| Racer | Robert Swanwick | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race | Rev 3 Williamsburg - Monday, July 9, 2018 | |||||||
| AG Place | 1/20 | |||||||
| Overall | 13/369 | |||||||
| Time | 02:18:34 | |||||||
| Race Report | Really like warm water better than cold water. This was bath water....mmmmmm :) Fun heading out to dinner night before with Don and family, Kate, David, and Tim. Did well at 13th overall and 1st in AG (by 10mins). -------- Swim: warm and short...just the way I like my swims. Current subtracted ~20secs per 100yd to put me a little over 1:30/100yd. Gave me 4/20 in AG which I think is best ever. -------- Bike: went out a little hot (mid 150's HR, didn't have power working) Passed many, little bit of cat and mouse with a few. Only 2nd woman re-passed me permanently (1st woman crushed swim and was long gone). Ended with 22.56mph avg -------- Run: immediate steep uphill for bridge. Legs were thrashed from bike and lower quad started cramping right away. Tried to compensate with more right leg, but that started cramping as well. Had to slow down 30secs/mile from top race pace to keep cramp at bay. Passed a few, but mostly held position. Ended just under 7min/mile avg. | |||||||
| Racer | Robert Swanwick | |||||||
| Race | Escape from Alcatraz - Sunday, June 3, 2018 | |||||||
| AG Place | 9/179 | |||||||
| Overall | 119/1573 | |||||||
| Time | 02:41:55 | |||||||
| Race Report | Beautiful weekend in SF. Sunny and 70 both days with a good breeze. Got to hang with Lisa both before and after. She was a featured athlete for the race! Also randomly met Alan (MMTC member, but not sure last name) on the boat. :) It was my first time in this race and I really didn't understand the swim strategy instructions. You were supposed to be sighting for things on the land as you drift very fast sideways with the current. That didn't make any sense to me so I figured I would just try to stay with the crowd. With fogging lenses and a lot of swell that was tough too so I ended up overshooting the finish a bit and having to swim up current a bit. Also lost a few minutes getting off the boat so a very poor swim put me in the back 1/2 of the pack. I had opted to skip the mini-transition and run 1/2 mile over gravel and pavement to the bike transition with barefeet. Good call I think; feet were fine. No major issues in transition to bike, but not super fast either. Rode my bike like a demon. Was passing people at what felt like about 5 mph. Beautiful scenery and tons of ups and downs: a perfect ride in my book. Kept the heart rate around 150. Had the road bike and was glad for it. Probably passed about 600 of the 850 people ahead of me. Was 4th in AG (out of 179) on the bike. Run started out tough. Was flat, but strong headwind. Still passing everyone so nobody to tuck behind to get out of wind. Next was series of steep hills including a set of uneven custom wood steps...hard to get a rhythm. As if the hills weren't hard enough, course dumped us onto the beach. Running on wet sand was tough, but getting there over the dry sand was like people grabbing at your feet. Turnaround forced another trip over the dry sand. Then, after a third trip over the dry sand comes the sand ladder. Logs placed in a path straight up a hill with sand filling in-between and on top. My goal was to jog this portion and I would say I managed something between a jog and a power walk. 2nd in AG for this little section which made me feel better about not hitting my jogging goal. More hills, some weird steps, a stoop to get under a tunnel (all very strange) and another trip down the oddly spaced custom wood steps and we were back to the flat fast downwind runout to the finish. Picked up the pace and finished as strong as I could without a full all out kick at the end (I really avoid that if I can). Passed 100 or so more people during the run and was 5th in AG for that portion. The 50-54's were more competitive than the 45-49's and I lost several mins getting off the boat so I felt decent about 9th; though I had been hoping for 5th or 6th type finish. Beautiful scenery and I got to fit in some friend visits while I was out there. One of them made me do a 90min hike up a mountain in Woodside later that day! | |||||||
| Racer | Carl Schneider | |||||||
| Race | Bear Triathlon-Olympic - Sunday, May 20, 2018 | |||||||
| Comment | Fun Race? | |||||||
| AG Place | 6/18 | |||||||
| Overall | 94/316 | |||||||
| Time | 02:41:51 | |||||||
| Race Report | Bouncing back after B&A Marathon, I did not swim or bike enough. I figured it would be fun anyway. I have never had a good spring triathlon after a spring marathon, so this result was not surprising. Dinner at 6pm, movie, then in bed by 9pm. Woke by wife when she came to bed and then tossed for hours. Terrible nights sleep, will ALWAYS sleep in spare bedroom from now on. Woke at 04:00, left house alone at 0:430, arrived about 6am, enough time for everything. Swim: 11/18. Lava pants and clear face mask. Under the arch start, which doesn't allow goggles to be rinsed. GPS track looks OK, but I think I was a bit wide. It seems like there were always swimmers on my left. Lake was too dirty to follow anyones draft. . Bike: 4/18 (by my watch, since they didn't get my bike splits?). Forgot that front aero wheel (C50) had a leak, decided to use training wheel (decade year old Krysium Elite). Also forgot Fix-a-Flat and/or spare tube/air, so I was glad to not have a flat. As usual, I paid my dues (cleaning front tire each time I saw a rider on the side of the road, as well as each intersection). It may just be superstition, but it's worked so far. Drank entire aero-bottle (honey & Nuun) and took one Gu. Dog fight between a 40+ male rider and 2 females, passing each other based on strengths (both females were more cautious, esp. passing and turning. Based on my run, maybe I worked too hard?. . Run: 4/18 Hot, wet and muggy Passed Joe in T2, saw him at each turn around. Right foot went completely numb again, neuroma or plantar? | |||||||
| Racer | Jeanine Murphy | |||||||
| Race | Morris - Bear Triathlon-Olympic - Sunday, May 20, 2018 | |||||||
| AG Place | 8/9 | |||||||
| Time | 03:03:07 | |||||||
| Race Report | I had a great time at Bear. Glad the weather broke on Sunday, though of course we had to have a 5 minute sprinkle on our gear after the transition area was closed! ______________________Swim: Felt really relaxed. The most relaxed I've been in a race swim. I think part of it is that my coach Suzy (yay, Ripit!) has had me doing the longest swim sets I've ever done before. Sighting was easy, there was very little contact, and I held a good line. Official results say 32:40 for 1500m, or 1:59.5/100yd. T1 3:32. My Garmin added more of the run in to the swim time. _______________________Bike: 1:28:29. Started conservatively, though my heart rate never got very high later. Felt fairly comfortable, neck was getting sore toward end. Legs did get a little tight. Had 350 cal carbo Pro, 2 Gu’s. Ran out of water :( The little breather hole in my aero bottle popped off and water was splashing out. I should've used added another bottle in down tube as a back-up. T2 was 1:59 _________________________Run 57:07 Felt good off the bike. It must be all that biking I've been doing lately. I ran out of T2 and went to press my lap button, but, there was watch. Doh! Left it on my bike. First time I've used a quick release and I forgot it, even though I practiced it the day before. It made the run seem long because I wasn't sure how far I had gone, and was worried I had run the "dog park," or whatever that circle of confusion was called, too many times. I went by feel and it came out okay. My pace ended up a bit faster than I thought it would be, so I was happy.___________ ______I was over my Olympic P.R. by just over a minute, and that was set five years ago, so I'm happy that my training has brought out some of the speed still left in me. Overall, I enjoyed the race a lot. Ripit said they'd fix the circle thing next year. I loved the venue, and the organization was superb. My hubby sherpa enjoyed the venue too. I'm sure we'll be back next year. | |||||||
| Racer | Jeanine Murphy | |||||||
| Race | Morris - Maryland Olympic Duathlon - Sunday, July 14, 2013 | |||||||
| AG Place | 13/21 | |||||||
| no_pr | ||||||||
| Time | 02:40:37 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Carl Schneider | |||||||
| Race | B&A Trail Marathon - Sunday, April 8, 2018 | |||||||
| Comment | Great temp and Great Race (probably BQ) | |||||||
| AG Place | 11/41 | |||||||
| Overall | 57/227 | |||||||
| Time | 03:36:01 | |||||||
| Race Report | BQ Base: 3:40:00 (Men 55-59) Goal: 3:38:40 (PR + ten minutes ) Actual: 3:36:01 057/227 Overall 011/041 Male 50-59 Place Div/Tot Name S No. Ag City St Split Ti Gun Time Chip Tim Pace ===== ======== ======================= = ===== == ================== ======== ======== ======== ===== 57 11/41 Carl Schneider M 1237 54 Ellicott City MD 03:29:42 03:36:25 03:36:01 8:15 Training: Bounced off NCR Trail Marathon, keeping my long runs over 10 Neuroma in right foot and hip pain (arthritis/flexor) limited my long runs, so I only ran with specific targets in mind (endurance, hills or intervals Tried to run shorter/faster/more often and my foot/hip hurt too much. I then end, had to ramp up quickly, only doing five runs longer than 11 (11+, 13+, 13+ 14, 15+ and 18+). Three week, 50% per week taper (as per Mr. Yost) seems to work best for me. Saturday: Drank Nuun all day after morning coffee, including one Sprite w/Nuun. Double Ramen w/chicken for dinner at 6:30 Went to bed about 11PM Sunday: Woke at 5:30, leave at 6:30 Coffee, toast w/almond butter and jelly for breakfast More Nuun pre-race Took 6 Gels, 4 SIS (no water required) and 2 GUs No gels available on course (but they stated there would be 2 stops with them) Great temps, started in 30s, ended in 40s, but a strong wind from the north (fire warnings) Right hip a bit painful right from the start, but never got worse (flexor or arthritis?) Started cramping (left calf 1st) after U-turn at mile 19, reduced stride and increased cadence to mange them. By the end, both calves cramped and quads a bit also. Off the trail is all sidewalk with down/up curbs crossing streets and driveways, much pain there. 26.27 mi Distance 3:36:02 Time 8:13 min/mi Avg Pace 551 ft Elev Gain 2,170 C Calories Start Temp: 39° Fair 8 , Feels like 34, 8 mph N wind Heart Rate bpm % of Max Zones 161 bpm Avg HR 179 bpm Max HR Running Dynamics 170 spm Avg Cadence 183 spm Max Cadence 1.15 m Avg Stride Length 7.4 % Avg Vertical Ratio 8.7 cm Avg Vertical Oscillation 49.3% L / 50.7% R Avg GCT Balance 275 ms Avg Ground Contact Time | |||||||
| Racer | Robert Swanwick | |||||||
| Race | DCRRC Gar Williams Half Marathon - Sunday, December 17, 2017 | |||||||
| Comment | Perfect Race! | |||||||
| AG Place | 1/39 | |||||||
| Overall | 31/355 | |||||||
| Time | 01:28:11 | |||||||
| Race Report | First of all this race is a gem. Right near my house, only $10 (free for DCRRC), plenty of parking, and just the right distance for me. I haven't raced anything longer than a 10k in decades and my training runs have been around 8miles so I decided to not push it. Figured I would aim for 6:45/mile and then speed up in second half if went well. Race is on the C&O canal tow path. Bunch start so a bit slow for the first 1/4 mile, but not too bad as everyone goes out a bit fast. Couldn't find anyone going just the right speed to draft behind. Tried to stay with one guy who passed me, but he was about 5 secs /mile to fast so I didn't push it. Out and back race so I got a chance to see the leaders coming back. Was feeling good so I picked up the effort above my lactic threshold, but because the path is uphill on the way back, pace did not increase. Passed several on the way back, but we were pretty spread out by then. Passed what I thought was a 40-50 in the last two miles, but turned out to be the lead 50+! Harder to run on the semi-loose gravel than pavement, but definitely a race that I will return to. Even gave me a $5 starbucks card for winning my division. :) | |||||||
| Racer | Carl Schneider | |||||||
| Race | NCR Trail Marathon - Saturday, November 25, 2017 | |||||||
| Comment | Disappointed but not surprised. | |||||||
| AG Place | 11/31 | |||||||
| Overall | 79/285 | |||||||
| Time | 03:47:17 | |||||||
| Race Report | Training went especially well. Created and followed a plan with assistance of Mark Yost. Many Yass0 800s, intervals and long runs of 16, 18, 20, 1/2 Marathon, 14/10, 13, then 10. Felt fine Thanksgiving week, but my wife got sick Monday night. Friday night, I got the 12 hour stomach bug my wife had. I went to bed at 10PM and woke up at midnight feeling like death (hunched on the toilet hugging a pillow wrapped in a towel with cold sweats and too weak to stand). Decided to try to race anyway, was a couple/several of pounds light. New doctor recommended metatarsal support orthotics (for Neuroma in right foot and flat feet) in new Huka Clifton3 shoes. Tri jersey w/2 pockets, Adidas Running shorts w/2 pockets, light 2XU Running Jacket w/1 pocket, light gloves and thin running cap. Bagel w/honey, coffee and Nuun for breakfast/pre-race. Took 1 GU before the start, then 6 while running. Tried to use my 5 oz water bottle, but couldn't pour cups into it while running. Decided just to drink cups as offered, but that was obviously a bad idea. Training I drink about 10 oz every 5 miles, dixie cups every 3 miles is not enough. Took pickle juice about mile 16, it seemed to have no effect. Right foot neuroma caused numbness again for most of the run. I was glad to not have blisters forming from the orthotics, but they didn't seem to help much either. Started to cramp on the way back, maybe 10 miles to go. Left calf, then right, then quads and finally my left foot. Had to walk/run at mile 20. At a road crossing, some volunteers had disposable 12 oz water bottles, after I drank it was able to slog in at a sub 10:00 pace. The course has been improved, finishing on the trail, which I was so grateful for. Was hoping to qualify for Boston (3:40) with a couple of minutes to spare (required to actually get in) but it was not meant to be. Too bad, weather was perfect. Lessons learned: Training plan was on point (Yasso 800s, intervals, hills, progressive long runs, 50/40/30 taper). I should have drank Nuun at midnight after I knew I was light. I need to drink more than the Dixie cups offered on trail marathons. I also might need an operation to remove the neuroma in my foot, but I'll try B&A in the spring before deciding. I really don't want to take months off. | |||||||
| Racer | Carl Schneider | |||||||
| Race | The Reservoir Run - Sunday, October 29, 2017 | |||||||
| Comment | So much rain, So many hills | |||||||
| AG Place | 11/25 | |||||||
| Overall | 45/168 | |||||||
| Time | 01:48:33 | |||||||
| Race Report | In the constant rain, at least it wasn't a triathlon. Gorgeous New England fall scenery, but hard to enjoy in the pouring rain. Pre-race stretch by massage therapists (free). Met goal of 1:50:00 01:48:33 @ 8:18 045/168 Overall 011/025 Men 50-59 | |||||||
| Racer | Dan Mooney | |||||||
| Race | IRONMAN Maryland - Saturday, October 7, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 24/152 | |||||||
| Overall | 278/1344 | |||||||
| Time | 11:44:51 | |||||||
| Race Report | Race Report: I have to say IMMD was a great experience – not as far as my race went but really more for the atmosphere and how much the race director Gerry Boyle puts into this race. I had the opportunity to go down and ride the course on 3 different occasions. The first was a supported ride put on by Gerry – that was the first time I met him and he was very interested in what the athletes thought about the race and what they wanted to see out of the race. I’ve never had that experience before. The next two times were on Saturdays and non-supported but sure enough Gerry was there both times just checking in to see how things were going and how we liked the course. The week before the race – we went down for a swim and part of the ride and Gerry had a boat load of volunteers out cleaning up the park area. He is a passionate guy and it shows – this is a great local race that everyone should give a try at some point. Although it is the big bad Ironman brand – this is still a local race run by a great guy who keeps that small race feel about it. I want to thank everyone from Mid-Maryland that made it down to support the race. We had a lot of volunteers out on the course and a lot of people out cheering on the racers. When I got to the point I could no longer run – this was a big lift because I knew where most of you were and had to start running before I saw you😊…so thanks for keeping me moving forward. There is one thing that I am really disappointed about – before the race I heard Gerry talking to Chip Warfel. Gerry confided in Chip his disappointment in MMTC for not stepping up to man the mile 101 water station. He was concerned because that is a tricky turn during the race and he had inexperienced volunteers working the water stop and directing traffic. I want to thank Mark Lash and Daniel Gaughan for helping out. When they got there, they noticed the issue and immediately took charge. Next year MMTC needs to do better. I didn’t realize just how much our local races rely on our club as knowledgeable volunteers and I don’t want to let him down again. I hope to do this race again in the future for a little redemption. Ironman is hard when a race doesn’t go your way. It takes so much time to train and when you have a bad day it takes longer to get back for redemption. I always try to learn something from my bad races…but by the time I race again I forget them all😊 – I will definitely be back to support IMMD and everyone racing. Put it on your calendars because it is a great experience. Swim: 1:19:05 T1: 6:00 Bike: 5:35:19 T2: 3:42 Run: 4:40:45 | |||||||
| Racer | Carl Schneider | |||||||
| Race | SavageMan 70.0 - Sunday, September 17, 2017 | |||||||
| Comment | 5th Place m50-54 (Cold Again) | |||||||
| AG Place | 5/16 | |||||||
| Overall | 66/137 | |||||||
| Time | 07:09:39 | |||||||
| Race Report | Savage Pasta at Brenda's Pizzeria for dinner (w/Blood Orange Soda). Water bottle w/Nuun, honey and 5 Hour Energy concentrate on bike. Woke at 6:15, left hotel at 7:15, arrive by 7:30 for 8:30 start. More home-made iced coffee and bagel w/butter for breakfast. Since the family went to the bus, I dropped off my crocs & sweatshirt (w/gel) in the car. I should have kept it on and put it in transition. Took one of my 2 bike gels before the swim. Swim: Only wore clear swim mask and only Lava pants, same huge mistake, so cold on the bike, what was I thinking? Found some decent feet early, and made it to the bridge fine. Switched feet a couple of times when another racer cut me off from the guy I was drafting. One the main leg back, the guy switched from a few bubbles, (good) to massive bubbles (bad) every so often and I had work hard again to stay with him. Once I saw the yellow wiggly-man, I dropped back and swam in solo. Bike: Shivering uncontrollably, dried off with dish towel and put on bike shorts. Tried to put on arm-warmers, but I was shaking too badly to get them on. Didn't warm-up enough on Toothpick Hill, so I couldn't go aero on the first descends. Finally warmed-up on the rolling flat/downhills before Westernport. No problem climbing the wall, it was vacant and I went straight up the right side until one zig/zag near the top. Then, miles and miles of climbing, lower back (esp. left side) was the limiting factor. Tried to sit upright as much as possible on the less steep climbs, and get out of the saddle, then arch back before the descents. PR the last 20 minutes into the finish, but cramped a bit on the park road climbs. Run: Felt terrible, quads cramped before getting out of the park. Had to manage cramps the entire run. Walked aid stations, taking Coke, Gatorade, water, banana end even tried pretzels at the end. Walked up quickly the steep part of the fire road on lap one. By lap two I walked almost the entire climb, then quads hurt so badly had to walk down on a slight angle. Maybe the most painful run ever, no more doubles for me. PR on Rock Lodge Rd to DCL State Park Entrance (15:45). PR on Rocklodge to Finish Savageman (22:59). PR on Maynardier Ridge Road Climb (40s). 005/016 Male 50 - 54. 066/137 Overall Male. 012/016 095/137 0:44:17 Swim. ___/016 ___/137 0:04:42 T1. 006/016 072/137 3:57:31 Bike. ___/016 ___/137 0:01:40 T2. 004/016 068/137 2:21:31 Run. 005/016 066/137 7:09:39 Triathlon. 005. 14 54 Carl Schneider Ellicott City MD 012 44:17 4:42 006 3:57:31 1:40 004 2:21:31 7:09:39. 066. 14 54 Carl Schneider Ellicott City MD 095 44:17 4:42 072 3:57:31 1:40 068 2:21:31 7:09:39. | |||||||
| Racer | Carl Schneider | |||||||
| Race | SavageMan 30.0 - Saturday, September 16, 2017 | |||||||
| Comment | 2nd Place m50-54 (So Cold) | |||||||
| AG Place | 2/14 | |||||||
| Overall | 25/103 | |||||||
| Time | 02:44:40 | |||||||
