Sept 17-18th Trail Duathlon and Cyclocross Events course info!

Well, the Enchanted Forest Trail Fest weekend is set for Sept 17th-18th with a trail duathlon and cyclocross events and clinics for all levels and abilities! Proceeds from the event will benefit Los Alamos trail restoration efforts! There will be free camping at the venue (no hookups) and hotel discounts in Red River for participants! Check out registration, schedule and more details on the flyer on the Southwest Nordic Ski Club's homepage under Club News and Upcoming Events front and center.
Below is some info on the actual courses for the Trail Du and Cyclocross events courtesy of Clay:

After the mountain bike race in Red River on Saturday, Nina and I, and a couple of the Get Out! team juniors all went up to the Enchanted Forest trails to scope out the best possible course options. As of now, the trails are beautifully soggy, green and a bit muddy in places -- perfect conditions for a cyclocross and trail duathlon. Except for the altitude, it felt more like we were in Oregon or New Enland. Come Sept. 17-18, the trails will probably have had time to dry up just enough to make for a perfect weekend of trail events.


I can say that I believe we've come up with the best course for the cyclocross event, and the duathlon course is still being figured out with many more little sections of fun and scenic single track still being discovered. We found some nice terrain that will allow the advantage of real cross bikes to be maximized. The course is a blend of some more buffed out double-track "access" road, a short, steep natural run-up right where specators and campers will be, and a lot of rolling/twisty Oregon/New England-like woods that will be quick and fun. We tried to avoid too much steep grinding, or gnarly descents that favor mountain bikes. It'll be a real traditional cyclocross course that both racers and spectators will enjoy.

For those of you who went up to RR for the mountain bike race and got your butt kicked by that crazy (for lack of a better way to phrase it...) course, you might want to consider this event. Trail Du course will be a lot more flowing terrain with a mix of wooded double and single track with only short climbs and fun descents. This is the case for both the run and the bike. These are going be some fun events.

The cyclocross camp is going to feature several accomplished 'crossers giving instruction. If you're looking to improve your cross skills, come up and take advantage of this opportunity.

Vineman 70.3 race report (July 17, 2011)

The Vineman 70.3 triathlon was held this past Sunday in Sonoma County, CA. It was a very fun race, and a great reason to visit the Bay area. We arrived Friday night on the same flight as fellow racer Jeri Sullivan and Dave Chamberlain. Char Latham also raced, but she put the long miles on her car in order to get to the venue. (Hopefully one or both of them can add onto this). The weather was great all weekend – Saturday was beautiful and sunny, and a great day for some wine tasting before getting to the race expo.

Event organizers required everyone to attend a pre-race briefing and get their hand stamped before you could get your registration packet. Warning to anyone planning on doing this race (and I do recommend it): you can't show up at a briefing late, as they close/lock the doors to the gym and don't let late stragglers in. So you have to wait till the next briefing an hour later if you're not on time.

Vineman is different from many triathlons as it is point to point, with T1 not being in the same place as T2. The race expo is held where T2 exists, so after getting your packet, you can simply drop off your run gear and be done. Makes packing on race morning kind of weird, though, as I kept thinking I was forgetting something, since my pile of stuff was smaller than usual. Up early got us to the transition area in plenty of time. Lots of big name pros raced, including Miranda Carfrae who ran by me as I was bringing all of my gear down to transition. Chris Lieto chatted with Ben and me after the race, while we were mulling about waiting for awards. A very nice guy.

