deal with the slowly accumulating byproducts of glycogen and oxygen rich energy consumption ultimately resulting in deeper aerobic capacity and a higher anaerobic floor, a phenomenon that ideally will be realized in faster results on race day. At least, thats what I think it does.
Also, my watch is kind of a pain to reset, so it is easier to keep it running.
All speed work should be contained and controlled. Necessarily it should get more difficult, even very hard as the effort evolves, but always controlled. Concentrate on your form and pace. As always, once you start catastrophically failing the workout as planned, quit it and call it a day...there is no lost honor in this. I quit several workouts a year because I overestimated my ability and simply went too fast with too little recovery or because I was too fatigued for the planned intensity.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Race Report Deuces Wild Tri Festival, Show Low, AZ 05/30,31
The Deuces Wild Tri festival was last weekend – they have five events, including the kid's race – a little something for everyone. There's a half ironman distance race, an aquabike for those who want the half distance without the run, an Olympic distance race and a kid's race all on Saturday, and an XTERRA on Sunday. Show Low is a 5:15 drive from LA, and don't forget Arizona does not observe daylight savings time, so you lose an hour as you cross the border (a little tidbit forgotten by yours truly. And Laurie Goddard, so I didn't feel quite so much of a doofus). You can check-in at the venue till 7:00 Friday night, but can also do so early on race day.
The Triatomics who participated: Dina and Char Latham from Santa Fe both did the Olympic, Clay and Laurie both did the XTERRA, and I participated in the half. Our boys were supposed to do the kids race, but it got postponed till Sunday morning due to heavy rain mid-day, and we had to leave late Saturday night, so we'll have to wait till next year for that one.
Race morning was nice, a bit chilly (Show Low is around 6300' – helps for Northern New Mexicans, hurts the Phoenix and Tucson people) and there was the usual pre-race discussion about how much clothing to wear. Water temp was reported to be 62 degrees – I was actually comfortable with just my wetsuit, no booties or skull cap like I saw some racers wearing. The men went off at 6:30, women left 4 minutes later. I had a little trouble sighting, as usual, but got out of the water unscathed. It always seems like a long 1.2 miles to me. I knew there were a clump of women ahead of me, but not how many. With all of the men ahead as well, it's pretty tough to know where you stand. Out on the bike I passed 4 or 5 women fairly early on, and then just kept riding. I passed a couple more about a quarter of the way through. The course is a bit hilly but not bad. Especially for those of us who ride the loop on a regular basis. There is a long hill around mile 40, but certainly no worse than coming up from the Bandelier entrance to the back gate, and nothing as bad as climbing out of Ancho. My only complaint – there were a lot more people in the Olympic distance race than the long course and from about mile 27 till I came up to Olympic racers where their bike course joined the long course, I was by myself. That is a long time to stay focused.
The run was a two-loop course that consisted of dirt trail, concrete, asphalt, and hills that sneaked up on you. Definitely not a fast course. I ended up leaving too much out on the bike and never really felt that spring in my step that I usually feel after the first mile or so. It was a slow slog for me and lots of effort. Only one mile was sub 8:00, and at 7:58 for mile 1, I barely even made that milestone. There are a couple of places you have a turn around and can see your competitors. Olympic and long course share the same run, so it was fun to cheer for Char and Dina as we passed each other. I wasn't sure till the half way point for the half that I was in first place – with all of the competitors on the same course and the only delineation being the color of your bib number, and the two-loop nature, there was lots of ways to get it mixed up. I ended up coming in first, though, and beat second by quite a bit (18 minutes).
This is a great race for prizes: overall winners went 5 deep and each received a significant gift certificates to TriSports.com (the race sponsor), as well as a Spinervals CD for all AG first place,s and a decorative keychain holder thing (OK, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that – for now it's stuck in a corner with all of the other race stuff), and finishers medals for all. Plus, they have a HUGE raffle and give away really great stuff – multiple wetsuits, running and cycling shoes, aerobar sets, a Kuota bike frame, a very cool Felt cruiser, and tons of smaller stuff – well worth waiting around for Saturday evening.