| Race Report | BBQ for dinner (Moonshadow Cafe was closed), ate too much, esp fries. Woke at 6:45, left hotel at 7:45, arrive by 8:00 for 9:00 start. Home-made iced coffee and bagel w/butter for breakfast. Honey/Nuun concentrate in water bottle. Swim: Start delayed 30 minutes due to fog. Only wore clear swim mask and only Lava pants, huge mistake, so cold on the bike, legs felt super tight. Found some good feet (low bubbles) early, but her sighted poorly and we went way too wide. Dropped him at the bridge and picked up some better feet, but cold made it really hard to stay with him. Seemed like he went wide also and headed straight to the 3rd yellow buoy solo, then picked up some new legs until almost the finish. Bike: Didn't dry off or put on any dry clothes (no socks) and really shivered at first, rear wheel felt wonky so I stopped in the park to check the pressure. It was fine, the feeling must have been related to the cold/shivering. Passed Joe about 1/2 way, he was riding his wife's bike. Worked hard ar possible once I was warmed up on the bike, passed by some, passed many, esp. on the climbs. Run: Felt good, put on dry socks and ran like hell. 008/014 063/103 0:33:29 Swim ___/014 ___/103 0:02:04 T1 002/014 024/103 1:17:42 Bike ___/014 ___/103 0:01:10 T2 001/014 021/103 0:50:16 Run 002/014 025/103 2:44:40 Triathlon 002. 14 54 Carl Schneider Ellicott City MD 008 33:29 2:04 002 1:17:42 1:10 001 50:16 2:44:40 025. 14 54 Carl Schneider Ellicott City MD 063 33:29 2:04 024 1:17:42 1:10 021 50:16 2:44:40 | |||||||
| Racer | Missie Vess | |||||||
| Race | IM 70.3 World Championship - Sunday, September 10, 2017 | |||||||
| Comment | Hard course, amazing experience | |||||||
| AG Place | 102/270 | |||||||
| Overall | 477/1706 | |||||||
| Time | 05:32:49 | |||||||
| Race Report | I qualified for 70.3 Worlds by finishing 2nd in my age group at Raleigh 70.3 in June. Despite the heat that day, I had put together a pretty good race and managed to meet my goal of qualifying for 70.3 Worlds. I was excited and a bit in shock. I knew I had the potential of qualifying, but you can’t control who shows up at a race, so there is always an element of luck with qualifying. With the race being in Chattanooga, there was no question that I would take the slot. While it would have been nice to travel to another country to race, having the race only a 9.5 hour drive from home made logistics much easier. The only drawback was that the kids started school on September 5th, so there was no way they and Dave could come with me to the race. After recovering from Raleigh, I turned to training for Chattanooga. Tim (of CB Multisport) provided the training plan and I executed as best I could around work and kid activities. Tim’s plans always optimize my limited training. Training was going really well and I was feeling confident that I could tackle the Chattanooga Worlds course. For anyone familiar with either Chattanooga 70.3 or 140.6, they really changed the course for the World Championships. They flipped the swim so that we would be swimming much of it against the current in the Tennessee River. The bike featured almost 3100 feet of climbing, including a 3.5 mile climb up Lookout Mountain (averaging ~9% grade) before proceeding to climb another 1000 feet over ~15 more miles. Even the run was slated to be challenging, though I didn't really understand how challenging until I got there. Still, I did my best to prepare. I rode multiple ~3 hour bike rides in Howard County. I did Ft. Ritchie Olympic as a training race, which also has a long climb on the bike and a hilly run. I tried to run the hills around my house as much as I could. Then, the Saturday 4 weeks out from the race I went out for another long bike ride through Howard County. I was on my way home (42 miles into a 50 mile ride) when I hit a huge, deep pot hole and went down hard. I was on Ridge Rd. in Hanover and had just crested the hill. The pot hole was just over the crest of the hill and I couldn't see it until I was on top of it. I knew what was going to happen and I knew I couldn't do anything about it. Long story short, I ended up taking an Ambulance ride to MD Shock Trauma. X-rays and CTs were clear, but I had a laceration on my elbow requiring 4 stitches and my hip was also lacerated and badly bruised. Taper had unexpectedly started 2 weeks ahead of schedule. For 2.5 weeks it was questionable whether I would even be able to run prior to Worlds, but after many visits to my Chiropractor (Todd Fare in Severna Park), I was able to start running again and managed one 8 mile run the week before Worlds. The bike was checked out and cleared by the team at My Bike Shop and I nervously was able to take it out for a couple rides before the race - the longest being 2 hours. I did additional bike trainer work and was able to swim in the pool, but no open water, since I still had open wounds on both elbow and hip. The end of my training wasn't what was planned, but I still had every intention of showing up at Worlds and doing what I could. I drove down to Chattanooga the Thursday before the race. Back to school night for Hayden (my 8 year old) was Wednesday night, so I couldn't leave any earlier than Thursday morning. I hit the road at about 4:30am, determined to make it to Chattanooga in time for packet pick up Thursday afternoon. The drive was long, but pretty easy and I made it to my hotel a little before 2pm. I was able to check in and unload my car and then headed to downtown. To save on cost, I opted to stay about 10 miles outside of town. There is plenty of parking in downtown Chattanooga, so I found a place to park right next to the venue - $9 for the day. I checked out all the IM and Worlds gear in the Ironman tent and ended up buying a tank top with all the participant names on the back. I walked around the expo, and then picked up my packet. We got a nice back pack (I liked it, anyway), a poster, and some miscellaneous samples. We were told timing chips would be handed out during bike racking and there was a delay with getting the swim caps through customs, so those would be handed out race morning. I walked back to my car to drop off my swag and then did a short bike ride around the venue to check out my bike. After that I found Hector and Aileen and we decided to skip the Welcome Banquet and just get an early dinner downtown and then back to our hotels to crash. We were all really tired from getting up early and driving down. Friday morning, I spent some time packing all my gear bags. Worlds is a "clean transition" setup, meaning nothing but your bike is allowed in the transition area. Everything else goes into bike and run gear bags that you pick up on your way into T1 and T2, just like in 140.6 races. We would have access to bikes race morning to pump up tires and put nutrition on the bike. We could also leave your shoes on the bike. However, we would have NO access to transition bags once they were dropped off. I normally have a hand flask with nutrition drink mix in T2, but didn't want that sitting all afternoon and overnight. I finally decided to fill the flask with ice and have a baggy with the drink mix in the transition bag, thinking I would mix it at the first water stop. After packing my gear bags, I stickered my bike, loaded everything in the car, and headed down to the venue. I wasn't planning on coming back to the hotel until after bike racking, which started at 2pm. I parked in the parking garage closest to the venue ($8 for the day) and headed down to the river for the practice swim. They had some buoys set up for a short course, and I jumped in for a single loop around. The water temp was listed as 76.2 degrees (0.1 deg above the WTC cutoff) and I opted for just a swim suit. The water was lovely and perfectly comfortable in just the swim suit, so I was hoping it would remain non-wetsuit, but wasn't too optimistic. I could definitely feel the current swimming up river, but it wasn't really all that bad. I finished the loop and opted to do a short run as well. After finishing that, I had some time to kill before meeting up with another woman I know from Annapolis to drive the bike course, so wandered around the Expo again. I met up with Sandy at her hotel a little after 10:30 to drive the bike course. I was glad we did. I knew the course was going to be challenging, but it's always hard to tell based on map programs what the hills really are like and how they compare to what I've ridden in training. Getting to see the Lookout Mountain climb was helpful. Based on the driving preview, the course looked to be every bit as hard as I was expecting, but also completely doable. We finished up the course preview shortly before I was due at a course preview talk that Tim hooked me up with hosted by Matt Dixon with special guest appearance by Jesse Thomas. Jesse gave us his impressions of the course after having swum, biked, and run the whole course. He said all three disciplines were slow and hard. His and Matt's advice were to not let the name "World Championships" trick you into hammering too hard at the beginning of any discipline. This course was not going to be a PR course and would reward those who could be patient. After that talk, it was time for bike racking, so I went back to my car to grab my bike and gear bags and take them to transition. The transition area was HUGE, with sections set up for the women's race and the men's race. I racked my bike (with shoes on the bike), then dropped off my T2 bag near the bike in, picked up my chip, then headed down to the swim exit to drop off my T1 bag. We were told by volunteers that bags would be organized in numerical order, so would be easy to find come race time. Walking around the outside of transition, I was able to check out what each transition was going to be like. T1 was really long and included a pretty steep ramp up from the river to the street above. I also passed by the professional transition area and saw my friend's name (Robin Pomeroy) on her spot, which was pretty cool. I worked with Robin's husband, Brian, when he was an intern at Goddard and we've kept in touch over the years. This was Robin's first 70.3 Worlds as a professional, but she broke her collarbone shortly before Raleigh, so had only been back to training for a short time. After all my transition stuff was dropped off, it was time to head back to the hotel to crash for the night. My dinner consisted of some instant mac and cheese in the hotel room that I had brought with me from home. I was up by 4am the next morning to get dressed, put my tri tat numbers on, get my nutrition bottles for the bike, and head downtown. I got the first tri tat on correctly, but managed to screw up the second one by forgetting to take the paper off the back before transferring it. No worries, I just got sharpied when I got to transition. As is usual for me, my bike bottles were filled with a combination of Cytomax, maltodextrin, and the powder from salt sticks. I was planning for 3 bottles of my mix (aero bottle and 2 disposable bottles) and I would pick up water from one of the aid stations if needed. My breakfast was 2 instant breakfasts, a banana, and some Diet Dr. Pepper that I would drink and eat throughout the morning. The drive downtown and parking were super easy, and I was at the venue really early. Once transition opened at 5:30 I heard the announcement that "wetsuits are allowed". No statement of what the water temperature actually was, just that "wetsuits are allowed". I have to say, I was disappointed, as I was hoping for a non-wetsuit swim, but there was nothing I could do about it. I had brought my wetsuit and would wear it, since it is faster. The air temp was cool enough that I wasn't too worried about overheating, but I did expect to get pretty warm while swimming. I used one of the available pumps to pump up my tires, put my drink mix and Garmin on the bike, and was done. Nothing left to do but wait for the race to start. I walked by the professional transition area and saw Robin setting up her spot. I talked with Brian for a while before heading over to where the morning clothes bags were to be dropped off. It was time to get ready and head down to the swim start. My wave was supposed to start at 7:54 - 4th wave (yay, an early start!). Swim: 32:18 (1:42/100m) The swim start is a time trial start within each wave with 10 people going off every 15 seconds. We were supposed to line up in expected time order, but it wasn't super well organized in that aspect. I think people did in general, but when we got to the dock, they had 10 "lanes" and just told people to fill into those lanes, so people got pretty mixed up. I was in the 3rd group of 10 and suddenly it was time to start. When the buzzer chimed, we ran to the edge of the dock and dove (or jumped, if desired) into the water and were off swimming. The first part of the swim is ~350m across the river. I settled into an even pace that I felt like I could maintain. I had no problem sighting the first turn buoy and maintaining my line. I made the first right-hand turn and then it was ~850m up river into the rising sun. I could feel a very slight current, but as promised, the flow rate from the dam had been turned down and the current was very minimal. Sighting was a challenge with the sun, but I was generally able to keep a straight line and find the next buoy without too much effort. There were a couple women swimming near me and one of them was to my right and kept drifting into me because she wasn't maintaining a straight line. I finally had to pull back and swim around her to the right so I could stay straight. Lost some time there. We swam under the bridge and got a bit of a respite from the sun in the face. I was getting pretty warm by then, but it wasn’t too bad. Finally got to the second right-hand turn and it was a little crowded as I had caught up to a number of people from the previous waves. I made the turn, and it was then ~350m back across the river. A woman in my age group had latched onto my feet at that point and kept hitting them. I don’t mind drafters, but don’t touch my feet. I will kick. Hard. Made it to the 3rd right-hand turn and the last segment of the swim - ~450m back down river. I was getting tired by then. Swimming open water is always different than swimming in a pool and I hadn’t gotten the open water time I wanted to prior to the race. There was a bit of chop that picked up along that section. I’m not sure if it was because some of the support boats were moving or from the moving water hitting the river wall, but I had to adjust my stroke for the extra chop. It eventually dissipated and I was able to put my head down and fight for the finish. The swim exit was three sets of steps/ramps with volunteers there to help haul you out. My swim time was a bit slow for me for a wetsuit swim, but within expectations given the upriver swim. T1 – 4:02 Wetsuit strippers are awesome. They had me out of my wetsuit in no time flat. Then I ran into the T1 bag area and my bag WAS NOT THERE. 1224 and 1226 were not there, but not 1225. I looked up and down that row and my bag was not where I had put it the afternoon before. I don’t know how long I lost looking for my bag, but a volunteer finally found it in a different row! I was pretty pissed, but it was out of my control, so I had to let it go. I jogged up the steep ramp to the actual transition area. Got my socks and helmet on and found that the lens in my sunglass had popped out in the bag. I took the extra time to put it back in. I knew I would need those glasses on the bike. Finally ready, I stuffed my wetsuit, cap, and goggles back into the transition bag and took off. Ran across the street and into the transition area. My bike was located about halfway through the racks of bikes. Grabbed it off the rack and made for the exit. Crossed over the mount line, got my feet in my shoes, and I was off. Terrible transition time, even considering how long a distance it was from swim exit to bike mount, but a lot of it was out of my control. Lesson learned on the sunglasses, though. Leave them in the case in the transition bag. Bike – 3:03:38 (18.3 mph) The bike was hard, but beautiful. The first 4 miles wind their way out of town, through some construction areas and over 2 sets of train tracks. The tracks were covered with rubber mats, but I was understandably freaked out by having to cross them, so took them carefully and off the bike seat. There were several hard turns and then all of a sudden you were at the bottom of THE CLIMB. The first 2 blocks are reminiscent of the beginning of College Ave near Illchester. Then you take a left hand turn and the climb ever so slightly backs off. The next ~2.5 miles are up with an average grade of ~9%. I dropped down to my lowest gear (I was running a mid-compact) and just relaxed into the climb as much as I could. The climb was full of curves and I was passing a lot of people. I wasn’t trying to push – was trying to just maintain a steady cadence I could hold for a long time. After ~2.5 miles of climbing, there is a slight downhill before you start climbing again. At the top of Lookout Mountain, the view is breath taking. I stole a couple glances as I passed by. I averaged around 9 mph through that climb, but even the fastest people were only around 11-12 mph. After reaching the top of Lookout Mountain, there was another steep, winding downhill that I took pretty cautiously. I could feel the cross-winds trying to push me and while the rough sections of the road were well marked with orange spray paint, I was still pretty scared of possibly hitting any of them at speed and going down again. Lots of people passed me on the downhills. The next 15 miles consisted of some ups and downs, but a general trend of more climbing. Every uphill, I would drop to my small crank and spin up. I think most people I saw were doing the same, but I was still able to pass people on the uphills. The road was mostly chip and seal through that section, so I was getting pretty tired of the rough riding. I was relieved when we finally turned off that road. The majority of the climbing was done and the road conditions improved. I was drinking well and had finished my first bottle by then. I refilled my aero bottle and picked up a bottle of water at the 2nd aid station. The next 5 miles were mostly downhill. I was pretty cautious on the descent – spending little time in aero and feathering my breaks every now and then. I got passed by a lot of women, but I just wasn’t comfortable going faster, so I did what I needed to do. When the descent finally ended, I was able to settle in aero and ride. The course became rolling hills, which I love. I saw a fair amount of drafting, but I also saw a bunch of people stopping at the penalty tent, so the officials were trying to keep the race fair. Once the climb up Lookout Mountain ended, the roads became open to traffic. Most drivers were courteous, but there were several times when bikers would get stuck behind a car unable to pass slower bikers, so it got frustrating at times. There was one short out and back section on a fairly narrow road to make the course the right distance. Thankfully the U-turn was actually on a slight incline, so I didn’t see anyone trying to take the turn too fast. After the out and back section, it was more rolling terrain. We pass through several small towns and lots of people were out cheering. In one of the small towns, I was behind a truck that decided to make a right hand turn right in front of me without signaling. I screamed, hit my breaks, and turned into a parking lot. The officer who witnessed the whole thing said “you shouldn’t try to pass on the right”. WHAT!? I wasn’t trying to pass him, he turned right in front of me without signaling. I was freaked out and pissed at the same time. If he had hit me, would the officer still have thought it was my fault!? I shook it off, regained my speed, and just settled in to finish the ride. Finally got back into town and then reached the venue. Dismounted, leaving my shoes on the bike and let a volunteer take my bike for me. Bike was done. Given my accident, the bike was the portion I was most nervous about. It wasn’t as fast as I would have liked, but I was happy enough with how it went and how I approached the course. T2 – 1:54 De ja vu. My bag was not where I left it and the volunteers had trouble finding it. Sigh. They found it faster than in T1, but still, time lost that was beyond my control. Grabbed the bag, ran over to the chairs. Helmet off and back into bag. Shoes on, race belt on, visor on, grabbed hand flask and off I go, handing the bag off to a volunteer. I forgot to grab the baggy of drink mix, however. I shrugged it off at the time, but it would come back to bite me later. Run – 1:50:57 (8:27/mi) I was tired starting the run, but not more than I would have expected given the challenging bike. I settled into a comfortable pace. I usually make up time on people on the run, but not in this race. Everyone seemed to look really strong coming off the bike. I passed a few people, but even more were still passing me. The run starts with a short out and back section near the venue and then heads away and into the town. I hit the first hill and it didn’t seem too bad. I shortened my stride and relaxed into the climb. At the first aid station, I walked through and filled my hand flask with water and Gatorade. I also grabbed a cold sponge and shoved it in my bra. The temperature was not that bad, but the sun was intense, making it feel hotter. We ran along a road for a while and then turned into a shaded section near the river that reminded me of Centennial Park, including the ups and downs. The rest of the loop blurred together. Lots of ups, including a hill that was about half a mile long, seemingly few downs. Aid stations were about every mile and I would grab water, ice, cold sponges, whatever I could grab without stopping. I ran most of the first loop, since I was feeling pretty good at the time. Eventually we neared the end of the first loop and crossed a long, wooden, pedestrian bridge, which was (what else) slightly uphill. On the other side of the bridge, I walked through the next aid station to refill my hand flask. When we reached the split between finish and second loop, we were actually slightly past half way because the second loop actually wasn’t exactly the same as the first. I was feeling pretty good still. I could tell my legs were starting to give out, but I was determined to run at least until after mile 8 before walking again. 