Swim start for Jeri and me
The swim is in the Russian River – a shallow, wide, minimal current waterway – you swim upcurrent for half, and then turn around and come back. There were tons of starting waves – the pros went off at 6:30 men, 6:32 women, and then every 8 minutes after that; Jeri and I weren't till 7:26 and there were plenty more people after us. One nice thing (especially compared to Boulder Peak Olympic distance a week ago), people were free to come and go in transition well after the race had started. (In Boulder last week we all were kicked out at 6:20, ten minutes before the pros started, and we were never allowed back in, no matter the fact that I didn't go off till 7:10). The current did not seem bad at all, although it looked like some people really had trouble with it. For a couple of the waves, we watched the slower people seemingly go no where as they headed out - very troubling till I got in and couldn't figure out what issues they were having, as it really didn't seem like much. The water was 70 degrees, so wetsuit-legal for everyone – there has been one out of the past 20 years that it was so warm, no one could wear a wetsuit. The water was shallow, so that at some points, you could see the bottom, and at the turn around, there were quite a few men walking. I walked a little bit till I realized it was hurting the bottom of my feet. Still, it was so shallow, that you could had to pay attention to not hit the river bottom with your hands. This was only for a little bit, though. And the way back did seem faster than going out. We swam up the right side and back on the left.

Transition was sandy then rocky, but a carpet was laid along the length of the area, except not between rows. Enough to not be too bad, though.
"Where's my bike?"
You have to pay attention to where your rack is - there were close to 40 different rows. They gave you a plastic bag to load your swim gear into so that they could transport it to the finish area for you, or you were free to toss it to your cheering family – which I was able to do. Dan and the boys had gotten up early with me, and had been at the start area the entire time.

Immediately coming out of transition is a little hill. I had watched some of the pros run up it, and others ride up it (yes, they were in, out, and on their way, before I had even entered the water). I chose to run up it before mounting my bike, which I think was the right decision. The bike ride was great. Some hills (one in particular got my attention), with some twists and turns, but very pretty, riding through many vineyard areas and other crops, as well as lots of trees. Best part about the day – the weather was overcast until mid-way through my run. It had been hot on Saturday, which was fine for walking around and touring, but the clouds on Sunday really helped keep it cool throughout a good deal of the race. (I spoke to Liz Miller once back in LA, who has done therace the past two years, and she spoke of >100 degree temps when she finished her runs each time. Ugh). The bike surface is pretty good, although not always. It's a point to point to point bike, leaving Guernesville and ending up in Windsor at the high school. Almost all back roads except for the very end, so quite pleasant. I gotta admit, it's pretty cool to come into transition and only see one other bike anywhere near yours. Some lady came in soon after me, though, and mentioned that I was in second and that the woman in front was a good swimmer. I had no idea. (Turns out the woman in front of me, stayed in front of me for the entire race. And good swimmer, indeed; she's an ex-Olympic swimmer, and was a pro-triathlete for three years as well. And very nice, as I found out while chatting with her after the race).

The run was nice – some more back roads and then literally into and around La Crema winery's vineyards. I knew Dan was bummed, though; part of his spectating plan had been to be sipping wine at the winery while the runners came by. Unfortunately, there was a big sign as we entered the winery, saying “Welcome to La Crema Winery – visit our store in downtown Healdsburg for Wine Tastings,” or something to that effect. So he and the boys had driven all the way out for nothing! But I did get to high-five with the guys a couple of times in and out of the 1.1 mile loop in the vineyard which was fun.

There were a few hills on the run which kept it interesting as well. I saw Char and Jeri, and my friend Jaclyn from TriSports.com on the run, but with everyone starting at different times, it's hard to tell how everyone was really doing. (Although afterwards, I saw Jeri and she said she took more than half an hour off her previous half iron distance race!).



I crossed the finish line 5:05:14 after I started – a time I was pleased with. I certainly felt more recovered from Ironman CdA this weekend than I did in Boulder, although by about mile 8 in the run, I was feeling it in my legs. I ended up 2nd in the W45-49 age group. Awards weren't till 4:00, which gave me time to get a shower (they had a hose-fed three shower head arrangement at the finish – out in the open, but I was able to do a decent enough job in my singlet and shorts, and then get changed in the school's bathroom, that I felt a ton better afterwards), and get my bike boxed up and put away. Awards went 5-deep for age groups with more than 100 competitors, and 3-deep for the smaller ones. We each got a bottle of La Crema wine (which we drank that evening with my cousin at her house in San Francisco – it was quite good!), and some other swag. First got a TYR wetsuit, 2nd got a TriSports.com gift certificate, 3rd got a visor, and then I lost track... I turned down my slot to the 70.3 World Championship in Las Vegas this year – Dan will be away at a conference, and I'm not comfortable with such a tough race just a month out from Kona. In past years, the 70.3 race has been AFTER Kona, making it more possible for me, but this year they not only changed the venue from Clearwater, but also the time of the year, so no thanks.