I posted a couple of photos on the Photo webpage – don't worry, Clay, Dan came through for you and got some of Dina racing.
The Triatomics who participated: Dina and Char Latham from Santa Fe both did the Olympic, Clay and Laurie both did the XTERRA, and I participated in the half. Our boys were supposed to do the kids race, but it got postponed till Sunday morning due to heavy rain mid-day, and we had to leave late Saturday night, so we'll have to wait till next year for that one.
Race morning was nice, a bit chilly (Show Low is around 6300' – helps for Northern New Mexicans, hurts the Phoenix and Tucson people) and there was the usual pre-race discussion about how much clothing to wear. Water temp was reported to be 62 degrees – I was actually comfortable with just my wetsuit, no booties or skull cap like I saw some racers wearing. The men went off at 6:30, women left 4 minutes later. I had a little trouble sighting, as usual, but got out of the water unscathed. It always seems like a long 1.2 miles to me. I knew there were a clump of women ahead of me, but not how many. With all of the men ahead as well, it's pretty tough to know where you stand. Out on the bike I passed 4 or 5 women fairly early on, and then just kept riding. I passed a couple more about a quarter of the way through. The course is a bit hilly but not bad. Especially for those of us who ride the loop on a regular basis. There is a long hill around mile 40, but certainly no worse than coming up from the Bandelier entrance to the back gate, and nothing as bad as climbing out of Ancho. My only complaint – there were a lot more people in the Olympic distance race than the long course and from about mile 27 till I came up to Olympic racers where their bike course joined the long course, I was by myself. That is a long time to stay focused.
The run was a two-loop course that consisted of dirt trail, concrete, asphalt, and hills that sneaked up on you. Definitely not a fast course. I ended up leaving too much out on the bike and never really felt that spring in my step that I usually feel after the first mile or so. It was a slow slog for me and lots of effort. Only one mile was sub 8:00, and at 7:58 for mile 1, I barely even made that milestone. There are a couple of places you have a turn around and can see your competitors. Olympic and long course share the same run, so it was fun to cheer for Char and Dina as we passed each other. I wasn't sure till the half way point for the half that I was in first place – with all of the competitors on the same course and the only delineation being the color of your bib number, and the two-loop nature, there was lots of ways to get it mixed up. I ended up coming in first, though, and beat second by quite a bit (18 minutes).
This is a great race for prizes: overall winners went 5 deep and each received a significant gift certificates to TriSports.com (the race sponsor), as well as a Spinervals CD for all AG first place,s and a decorative keychain holder thing (OK, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that – for now it's stuck in a corner with all of the other race stuff), and finishers medals for all. Plus, they have a HUGE raffle and give away really great stuff – multiple wetsuits, running and cycling shoes, aerobar sets, a Kuota bike frame, a very cool Felt cruiser, and tons of smaller stuff – well worth waiting around for Saturday evening.
I posted a couple of photos on the Photo webpage – don't worry, Clay, Dan came through for you and got some of Dina racing.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Trackwork 6/4/09
2x3000M at tempo pace.....around 10k, pace or so...400M jog between.
I was right at 93-94 pace for the efforts finishing at 11:43 for both.
I was right at 93-94 pace for the efforts finishing at 11:43 for both.
Track
2x3000M at tempo pace.....around 10k, pace or so...400M jog between.
I was right at 93-94 pace for the efforts finishing at 11:43 for both.
I was right at 93-94 pace for the efforts finishing at 11:43 for both.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Deuces Wild!
Well, we managed to make it all the way over to Show Low, AZ for the Deuces Wild Triathlon Festival. This is a great race weekend that everyone should experience. They have the DeuceMan 1/2 IM distance race, an Olympic distance race, and a pretty wild XTERRA on Sunday. It was perfect for our little "tri family," as Dina was able to race the Olympic on Saturday while I hung out with Mila, then it was my turn for the XTERRA race on Sunday.