8 miles was the longest I had run since my crash, so mentally it was a big deal for me to get there. The hills on the 2nd loop were so much harder. I was able to keep running until after mile 9, but then I started hitting the long and steep hills. I couldn’t make it up those without resorting to walking. I could tell I was starting to sugar crash (remember the baggy of mix I left in transition?). My legs were not responding on the hills and I had to alternate running 50-70 steps and walking 30 or so. The hills were so long that I would have to repeat the run/walk about 3 times before the hill was finally over. (I think this run was essentially like doing the Columbia Tri run course twice!) But, I knew how close I was getting to finishing. I ran all the downhills and tried to run over the pedestrian bridge, but my legs weren’t cooperating. I had to walk up the incline of that too. I started running again and was determined to run to the finish, which was just over a mile away, but when I reached the final aid station, I had to walk again. I took a cup of coke to try and get just enough sugar to get me to the finish. I started running again and this time I was able to keep running through the finish. Even after turning off towards the finish line, it was still about half a mile to go. I wanted nothing more but to stop, but when I reached the red carpet, I let the momentum of the crowd carry me across. I’d finished! I’d done the World Championships! I stumbled into the catchers and they helped me over to get my finisher shirt and hat and then over to medical. I was light headed, but still coherent, so they gave me some Gatorade and a bag of ice for my neck and after a few minutes I felt better enough to leave on my own. I got morning clothes bag and my results from the timing tent and just hung out in the finisher’s area for a while. Brian found me and we chatted for a while. It was nice having a familiar face to talk with after finishing. I got messages and texts from everyone who had been tracking me, and that was really nice as well. I was physically and emotionally drained, but so very happy. I had worked really hard to qualify for Worlds and then worked really hard to train. The training ended abruptly and unexpectedly, but I was able to overcome that and not just make it to the race, but finish it with a pretty respectable time. I would like to thank Coach Tim of CB Multisport for his coaching and support. We are a pretty good team, and I am so grateful he puts up with me. I would also like to thank Brian, Logan, Todd, and Ben from My Bike Shop for making sure my bike was in top shape for the race. Finally, I have to thank Dave, Kaylie, and Hayden for being my biggest supporters. I missed Kaylie’s back to school night and the kids’ opening weekend of soccer for the race, and while they were disappointed, they also wanted me to be able to race. Just like I would have liked to have them at the race, but didn’t want them to miss their games. Overall, it was an amazing experience. The course was oh so challenging, but I would expect and want nothing less from a World Championship. The city of Chattanooga was a wonderful host and the volunteers were great! | |||||||
| Racer | Robert Swanwick | |||||||
| Race | Nation's Triathlon - Sunday, September 10, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 1/44 | |||||||
| Overall | 47/802 | |||||||
| Time | 02:17:33 | |||||||
| Race Report | The weather could not have been nicer. Water was 69 degrees and air was even cooler. Bike was perfect temp the whole way. Run required some water dumping on the head. They allowed for self seeding on the swim so I went with the 30mins and under. Maybe should have gone 25mins corral as many were under seeding themselves. Lots of climbing up ppl and noticed some were breastroking!. As always, I have massive panic until about 300meters when my breathing settles down. After the turn, was impossible to see buoys into the sun so I just tried to stay with the stream of ppl. Missed the 2nd turn and swam straight an extra few dozen meters. Swim was still a PR (29:03) by a small amount, but I was hoping for lower. Really want to get my swim down to 26mins or so. Transition pretty routine. Fumbled with my wetsuit off and shoes on a bit, but only about 15 secs slower than expected. As always, coming out of the swim in the middle of the pack means I get to pass like a madman on the bike. Even more so in this race because there were two loops. Only two passed me during the ride and nobody was going just my speed so I didn't need to worry about avoiding drafts like in Philly (3 out of top 5 got penalties in my AG there). Felt strong, though I probably could have picked up the pace a bit in the middle. Averaged just under 23mph for a 1:05:19 Came out of the bike-run transition a little hot. I always seem to feel slow at first even when I'm not. Was starting to find it hard to breath so I looked down at my watch and saw I was doing 6:10 pace! Ratcheted back a bit and ran 6:25's for a while. Dipped just above 6:30 in the middle and then finished last few miles strong for a 39:54. Course was very flat so able to get the legs into a rhythm and just keep it going. Luckily, the overall effort was enough to take 1st in the AG by 20 seconds at 2:17:33! Win a free entry to Escape from Alcatraz Tri which is pretty cool. Awards ceremony was a disaster so everyone ended up just going up and getting in a line to collect their medal individually (bummer, no podium photo). | |||||||
| Racer | Erin Kelman | |||||||
| Race | Run Rabbit Run 100 - Friday, September 8, 2017 | |||||||
| Comment | Coming back from the dead | |||||||
| Overall | 45/221 | |||||||
| Time | 29:38:07 | |||||||
| Race Report | What a wonderful day, night, day at Run Rabbit Run 100. Volunteers, course support, and a beautiful course made it an amazing experience. The mandatory finish line hug capped off the accomplishment. It was not without its challenges, however. With over 20 thousand feet of climbing at elevations over 10 thousand feet and wildfire smoke, my east coast body was presented with some unique challenges. With that, I learned that the body and mind can do some crazy things that for me led to a collection of proud moments. I hit some dark patches but in the end was able to finish the race in 29 hours and 38 minutes, earning the coveted “Under 30 hours” belt buckle. We kicked things off at the base of Mt Werner at 8 am with a 4.4 mile climb that proceeded directly up the steep grade of the ski hill, up, up, up at grades approaching 40%. I was happy that I brought my trekking poles and to learn from a course marshal that this would be the steepest grade climb of the day. From there, Friday went relatively smoothly and I enjoyed the perfect weather, views of aspen trees, mountains and waterfalls while chatting with runners and pushing forward. I felt like I was breathing okay at the higher elevations, just was moving a little slower than usual, which is not necessarily a bad thing for 100 mile race where conserving energy is important. Friday night got cold, I layered up and tried to minimize time in aid stations as I was getting the shakes if I stayed static for too long. It was impressive watching the elite hares, who started their race 4 hours after mine, blow by me wearing less layers and running uphill like robots. I kept pushing forward, moving a little slower than before but moving nonetheless to stay warm, anxiously awaiting daylight. When the sun came up Saturday, it was nice, but the majority of the race from here was at close to 10 thousand feet. Now I was starting to feel the effects of the altitude, eventually the heat from the sun, and smoke from wildfires miles away in the Steamboat. Pre-race, a medical expert spoke to us about the possible effects of the wildfire smoke. We learned that while there was no concern for long term damage from the smoke, we could experience short term effects like itchy, burning throat and cough. I was experiencing the burning throat, some hacking, and this coupled with shortness of breath from the altitude meant lots of walking. Eventually I reached the Long Lake aid station, expecting to have about 10-11 miles to go to complete the 102.9 miles that the race manual suggested the distance would be… But this is an ultra, and the mileage listings are rough estimates at best. I forgot, the race manual also said it would be about 13 miles from here but that would mean 106 miles. Another runner, who had run before confirmed it, yep 106 miles. This hit me like a rock. Throughout the course of the race, I mentally set, and then re-set time goals. First, 24 hours seemed possible, then 25, then 28, and eventually I settled on 30 hours. After all, 30 hour finishers receive a special buckle and that would be cool, right? When we entered Long Lake, the other runner and I did the math. We had 3 hours and 45 minutes to run/jog/hike/crawl 13 miles in order to finish in under 30 hours, an average pace of roughly 17 minutes per mile. Was this enough time? Normally, outside of an ultra this would seem easy but 90+ miles into an ultra in mountainous terrain a mile could take up to 30-40 minutes, and that doesn’t necessarily account for needing to stop and rest due to fatigue. I really wanted the distance to be shorter. I was worried, but couldn’t do anything other than press on. The next 7 miles was mostly rolling hills at roughly 10 thousand feet, heading again back to the Mt Werner aid station that we hiked to at the start of the race. I jog-hiked along with the RRR veteran runner that I had just met and we managed to knock off a couple miles at around a 15-17 minute pace. But the effects of the altitude and smoke were getting worse. I felt terrible and I could not maintain the speed. My new runner friend was chatting away but I couldn’t even register what he was saying let alone manage breath to respond. I had to slow down, so I did. I walked and walked, watching the miles click off at 22 to 24 minutes. The sun was beating down on my pale skin and I was coming to terms with the strong possibility that I would not break 30 hours. Another hill. I had to sit down. So I found a tree for shade and sat down and quit on my goal. I quit on my goal. Looking back now, this was maybe the best decision that I made but in the moment I was in a dark place mentally preparing my post-race story about how I tried and failed to break 30 hours. Eventually I got myself back up and pushed on at full turtle pace, enjoying the scenery, more aspen trees, mountain views, chipmunks running around and I could even see source of the wildfire smoke in the horizon. I mentally accepted that finishing a 106 mile race is still pretty special (it is!), felt proud in a different sort of way, and cheered on the few other runners who passed by me and who offered words of encouragement in return. Finally, I reached Mount Werner and when I did it was a miracle! Somehow, I still had 1 hour and 35 minutes to reach my previously discarded goal and the last 6 miles was all downhill, on a fire road for 5 miles and then the rest on a single track trail. I had a goal again! If I could maintain 15 minute miles then I could break 30 hours and get that special buckle. I could not believe it, I had a chance. Immediately I got a second wind, grabbed a handful of M&Ms from the aid station and headed downhill with a cheesy grin and eyes that wanted to but didn’t drop a tear as the emotion hit me. Thankfully, my legs were in sync with my brain and my downhill legs responded. I did a mix of jogging and fast-paced walking to maintain a pace around 12 minutes per mile (preserving my legs with the hiking while banking extra time just in case there were any other surprises), clicked off miles, and made my way to the finish. Run Rabbit Run 100 is unique in that they have a designated hugger at the finish line and your time does not stop until you hug the hugger. As I approached the finish line I could see the volunteer coordinator there with her bunny ears on, clearly the designated hugger. The clock read 29 hours and 38 minutes and coming back from the dead to break 30 hours made the hug feel extra special. Post-race I enjoyed the post-race party with beer and food, chatted with other runners, and reveled in the accomplishment. I even found the strength to collect all of my drop bags, which must have weighed a combined 50 pounds at least, and to carry them the several block distance to my car. I showered and went to bed exhausted. There is a cruel irony to doing these epic endurance events where you can be sooo tired, yet sooo sore and swollen that you cannot sleep. I laid in bed with my eyes closed for about 6 hours, except once crawled around the room looking for Advil. I found myself wondering if timing goals are stupid, or selfish, and settled on a comfort level that the pursuit of the goal kept me motivated and achieving the goal made the day extra special but that it would have been special either way. Eventually, when my muscles stopped pulsating and when the pulmonary symptoms from the wildfire ash calmed down, I fell soundly asleep. | |||||||
| Racer | Matt Coleman | |||||||
| Race | Luray Sprint - Sunday, August 20, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 1/6 | |||||||
| Overall | 10/368 | |||||||
| Time | 01:27:16 | |||||||
| Race Report | fun race | |||||||
| Racer | Mark Yost | |||||||
| Race | Luray Sprint - Sunday, August 20, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 2/16 | |||||||
| Overall | 34/368 | |||||||
| Time | 01:34:29 | |||||||
| Race Report | I highly recommend the Luray triathlon weekend. There’s something for everyone: spring, international, aquabike and relays. In the two times I’ve done it, it has been extremely well run. The course is awesome and there’s a camping option. The highlights this year were about others. Matt beat me by over 7 minutes, placing 10th overall. Deb Taylor and Danny Mooney continue to rock their races. Deb took 1st in her age group in the sprint and Danny took 2nd in his. I signed up this year for the Hawksbill Double, which meant I planned to do the international distance race on Saturday and the sprint on Sunday. It didn’t happen. Due to work travel to NYC and Matt’s XC, I didn’t make it for the international distance race, but Matt and I did make it for the sprint on Sunday. I’d planned to camp at the race site, but (again because of work), I didn’t get organized in time to camp. I had a free hotel night at a Holiday Inn, so we stayed in Front Royal, about a 45 minute drive from the race site between Luray and Shenandoah National Park. The race day weather was perfect. Low 70s at the start and clear. Water temp was in the low 80s. Transition set up was quick and easy on Sunday morning, except whoever put the number stickers on the racks put 5 of us about six inches apart. The last 3 guys had about 1-2 feet each! Fortunately, most of the guys in my age group are reasonable and all 8 of us on the rack adjusted. Swim: 16:01 (4/16 AG) The 750m swim is in Arrowhead Lake (more like a pond). Smaller than Centennial Lake, I think, and certainly warmer. It was like bathwater. I was in the second to last wave, so I watched Matt exit the swim as I entered the water. Matt looked good. His last sprint swim had been about 11 minutes, so I was hopeful that he would do well. He did. Even with a 13-minute swim. Maybe the course was long. My goal, as always, was to find a draft partner. No such luck. So, I was on my own the entire swim and passing through what was left of the slower swimmers in the early waves. I thought I was swimming well, but it was a figment of my imagination. The timing mat is about 30 yards from the water, but it was still a pretty slow swim. Even for me. T1: 1:33 (1/16) The run from swim out to transition was across a beach, then up some stairs. It’s not long, but I got caught behind a slower guy going up the stairs. Other than that, T1 was uneventful. My shoes were already on the bike, so it was just a matter of stripping the speedsuit and putting on sunglasses and my helmet, and I was out. Since it was a short bike, I went without socks. Although I didn’t know it at the time, I came out of the water 4th and passed one guy in transition. I knew Greg Nelson would be out of the water well before me, but I didn’t know who else was in the race. Greg and I are in the same age group for 3 out of every 5 years. I have a great deal of respect for him and like him a lot. He is a runner who can swim. Those are the triathletes I fear the most. Bike: 54:52 (18.3 mph avg) (2/16) The 17-mile bike course is a blast. Grueling climbs with fast downhills. It’s a fair, but hard course. Great scenery as you race in the shadow of the Shenandoahs. I pushed hard, but my bike legs are a little weak this year. Since I was in the second to last wave, all I did was pass people, but (to be honest) I was still passing 60+ year olds in the final miles. Riders were polite, riding to the right with little or no drafting that I observed. The lollipop course starts with an uphill leading to long and often steep downhill, and finishes with a short downhill after a long and steep uphill. I took GU gels at about 5 and 10 miles, and went through one bottle of fluids (Powerade) on the bike. The nutrition and hydration were perfect. T2 0:054 (T2/16) Almost uneventful. As I entered the park, I watched Matt running neck-in-neck down the chute with another racer. I shouted “stay loose” as I passed, slipping my feet out of my shoes and around the corner to the dismount line. (Matt out-leaned the 19 year-old from Virginia Tech at the finish, beating him by .1 second). I entered transition and then, for some reason, became a little disoriented. An age group issue, perhaps. I lost a few seconds finding my spot, but then racked the bike and slipped on socks and my racing flats. I had developed a blister running in Prospect Park in Brooklyn while on work travel. Socks are always important for me. In this sprint, they were even more important. Run 21:12 (6:51 min/mile) 1/16 I felt good but not great on the run. The course isn’t easy, but starts with mainly downhill so you can build into it. I shortened my stride but pushed hard. After the turnaround, it seems you spend most of the time climbing back towards transition. I knew Greg was ahead of me, but I hadn’t seen anyone else, so I was worried. On the way out, I saw Dan Mooney, looking strong as he climbed the hills coming back. Just before the turnaround, I saw Greg. He was about one half of a mile ahead of me. I told him to “kick strong”, hoping I could catch him anyway. I passed a lot of people, including a 65-year-old in the final mile (omg! He was in my swim wave!!), but not Greg. Finish: 1:34:29 (2/16 AG, 34/368 overall) The finish is a slight downhill, overlooking Arrowhead Lake. I crossed the line knowing that I had pushed hard, and knowing that it wasn’t enough. Greg finished over two minutes ahead of me. I ended up second, so I must have passed one 55-59 old fart on the bike that I didn’t notice. The highlight was Matt’s finish, 1st in his AG and 10th overall. He would have won almost every other age group, except 35-39 and 40-44, I think. It’s nice to see him develop into a mature triathlete. Luray is a fun race. Last year, I did the international distance and this year the sprint. I’m going to keep doing it, as long as it works with Matt’s XC schedule. I’m becoming fond of the shorter races too. Ironman takes so much time, and I’m developing the view that the shorter races are not only less selfish for the family but probably healthier. You have to push hard the entire race (unlike an Ironman where you have to loaf in pain for 11 hours) but it’s not as hard on the joints. It’s less selfish in terms of training and travel time, and it’s far less expensive. I may be a slow-twitch-muscle racer and Ironman distance addict, but I think I’ll be doing more sprints like Luray in the future. Luray 2018 is definitely on the schedule. | |||||||
| Racer | Dan Mooney | |||||||
| Race | Annapolis 10 Mile Run - Sunday, August 27, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 7/220 | |||||||
| Overall | 101/3500 | |||||||
| Time | 01:08:27 | |||||||
| Race Report | My PR for Annapolis by over 2 minutes. Very nice weather conditions and as always a well run race. Amazed at how fast the 50 - 54 field continues to run...Doug Mock turned 50 and ran a 58:17 -wow! | |||||||
| Racer | Rick Fitzgerald | |||||||
| Race | Age Group National Championships - Saturday, August 12, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 37/102 | |||||||
| Overall | 700/1991 | |||||||
| Time | 02:33:16 | |||||||