We didn't leave California till Tuesday, taking all of Monday to be tourists in San Francisco. What a great city. I would definitely recommend this race to all Triatomics. Being near sea level certainly makes you feel strong, and the hills are nothing compared to what we have to train on, although they are not be taken lightly, either. And, it's a great reason to take the family to northern California for a long weekend. (A visit to Ghirardelli mid-morning - does it get any better?!)

XTERRA Moab 2011

First off, refer to the pics on the Triatomics album for the visuals. Moab is interesting to the eye, for sure:
XTERRA Moab Album

This race is a revived version of the XTERRA they last held here about six years ago and before. The course was changed somewhat from those years, which also had other variations. It worked well, except for the fact that we had on-coming traffic on the far end of the bike. Since it was on a Jeep road, there was room to pass, but the lines were sketchy and people didn't give them up easily. Anyway, it was a great race course.

The swim was in pretty cold water -- between 55 and about 58 degrees, depending on how far out it was measured. It was at a little man-made lake called "Ken's Lake" about 8 miles south of town, and there is quite a bit of camping there too. XTERRA races always seem to be two lap swims, which is strange. The water was so cold that people had trouble staying upright after exiting the water. I had a slow transition because my hands were so numb and I had trouble getting things off from the swim, then on for the bike.

The bike course is held on the infamous "Steelbender" (a.k.a. Flat Pass) Jeep trail. It had some gnarly rock slaps, big ledges, etc. It was physically and technically tough and took a real toll on you back, arms, and hamstrings. It was also pretty scary in parts and required some committed moves to stay on and not walk down them. That made a big difference in times, I think. The drops actually made stuff around here seem pretty tame in comparison.

This was also the longest XTERRA I've done. The bike was a long one (taking me 1:51) and the run was a full 10km on a pretty tough trail (my time of 54:08 was not the fastest, but among the fastest). I think the winner did a 48-something run, which was fast on that course. So, it was a longish race and there were a lot of tired folks afterward.

Laury Goddard had been to a Moab XTERRA training camp about 6 weeks prior, so he knew how bad the bike course was. I thought he was exaggerating, but he certainly wasn't. He was rather understating the difficulty, in fact, and to see it for yourself was absolutely necessary. We pre-rode on the Thursday before, and we had to practice certain spots several time to get it down, and get the guts up to do the drops in the race.

Both Laury and Orion had great races. Here's an amazing fact: this was young Orion's FIRST ever triathlon! He's only 16 and we just started to teach him how to "race swim" this year. He had taken to it quite well, and despite being more of a mountain biker, he's turned into a good swimmer and even better runner. I am pushing him to also run cross country for the Hilltoppers this fall.

We did Los Alamos and the Triatomics proud, with age-group medals for all three of us. Laury got 2nd in the 60-64 (...a tough field, no lie!) and Orion got 2nd in the juniors <18 after a hard-fought battle with two other very good triathletes. The guy who ended up winning was a faster swimmer/runner (and a year older and looked like a grown man), but Orion was hands-down the best mtn biker. The other juniors were amazed with his mtn biking strength and ability. I think he has a future in both road and off-road triathlons. And, I gotta hand it to Laury: this was a very physically demanding course and he knew it ahead of time. He just took it in stride and came out smiling on the other side. I don't know many people who can do something like this, and he did it in style at age 63!!!