We took the camper and camped the first night at El Malpais Nat'l Monument (very cool place and worth a trip there on its own). Then we went to the race venue at Fool's Hollow Lake in Show Low, but missed getting the very last spot by about 20 minutes...luckily, I had a sneaky backup plan that had us camping right outside the park on a dirt road, but within range of riding to the races each day...very sneaky indeed. The camping near the lake is fantastic.
I have to apologize that I didn't take ONE SINGLE photo of Dina racing. I never even thought to pull out the camera because I had Mila in tow and she needed to eat, sleep, play, eat again, get her diaper changed, and we worked hard on being at the right place on the course for cheering when Dina came in from each leg.
(late update: Dan Rees graciously sent me some pictures he took of Dina during the run leg of her race...thanks to Dan for saving me on that one)
Like I said before, Dina has had a very rough spring with nagging injuries, colds and other strange viruses, so this was going to be interesting. She didn't get to train a single time between Jay Benson and the Deuces Wild Olympic...whoa!
She managed just fine and paced herself after taking off very aggro in the swim and realizing her body wasn't quite ready for that. She backed off and swam steady, then biked steady into T-2 for an unknown run leg. She wasn't sure she would be able to finish, but she did with smiles and laughs to spare. I was amazed at her spirit and ability to push on and do quite well. She did the whole thing in something like 3:16...it's a hilly course and not fast for an Olympic.
A couple of comments on Dina's race: although she got a little nervous beforehand because it is a race, she didn't let it get to her too much even though she was going into a pretty competitive race with virtually NO training. I was impressed. She started out pretty hard, but realized that wasn't the right thing to do and backed off to a level she could sustain and had fun the rest of the race. She stopped to kiss Mila a couple of times, play games with Ben and John Rees (and nearly miss a timing mat in the process), etc. She still ended up 3rd in the Athena category.
On Sunday, the XTERRA went pretty well for me and I'm overall satisfied. I can't really complain, but did have a couple of minor problems.
After Dina's race on Saturday, I attempted to get out on the mtn bike for a quick ride around the bike course, but they're having early monsoons there too and I got hit by a nasty fierce storm at the top of the long, broad dome mountain that we have to climb to the top of in the race. With the lightning and hail, I had to act fast and hoof it back down the way I went up in the sloppy mud and cold, driving rain. It screwed up my bike a little bit and my brakes were rubbing pretty badly for some reason when I got back to the camper. I tried to fix them later, but it didn't seem like I was 100% successful (dang disk brakes!). I didn't worry too much about it since they often sort themselves out magically once you use them a few times on a ride.
The next morning dawned chilly and we were to the race venue with baby Mila by 6AM...way to go Mommy! I didn't have too much to worry about and even got in a good little warmup. I checked the disk brakes again and they were rubbing a little but I had hope they wouldn't hamper my speed too much.
I got enough warmup for the swim and started in the front, and when the gun went off, I hit it hard right in the scrum. I hate those aggressive swim starts, but I wanted to get out in front quickly to avoid being too far back on the mtn bike single track (passing is not so easy in mtn biking). I was quickly engulfed by the idiots and hit in the head and pushed down, so I backed off to the second line. Soon, most of those clown blew up and I found some open water in front, but could still see swimmers ahead of me, so I had no idea what place I was. I got into a very good rhythm and knew it was a good swim when I exited the water. I felt good going up the ramp to the wetsuit strippers, but they botched the strip job and it took probably 30 seconds longer than it should have. Some guys passed me in transition and I would have to work to catch them.
Out on the bike, I was feeling good. But I soon realized that my brakes were scrubbing my speed somewhat and I was getting caught by a few guys who would not normally ride up to me like that. I struggled on the early shallow climbs in the woods until it got steeper. I tried to just dug a little deeper to stay with a couple of guys that I just couldn't let go. It was a little frustrating, but I figured it might not matter on the downhill side of the mountain.