| Race Report | This was a fun race, with great weather. Unfortunately, the race started 30 mins late, due to traffic getting into the venue. This is my only complaint about the race organization. The water was 80.6 deg, so no wetsuit. The swim started with everyone holding onto the floating dock, then off to the buoys. I was not happy with my swim time, since I think I may have swum long. The dock was at an angle to the buoy field and I think the smarter swimmers took a different line to the turn buoy, than I did staying on the sight buoys. I missed the lead pack and was swimming mostly on my own. Swim: 31:55 43/102 M55-59 Got out of the water and immediately grabbed both hamstrings with cramps. I jogged to T1, stretched out and got in another Hot Shot, as well as Salt Stick. I had BASE Salt with me on the whole ride. T1: 3:45 (slow T1) Cramps went away during the ride and I rode hard on the bike. There were 12 refs on motorcycles looking for drafting and blocking. The course is mostly flat, with one small bridge and one big hill. Living here, I train on hills and was able to move quickly up the 10% grade hill, likely leaving mid-westerners behind me. The course then went out into some corn fields and was flat, until the return to climb the hill again. Same result. Caught a lot more people on the hill. Finished the ride strong and ran into T2 feeling good. Bike: 1:08:25 avg 21.8 mph 33/102 M55-59 Quick change into run shoes and hat, the off to the run course. T2: 2:18 The run course was a perfectly flat 2 loop course next to the lake. Sun was strong, but temps were reasonable. Felt very strong, with first half in 21:48. Stayed on BASE Salt each mile. By mile 4, I started feeling cramping again and by mile 5, I had to stop to stretch out the cramps in my hamstrings. This slowed my second half considerably. I picked up the pace again in the last mile, but I knew I fell off the pace I could have held otherwise. Run: 46:51 34/102 (7:33 min/mi) Overall 2:33:16 37/102 M55-59, 535/1087 male, 700/1991 overall I needed to place in top 25 to have a shot at Team USA. I was about 7 mins from that and I know some significant portion of those 7 mins was due to cramping. I can't let that dim what was a good race overall and I am happy about my performance. The best part of the post race festivities was the ice bath baby pools offered in the shade of a tent. That felt great! | |||||||
| Racer | Missie Vess | |||||||
| Race | Fort Ritchie Triathlon - Sunday, August 6, 2017 | |||||||
| Comment | Fun, challenging race | |||||||
| AG Place | 2/3 | |||||||
| Overall | 2/111 | |||||||
| Time | 02:23:24 | |||||||
| Race Report | Dave has done the duathlon at Ft. Ritchie for a number of years, but I had never had a chance to try the triathlon. I signed up for it this year because when I signed up for Raleigh 70.3, I had my sights set on going to 70.3 Worlds in September and figured that Ft. Ritchie would make a good tune-up race should I qualify. And even if I didn’t qualify, it would be a fun, “local” race to take on. As it turned out, I did qualify for Worlds, and Ft. Ritchie did work out to be a great tune-up race. Saturday evening, Dave and I dropped the kids off to spend the night with his parents, since we would be leaving really early the next morning to drive out to the race. Ft. Ritchie offers the option of camping at the race venue the night before for pretty cheap, but with no night before racking, we opted to drive the ~90 minutes to the race venue Sunday morning. We got up about 4am Sunday morning. I had some yogurt and grabbed a couple instant breakfasts and a banana for later. We packed up our stuff, put the bike on the car, and were on the road by 4:45am. The drive out was uneventful and we were there in plenty of time for check in and set up. Check in is inside the Community Center and there are real bathrooms there that can be used. They also let you shower there after the race, although I wasn’t able to partake of that benefit. Transition is on the other side of the community center grounds, a short walk away. I had decided to race in the Open/Elite division, so I scored a transition spot right next to the bike in/out. We didn’t have assigned spots, just assigned racks, so I took a spot that had my bike facing towards the bike exit. There were only 3 of us ladies and a couple men racing open/elite, and everyone was really nice, talking and sharing experiences as we set up transition. I put my shoes on the bike and used rubber bands to hold them flat. I filled my aero bottle with my mixture of Cytomax + maltodextrin and added a second bottle of the same on the down tube. For an Olympic distance tri on a relatively cool day, I wouldn’t go through both bottles, but I would go through at least one. Since it was a calm day, I put my helmet on my handle bars with the straps hanging down and my sunglass in the helmet. I laid out my running shoes, visor, race belt, and a small hand flask on my mat. I sprayed both bike and run shoes with tri slide. After getting body marked and getting my timing chip, I was good to go. Swim: 21:24, 1:26/100m The water temp was measured as 74 degrees, so wetsuit legal. I would prefer colder to be comfortable even in a sleeveless wetsuit, but would wear it anyway for the extra speed. The lake is pretty small, so the swim for the Olympic is a 2-loop swim. You have to get out after the first loop, run along the beach and down the dock and jump back in to start the 2nd loop. My wave was the 1st Olympic wave (Open/Elite and Men under 40), but the 5th wave overall. At Ft. Ritchie, the duathlons go first and then the sprint triathlon and aqua bike and then the Olympic tri. Between the sprint and Olympic waves, we had about 10 minutes to warm up if we wanted. I got in and swam a short warm up and then got out to wait for our start. The start is in-water and the water is fairly shallow with a really muddy bottom. With all the people in the water, there was a lot of churn and silt kicked up, so there was no visibility right near the shore. When the start signal was given, I took off with the other front swimmers, trying to put distance between myself and the rest of the pack. The man and the women who went on to be the overall winners quickly pulled ahead of everyone. I’m not used to being left behind that quickly, so I thought I wasn’t having a very good swim. But, I have to race my own race, so I just settled into the best pace I could. The swim course is counter-clockwise and very easy to sight, so I was easily able to stay on a straight line to the first turn buoy. The 2nd leg is the shortest, so I was quickly upon the 2nd turn buoy and turning for the 3rd and longest leg. It was along the 3rd leg that I started catching the last of the sprint swimmers. Not a lot of traffic, and plenty of space for passing. I turned the last turn buoy and made for the beach. Found the exit easily, jumped up, ran along the beach and the pier with one other guy. We jumped back in almost together to start the 2nd leg. I liked having the swim broken up by the short run, but I also didn’t like it. I was getting really hot by the time I jumped back in, so I felt really sluggish starting the 2nd loop. I just put my head down and tried to keep my strokes long and strong. I pulled ahead of the guy (I talked to him after the race and he said he drafted me until I pulled ahead during the 2nd leg of that 2nd loop). The 2nd loop was much more crowded with Olympic swimmers on their first loop, but there was still plenty of space for avoiding them. When I rounded the final buoy, I was relieved to know the swim was almost done. I love swimming and it is my strongest discipline, but I was so hot in the wetsuit by then and wanted to be out of it. I finally reached the beach, hopped up and headed for transition. Despite feeling like a slow swim, my time was actually on par with my best swim times for an Olympic (wetsuit legal) race. The woman who won, swam an 18:01! T1: 0:53 T1 was uneventful. I had to run the whole length of it to get to my transition spot, but since it’s a small race, it wasn’t all that far. Wetsuit came off really easily. I put on my helmet and sunglasses. Grabbed my bike and took the ~3 steps out of transition. Bike: 1:15:20, 18.3 mph I worked some the day before the race on my flying mount and was feeling more confident with it, so gave it a go. Stumbled a little with it, but didn’t crash, so I’ll take it as a starting point. Only problem was the strap for my right shoe ended up coming out of the fastener, so I was fiddling with it coming out of the park, trying to feed it back in through the guide and failing miserably. I was losing time, especially since I had hit the first uphill by then, so I finally resigned myself to just ride with one shoe unfastened. I quickly realized that I had misjudged the first hill (it was longer than I expected) and I knew I was in the complete wrong gear. I tried to shift to my small chain ring, but was pedaling too slow by then and my chain dropped inside. Crap. I was able to unclip my left shoe, but because I never was able to fasten my right shoe, I had to just take that foot out of the pedal. I popped the chain back on, but then had to yank my shoe free, fix the strap, put it on, and then try to remount on the hill. I finally got going, but probably lost at least a minute with all of that. Oh well. Time to recover. I spun up the rest of that first hill. It was definitely harder than I was expecting and I was breathing really hard by the time I crested it. But, luckily the next 6+ miles were all downhill. The course is mostly an out and back with one small lollipop loop and another short out and back with a U-turn at the end. I was having a great time riding aero and just going as fast as I could. The road is straight with good visibility, so I felt pretty comfortable going fast. I bottomed out with gears since I was riding a compact and I think I topped out around 33-34 mph. Dave told me he hit 40+, but I just don’t have the mass to go that fast ? After the long downhill, the course starts to get into the more technical turns for the lollipop loop. The roads were pretty clear, but there was loose gravel on several of the turns, so I was careful on each of the turns. I also had never ridden the course or even driven it, so was a little slower than I might have otherwise been because I wanted to make sure I got all the turns right. There were some ups and downs, no real flats, but nothing super hard either. I finished the lollipop and turned for the short out and back and that was another fun downhill, but it ended in a U-turn at the bottom, which really kills the momentum. Once done with the U-turn, that starts the loooooong climb back to the finish. All that really fun downhill was now a really long uphill. I jumped to the small chain ring and just settled into a gear that I could push, but didn’t feel like I was destroying my legs. I was watching my power just out of curiosity and was holding steady between ~200-220W. I passed quite a few people from either the sprint or the duathlon. There were a few false crests that made you think you were almost finished with the uphill, but you really weren’t. I finally reached the end and it was a short downhill back to transition. I pulled my feet out of my shoes, swung the leg over the side and was able to jump off without killing myself. Success! T2: 1:02 Threw my bike back on the rack. Slipped my feet in my shoes, grabbed my visor, race belt, and hand flask, and ran out of transition. Thought I would have been a little faster, but shoes didn’t slip on as easily as I hoped. Run: 44:59, 7:16/mile I put all my gear on as I started the run. I like to run with a hand flask because it is easier for me to drink from that than to mess with the water stops. I was really hoping for a good run. I knew I would never catch the woman in front of me – I hadn’t even seen her on the bike anywhere, but I had seen the woman behind me on the short out and back. I figured I had at least half a mile on her at that point, but had no idea how we compared on the hill back into town, so didn’t know if she had gained on me at all. I settled into a comfortable pace and didn’t look at my watch at all. The run course is a 2 loop course and it’s a little rough with a lot of torn up road sections and some gravel paths, so I had to pay attention and be a bit careful with how I pushed. When my legs get tired, I am prone to stumble over uneven terrain. Shortly after exiting the transition area, you reach the first uphill. It’s fairly steep, but not real long. Just when I would feel like my lungs couldn’t take any more uphill, it would level out and eventually turned into a downhill. Around the 1.6 mile mark, you hit the next uphill, which is even steeper than the first, but still fairly short. Once you crest that hill, the rest of the loop is either downhill or fast, so I could push it a little bit more. I was careful not to push too much on the first loop because I knew I had to do the 2 hills again on the second loop. Just as I was reaching the end of the first loop, the first place man lapped me and headed to the finish. Shortly after I started my 2nd loop, a DC Tri Club woman passed me looking really strong. I was 99% sure she was only on her first lap, but she still provided motivation to not let her stay in front of me. I hung out behind her until after the 2nd hill and was finally able to overtake her on the long downhill and pulled further ahead as I approached the end of the 2nd loop and headed towards the finish line. I didn’t see her behind me at the finish, so she must have been on her 1st loop. I ended up 2nd place overall. 1st place was about 12 minutes ahead of me and 2nd place was about 5 minutes behind me. I wasn’t able to stay for the awards ceremony because Dave and I had to book it out of there to get home in time to pick up the kids from a birthday party. I had time to check the results, talk a little with the 3rd place woman, get my stuff from transition, change, and grab a little bit of food, but then had to go. Bill Yuknis picked up my award for me, since we both work at Goddard and he could easily get it to me (thanks, Bill!) It was a good race and a fun day. MMTC had a lot of presence at the race and on the podium. I would definitely do this race again. I think I could do better on the bike having done the course once before. Next up is 70.3 Worlds. I’ve heard they’ve made that race even more challenging, just for Worlds. The swim has been reversed so you don’t get the current assist that has become trademark of Chattanooga races. The bike course also has a ~5 mile climb near the beginning, so Ft. Ritchie was definitely good practice for that. | |||||||
| Racer | Mark Yost | |||||||
| Race | Ironman Lake Placid - Sunday, July 23, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 8/161 | |||||||
| Overall | 458/2194 | |||||||
| Time | 11:53:00 | |||||||
| Race Report | There’s something special about Lake Placid. This was Lake Placid #10 for me and the 8th year a group of us had rented a 100+ year old mansion just above Main Street. It’s a perfect location: a ten minute walk from the Olympic Oval (transition), a 5 minute walk from the swim start at Mirror Lake, and about 75 feet from Starbucks. Ideal. I shared the 7-bedroom house with my sons (Matt and Nathan), Bob & Sadj Bartolo, Kevin D’Amanda and his 2 friends (Adam and Carol), Sergio and Marie Vazquez (plus 2), Vita Laignel, Wiebke Hannigan, Dave Miller and Stephanie Hill. Lake Placid week is one of the best weeks of the year: hanging out on the porch, tune-up swims at Mirror Lake, a few easy bike rides and a run or two around Mirror Lake. Every year was special, but the highlight this year was seeing Sergio finish strong as the clock approached midnight. A special thanks to Brian Eisentraut for racing strong and bring the spirit of Dean Siedlicki back to Lake Placid. Brian bought Dean’s tribike to race in his first Ironman. (We forgot to tell Brian that he was supposed to race in a speedo). The weather this year was perfect all week as well as on race day. Dry, low humidity, highs in the low 70s. Water temp in the low 70s as well. We had the annual race talk on Friday, but it was more of a group therapy session than anything. Everyone had raced Ironman before, although Lake Placid was new to a few. The main themes were familiar: Ironman racing is all about issue management; the only things you can really control are pace, hydration/nutrition, and attitude. We also talked about Lake Placid tricks and, of course, how to deal with adversity. My race was predictably mediocre. My old coach, Karen Smyers, always told me, among other things, that you get the race you train for. This year, Ironman training ranked behind family, work and Matt’s youth elite racing schedule. My swim and bike volume were about 50% of what I consider optimum. I had only two mountain rides, dropped out of my masters swim group, and did what I could to nurse my Boston Marathon run fitness through the Lake Placid finish line. I always say: swim with swimmers and bike with cyclists. I did neither. Nevertheless, I thought I could finish near 11 hours if I could put a decent marathon together. I was wrong: 11:53:00, finishing 8th in the 55-59 age group. Race day, I got up 4 hours before the gun in order to process some nutrition and get things together without pressure. I was at the Olympic Oval ten minutes before transition opened at 4:30; I got body-marked, pumped my tires and loaded my nutrition on the bike. A final check of the transition bags hanging on the hooks. Matt dropped off my special needs bags, and I was back at the house shortly after 5 a.m. At 6 a.m., I headed down to the swim start for a practice swim and the 6:45 a.m. (or so) rolling wave start. Swim: 1:14:49 (30/161 AG) (1:56/100m) Aside from Kona, this is the best swim in Ironman. Mirror Lake is calm, clear and (except for 2011), it has always been wetsuit legal. The buoys are connected by a cable which is visible from the surface. Since 2013, Ironman Lake Placid has used a rolling wave start, making the race even faster. (Between 2010-12, the mass starts were growing increasingly violent as Ironman packed up to 3,000 racers in tiny Mirror Lake). The success of a rolling wave start depends upon people self-seeding themselves properly. There are placards which allow you to group yourself according to your finish time, in ten-minute segments. I chose the middle of the 1:10 to 1:20 group, expecting to finish around 1:15. I’m usually around 1:12 or 1:13, and have been as fast as 1:08, but my swim splits were slow this year (probably because I was only swimming 2X per week for a total of about 6,000 yards.) You do yourself no favors, or anyone else for that matter, by seeding yourself with a group that swims faster than you do. Instead, you invite violence because people will be crawling over you. And you don’t get any extra time, because the clock starts when you cross the mat. All of this was explained, over and over, but for some reason, many of the slower swimmers were in front of me this year. I’m a runner with stiff ankles; I almost never pass anyone on the swim, but well into the first loop, I continued to fly by some of the slowest swimmers I have ever seen. Too bad, because if you seed properly, everyone gets a group draft and there is far less contact. My key for the swim is to follow the feet of a swimmer just a tad bit faster than me. Ideally, I’ll follow his or her feet, and he or she will follow the cable. I had a good draft in loop #1, leading to a 35 minute split. No such luck on loop #2, following a pretty ugly pair of feet with a crazy kick for most of the way, leading to a 39 minute split. Out of the water and up to the wetsuit strippers, who pulled off my Xterra sleeveless in a few seconds at most. (This year, I switched away from a wet suit that hung up on the ankles, so now I’m brave enough to use the strippers. In the past, I was afraid of showing up on You Tube being dragged around the beach on my @$$ because my suit wouldn’t clear my ankles!) T1: 6:13 It’s a quarter mile run or so to the transition racks. You grab your bag off the hook, into the tent for a quick change and then out to the oval. I had the absolute worst transition spot this year as far as possible from the bike out. I was almost in the 1980 Ice Hockey Rink. That’s what happens when you age up at Lake Placid. Bike: 6:08:30 (12/161) (18.3 mph) The Placid bike course is spectacular. It has some decent climbs and some delightful descents. The elevation change for two loops is about 6,000 feet, which isn’t as serious as our rides in the Catoctins and Shenandoahs where we gain 1000 feet every ten miles. The 7 mile Keene descent was pleasant this year: it wasn’t too crowded, and the roads were dry and in pretty good shape. We did have headwinds and crosswinds on the second loop, which can wreak a little havoc. I heard of one bad crash on the descent. The key is to stay in control, use the air brake first (i.e., sit up), feather the rear brake, don’t touch the front break, and stay clear of the madmen (yes, men) descending at the speed of light. I watched one other crash at a water stop because people don’t talk when they pass. And they don’t look before they pull out. Usually, an Ironman multiple bike crash is caused by stupidity. At Kona in 2013, I saw one when the cheaters, I mean members of a peloton, didn’t communicate and someone hit someone else’s back wheel, taking the rest of the cheaters down with him. Tell people you are passing. It will save your race. And don’t join a peloton. (There were a few pelotons at Placid this year, but nothing extreme like Kona.) By the way, the draft zone is now 6 bike lengths, which is a bit bizarre when Ironman floods the course with thousands and doesn’t bother to enforce drafting anyway. Cyclists always cluster on the Placid climbs, but the officials seem to understand that it isn’t about drafting, it’s about WTC’s revenue. Except for a stomach ache lasting about 4 hours, the bike leg was pretty routine this year. I had a positive split of 11 minutes, which was disappointing. I spent most of the ride dealing with stomach gas pains, which reduced my planned caloric intake by more than half. The bike is so important in Ironman racing, because we spend so much of the day on the bike and, if you want to have a decent run, you have to take in substantial fluids and calories while on the bike. I stopped at mile 56’s special needs to get more stomach meds and to use the facilities. I used to dehydrate on the bike, but I’m becoming more civilized over the years (and perhaps less competitive). The last ten miles of the Placid bike course are probably the hardest, as you climb back into town from Wilmington. This year was easier than most because it seemed that the headwind we had for the Keene descent was now a tailwind on the climb home. T2: 4:32 As I approached the Olympic Oval and passed the 1980 Olympic Hockey Rink (think Miracle on Ice), I slipped my feet out of the shoes and descended past the high school and up to the dismount line. Back through the transition bag racks and into the changing tent. I switched socks and grabbed more stomach meds, stopping for a little sunscreen. I have no clue why this took over 4 minutes. Oh year, I stopped at the portapotty too. Run: 4:18:56 (11/161) (9:52 min/mile) I look forward to the run. My plan was to start easy and settle for 8:30 pace. My stomach was pretty much under control, although I knew I was very low on calories. The first three miles felt wonderful. I had to hold back and was running near 8 min pace. Until mile 6. Then reality hit. The tank was empty and, has often happens in an Ironman, it became a survival run. I knew I’d need to walk through the water stops to make up for the calories I lost on the bike. The next 20 miles or so were all about coca-cola and gels. The sugar in Gatorade doesn’t work for me during an Ironman marathon (I only rent Gatorade during an Ironman, usually returning it violently at the finish line or in the final miles). Each mile was a slog with a walk through the water stops. At least the weather was nice. And I saw a lot of friends along the way, including Kevin D’Amanda, who passed me at mile 16, finishing in 7th about 80 seconds ahead of me. I did push the final two miles hard, as I stumbled upon a 57 year old at mile 24 and a 58 year old at mile 24.5. These fellow old farts gave me just the push I needed to run a little harder, although I knew I was probably well off the podium. I finished 8th in the age group in 11:53:00, barely a minute faster than 2008, the year of the torrential rains when I’d had three flats on the bike course! No such excuses this year. It was all on me. The finish at Placid is fabulous. Since 2009, Bob and/or Sadj have caught me as I cross the finish line. This year, it was Sadj who greeted me. Then off to the Medical Tent for a quick IV and to make new friends (a cool doc and his family from Syracuse took care of me, and I ran into Marie Vazquez, also on the Ironman medical staff). My Sherpa Matt helped me get my bike and stuff back to the house. We refueled, and then returned to the finish to watch the MMTC finishers, including Wiebke and Sergio. The Lake Placid finish line party is pretty good, but this year, Ironman tried its hardest to spoil it. For some reason, they erected VIP structures blocking the view of the common people on the hillside and, currying favor with a sponsor, they placed the Mega Gatorade bottle where the little people used to hang out. I’m back in for 2018, the 20th Anniversary of the Lake Placid Ironman. I considered doing Tremblant instead, but Matt talked me into returning to Placid. It took him about 30 seconds. | |||||||