I got 3rd in the M40-44, with a 9th OVERALL! The M40-44 class had the most placings of the other age groups in the top ten...well, maybe the 25-29ers had more if you count the overall. I also had a girl beat me! She was awesome and had a stellar bike leg. She can also swim and run well, so I'm not ashamed =)

Overall, this was a great race, but not for the faint of heart, or the under-trained. The course is hard and requires good mtn bike skills. It's also physically tough with all of the rock ledges to climb and a lot of granny-gear, gut-busting mega-steep climbing...throw in two stream crossings, and some deep sand, and you've got a lot of work to do. They do have a much shorter "Sport" version that has some of the stuff, but not nearly as bad.

Moab is also a lot of fun. It's a total circus with the National Park tourists, the jeepers and other off-road vehiculars, the motorcycles, the mtn bikers, the river rafters, the Germans...you get the idea! It's all a lot of fun too, except that they only serve that dang Utah 3.2 beer =)

We drove back home the next day, but not without a stop at a totally cool trail system outside of Cortez, called "Phil's World." This place is a must on any mtn biker's list. See the photos and look it up on the mtn bike forums. It's a great set of trails.

babysitting for Storrie and Cochiti Lake Tris?

Hey, anyone bringing friends/family with them to Storrie Lake or Cochiti Lake tris? If you think they might want to watch our almost 3 year old during the race please email me at dinapesenson at gmail dot com.
We're happy to pay or trade by watching your kid(s) at another event.
thanks!
Dina

Be Nice to the Volunteers!

Don’t let the blog title put you off – I’m hoping this isn’t going to be too dull or too preachy and isn’t meant to be a rant but I really wanted to put some things out there about the importance of volunteers and how the first three races of this season has changed my outlook on both race organizing and volunteering at races. My plan to volunteer actually started off last year when I was planning my race season (yes, a little early….) and was checking out the Chasing3 race calendar www.chasing3.com . Chasing3 are the folks who are running the New Mexico Triathlon Series this year and amongst other races, they did Benson and Cochiti last year. This year they’re doing more races and a race for free program, where if you volunteer to help at selected races, they give you an entry slot for another selected race for free (more details can be found at http://www.chasing3.com/race-for-free/ ) and that sounded pretty good to me so I volunteered at Coyote Carrera and Benson for slots at Storrie Lake and Cochiti.

The first race I volunteered at was Coyote Carrera down in ABQ and I essentially helped out getting people getting body marked and pointing people in the right direction – nothing too challenging but it was fun being involved and seeing the first 10 or so people crossing the line. One thing that stood out while doing a little crowd control to keep people from impeding racers exiting T2 to the pool was a small number of grouchy people who didn’t like being informed that they probably shouldn’t get in the athletes way – hey I’m trying to do you a favor!

Next up was Atomic Man, I did the Fat Man in the cold and light snow and as it was close to home my wife volunteered and helped out with traffic control and directing on the run course. She’s got a low tolerance to the cold so I’m very grateful she helped out in conditions which would approach her own personal hell !!!! However, she also got a few grouchy people, one who “had kids in the car” and wanted to park in the school parking lot after the Little Boy had started and one classic “I pay my taxes” when told a short section of road was closed. Ah, well you always get a few!

The last race was the ever popular Albuquerque World Championships aka Jay Benson and was as usual a great race. This time I helped John out with timing and the bike out/bike in part of the race. Now here we only had one minor grouch but he came back to apologize so fair play to that guy but what struck me at this race was the amount of effort that went into the race set up. I was involved in the break-down too and if you looked around, all the racks, advertisements, barricades etc. had to be broken down and put away and all the course markers and aid stations broken down too. Angie and John told me the Chasing3 crew had been there since 9pm the night before and had worked right through to after the race – would anyone have guessed that’s what they do? Me neither but I do now!

So I think I’m trying to make a few points:

One is that seriously, be nice the volunteers, you might have pre-race tensions and be trying to get in race mode, but the volunteers have probably been up the same length of time you have if not more and are more than likely doing this for free (or at least a free race ;o) and they don’t have to be there. You don’t want to be remembered at a grouch! I know it’s just a few individuals but I’m not writing about the 99% of nice people. BTW every Triatomic was a credit to the club!!!!!!!