We soon got a little higher on the mountain where the rain fell the hardest and the mud was DEEP and sticky. It is that structural mud that makes fine adobe, and that's exactly what happened on our bikes. It stuck to everything and we were all soon pedaling 50 lbs+ bikes up that steep hill. We would loose 2/3 of our pedal power to slippage, and it began to be a battle of survival. Guys were clogging up everywhere and falling down and just mentally losing it. It was a little comical, but not so much when we were "in the thick of it." I knew the course just got steeper and steeper at that point, so I found a very low gear, let it skip out for a minute or two until the chain wore through the mud and just kept it there. I was a good strategy and I began to catch and pass those guys who had passed me not long before. I kept riding, to my amazement, while they were all forced to push and/or pull their mud-laden bikes up the ever-steepening gradient. We soon hit the upper stretches where there were rocks mixed in with the mud, and that made it interesting because the sticky mud would pick up the rocks and lodge them tightly between wheels and brakes, or wheels and frame. It finally caught up to me too (at one point, I think I was the only one still actually on my bike) and I was stopped dead in my tracks and fell over onto another guy who was pushing his bike at almost the same speed as me -- my cleats were all clogged up and wouldn't unclip from the pedals. So, I had to push a bit, but the really rocky section saved me because the mud cleared enough to get back on and ride the rest of the way to the top, where I figured I was back in the top-5 to 10 spots and now motoring with a lot more gusto.
I hit the nasty descent and never looked back. I knew that everyone else were now having at least as much trouble with their bikes as I had been, so I made hay while I had the chance. I pushed the limits on the very slick, muddy descents and used my brakes very little. We got to an intersection of muddy trail with muddy road and the people said we were about 3 minutes behind the leaders and we're in about 5th, 6th, 7th...that was good news.
The rest of the bike went well and I ended up with the 7th fastest bike split and in about 7th place (that's not always the case). I never felt bad on the bike, whereas last year, I felt a little crapped out by the final steep climb before the last descent into T-2, so I was happy going into the run.
I had a much better T-2 and hit the road in 7th/8th. I love it when you begin to feel your running legs early in a race. I had 6th place in my sights pretty early and ran him down before the course got really technical.
XTERRAs are weird. The course designers are encouraged to throw a lot of obstacles in your way, and that's what they do at this XTERRA. Much of the run is standard off-road running, but at one point, we had to run down a nasty slick rocky hill to the bottom of a lake spillway wash with huge boulders (imagine running across the Cochiti Lake dam), then back up a long, nearly verticle hill. That was at mile #1! That cracks your legs for the rest of the race and you never fully recover from it. I did better than last year and got my speed back up. I began to see a couple of guys ahead, but one guy that I entered T-2 just behind was just killing it and he was pulling away, despite my good run feelings. I saw the guys he was catching and figured I might if I really pushed it, so I did.
Way out on the far end, there's an out-and-back on a jeep road, and that's the first time we got to see where we were. I was in 6th, with 4th and 5th clearly not running as fast as I was, but still quite a ways ahead. Oddly, I thought 2nd looked a little slow too, but too far ahead for this late in the race. I pushed it hard and hoped 4th and 5th would crack. I got my wish with 5th...he died just enough, but 4th held tough.
Again, we had to descend a loose rocky slope to swampy islet of the lake and they made us run right through the lake...not as badly as last year, where it was chest deep and I was forced to actually swim. This time, it was only up the thigh depth and I elected to stay on my feet. Beyond that, it's another steep uphill trudge, now with totally squishy wet feet. Just before getting on the final stretches of the lake bike path and the final paved finishing stretch, they took us down into another swamp, where I got a little lost but have Dina's cheering to thank for helping me navigate to the correct place to climb back up to the lake path.
At that final point, I turned it on with what I had, but felt a knarly hamstring cramp forming and had to back off, so I never quite caught the 4th place guy, who had had a great bike ride.
So, it was 5th overall and I was happy. We all had a lot of war stories to share with each other.
Dina and I noticed how the Arizona tri scene is quite different from ours. These guys all have these entourage "posses" of other people who do everything for them and blow smoke up their butts and just hang out with these guys. They all have fancy haircuts and cars and clothes and what the heck is that all about?
So, it was a fun trip. Now we're off to the Milkman this weekend.