| Racer | Shakira Hicks | |||||||
| Race | Rock Hall International Triathlon - Saturday, June 3, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 16/18 | |||||||
| Overall | 462/506 | |||||||
| Time | 03:43:01 | |||||||
| Race Report | Better late than never....so here goes my first race report. This was my first race of the season, my second full triathlon, and first of this distance. I was beyond nervous and had a TON of questions-Thanks to all the club members who helped reassure me that I was fine and all of the advice-THANK YOU!!! My family is from the eastern shore and I have some that even live in around Rock Hall so it was important that I completed what I set out to do. This is just the beginning of my journey.... Swim: My Goal: 45 mins Actual Time: 50:21 mins Water was warm to me but wet suit legal. This was my first time swimming in my wet suit outside of a few laps in the pool. I felt comfortable in it and very buoyant. I had an expectation that would help my swim but sadly did not. I guess should mention here that I just learned how to swim 2 years ago...Most of the swim was ok but there was one stretch where there was current and being a weak and slow swimmer I was not prepared. I felt defeated at times. On the first lap, I started to catch a cramp in my right calf but managed to keep it from fully locking up. THANK GOD because at the end once I reached the finish it locked all the way up. I had to sit off the dock in the water until it released. It felt like forever *in my Squints from Sandlot voice* (If you've never seen The Sandlot don't ever talk to me LOL). T1: 2:26-Nothing special here Bike: My goal: 1:30 Actual Time: 1:34:40 Bike was super flat and really lonely:-( but I felt good and confident:-) !!! My Calf was fine by this time but my hamstring was tight. Wasn't bad to where I had to stop or anything but I did have to stretch it on the bike. T2: 3:21 Forgot to take off my bike gloves and had to go back...I walked out of T2 thanking family members that were there cheering me on and allow them to take some pics. Run: My Goal: 1:10 Actual TIme 1:12:15 I wasn't sure how I would feel by the time the run came because like I said before this is my first time doing this distance. To my surprise, I still felt good and strong. My focus on the run was to hold a steady pace; that's exactly what I did. I skipped the first few water stops because my stomach is not set up to handle a lot of liquids while running. This worked out well for me. Looking back I wish I had carried my own nutrition. (even better if they held it for me at the half way point lol). These were the only times I walked. I had early pain in my lower back for the first 2 miles or so but that went away and I was able to finish strong. | |||||||
| Racer | Stephanie Blades | |||||||
| Race | Baltimore Triathlon - Saturday, October 1, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 4/5 | |||||||
| Overall | 61/72 | |||||||
| Time | 03:09:57 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Stephanie Blades | |||||||
| Race | Little Patuxent River Run - Sunday, February 5, 2017 | |||||||
| Time | 01:10:41 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Stephanie Blades | |||||||
| Race | Maryland Sprint Duathlon - Saturday, July 16, 2016 | |||||||
| Time | 01:33:00 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Stephanie Blades | |||||||
| Race | IronGirl Columbia - Sunday, August 7, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 27/108 | |||||||
| Overall | 163/784 | |||||||
| Time | 01:38:03 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Stephanie Blades | |||||||
| Race | Rev 3 Williamsburg - Saturday, July 8, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 21/31 | |||||||
| Overall | 261/357 | |||||||
| Time | 03:18:31 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Stephanie Blades | |||||||
| Race | Ellicott City 10K - Sunday, June 18, 2017 | |||||||
| Time | 00:57:16 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Stephanie Blades | |||||||
| Race | Maryland Sprint Duathlon - Saturday, July 15, 2017 | |||||||
| Time | 01:30:31 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Stephanie Blades | |||||||
| Race | Maryland Olympic Duathlon - Sunday, July 16, 2017 | |||||||
| Time | 02:47:18 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Matt Coleman | |||||||
| Race | Hagerstown Sprint Triathlon - Sunday, July 16, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 1/5 | |||||||
| Overall | 9/272 | |||||||
| Time | 00:59:32 | |||||||
| Race Report | good race... | |||||||
| Racer | Rebecca Bollweg | |||||||
| Race | Rev 3 Williamsburg - Saturday, July 8, 2017 | |||||||
| Time | 02:53:44 | |||||||
| Race Report | Originally I was signed up for the Half but after dreadful heat at Raleigh 70.3, I really wanted to shorten the day, esp since my training takes a plunge once school lets out. Plus I had my parents there and my boys and I know half's are long days for them too. Stayed Saturday night at the Comfort Inn, highly recommend. Clean, nice, great area with lots of restaurants. Ate at Zoe's kitchen twice. Saturday, went for a short swim to test waters and then played by the dock in the water with my boys, who wanted to "race" and jump off the pier. Swim -27:55 (1:35/100)- I went to the athlete meeting the day before like the good little triathlete I am (ha ha) and knew my wave went off at 7:30 am. So, 7:11 am comes around, and I know I still have 20 minutes. My son says, "mom, all the white caps are in the water" I look around and there is only one more group waiting, pink caps. I'm totally confused. I look at the sign again, and my wave says 7:30 start time. Fortunately a lady said "no, no, they moved up the swim waves! Go!" So, I take off, run over the timing mat and I hear "one more is coming" I quickly set my Garmin, pull down my goggles, did one breaststroke, then the gun went off. Phew! That was close. I was calm though and ended up having my best swim. The water was warm, yes, 85 degrees. Halfway though it was as if I was closing my eyes when my face was in the water. Pitch black. It was the weirdest feeling ever. Some contact, handled well, sighting was good. High fives to my boys coming out of water. T1- 2:06 Bike - 1:25:57 (18.99 mph- SO CLOSE) Knew the bike course was fast, knew this was my last race (yes Bryan, it is in fact my last race this season) so I really wanted to give it my all, even if it meant sacrificing my legs on the run. My goal this year has been to "just be faster" and the first 5 miles looked like I could show myself some good numbers. I was steady at low 20's for the first 10 miles, but there was enough wind, inclines, cars, bikers, to slow down my average a bit. I was SO close to seeing that 19+. Oh well. My garmin shows 19.0, I'll take that. Great roads, lots of shade, pretty scenery, pretty much a clear, uneventful ride for me. Played cat/mouse with a couple people. I did find out later that an athlete was hit by a car (is ok) and that there was a truck or two that really caused some distress out there on the course. I fortunately did not cross paths with them. T2 - 1:27 Run - 56:19 (9:06/mi) Right away, I felt pretty strong, looked at my Garmin and was in the low 9's. A faster pace for me right out of the shoot, but I decided to go with it. Enough shade, flat course on a trail, made for a solid run for me. Chatted a bit with some other athletes and cheered for those I saw. The last hill over the bridge, in the sun, was a bit tough, but knew the finish line was close. Rev 3 allows family to cross finish line with the athlete, so my boys met me way up from the line and ran with me the rest of the way. It was so cool. The ice cold wet towel at the end was a God send. This was my first Rev3 race, and I will say, I am a huge fan! I will do another of their races next year, perhaps this one again. Such a great job they did! Highly recommend. One way of showing why, they offer a "red cap" program, which means, if you feel uncomfortable in the water, you can ask for a red swim cap so the volunteers know to keep a good eye on you out there. How great is that! I think only one person took them up on this, but for her, that was a huge plus! Kudos to all MMTC who placed this weekend! Such amazing athletes you all are! I can only dream of ever getting a podium spot it seems like. These 40-44 women are amazing. Sorry for the long report, I do this for my extended family as well, so I just write one for both parties. | |||||||
| Racer | Tim Delss | |||||||
| Race | Rev 3 Williamsburg - Saturday, July 8, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 3/21 | |||||||
| Overall | 37/359 | |||||||
| Time | 02:26:56 | |||||||
| Race Report | 2:26:56 - 3 of 21 AG, 37 of 359 OA I had originally signed up for the 70.3 distance at this race but due to my mountain bike crash and resulting shoulder surgery I decided to "drop down" to the Olympic distance and I was also comped an entry into the sprint distance the day before by Rev 3 to help with the fact that I would've been losing money from my 70.3 registration. I was really looking forward to, and actually quite a bit nervous about, racing this weekend since I really still wasn't sure about how my shoulder would hold up as well as the rest of my fitness as I'm still quite a 20+ lbs. heavier than I would like and I lost 3 months of training after the crash/surgery. I really needed to test myself and knock the rust off and I will say that while I'm not where I want to be I was pleasantly surprised by how this weekends experiments went. Swim: 26:11, 1:41/100y - 5 of 21 AG Those who know me know that my swim is generally the weakest of my 3 sports. The water was a warm 85.4 degrees which of course meant no wetsuits, the same as the day before in the sprint. I was sitting at the tent relaxing and waiting for my 7:20 swim start when race staff member came over(at 6:58) and told me that I need to get to the water for the 7:05 start. I was confused until he told me that they moved the swim up 15 minutes because the currents were starting to change and they didn't want us swimming against the current the entire way as we had the day before. I ran to the swim start, threw on my cap and goggles and waded in with the rest of my wave. The horn sounded and we took off. I could feel that my shoulder was pretty tight from racing the day before and I worried that I might be in for a rude awakening once we hit the current in the body of the river. On the way out the current was slightly in our favor and the trip to the first 2 turn buoys was uneventful and decent. I am still a little nervous about my shoulder so the contact in the worried made me slightly uneasy, which has never been a concern before, but all was fine. After the second turn we hit the longest stretch towards the finish line and the current was pushing against us but it was far from horrible. I think it was just enough to even out the slight push we got at the beginning so while there were no super fast times like last year they weren't terribly slow either, pretty much right on average. T1: 1:25 - 2 of 21 AG Not sure what took me so long here since I was under a minute the day before. Must've taken a nap or something. Either way it was uneventful and I headed out with my bike. Bike: 1:09:19, 23.54 mph - 3 of 21 When I hopped on the bike and headed over the bridge I could feel soreness and tightness in my quads from racing the day before. I was sure I wouldn't be able to duplicate my 23+ mph performance from Saturday with a course 12 miles longer but I though I might have 22 in me. Near the top of the bridge a fellow from DC Tri Club passed me and after I got to the bottom and settled into my cadence he was running the same pace about 40 yards ahead of me. As I continued down the first stretch of road I caught and passed him. About 3-4 minutes later he came back around me. This started a game of leap frog that lasted from mile 1 to mile 27. He and I would take turns setting the pace with the other dropping back out of the draft zone and just playing a game of pursuit. It really took my mind off of the ride and with the exception of keeping an eye on my heart rate I was able to just have fun and turn the pedals. We went through most of the 70.3 racers that had started 10-20 minutes before us and were knocking down most of the olympic distance riders as well. I wasn't really watching my speed until my watch went off for 40k(typical Oly distance) and I saw that I went under 1:04 which meant I was over 23. Once I got to the bridge I got out of the saddle and pushed up to get passed the last few riders so I'd have a clear shot to the dismount line and made my final pass on the DC Tri guy. A nice smooth dismount and into T2 with a bike split about 3 minutes than I was hoping for. T2: 0:43 - 1 of 21 Nothing special to report. Racked my bike, put on my shoes and grabbed my hat, sunglasses and race number to put on while running out of transition. Run: 49:19 - 9 of 21 AG This was were I was most concerned. After 2 days of racing and the heat I was very unsure as to how my run would go. I settled in a manageable pace around 7:50/mile which was 10 seconds slower than what I ran conservatively the day before and for the first 3 miles to the turn around it was ok. Water at every aid station to drink and dump on my head. After the turn around we were running back into the breeze(not terrible but noticeable) and also the sun was shining in our faces so I started to get hot. I held it together through mile 4 and then it starting getting tough. A mix up at the aid where I was trying to get Coke forced me to stop and walk back a few steps which took me out of rhythm and in hindsight I should've just skipped but Coke has been a wonder drug for me in the past and I needed it. Coming over the bridge on the way back to complete mile 6 the switch just kind of turned off. I felt like I was melting and while I was still running I wasn't doing so well or very upright. I overshot the turn back into the park because I was staring at the ground instead of ahead and the volunteers graciously screamed at me to turn around. The run through the park was tough but cheers from Mike Lombardo and Danny Serpico who were working transition gave me a slight boost. I kept myself together until I got to the finish line and then when I stopped running my body decided it no longer wanted to stand. Next thing I knew I was on the ground and people were grabbing ahold of me. I heard mention of a woman saying she could feel my heart beat in my upper arm when she grabbed me so the wonderful volunteers whisked me to medical for some attention. They packed me with cold towels and ice and I had the not so awesome privilege of having my temperature checked shall we say...uh hmmm.... "Mark Yost" style? My core temp was 104.4 so they kept me laying down and packed down with ice and cold towels until it came back down and I could get fluids in. A huge thank you to Chad, Rebecca Bollweg's who saw my finish and quickly got to medical to check on me and help with whatever I needed. It is amazing how quickly this club rallies around it's members and I am grateful. After a while of drinking and icing down I started to feel relatively normal and made my way around to cheer for others. I went by the scoring tent to see how I fared since I beat my expected time goal but a little over 3 minutes and to my surprise I held on just enough to lock down a podium position in 3rd place. MMTC rocked the podium this weekend with I believe 6 podiums as well as some first time 70.3 finishers, first time Olympic finishers and some just plain old good racing. It was so great to see everyone out there and congrats to all who raced. You guys did amazing! PS: For those who don't know or have never seen a long race report, race reports can be an extremely good source of knowledge and information. The format I used is one that MMTC had used for years and it was so easy to go back to old race results and read what worked, what didn't, find things you wouldn't expect about races you have coming up, etc. I encourage to include details, highs, lows, nutrition, etc when they fill out reports because it will help someone else down the line to avoid pitfalls or pick up extra tidbits that will help them succeed in the future. | |||||||
| Racer | Cabell Greenwood | |||||||
| Race | Maryland Olympic Duathlon - Sunday, July 12, 2015 | |||||||
| AG Place | 6/10 | |||||||
| Overall | 54/150 | |||||||
| no_pr | ||||||||
| Time | 02:14:12 | |||||||
| Race Report | 54/150 Overall6/10 AGRun: 14:58T1: 1:20Bike: 1:20:56T2: 1:10Run: 35:47 | |||||||
| Racer | Robert Swanwick | |||||||
| Race | Philadelphia Escape Tri - Sunday, June 25, 2017 | |||||||
| Comment | swim cancelled | |||||||
| AG Place | 3/49 | |||||||
| Overall | 79/540 | |||||||
| no_pr | ||||||||
| Time | 01:50:33 | |||||||
| Race Report | swim cancelled due to debris and current. Turned into run-bike-run with 1/3 of run before bike and 2/3 after. Held myself back to just under 6:30's for first two mile run. Super congested because they let everyone after the pros go at the same time. Bike was also congested due to start and two loops of the same course that it was hard to stay out of drafts. The course itself was fantastic: balance of hill/flat and some nice technical turns. 3 of the top 5 were penalized including me. My penalty was riding too long at 2 bike lengths behind instead of 3. I explained that I was off to the side, but I did not exit from the rear of the box. Did the fastest split on the last run (under 6:30's) and finished 3rd even with the 2 min penalty. Would have been first by a single second without it! | |||||||
| Racer | Cabell Greenwood | |||||||
| Race | Maryland Olympic Duathlon - Sunday, July 17, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 1/2 | |||||||
| Overall | 29/106 | |||||||
| no_pr | ||||||||
| Time | 02:12:19 | |||||||
| Race Report | Run 1 T1 Bike T2 Run 2 Total 0:15:16 0:01:10 1:19:12 0:01:14 0:35:24 2:12:19 | |||||||
| Racer | Cabell Greenwood | |||||||
| Race | Philadelphia Escape Tri - Sunday, June 25, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 4/20 | |||||||
| Overall | 177/534 | |||||||
| no_pr | ||||||||
| Time | 02:02:04 | |||||||
| Race Report | Swim Cancelled 2 mile run 25 mile bike 4 mile run R1: 14:53 Pace: 7:27 T1: 0:48 Bike: 1:11:28 MPH: 20.8 T2: 1:03 Run2: 33:54 Pace: 8:05 | |||||||
| Racer | Cabell Greenwood | |||||||