Two, next time you’re at a race, look around and think what might have to be taken down when everyone clears out and remember that someone had to put that up – organizing these races is a non-trivial event and be patient if there are minor kinks during race day. Volunteering has given me a whole new perspective on the amount of effort and organization required to put on a race so hats off to Angie and the whole C3 crew. I only saw a small slice of what happens on race day so I can’t imagine some of the stories they have!

Finally, I’d like to get you thinking about volunteering at a race if you haven’t already done so, not only is it pretty fun and you get to meet a bunch of new people, it’s also an eye-opener to what’s involved and you might be able to pick up some tips on what to do or what not to do - I think I now have an idea what’s the most effective way to mount/dismount the bike!

I also want to thank the C3 crew for putting on some great races so far this year and now I’m just looking forward to Storrie Lake and Cochiti and yes, I'll be back to volunteer at more races!!!

FINISHER: Ironman Arizona 11-21-10

My goal was to finish my first IM without hurting myself and I got that done. I got high value on my race registration investment coming in at over 16 hours, and I have to say that the accomplishment feels terrific. This was not really a race for me, but rather a test of endurance—and I passed.

I had done the practice swim the day before so knew that the water was 61 degrees and would require every one of my cold-water survival techniques (see previous post) to ensure that I could both breathe and swim for 2.4 miles. A positive mental attitude was also essential to get through this cold-water swim that could have been my undoing. I didn’t jump off the break wall into the water until about 3 minutes before the 7am race start. The entry point was about 150 yards before the official start. The gun had gone off about 2 minutes before I got to the start line in the water. By design, this allowed me to have open water for most of the race. I kept an even, steady pace and my breathing was good. At the half-way point I saw that my time was 54 minutes and I felt confident that at this easy pace I was going to finish the swim before the 2:20 cut-off time. My swim time was 1:58. When I got out of the water, I was so happy to have made the cut-off—just laughing and smiling ear to ear. They had warming tents and volunteers checking for hypothermia, but I didn’t need any warming tent and ran off to get ready for the ride.

They had angels volunteering in the changing tents, or so it seemed. These divinely inspired people dried my feet and put my socks on for me. Really. When I had the brilliant idea to put my aero helmet on right away, they helped me realized that it would likely be better to put my bike jersey on first. They were amazing. Other volunteers brought my bike to me in transition and I was feeling like a princess. It felt really good to be on my bike and my first of three laps of the course was good—the elevation is low, the pavement is smooth, and the terrain is flat. They say that the three loops of this 112 mile course is very spectator friendly, which is it, but the best part of this configuration for me was getting lapped by the pros—typically twice. I saw and cheered on Chrissie Wellington, Linsey Corbin, Heather Wurtele, Leanda Cave, Jordan Rapp, Chris Lieto, and Andy Potts, amongst others. I can now say that I rode bikes with all these people. Very cool. You could always tell when the front of the pack was going to lap you as all the motorcycles would buzz around. Unfortunately, the wind picked up on the second lap and it started to rain. There were two episodes of really gusty winds and hard rain, but I have been caught in conditions like this in training and really worked the positive mental attitude thing. The conditions were too much of a challenge for some and there were many that DNF’ed on the ride. Actually, about 20% of the field DNF’ed. I heard that about a dozen people literally got blown over on the ride; I saw two, one of which was taken away in an ambulance. I was hoping for a little more speed on the bike, but the wind didn’t allow—my time was 7:01.