We took the camper and camped the first night at El Malpais Nat'l Monument (very cool place and worth a trip there on its own). Then we went to the race venue at Fool's Hollow Lake in Show Low, but missed getting the very last spot by about 20 minutes...luckily, I had a sneaky backup plan that had us camping right outside the park on a dirt road, but within range of riding to the races each day...very sneaky indeed. The camping near the lake is fantastic.
I have to apologize that I didn't take ONE SINGLE photo of Dina racing. I never even thought to pull out the camera because I had Mila in tow and she needed to eat, sleep, play, eat again, get her diaper changed, and we worked hard on being at the right place on the course for cheering when Dina came in from each leg.
(late update: Dan Rees graciously sent me some pictures he took of Dina during the run leg of her race...thanks to Dan for saving me on that one)
Like I said before, Dina has had a very rough spring with nagging injuries, colds and other strange viruses, so this was going to be interesting. She didn't get to train a single time between Jay Benson and the Deuces Wild Olympic...whoa!
She managed just fine and paced herself after taking off very aggro in the swim and realizing her body wasn't quite ready for that. She backed off and swam steady, then biked steady into T-2 for an unknown run leg. She wasn't sure she would be able to finish, but she did with smiles and laughs to spare. I was amazed at her spirit and ability to push on and do quite well. She did the whole thing in something like 3:16...it's a hilly course and not fast for an Olympic.
A couple of comments on Dina's race: although she got a little nervous beforehand because it is a race, she didn't let it get to her too much even though she was going into a pretty competitive race with virtually NO training. I was impressed. She started out pretty hard, but realized that wasn't the right thing to do and backed off to a level she could sustain and had fun the rest of the race. She stopped to kiss Mila a couple of times, play games with Ben and John Rees (and nearly miss a timing mat in the process), etc. She still ended up 3rd in the Athena category.
On Sunday, the XTERRA went pretty well for me and I'm overall satisfied. I can't really complain, but did have a couple of minor problems.After Dina's race on Saturday, I attempted to get out on the mtn bike for a quick ride around the bike course, but they're having early monsoons there too and I got hit by a nasty fierce storm at the top of the long, broad dome mountain that we have to climb to the top of in the race. With the lightning and hail, I had to act fast and hoof it back down the way I went up in the sloppy mud and cold, driving rain. It screwed up my bike a little bit and my brakes were rubbing pretty badly for some reason when I got back to the camper. I tried to fix them later, but it didn't seem like I was 100% successful (dang disk brakes!). I didn't worry too much about it since they often sort themselves out magically once you use them a few times on a ride.
The next morning dawned chilly and we were to the race venue with baby Mila by 6AM...way to go Mommy! I didn't have too much to worry about and even got in a good little warmup. I checked the disk brakes again and they were rubbing a little but I had hope they wouldn't hamper my speed too much.
I got enough warmup for the swim and started in the front, and when the gun went off, I hit it hard right in the scrum. I hate those aggressive swim starts, but I wanted to get out in front quickly to avoid being too far back on the mtn bike single track (passing is not so easy in mtn biking). I was quickly engulfed by the idiots and hit in the head and pushed down, so I backed off to the second line. Soon, most of those clown blew up and I found some open water in front, but could still see swimmers ahead of me, so I had no idea what place I was. I got into a very good rhythm and knew it was a good swim when I exited the water. I felt good going up the ramp to the wetsuit strippers, but they botched the strip job and it took probably 30 seconds longer than it should have. Some guys passed me in transition and I would have to work to catch them.
Out on the bike, I was feeling good. But I soon realized that my brakes were scrubbing my speed somewhat and I was getting caught by a few guys who would not normally ride up to me like that. I struggled on the early shallow climbs in the woods until it got steeper. I tried to just dug a little deeper to stay with a couple of guys that I just couldn't let go. It was a little frustrating, but I figured it might not matter on the downhill side of the mountain.