| Race | Duathlon Nationals - Saturday, June 17, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 12/18 | |||||||
| Overall | 130/180 | |||||||
| Time | 02:44:33 | |||||||
| Race Report | Run1: 51:21 Pace: 8:16 T1: 1:17 Bike: 1:23:50 MPH: 17.7 T2: 1:12 Run2: 26:54 Pace: 8:40 | |||||||
| Racer | Dave Orlik | |||||||
| Race | Eagleman Ironman 70.3 - Sunday, June 11, 2017 | |||||||
| Time | 05:59:47 | |||||||
| Race Report | Someone described this event as racing on the surface of the sun. That pretty much sums it up. Man that was hot. Mother Nature teased us a little the day before. Calm water, no wind, and cloud cover. The temps were in the 80’s and humidity was low. Practice time was incredible. But Sunday was not to be the same. Eagleman did not disappoint. We felt the humidity move in Saturday night. By Sunday morning it was 89%. It did taper off during the day, but that sun. OMg… Not a cloud to be found, and baked we did. So how did it go and what did I do to get to this point? 4 Days prior: Alkaline electrolyte water and Base Salt. A lot of water. All week long I made sure I ate clean as well. I took time off, and only did a short RBR on Wednesday. (Missed out on a swim due to work). A lot of rest and daily minutes with a foam roller. That’s it. Saturday. I walked down to Great Marsh for a practice swim. The water was nice so I chose to try my speed suit. Good choice. The water was refreshing. After returning from a short out-n-back I decided I wanted more, so I swam back out. That turned out to be short, as I found the only jelly fish in the water. A local athlete argued with me stating there are no jellies this time of year. I know what tentacles feel like scraping across my face, and I had the cutes to prove it. I was ok and headed out to ride the run course. What a beautiful day. Calm winds and clouds. I was enjoying every minute. The rest of Saturday was packet pickup and then chilling. It was a good day. Sunday I guess experience is starting to pay off. For once, I wasn’t nervous. Hell. It’s only a half, right? (I’ve done more full distance races than half’s.) I hung out at the awesome MMTC tent, set up my bike, met up with fellow TeamBlueline members Dave Sousa and Brandon Chance, then headed to an early swim start. (Being older has it perks…) Swim 43:35 Prior to race start, I went back and forth on wearing wet suit or not. I was so excited to finally race this even in a wet suit, but the humidity and beating sun made me reconsider. After discussing the options with friends, I decided a few minutes saved in the water wasn’t worth raising my body temp. It’s going to be a hot day and I wanted to enjoy the cool water. It was perfect. 74°. My swim wasn’t as good as I would have liked, but it wasn’t my worst. My issue lately is less about speed and more about tracking. (I’m pulling to the right, which is why I don’t golf.) Something to wok on. T1 Nice to go through without a wet suit. The time was longer than I anticipated, but they reversed the swim course and added a run leg between the swim and bike. That seemed really far... Nothing special here, just made sure to use sunscreen this time, and double checked everything. Decided to go sockless as well. It was a good choice. Bike: 2:54:41 I must say this is the first time I really enjoyed biking the course. The conditions were awesome. So unlike Cambridge. My goal was to be under 3 hours. The winds were mild and felt like they were in the same direction as they were on Saturday. This is good. This means a tail wind on the back half. I was feeling good and maintain a decent pace. Every 5 mikes I made sure to take BASE salt. I wanted to stay on the bike the whole race and not have to get off for anything. The plan worked. No cramping. On the bike I had (2) bottles of custom Infinit, water in my speed fill, (1) bonk breaker, and (2) hammer gels. The greatest dilemma I had was figuring out how hard to push. I really felt like I could have gone much faster. Although the humidity felt like it was dropping, the sun was getting hotter. If I went harder would I pay for it on the run? I decided to maintain a comfortable pace. T2 Why so long. Porta Potty stop. No choice; had to go. There was one open right past my transition spot. Put socks on for the run. Turned out to be as hard as it would have been in T1. (Must have been the heat. Did I mention it was hot???) More sunscreen, a gel, Runners Vitamin, and (3) sport legs. Grabbed my hand held bottle with Tailwind, and off I went. Run: 2:09:53 (ouch…) Damn, my strongest event and this turned out to be my worst leg, so I thought. I did a poorly executed version of Galloway. Seemed I could not get a consistent pace and started walking early. I kept telling myself that I just needed to adjust and I’ll be fine in a few miles. Well… This run is always hot. Never cloudy, and just freakin Hot. My first few miles were mid 8’s, and I was OK with that. I assumed it would get better. Ha… I stated walking more and more. I just could not get my legs to move. My inspiration of passing other guys in my age group helped me mentally, but my legs just did not want to move. It was the strangest thing. I wasn’t cramping, no back spasms. I wasn’t having GI issues. I felt good. Like I could to run. My body would have nothing to with it. I said (outload), come on, run dammit... My body responded with a resounding NO. The back half was spent doing leap frog with a girl from our club wearing an older jersey, I just could not keep a constant pace, while she looked very comfortable. I made sure to use BASE salt every mile and plenty of fluids and a few bananas. It wasn’t until mile 12.5 that I was able to finally get moving. I had a very strong sprint to the finish. (At least my body gave a good photo finish.) Strange. Post-Race Many thanks to Tim and Laura for providing a comfortable home at Eagleman. Of course I could not do this without the generosity of my good friends Jose and Christy. To my ever present wife, who volunteered at the waters’ edge, and continues to support this crazy lifestyle. Thanks hon… Last but not least, I thank God for His blessings. Through His grace I am able to push myself beyond my perceived limits. It’s inspiring to be part of such a great club. The inspiration I see every week at the RBR is truly motivating. This year I chose to race to support the families of fallen law enforcement officers. I am part of Team Blueline (http://teamblueline.org/). I stuck around to see fellow teammates David and Brandon. When I saw David (a sub 1:30 runner) jog to the finish, I suddenly felt a little better about my run. Seems we all had a bad run. It wasn’t just me. Desperate to get out of the heat, I made my way back to the home I was staying at and took a shower. Wow that felt nice. Unable to get results on my phone, I decide to walk back down for awards and roll down. Wow, the winning times were incredible. These guys are surely in a different league. I never could find out my rank so I headed home, or should I say, to site in traffic. It wasn’t until Monday morning when I found out I was 10th . My first top 10 finish in an IM event. I am really, really thrilled. It changed my perception of “my” race. I’m not sure what the rest of the year holds, but it’s off to a great start. | |||||||
| Racer | Carl Schneider | |||||||
| Race | BBF 5.7K Championship Race - Saturday, April 5, 2014 | |||||||
| Comment | Family Race | |||||||
| AG Place | 2/33 | |||||||
| Overall | 17/737 | |||||||
| Time | 00:24:32 | |||||||
| Race Report | Congratulations Carl Schneider on finishing the Brigance Brigade 5.7K 5K on April 05, 2014. For your records, the weather that day was Sunny and 49 degrees with a 15 mph W Wind. There were 33 finishers in the Male 46 to 50 age group and 737 finishers in the race. Your overall finish place was 18, your age group finish place was 2 and your gender finish place was 15. Your time of 24:32.12 gave you a 4:18 min/KM pace. For a full listing of results please visit http://www.brigancebrigade.org or mettleevents.com. We hope to see you next year at Brigance Brigade 5.7K. Happy Running, Team Mettle | |||||||
| Racer | Rebecca Bollweg | |||||||
| Race | Raleigh 70.3 - Sunday, June 4, 2017 | |||||||
| Time | 07:15:25 | |||||||
| Race Report | This was my A race for the season. Did Kinetic Oly as a warm up. Drove down early Friday, checked into host hotel, Sheraton. Highly recommend due to its location right at the finish line and a Starbucks a block away. Picked up packet, hit the IM village ($$$) Great village there. I heard better than the past, then relaxed with dinner from Happy and Hale (recommend). Saturday did a little walking and a short jog around but mainly relaxed. Racked bike at T1, about 30 min drive away since it's a point to point race. Decided to drop T bags off in the morning instead. You had the option of doing it Saturday. Sunday up by 3:45am to get to T2 to drop off T2 bag and then take 45 min shuttle (in very nice buses) to swim start. Actually felt pretty relaxed. One banana and half a kind bar with water. Swim IM says 45:30 for 1.2 miles (2:20 pace) but Garmin read 2,235 yd for a 2:03 pace. That's more like it. They only gave 3 min in between swim waves to get us out on the road sooner, so there was a LOT of contact all throughout the swim. I'm sure I saw Missie pass me in the purple cap! In water start, Triangular swim, nice water, not choppy except for waves from other athletes. Managed the contact ok, diverted when I could. It felt long, but kept my breathing steady and just kept going, smooth exit with padding. Walked a bit to T1. Took time to sunscreen again quickly, then headed out. T1 - 4:24 Bike - 3:19:26 (16.9 mph) I was told this course was not "that bad" always considering the hills that we bike all the time here in HC. Well, that is true, the hills were not THAT bad, but man, there were enough of them, constant, with enough of a grade to wear out the legs. Plus with the heat reaching mid 80's, by the time mile 40 came, I was ready to be done. For a long time I was averaging high 17's and was so excited, but that gradually came down over the last 1/3 of the bike. Drank my mix of water, carbo pro, skratch (lemon lime) and ate some gummies, a honey stinger waffle and drank plain water at aid stations. Took Base salt whenever I thought of it. Decided to stop for a min at aid station 2 and 3 (stations at miles 14, 28, 42) to dump water on me and drink water. Last 5ish miles were tough, legs done, still hilly enough. At dismount, there was a long walk down the block to get into T2. Great racking spot near entry. T2 - 4:37 took time to quickly sunscreen Run - 3:01:28 UGH Hot Hot Hot, some shade in pockets. Great spectators and some with spray water to cool you off. As soon as I got off the bike I gave myself the OK to walk/run as much as I needed to, so I walked out of T2, started running and 30 seconds later started walking :) It just wasn't happening. I played games with myself, which is the first time I've done that, where I run to a sign, then walk to a mailbox, run to a tree, walk to the stop light. That worked well and sometimes I could push the run a bit further. It is a fairly fast run course in my opinion (if you run fast :)) with rolling hills and great spectators almost the whole way. It is all throughout the downtown area. When i reached mile two, I saw Bryan and Moe and stopped for a while, maybe 25ish minutes, until Moe got to the ambulance for dehydration and we knew he was ok. Bryan and I shot the &*$% for a while, sharing our inner most thoughts, he became friends with everyone on the course, and around mile 6ish? I went ahead to finish my race. I continued on with the walk /run, dumping ice in bra in front and back and in hat, sipping water, slices of orange and one chip at each aid station (which were every mile). I was thrilled that they never ran out of ice while I was out there. I think maybe one or two stops didn't have it, but most did. I realized at this time that I hadn't urinated since the beginning of the swim, so I knew that wasn't good. It is a two loop course, they are evil taking you right past the finishers chute to continue on. When I was finishing up that second loop and turned the corner and saw that chute, I was ALMOST as happy as when I saw it at IMLP last year. It's a great chute, lots of people lined up long the side, I heard my name but didn't "take in" the finish like you should. Drank a full bottle of water right at the end. All in all, a great race! If the weather was a bit cooler I would definitaly consider doing it again. Stayed for awards to see the awesome Missie Vess get her FOTW cap from Roka and her 2nd place AG award. Met up with all the other MMTC'ers and simply enjoyed being DONE! FYI, IM picks up your T1 bags and transports them back to the finish, along with your morning clothes bag. Oh, and I finally peed when i got back to my hotel room around 4:30. Phew. | |||||||
| Racer | Rebecca Bollweg | |||||||
| Race | Kinetic International - Saturday, May 13, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 4/10 | |||||||
| Time | 03:09:17 | |||||||
| Race Report | Stayed at Host hotel, Best Western Plus in Thornburg, about 30 min away, but the closest one unless you camp. Highly recommend. Pretty venue, good swim, nice water, little contact Bike, true rolling hills, shade Run, true rolling hills/flat, shade, last mile was downhill Would recommend this race.... | |||||||
| Racer | Mark Yost | |||||||
| Race | Rev 3 Quassy Half - Sunday, June 4, 2017 | |||||||
| Comment | Heaven and hell, in one race. | |||||||
| AG Place | 3/28 | |||||||
| Overall | 68/632 | |||||||
| Time | 05:15:45 | |||||||
| Race Report | OK, it’s time to start the race reports again. I fell off the wagon a year ago, partly due to the website transition speedbumps and partly due to laziness. But I am strong believer that one of the strengths of our club has been learning from each other’s experiences, and one of the best ways to do that is through race reports. So, here we go. I switched to Rev3 Quassy 70.3 in 2014 from Eagleman because I decided it was a better prep course for the Lake Placid Ironman. Both are special in different ways. Some might say each offers a different kind of hell. With Eagleman, it’s usually the suffocating heat on the exposed run. With Quassy, it’s 3800 feet of climbing on the bike and 950 more during the run. I’m sticking with Quassy for the foreseeable future. Rev 3 does a superb job organizing the race and it’s located in an amusement park with plenty of parking and stuff to do for the family. The swim is in a beautiful clean lake, the bike course is almost constant climbing or descending (sometimes steep and curvy), and the run course is mostly shaded on pleasant back roads with hellacious climbs. Matt and I arrived mid-day Saturday after spending the night in a hotel near East Brunswick, NJ. In the past, we’ve made the entire drive on Saturday but it makes for an early morning. The most important night for sleep is Friday night for a Sunday race, so we slept in Saturday morning and made the easy drive to Middlebury, CT to complete packet pick-up, bike check and the race briefing by 3 pm. This year we stayed on points at the Courtyard in Waterbury, about 15 minutes from the race site. It was close and had a good Italian restaurant nearby. Transition opened at 5:15 a.m. race day. We arrived around 5:30 a.m. to get parking a short walk (50 meters) to transition. The lot fills up by 6 a.m., but all of the parking is within 200 meters of the transition area. The weather was perfect. Mid-50’s at the start, no wind and low/no humidity. The temps never got higher than the mid-to-low 60s, and it was initially sunny then clouding over slowly as the day went on. Swim: 33:36 (1:35/100 yards) (9/28 AG) Although we were initially scheduled for Wave 4, the 55-59 old farts were moved up to the second wave with 40-44 year olds at 7:05 a.m. Brian Eisentraut said hi shortly before the beach start. The water temp was 64, so it was easily wet suit legal. The water was brisk, but fine. Tinted goggles are a must because in the past the middle leg of the triangular course was directly in the sun. This year, they altered the course, making the second leg longer but more to the northeast and no longer directly into the sun. The wind was calm and the lake was like glass. My keys were, as always, find a good draft and maintain a straight line. I did both. The water was clear, there were plenty of drafting opportunities, and it was easy to sight. My training swim times have been slow, so my time surprised me. Later I learned that everyone was fast and that the Garmin 920s were reporting a short course of about 1900 yards. I emerged about where I always do in the swim: about 1/3 of the way back on the age group. T2: 2:06 After disastrous transitions at Kinetic, I resolved to simplify and it worked. I moved well coming out of the water and up the ramp, leaving my goggles on (I can see better with them and it keeps both hands free to work the wetsuit off). This is the first time I had worn the new short sleeve Xterra (ditching the long sleeve BlueSeventy) and it came off easily, with no hang ups on the timing chip or ankles. My shoes were on the bike, so it was just a matter of putting on the sunglasses and the helmet, and I was off. No socks so barefoot to the mount line. I started the bike 6th in the AG apparently passing 3 faster swimmers during transition. Before I mounted, I did take a few seconds to down two Gasilla tabs, organic over the counter anti-gas pills. I have tendency to swallow air during the swim and it comes back to haunt me late in the bike or early in the run in the form of painful gas stomach aches. Bike: 3:02:32 (18.4 mph) (4/28 AG) The bike course is fast and furious, except when it’s painful and agonizing. It’s never boring. The roads were in fairly good shape, but always have to watch for the random pothole, sand or debris. Much of the bike course is like the Catoctins northwest of Frederick: short, steep climbs with plunging curving descents. Part of it is more like the Shenandoahs: from mile 23 to about mile 30, it’s a long steady climb with a few level stretches for recovery. I like the bike course. A lot. It’s never boring. I rode Matt’s Felt DA instead of my IA4, hoping I’d squeak a few minutes off my time since the DA is so light and climbs easily. It’s not as good as the IA4 descending, and I didn’t use my Zipp 404/808 wheelset because the cassettes aren’t compatible. I pulled always from people climbing, but they generally flew past me on the descents. I was two minutes slower this year than last year, confirming that is more about the motor than the chassis. I’m undecided which bike to ride for the Lake Placid Ironman. Nutrition and hydration were easy. I carried one bottle of tangerine Gatoride, switching to the course Gatorade when it ran dry. There were fluid stops at miles 15, 30 and 45. For nutrition, I went through 3 gels about every 45 minutes. The mistake for the day. Ignoring the rule not to do something for the first time in a race, I skipped socks in T1. I’ve gone sockless for 56 miles before (but never 112), but today I was wearing new shoes in which I had not ridden long sockless. Blister city on the tops of several toes. I moved up two more places during the bike, but only remember seeing a spry 56 year old named Paul Vella pass me at mile 32 after the long climb. T2: 1:25 I slipped my feet out of the shoes about 40 yards from the dismount line and came in listening to Matt. T2 was inconsequential, except for whatever GU or slime I stepped in. The toes were bleeding, but only on the top so it was no problem for the run. Not much to do: Helmet off, and shoes and number belt on, I grabbed my gels and stomach meds, and I was out. This transition was much smoother than Kinetic, where I emerged from T2 wearing my bike helmet. Yes, at the Kinetic Half, I was that guy. Fortunately, no photographers to memorialize that one. Run: 1:36:07 (7:21 pace) (1/28) The run started slow. I stopped at a portapotty outside of transition to dehydrate. That’s not a bad thing. It usually means the run will go well, because I hydrated well on the bike and because I’ve just released some ballast that would slow me down. The first half mile is uphill at Quassy as you start the loop around the leg. My legs felt heavy, but I shortened my stride and tried to keep a quick cadence. I still have carryover fitness from the Boston Marathon and had a good half marathon at the Kinetic Half in May. I just told myself to relax and it would come together. It almost didn’t. I felt that old familiar stomach ache emerging around the end of mile 3. At mile 4, I took two Gasilla tabs. Mile 5 was my slowest mile as the pain intensified. But I could feel it receding and by mile 7, it was gone. By mile 7, you’ve completed the upper loop of the figure 8 and are almost back to the Quassy amusement park, but then you turn south for the bottom loop. Mile 8 is a steep downhill into the bottom loop, and I was able to run sub 7 easily. Mile 9 starts a long painful uphill, which ended sweetly as I passed Paul Vella just before Mile 10. Mile 11 is a long downhill and I was able to run most of it sub 7 to put some time and distance on Paul. The last mile is the hardest. It’s a long uphill, with a steep curving climb back to Quassy, then a few hundred yards of level highway before a short downhill finish. I kept nutrition simple. Two gels, one at mile 4 and one at mile 8. Waterstops every mile or so. I took Gatorade when my stomach allowed it, otherwise water which has a tendency to settle my stomach. They also offered coca cola, but I save that and/or Red Bull for when I really need it at the Ironman. The finish is excellent! Unlike Ironman, Quassy let’s you finish with family, with friends, with strangers and with dogs. Free finisher picture as you cross the line. Matt, who volunteered for the swim start and finish line, took my finishing picture and met me at the line. (He was going to race the Olympic, but ended up volunteering when his coach nixed his plan to race anything beyond sprint distance for the year). I crossed in 3rd place in the AG, finishing in 5:15 just ahead of Paul for a second consecutive year. The winner of the AG went 5:05 and #2 went 5:09. Rev3 is far better than Ironman in terms of post-race food. Hot food from a grill, including veggie burgers. There’s beer for the brave, water for the rest of us. Quassy is a winner, even if times are slower due to the brutal nature of the bike and run courses. We’re going back for 2018. I’ll probably go back to socks and the IA4 for the bike portion. | |||||||