It felt really good to get off the bike as I don’t think I have ever held an aero position for quite that long. Again, the angels in the changing tent helped me get on my way for the run. I felt pretty good on the first of three laps of the run course, as it had stopped raining, but then it got quite cold with nightfall. By the second lap I was feeling the effort of the day and the cold air, and I started walking more. I got one of those shiny thermal blankets on the second lap and started taking hot chicken broth at the aid stations. My run splits really show how I was loosing energy on the run, but I knew that even with walking I was going to finish 26.2 miles before the 17-hour cutoff (at midnight). I finished just after 11pm with a run time of 6:52. Just before the finish line, a spectator told me to start running (if I could) before the next turn as the finish line cameras would be able to pick me up. It was easier to do than I had anticipated since the crowd at the finish started screaming when they saw me enter the chute. I ran down the chute all smiles and giving high 5’s to every hand I saw. That finish line was incredible—I was in a state of extreme bliss at this point. To add to the intensity of the moment, the first person that congratulated me after the finish was Chrissie Wellington and next to her was Linsey Corbin. When I realized who they were, I screamed like a teenager meeting a rock star. It was so amazing that Chrissie and Linsey would be out there that late to congratulate age-group finishers like me. I then got my long-awaited finisher’s medal, got my picture taken, and thankfully, avoided the med tent.

My sister, Michele, was there at the finish for me as my support and she got my exhausted self, my bike, and all my gear from the finish to the car and back to the hotel. Thanks Michele. I also have to thank my coach, Jessica Kisiel for her guidance in my training, and my family for their tolerance of my training. Thanks also to Phil Coe and the “swimmin’ women” of PAC masters for their support; thanks to Scott Beguin, my excellent bike wrench who ensured that my bike was in great condition; and thanks to my friends and family for their support and for sending me energy and inspiration telepathically—I could feel it all day. It is very gratifying to set a goal as audacious as finishing an Ironman, then planning, training, sacrificing, and working towards it, then actually accomplishing it. My little neice, Amelia, gave me a card before the race that said. “I hope you cross the finish line, oh great and crazy Aunt of mine”. I did it. Thanks Amelia.

Cold Water Swim Survival Techniques

As some of you know, I have had a few challenges recently with swimming in cold water at triathlons. Last year, I discovered that 64-degree water induced asthma for me. Although more of a confident than fast swimmer, I was a bit weirded out by this. So, over the last year, I have spent a fair bit of time researching and testing techniques for surviving cold water swimming that I thought I would share in the event that cold water challenges others, too.

An inhaler with Ventolin: Use this right before cold water swims. You will need a prescription for it. It opens up the lungs when the cold water wants to shut them down.

Neoprene sleeves: If you have a sleeveless wetsuit, like I do, you can get neoprene sleeves from Quintana Roo so you don’t have to buy another wet suit.

Neoprene cap: This cap will give you an especially dorky look with the groovy chin strap, but it works really well. Just put the latex or silicone race cap right over top.

Ear plugs: Seems that if you keep the cold water out of your ears it keeps you warmer and prevents vertigo—another cold water induced affliction.

Rash guard shirt: These are worn by surfers and you can get thermal shirts that are made of a fleece-type fabric. If you wear them under your wet suit, it really helps keep body heat in--mine is made by Dakine.

Bengay: I have put this on all exposed skin and, unfortunately, it seems to wash off fairly quickly, but it helps keep you warm before the race if the air temperature is cold. It's a little strange, but I have even put this on my face and it actually works well for the initial stage of cold-water swimming when you just can’t seem to get your face in the water. Be sure to wash it all off either during or after the swim as any residual feels weird on your face during the bike.

Hand Warmers: I came up with this one on my own…take disposable, air activated, hand warmers that you would otherwise use in your gloves while skiing and put them in little zip lock bags (double bag, just in case). I put one in the back pocket of my tri suit and the other between the dorky neoprene cap and the race cap. This works amazingly well. Be sure to have a pocket of air in the zip lock bag or the exothermic oxidation reaction is quenched when all the oxygen in the baggie is used up. The hand warmer instructions say not to put them directly against your skin. This is well advised as they tend to get quite warm.

Drink lots of fluids before the swim: It takes about an hour or so before you will need to “release” any beverages you have consumed. This may be nasty, but it really warms you up. Just keep swimming.

I was out at Cochiti Lake this weekend for my last swim-bike-run brick of the season and the water temperature was 58 degrees. I used every one of my cold-water survival techniques and was able to swim adequately with no asthma. Success.

Hope this was helpful. If you know any other techniques for cold water swimming, please share.