We soon got a little higher on the mountain where the rain fell the hardest and the mud was DEEP and sticky. It is that structural mud that makes fine adobe, and that's exactly what happened on our bikes. It stuck to everything and we were all soon pedaling 50 lbs+ bikes up that steep hill. We would loose 2/3 of our pedal power to slippage, and it began to be a battle of survival. Guys were clogging up everywhere and falling down and just mentally losing it. It was a little comical, but not so much when we were "in the thick of it." I knew the course just got steeper and steeper at that point, so I found a very low gear, let it skip out for a minute or two until the chain wore through the mud and just kept it there. I was a good strategy and I began to catch and pass those guys who had passed me not long before. I kept riding, to my amazement, while they were all forced to push and/or pull their mud-laden bikes up the ever-steepening gradient. We soon hit the upper stretches where there were rocks mixed in with the mud, and that made it interesting because the sticky mud would pick up the rocks and lodge them tightly between wheels and brakes, or wheels and frame. It finally caught up to me too (at one point, I think I was the only one still actually on my bike) and I was stopped dead in my tracks and fell over onto another guy who was pushing his bike at almost the same speed as me -- my cleats were all clogged up and wouldn't unclip from the pedals. So, I had to push a bit, but the really rocky section saved me because the mud cleared enough to get back on and ride the rest of the way to the top, where I figured I was back in the top-5 to 10 spots and now motoring with a lot more gusto.
I hit the nasty descent and never looked back. I knew that everyone else were now having at least as much trouble with their bikes as I had been, so I made hay while I had the chance. I pushed the limits on the very slick, muddy descents and used my brakes very little. We got to an intersection of muddy trail with muddy road and the people said we were about 3 minutes behind the leaders and we're in about 5th, 6th, 7th...that was good news.
The rest of the bike went well and I ended up with the 7th fastest bike split and in about 7th place (that's not always the case). I never felt bad on the bike, whereas last year, I felt a little crapped out by the final steep climb before the last descent into T-2, so I was happy going into the run.
I had a much better T-2 and hit the road in 7th/8th. I love it when you begin to feel your running legs early in a race. I had 6th place in my sights pretty early and ran him down before the course got really technical.
XTERRAs are weird. The course designers are encouraged to throw a lot of obstacles in your way, and that's what they do at this XTERRA. Much of the run is standard off-road running, but at one point, we had to run down a nasty slick rocky hill to the bottom of a lake spillway wash with huge boulders (imagine running across the Cochiti Lake dam), then back up a long, nearly verticle hill. That was at mile #1! That cracks your legs for the rest of the race and you never fully recover from it. I did better than last year and got my speed back up. I began to see a couple of guys ahead, but one guy that I entered T-2 just behind was just killing it and he was pulling away, despite my good run feelings. I saw the guys he was catching and figured I might if I really pushed it, so I did.
Way out on the far end, there's an out-and-back on a jeep road, and that's the first time we got to see where we were. I was in 6th, with 4th and 5th clearly not running as fast as I was, but still quite a ways ahead. Oddly, I thought 2nd looked a little slow too, but too far ahead for this late in the race. I pushed it hard and hoped 4th and 5th would crack. I got my wish with 5th...he died just enough, but 4th held tough.
Again, we had to descend a loose rocky slope to swampy islet of the lake and they made us run right through the lake...not as badly as last year, where it was chest deep and I was forced to actually swim. This time, it was only up the thigh depth and I elected to stay on my feet. Beyond that, it's another steep uphill trudge, now with totally squishy wet feet. Just before getting on the final stretches of the lake bike path and the final paved finishing stretch, they took us down into another swamp, where I got a little lost but have Dina's cheering to thank for helping me navigate to the correct place to climb back up to the lake path.
At that final point, I turned it on with what I had, but felt a knarly hamstring cramp forming and had to back off, so I never quite caught the 4th place guy, who had had a great bike ride.
So, it was 5th overall and I was happy. We all had a lot of war stories to share with each other.
Dina and I noticed how the Arizona tri scene is quite different from ours. These guys all have these entourage "posses" of other people who do everything for them and blow smoke up their butts and just hang out with these guys. They all have fancy haircuts and cars and clothes and what the heck is that all about?
So, it was a fun trip. Now we're off to the Milkman this weekend.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