| Racer | Matt Coleman | |||||||
| Race | Kinetic Sprint - Sunday, May 15, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 2/4 | |||||||
| Overall | 56/563 | |||||||
| Time | 01:26:22 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Matt Coleman | |||||||
| Race | SavageMan 30.0 - Saturday, September 17, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 1/2 | |||||||
| Overall | 21/267 | |||||||
| Time | 02:36:42 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Matt Coleman | |||||||
| Race | Kinetic Sprint - Sunday, May 14, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 1/4 | |||||||
| Overall | 27/484 | |||||||
| Time | 01:22:07 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Carl Schneider | |||||||
| Race | Rock Hall International Triathlon - Saturday, June 3, 2017 | |||||||
| Comment | Tough Crowd | |||||||
| AG Place | 19/34 | |||||||
| Overall | 123/298 | |||||||
| Time | 02:34:48 | |||||||
| Race Report | Woke at 4:30, left at 5:05, got there about 7:00. Coffee and bagel on the drive. Val and Vinny parked the Kia, had to use porta-potty immediately, then packet pick-up, chip and body marking. Back to car and front tubular was almost flat, switched to Oval wheel Swim: Lava Pants, with new MMTC tri jersey w/Gel in pocket. White/light tinted goggles w/o water or spit, worked great until they fogged up the last 1/4. Apparently most racers didn't understand that the last buoys were a "gate" a did not pass through before the finish. Officials stated that since most racers cut the course short, they would allow it. Bummer for me. Bike: Shoes on bike, no socks on bike. Worked hard, but passed and got passed regularly. Road is flat, but mostly not smooth, 25 tires would be better. Run: Took a little Gatorade and water, but the sky was overcast and didn't get too hot or thirsty | |||||||
| Racer | Tony Krueger | |||||||
| Race | Rock Hall International Triathlon - Saturday, June 3, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 8/22 | |||||||
| Overall | 108/298 | |||||||
| Time | 02:30:20 | |||||||
| Race Report | Stayed at bayshore campground for the weekend. Went down Friday and did packet pickup. Campground had a lot of triathletes. Saturday morning i cycled to Rockhall from campground. Swim was pleasant. Water not too cold or hot. Overcast so easy spotting turns and not many waves. Not sure anyone went through the last gate before turning to the exit. Everyone just headed straight for exit pier and the floppy yellow blow up man. I Followed the crowd. I find most eastern shore rides I do are windy and hot. This one was calm and overcast. Nice actually. The last 7 miles or so we had about 5 of us playing leap frog. Not sure anyone was really racing at full potential as we were able to talk to each other as we passed. We seemed to have to show each other we had the pep to overtake and be in the lead. Took my mind off the monotony of looking at my front tire and blacktop. Run echoed the ride, calm and overcast. I enjoyed the course through the streets of Rockhall. I had two peeps pace behind me the entire run. Motivation to keep my pace. Every now and then they came up on my left shoulder but never passed. We chatted after the race each thanking the other for the pace and motivation. Road my bike back to campground. Maria and I went sea kayaking in the Chester river in the afternoon. Ospreys Eagles Cormorants....and almost no boats. Enjoyable! Maria and I did a Sunday morning ride to wildlife refuge and hung out on the beach at the campground in the afternoon. Headed home around 5 | |||||||
| Racer | Carl Schneider | |||||||
| Race | Annapolis 10 Mile Run - Sunday, August 26, 2007 | |||||||
| Comment | Best 10 Miler | |||||||
| AG Place | 76/472 | |||||||
| Overall | 411/4374 | |||||||
| Time | 01:16:50 | |||||||
| Race Report | So hot, 79F at the start. Submitting in 2017 to test WordPress | |||||||
| Racer | Stephanie Blades | |||||||
| Race | Columbia Triathlon - Sunday, May 21, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 8/15 | |||||||
| Overall | 242/344 | |||||||
| Time | 03:26:50 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Therese Werner | |||||||
| Race | Columbia Triathlon - Sunday, May 21, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 8/17 | |||||||
| Time | 03:22:55 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Robert Swanwick | |||||||
| Race | Columbia Triathlon - Sunday, May 21, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 3/37 | |||||||
| Overall | 26/345 | |||||||
| Time | 02:29:06 | |||||||
| Race Report | Only my 2nd olympic tri and my first as a mid md member. Was great to meet folks at the tent. Tim was great. | Results: https://results.chronotrack.com/event/results/event/event-30293?entryID=29406372 | Swim: loved the staggered start. Much less panic for me. Suck at swimming, but did ok. | Bike: went out a little hard (HR in 150's) and paid by burning out legs a bit. | Bike/run transition: forgot to take off helmet. 10 strides out of transition area was informed by spectator and had to run all the way back to bike. | Run: stomach rough at first, but held a steady pace whole way despite legs really burning hard towards the end. | |||||||
| Racer | Carl Schneider | |||||||
| Race | Kinetic Half IM - Saturday, May 13, 2017 | |||||||
| Comment | Too close to bottom half | |||||||
| AG Place | 6/12 | |||||||
| Overall | 86/188 | |||||||
| Time | 05:46:30 | |||||||
| Race Report | https://www.vtsmts.com/2017-results-kinetic-half-complete-overall/ https://www.vtsmts.com/2017-results-kinetic-half-overall-men/ https://www.vtsmts.com/2017-results-kinetic-half-male-divisions/ 006/012 Male 50-54 5:46:30 086/188 Overall Male 5:46:30 010/012 143/188 0:46:44 Swim 006/012 000/188 0:06:02 T1 005/012 057/188 2:51:47 Bike 006/012 000/188 0:03:28 T2 005/012 089/188 1:58:31 Run 006/012 086/188 5:46:30 Triathlon 006. 78 54 M Carl Schneider Ellicott City MD 010 46:44 6:02 005 2:51:47 3:28 005 1:58:31 5:46:30 086. 78 54 M Carl Schneider Ellicott City MD 143 46:44 6:02 057 2:51:47 3:28 089 1:58:31 5:46:30 Pasta at Vito's with Valerie Separate beds at 2nd floor Lake Anna Lodge Starbucks Double Shot Energy Espresso and bagel for breakfast. Cold and wet, but not raining. Swim: Wore clear goggles, Lava pants and wet-suit sleeves T1: Very slow, dried off with towel, but still hard to get on bike-shorts, wool socks and gloves. Bike: Quite windy, roads wet but not too many puddles. Quads fine, but glutes hurt a lot again, neck pain after 40+ miles, but never too bad. T2: Slow removing wet-suit sleeves (GPS first) Run: Didn't feel great first lap, but then got in the groove, running roughly 9:00 pace. Lower back pain was terrible, but went away when I remembered to look up. Not much sweat, decided to eat orange slices, and not walk, instead of cups. When right foot starting hurting, upped my cadence and pain went away. 52.0° Cloudy 5 Feels like 52.0° 5 mph N wind 94% humidity Source: KLKU | |||||||
| Racer | Cabell Greenwood | |||||||
| Race | Columbia Triathlon - Sunday, May 21, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 1/3 | |||||||
| Overall | 14/47 | |||||||
| no_pr | ||||||||
| Time | 02:34:01 | |||||||
| Race Report | Duathlon R1: 17:00 T1 0:53 Bike: 1:19:28 T2: 0:37 R2: 56:05 PR'd the bike and paid for it on the run! | |||||||
| Racer | Deb Taylor | |||||||
| Race | Columbia Triathlon - Sunday, May 21, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 3/17 | |||||||
| Overall | 107/345 | |||||||
| Time | 02:53:33 | |||||||
| Race Report | Masters 8/54 T1: 2:04 (3rd) T2: :55 (1st) Run 7:50s - 48:29 (1st AG but 2 min off my PR of 2013) Bike: 1:27:55 (17.06 - 3rd) - dropped/wedged my chain on Linthicum, lost 5-10 minutes - frustrating!! PR was a 1:20 ...so who knows?? Swim: 34:13 (6th) - 2013 was 32:45 and not a PR - sighted well but still too slow! Happy overall, especially given chain issue...but would like to get back to 2:45 range. Get my run back to 7:30s, get faster on swim and bike. Weather was excellent today! (A little cool but perfect for a race.) Happy Anniversary (1st) to us!!! | |||||||
| Racer | Dan Mooney | |||||||
| Race | Columbia Triathlon - Sunday, May 21, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 4/37 | |||||||
| Overall | 28/345 | |||||||
| Time | 02:29:25 | |||||||
| Race Report | Awesome weather for the race today. Cool enough that my feet were really cold coming off the bike and took a few miles to warm up the run. Although I felt like I had a great race I could not podium. My age group is just full of studs and I need to figure out their secrets. Loved seeing all of the MMTC folks at the race. Swim: 30:02 15/37 T1: 1:35 6/37 Bike: 1:14:15 5/37 T2: 0:50 1/37 Run: 42:46 3/37 | |||||||
| Racer | Rick Fitzgerald | |||||||
| Race | Richmond Sprint Triathlon - Saturday, April 22, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 1/29 | |||||||
| Overall | 29/455 | |||||||
| Time | 01:03:51 | |||||||
| Race Report | Good race. Well-organized and very friendly race director and staff. I recommend this race. 400m pool swim in 50M pool previously used for 2008 Olympic Trials. The swim is like open water, since the lane lines are tied down to the bottom of the pool near the wall and you swim over them and around buoys. Time Trial start went faster than usual, as you left in waves of 11 people. I still got blocked somewhat by slower swimmers, but not too bad. Time: 6:50 end of swim, 7:04 to the mat. 12.4 mi. bike is a fast lollipop course, with one lane closed on a busy road, which is divided in half by cones for the cyclists. This is about a mile each way. Difficult to pass slower riders in these sections. I set a new PR at 23.3 mph avg, after 30 years of racing. I like this course! Official time is slightly slower at 32:27, counting run to the mat. The 5k run is a paved flat and fast 2 loop romp around soccer fields and the pool building. I had a stitch in the last .5 mile and stopped briefly twice to massage my side. Time: 21:58. Overall 1:03:51, first place M55-59. I had fun. Post race food of egg casseroles, fried potatoes and french toast was great! | |||||||
| Racer | Jonathan Anderson | |||||||
| Race | Purple Stride 5k - Sunday, April 9, 2017 | |||||||
| AG Place | 2/20 | |||||||
| Overall | 4/135 | |||||||
| Time | 00:21:11 | |||||||
| Race Report | A very close friend of mine, his wife was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. My wife decided while we went down to visit my parents in Va Beach, to do this purple run for Purple Stride 5k. The race would be on the boardwalk in Virginia beach, flat with absolutely perfect low 50's weather. I have been working on distance stuff to prep for Ragnar Cape Cod, and figured to see how the old wheels were working on a short course. Why not. We entered as a family, much like previous races, where I race, then run back to the family and finish with them. I estimated around 150 participants, with bibs, not including the walkers and untimed runners which more than doubled that amount. The issue would be it was an out and back, so coming back I knew there would be traffic. And traffic there was. They could not close the boardwalk so there were people everywhere. 9am start. I did a mile warm up and felt good. I figured, shoot for 20 and would certainly place in my AG. Kissed the kids and off to the start line. Drank a cup of joe and we were doing brunch afterwords so no food before the race. No biggie. Lets get the first one out of the way and keep on keeping on. Gun goes off. I start strong and figure keeping around 6:20 pace would put me where I need to be. Then the people. I could not get into stride with all the people, it was slow, fast, slow fast repeat. Then at the halfway mark turning around, we had to not only dodge all the tourists, but the throngs of people who were in the event. Sheer madness. I saw the family on the back side, which was nice but really had to focus on getting a rythym. It was also noticeable in all the front guys as less than 2 minutes separated all of us and the guy who was leading was pushing it. I was racing but was also enjoying it for my friend and family. It was fun. I finished fourth with a time of 21:11 not great but I will accept it for the opening of the season. In addition, my family (parents were there) which was nice as my mom has been to very few races. I avg 6:49 mileswhich with the weaving and how the race unfolded I will take as a victory. Will easily get my time cut significantly on a course with less people where I can just open the throttles but this was fun, great weather, and 4th is a good opening. | |||||||
| Racer | Deb Cooley | |||||||
| Race | Little Patuxent River Run - Sunday, February 5, 2017 | |||||||
| Comment | nice trail race for first timers | |||||||
| AG Place | 7/19 | |||||||
| Overall | 114/198 | |||||||
| Time | 01:12:08 | |||||||
| Race Report | I liked this race. The first 1.5-2 miles is mostly flat and wide open (except where you run up Volmerhausen to the next trail section). The single track sections are beautiful and a little technical. I'm glad they kept the size down. The course can't handle many more simultaneous runners. Finishers glass is the bomb!!! | |||||||
| Racer | Cabell Greenwood | |||||||
| Race | Annapolis Classic - Saturday, November 19, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 1/10 | |||||||
| Overall | 30/406 | |||||||
| Time | 00:48:28 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Cabell Greenwood | |||||||
| Race | Age Group National Championships - Saturday, August 13, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 37/87 | |||||||
| Overall | 753/1097 | |||||||
| Time | 02:45:41 | |||||||
| Race Report | Swim 0:35:40 T1 0:01:43 Bike 1:13:18 T2 0:01:45 Run 0:53:16 Total 2:45:41 | |||||||
| Racer | Cabell Greenwood | |||||||
| Race | Waterman's Sprint Triathlon - Sunday, October 2, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 2/14 | |||||||
| Overall | 38/176 | |||||||
| Time | 01:22:21 | |||||||
| Race Report | Swim T1 Bike T2 Run Total 0:17:07 0:01:41 0:40:02 0:01:06 0:22:28 1:22:21 | |||||||
| Racer | Cabell Greenwood | |||||||
| Race | Nation's Triathlon - Sunday, September 11, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 2/11 | |||||||
| Overall | 186/1381 | |||||||
| no_pr | ||||||||
| Time | 02:00:25 | |||||||
| Race Report | No Swim T1 Bike T2 Run Total 0:00:58 0:00:57 1:07:47 0:01:10 0:49:35 2:00:25 | |||||||
| Racer | Cabell Greenwood | |||||||
| Race | Rock Hall International Triathlon - Saturday, June 4, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 2/9 | |||||||
| Overall | 73/267 | |||||||
| Time | 02:35:59 | |||||||
| Race Report | Swim T1 Bike T2 Run Total 0:34:38 0:02:30 1:07:26 0:00:56 0:50:31 2:35:59 | |||||||
| Racer | Cabell Greenwood | |||||||
| Race | Keystone State Triathlon - Sunday, August 28, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 1/1 | |||||||
| Overall | 2/12 | |||||||
| Time | 01:38:37 | |||||||
| Race Report | Run 1 T1 Bike T2 Run 2 Total 0:14:06 0:00:45 0:57:30 0:00:40 0:25:33 1:38:37 | |||||||
| Racer | Carl Schneider | |||||||
| Race | NCR Trail Marathon - Saturday, November 26, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | Met goal (average of all prior marathons) | |||||||
| AG Place | 12/30 | |||||||
| Overall | 94/275 | |||||||
| Time | 03:56:51 | |||||||
| Race Report | Still in the process of having alcohol injection (4 of 7) into my right foot to kill the nerve (for Neuroma), so training mileage was very reduced. Pesto spaghetti for dinner (diarrhea before bed) Coffee and pop-tart for breakfast. Water, then Honey Stinger Gel before start. 6 more Honey Stringer Gels, Gummy Bears and one GU from volunteers, along with water and Gatorade. Started at 8:15-8:30 pace, had to slow down when my right foot started to hurt, about 15 miles. Started to cramp, first right calf, then left quad, before mile 23. Had to walk twice up the hills. | |||||||
| Racer | Carl Schneider | |||||||
| Race | General Smallwood Tri - Saturday, May 21, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | Another rainy tri | |||||||
| AG Place | 5/13 | |||||||
| Overall | 68/128 | |||||||
| Time | 03:02:31 | |||||||
| Race Report | Another bad night's sleep but Jawbone says 6:05 (3:31 Sound, 2:34 Light). Nora was missing Valerie, who slept in the spare bedroom. Woke at 5:05, left with Valerie at 5:40, arrived at 7:05. Cinnamon bagel and coffee for breakfast before leaving. Packet pick-up, porta-potty, bike racking/setup, then wetsuit, then body-marking and finally the chip. PowerGel before swim start and during run. MMTC tri shorts/top, Garmin HR strap, sleeveless wetsuit and clear Aqua Sphere mask. Quick spit before, rinsed in the bathroom. Shoes clipped on bike. Only Aero-bottle with honey & one Nuun Tubular tires at 160 psi, rear tubular no tape or glue. Swim: Downpour during swim reduced visibility, but boats w/lights helped 2 laps. Passed by 1st pink cap (back 4:00) at 2/3 buoy, then the pink peloton before 3/3. On the outbound leg, waves came from the far right, mostly had to work hard and breath every 2 strokes, which I don't practice. T1: Put Fix-a-Flat in tri-top. Put on socks and pre-rolled MMTC arm-warmers, which did little to keep me warm. (no gloves) Bike: Wet, cold & windy. Feet mostly numb that entire ride. Had to hold back on the downhills due to cold shivers/shaking. Passed many, quite a few flats too. T2: Shoes and hat and go. Doubled back a few steps to drop off Fix-a-Flat Run: Few thawed out after about 10 minutes, tingling at mile 2. Passed some, passed by the winners (on lap 2 while I was on 1st lap). Knew that I was running slow, but didn't see any in my AG and lost motivation. Given the poor swim and post-op lack of training. | |||||||
| Racer | Carl Schneider | |||||||
| Race | Waterman's Sprint Triathlon - Sunday, October 2, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | Sprint is so hard after a 1/2 | |||||||
| AG Place | 9/21 | |||||||
| Overall | 61/177 | |||||||
| Time | 01:17:01 | |||||||
| Race Report | Not a good idea to race the day after a Half. Forgot race belt w/bib and had to double back from the sidewalk, losing about 20 seconds. HRM kept slipping down on the run, finally gave up and let it drop to waist. | |||||||
| Racer | Carl Schneider | |||||||
| Race | SavageMan 30.0 - Saturday, September 17, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | Almost caught Dr. Joe for 3rd | |||||||
| AG Place | 4/15 | |||||||
| Overall | 39/160 | |||||||
| Time | 02:45:58 | |||||||
| Race Report | Forgot to check brakes, had to stop and attach front brake. Would have biked harder if I had know that 3rd place was so close (lost by 6 seconds) | |||||||
| Racer | Carl Schneider | |||||||
| Race | SavageMan 70.0 - Sunday, September 18, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | 4:00 Penalty for abandoning equipment (Dropped bike shorts by event marque lighting) | |||||||
| AG Place | 6/20 | |||||||
| Overall | 68/184 | |||||||
| Time | 06:45:48 | |||||||
| Race Report | Pre-Race: Ate pasta (again), watch DVD with Valerie and got to bed early. Sleep fine, Olympic triathlon might be worth getting a good nights sleep? Woke at 6:30 to leave at 7:30, got to park by 7:45, told to leave transition before 8:30. Coffee, 1/2 un-toasted bagel and burnt pop-tarts for breakfast. Swim: 4th wave at 8:42 Cooking spray and baggies on feet to get wetsuit on, asked another racer to zip me up. Gel and water right before the swim start. Found some feet and stayed with them the entire race. Visibility was great and only had to work hard when other racers collided with us. Getting out, thanked the guy I drafted and then unzipped his wetsuit for him. Bike: Carbon wheels, tires at 120 PSI due to the chance of rain (rear tire still not taped on). Fix-a-Flat taped on frame, New socks, MMTC tri-top and bike shorts over the wet tri-shorts. Started with LSV/Kelly vest, but didn't really need it. Also had newspaper ready, but did not use it. LG tri-shoes, Giro helmet w/tinted shield, no arm-warmers or gloves. Aero bottle w/Maltodextrin, Nuun, honey and 5-Hour Energy for flavor. Extra bottles with same, but 3x concentrated. Forgot to bring scale, so I had to eyeball the amounts. Added concentrate and water/then Gatorade from volunteers. Carried two Gels and one waffle, just in case. Took downhills much slower this time, roads appeared damp on the main downhill. Got passed by several riders. Took off vest on flat in Luke and stuffed in rear bottle cage, then dropped at top of wall. Wall was completely dry, earned another brick and then the real work started. Drank regularly until bladder was full, peed on the downhill before Killer Miller. Felt a bit tight climbing Killer Miller, but OK, and started to pass riders after mile 45. Took one Gel at the top of Killer Miller. Got onto the lake road and both legs started to cramp badly at mile 55? Run: Started with bike shorts still on and had to double back to drop off the Gels and waffle. Surprisingly, legs felt OK, but heart rate stayed high all the way thru the campground. Stopped for water and removed bike shorts, then dropped them at the sigh, and got a penalty. Decided to not walk on the fire road for the 1st climb. Started to feel legs cramping, so tried to eat Chex Mix, but it's too dry. Decided to alternate between flat Coke and Gatorade/Chex Mix liquid (so nasty) and chase it with water. Randomly ate orange slices and 1/2 banana. Morton's Neuroma in right foot started hurting very badly at about mile 9, causing left quad above knee to cramp. Slowed down and suffered thru until the fire road, walking the steepest segments. Pain went away on the long downhill and only started back on the lake road on the climbs. | |||||||
| Racer | Carl Schneider | |||||||
| Race | Waterman's Half - Saturday, October 1, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | 2nd again, thank goodnes I'm not 55 | |||||||
| AG Place | 2/18 | |||||||
| Overall | 43/143 | |||||||
| Time | 05:22:12 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Amy Krupka | |||||||
| Race | IRONMAN Maryland - Saturday, October 1, 2016 | |||||||
| no_pr | ||||||||
| Time | 11:40:00 | |||||||
| Race Report | no swim, terrible bike for me, but I got to run! | |||||||
| Racer | Robert Hooten | |||||||
| Race | IM 70.3 Timberman - Sunday, August 21, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 66/209 | |||||||
| Overall | 664/2010 | |||||||
| Time | 05:36:14 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Douglas Smith | |||||||
| Race | IRONMAN Maryland - Saturday, October 1, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | No Swim! until the run... | |||||||
| AG Place | 9/190 | |||||||
| Overall | 102/1890 | |||||||
| no_pr | ||||||||
| Time | 08:30:58 | |||||||
| Race Report | IMMD Race Report Doug Smith (M 50 -54) Bike: 4:39:46 - T1 - 4:23 Run 3:46:58 total time: 8:30:58 - asterisk! AG 9th of 200-ish 94th Male, and Overall 102 of 1,890 finishers (2,580 were registered) I have to start by recommending Ironman Maryland for anyone who lives here - it's so valuable to be able to drive to the bike course in a few hours and get accustomed to staying in the aero position for hours and hours. It's a fast course because of that, so if cut-off times are a concern, it's a smart choice. I'd like to encourage everyone in the MMTC to do this race at least once - it's our home court race! It's so easy to get to and likely less expensive than any other full iron distance race destination. You can get some heat-acclimation training and a sense of the area by doing Eagleman. And I'd also like to encourage everyone to volunteer at this race to support our club's athletes - it's great having that MMTC aid station at the end of the bike - it's like a well-deserved reward to get that enormous boost from so many crazy friends at that point in the race. And all along the race course, you see everyone several times. Thank you to everyone who was supporting the event in person or from afar! Y'all know the swim was cancelled, and that that was the right call - the only call. (I wish all races were scheduled for Saturday with Sunday as an alternate date - maybe someday) With a lot of energy at hand from not having to swim, I pushed the first 90 or so minutes of the bike a bit too hard, mostly around zone 3.4 -3.8, but then settled into a nice sustainable Zone 2.9 for the remainder of the ride. I didn't stop at Special Needs, but at the next aid station, took my ziplock of premixed powder (Gatorade, one Nuun, about 700 calories of Dextrose powder, and 4 caffiene salt pills (Salt Stick brand) - first bottle was the same and I had consumed all of that) The "all liquids, all carbs" approach seems to work well for me. I did not finish that second bottle, so I probably didn't need that many calories for a century, so I'll adjust that down next time. I was waiting for the predicted showers, enjoying every mile I went without them, and got up out of the saddle several times to keep from getting too tight in the legs. Having started fairly early was good for me, as I only saw two incidents of small groups cooperating, and just said, "That's not 6 bike lengths" as I went by. The highlight of this fast flat century was definitely hitting the MMTC aid station at mile 90+! I hope you all heard my bell ring 4-times for M.M.T.C! (several times) - And Thank You to Lisa Steptoe for getting all the volunteers there, and Garrett Lash for being ready with a water bottle right when and where I needed it. Transition went pretty smoothly, pulled on the Zensa calf sleeves, changed to dry socks, grabbed my nutrition pack (with the Yost Rx- got the pain killer out), race belt, and headed out for the run. I normally change to a darker pair of shades for the run, but didn't need to today. Also, no hat, which had a ziplock bag to hold ice between aid stations, because it didn't seem that hot. One mistake was leaving on the 2nd pair of tri shorts I had slipped on for just a bit more pad on the bike - but that was the old pair that was starting to fall apart so I just dumped them in a trash can and kept on moving. I was surprised to hit the 1st mile at around 8:30, and the 2nd was under 8:00, so I told myself "Ok - don't go any faster"... and managed to maintain pretty much 7:50's for the next 10 or so miles. It was great to see Zach and Blake cruising nice and quick, and Nick Paul - and so many MMTCers cheering. Around 12, the 8:00 weren't so easy, and at roughly the half I decided that 8's for the 1st half and 8:30's for the 2nd half was a great interim goal time, and it would have still been a big PR. At mile 20 I was still on track for about a 3:35-3:40, but then it got really tough- as usual. Perhaps I had too much Red Bull, or the high-stepping through the flooded areas was making my heart race more than I thought, but at one point I wondered why I felt so bad, and noticed that my HR was at 170 - way too high to be sustainable, so I walked for about 15 seconds to get it back below 160. That was the pattern for the rest of race, walk the aid stations (10 to 15 sec) and then 3 or 4 other times I walked again for 10-15 seconds, and on my final splash through the flooded sections, the water was just too high to run through, so I walked a little there too. That water by the transition area was refreshingly cold, and it was tempting to sit in it for an ice-bath effect, but I opted against that deciding I might do that after the race. I alternated water, gatorade, cola on the run, and got another pain killer out of my special needs bag at mile 11 - rather than waiting for the next pass at mile 18, so it would have time to kick in. It was great to see everyone along the course, but as the effort got harder, my ability to respond was decreasing - Apologies if I said anything stupid to anyone, or called you by someone else's name! But, like everyone, I really appreciated every cheerand yell of "go MMTC!" And another special Thanks to Chrissy for catching me at the finish line, and staying with me until my pride subsided and my body demanded the wheel-chair! I often say this sport is all about overcoming whatever obstacles come up, and this day was no exception. Great job to all the finishers and Thanks again to all the volunteers. | |||||||
| Racer | ||||||||
| Race | Waterman's Half - Saturday, October 1, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 8/13 | |||||||
| Time | 06:31:49 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Lynne Galiatsatos | |||||||
| Race | Colonial Beach International - Sunday, July 10, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 3/3 | |||||||
| Overall | 226/228 | |||||||
| Time | 04:08:06 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Lynne Galiatsatos | |||||||
| Race | Patriot's Half - Saturday, September 10, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | Redemption and longest race ever | |||||||
| AG Place | 2/2 | |||||||
| Overall | 221/247 | |||||||
| Time | 08:35:38 | |||||||
| Race Report | WARNING – this is long – like my race . I did Eagleman as my first 70.3 in 2014. I was so fortunate that while hot, it wasn’t the ‘typical’ Eagleman heat, the water was totally flat, and I was the first wave after the pros, so I had plenty of time to finish. I followed that with Diamondman. Since I am a back of packer I asked about cutoff and was assured that if I got on the run I could finish, that wasn’t the case. HOT race. My first DNF, not a pretty picture. 2015 was a recovery/regroup year deferring races, minimal training etc. I had signed on for Challenge AC 70.3 then WTC took over and wouldn’t transfer the registrations, which with my lack of training was probably a good thing. By the end of 2015 I was ready to get back to training and tackle another 70.3 to prove that Eagleman wasn’t a fluke. I knew there were some of key things I needed to do if there was any chance of success: 1. Lose weight 2. Strengthen my core 3. Commit to training I signed on with Triathlean and started that core, weight loss portion in November. Sessions were twice a week through May and then once a week through summer. I definitely can tell a difference in not just core, but upper body and overall strength. Simple things like being able to pull myself out of the pool and not having to walk over to the steps. It’s the small things that make me happy. Weight loss by race day just at 20 pounds. For training I knew that I needed a coach so I went back to RipIt. We worked out a good training and race plan with the ultimate goal of Patriots being my A race and all races leading up were going to be training days. In addition I had some great training partners this year – Lisa & Lucy. Thanks to them I was able to get some bike miles outside. I still did a few long, long rides on the trainer. By race day I was at peace knowing that everything that was in my control had been done. I’d practiced my nutrition, I’d put in the miles, I’d lost weight. All that was left was out of my control. The race 8:35:38 (AG 2/2) Distance PR as the race is actually 72.3 miles The race site said there was an 8:00 hour cutoff which I knew would be a lofty goal, but if I could get my run down it was achievable. I raced at Colonial Beach in July which is the same group. I asked the race director how strict they were on the cutoff and he said as long as you were on the run by 12:30 he wouldn’t pull. I followed up with an email to confirm. After Diamondman I was taking no chances. I was pretty sure I could hit those cutoffs, so some of the pressure was off. I still wanted to get to 8 hours or close, but the heat gods just weren’t on my side. When asked why 72.3 miles – the race director said that in order to keep the race on the weekend they like, which coincides with the county fair, they had to reroute to avoid the fair, thus 2 additional miles. Swim 57:17 (AG 1/2) The swim was in the James River. The water wasn’t too rough. I expected to feel a faster return trip as we were with the current, but honestly didn’t feel much difference. It was slower than I expected and I’ve heard others say the same. My wave went off at 7:12 and the Olympic waves were to start at 7:30. I half jokingly said that some of the Olympics would pass me. Well I was right. That was the first time during the day that I started with my mantra for the day – my race, my pace. Worst part of the swim – I’ve washed my kit three times and I think it might be just about clean. T1 5:58 It was about .2 mile from swim exit to transition. That and some adjustments to my transition area I think contributed to the long transition. I’d been training without using socks for the bike but I think I offset any advantage of not dealing with wet feet and socks by dealing with the cooler I brought. Since I knew it was going to be hot and I’d be on the bike for 4 hours, I packed my race water belt with 4 bottles in a 2 gallon ziplock and put that in a small cooler on ice. The cooler was sweating and leaking a bit had formed a puddle on my transition mat. So I had to drain water, rearrange. And well, 5:58 later I was on the bike. Bike 3:57:27 (AG 2/2) My goal for the bike was to be under 4:00. Success. Since the race was supposed to be mostly flat, I did a couple training rides on eastern shore and saw significant improvement in my endurance and speed. I chicked at least two guys and a couple women younger than me. Success. The most important thing was to be done with swim and bike in 5 hours from last swim wave in order to beat the cutoff. Success. The bike route was visually nice and well supported. Many of the roads were rough – think chip/seal roads from HoCo. In addition, there was the bike/run trail that ran along a good portion of the route and locals didn’t seem to think the racers should be on the road. There were some rollers, false flats, and one ‘hill’ that went over a river. T1 3:17 Nothing much to say here except my run water was still cold so my cooler strategy was a success. Run 3:31:37 (AG 2/2) Ah the run. . I loved the run course, totally flat and at least 70-80% shaded trail on crushed limestone. This is where I really wanted to take off time from Eagleman. I know training runs do not translate to race runs for this distance; however, I was really REALLY hoping I could at least get my average pace down to 15 since my long training runs had been hitting 14 or under and shorter runs under 13. The heat is not my friend. My plan was to start out walking 6 minutes and then switch to a 1:1 run:walk and try to maintain that. I’ve seen a lot of progress in my run in training and had high hopes but the plan failed so I adjusted. I walked, and walked, and walked some more. Got ice at the aid stations which I used to soak my towel (from Eagleman as a reminder I could do this). Physically I felt great, until I ran and then the air was just too heavy. I told myself after mile 7 I was going to try the 1:1 again. I was able to get a couple miles in and had averages under 14.5, but just couldn’t maintain. I did pass a couple people so that was good. Fortunately when Lisa’s husband, who was out taking pictures and being super-sherpa, caught me at about mile 9 I was in one of the my segments and got some great pictures. Way better than the race pics. Average pace 16:03 (a PR from Eagleman’s 16:15) The finish – I did it. As usual, most of the food was gone, the beer truck was shutting down, the awards were packed away, most of the rest of the people were back at hotels, home all showered and fresh. But I did it. I finished. And the race director dug my 2nd place award out of the truck. And it’s a nice award. I finished in a very happy place. I knew I had done everything to prepare and executed to the best of my ability on that day. For now long course tri is done for me. Next year I’m going back to short course, maybe do Rock Hall Sprint and Olympic for a different type of challenge and continue to work on my run. My A race goal for next year – my first marathon. A thought for you other back of packers….stick with it. Don’t be discouraged by reports from other members who are very fast and consider a 8-9 minute run pace a slow day. I know it’s hard. When I read a report that says a 5.5-6.5 hour 70.3 race was slow, I laugh. If we could all be that fast where would the challenge be? I’ve decided it’s not just about weight and training and age, there’s some genetics thrown in there that keep me from ever being that fast. And I’m good with that and you should be too. Enjoy the day. Be happy you can actually get out there and do these crazy things. We can continue to challenge ourselves to get a bit farther from the back of the pack, always striving to finish knowing we’ve done our best. Nutrition Pre race Large Dunkin Donut coffee with cream and sugar. Yep real sugar and cream. Plain bagel and peanut butter Banana T1 – Gu gel with caffeine Bike 3 bottles Tailwind, ½ bottle Gatorade. Run 7 10 oz bottles tailwind, 1 water. I carried individual servings of Tailwind to replenish my water bottles. I need to get a better refill strategy as I lost time pouring from the ziplock into the bottles. Water at aid stations Applesauce Uncrustable If you stayed with this to the end, sorry it was so long, but as I said at the beginning it’s like my race – long. Thank you for reading. | |||||||
| Racer | Deb Cooley | |||||||
| Race | Hebron 10k Trail Challenge - Sunday, June 19, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | love this race | |||||||
| AG Place | 7/14 | |||||||
| Overall | 109/142 | |||||||
| Time | 01:19:56 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Rick Fitzgerald | |||||||
| Race | Jim McDonnell 1 Mile Swim - Sunday, May 29, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | Fun One Miler! | |||||||
| AG Place | 7/23 | |||||||
| Overall | 57/257 | |||||||
| Time | 00:27:32 | |||||||
| Race Report | Sunny race morning. Water temperature was taken 1 hour before the 1 Mile Race and was just barely legal for wetsuit competition at 77 degrees. This was amazing since one week earlier, the temp was 64 degrees. The swim was great and well run. Swim waves consisted of about 20 people each. I like this swim for the purpose of getting some open water time, in advance of half IM races. I am not a swimmer, so any time in the neighborhood of the "real" swimmers is a bonus for me. The post race food was good and included sandwich wraps and breakfast burritos, in addition to the traditional fruit and gatorade. This is a fun Memorial Day weekend event, which I plan to do again in the future. I was home in time to go to church with the family. Great Sunday! | |||||||
| Racer | Art Henry | |||||||
| Race | General Smallwood Tri - Saturday, May 21, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 10/10 | |||||||
| Time | 04:03:46 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Mark Yost | |||||||
| Race | ACLI Capital Challenge - Wednesday, May 18, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | ACLI Challenge - a fun 3 miler | |||||||
| Overall | 30/615 | |||||||
| Time | 00:18:02 | |||||||
| Race Report | Net: 18:02 Gun: 18:05 Splits by mile: 5:51, 6:00, 6:10. | |||||||
| Racer | Dan Mooney | |||||||
| Race | Columbia Triathlon - Sunday, May 15, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 5/49 | |||||||
| Overall | 42/570 | |||||||
| Time | 02:39:46 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Art Henry | |||||||
| Race | Cascade Lake Triathlon & Duathlon - Sunday, May 15, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 8/9 | |||||||
| Overall | 66/92 | |||||||
| Time | 01:50:19 | |||||||
| Race Report | test test2 | |||||||
| Racer | Donald Brinkley | |||||||
| Race | Columbia Triathlon - Sunday, May 15, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | First Oly Down | |||||||
| AG Place | 41/48 | |||||||
| Time | 03:46:41 | |||||||
| Race Report | This was my first Olympic which along with a lower than desired volume of training would have been nervous enough. But when you compound that with this being “The Race of Firsts,” (first Oly, OWS, wetsuit swim, taking off a wetsuit in transition, biking after swimming, time on the whole run course, the list goes on), I can confidently say I was a little jittery going in. Prerace: Woke at 3:30 forced down a bagel with peanut butter, took a shower to relax, dressed, got nutrition packed up and was out the door around 5:45. I was happy to learn that my bike was dry and after having to run back to the car for my pump, I forced myself to focus on all the things that would go right. One problem was I didn’t consider the walk from transition to swim start and boy were my bare feet feeling the road during that walk. Hanging out at the tent was great though and talking with everyone and getting encouragement really helped calm my nerves some. Swim (39:50): My swim can be summed up in a single work, sad. Which is fitting based on my lack of training and understanding of what I was doing. After having read all the other reports, I find I’m the only one who didn’t find the water cold actually. I could have paddled around for hours in there, once I stopped panicking. I ran down the ramp hit the water dropped in to swim and up I came. All the thoughts from all the previous race reports went through my head and I tried to calm down, but no dice. My face would not go in. So I kept trying. And then the next fun lesson kicked in, I couldn’t breathe! Having never been in a wet wetsuit I had no idea how constricting it would be. And while it was never uncomfortable, I just wasn’t ready for the squeeze it gives. And I quickly started to find myself in a spiral of the more I tried to swim, the harder it was to breathe, and the harder I tried to swim, the harder to breathe…you get it. It was at this point I realized clear goggles were a terrible idea and I couldn’t see anything but a blinding glare ahead of me when I tried to sight. At this point, I started to have lots of thoughts of quitting, about how stupid this was and why I wasn’t still in bed, what was WRONG WITH ME! I finally came across a little raft thing and grabbed it for a few minutes. I just needed to get my breathing steady; if I could do that life would be so much better. Tried swimming again, and NOPE! I wasn’t steady and I forced a dog paddled meets freestyle stroke of ugliness. And then there were the “just quit” thoughts again. It was just now that I heard yelling and found a lady just head of me in a real panic, needing assistance, without a kayak around. I went to her, calmed her down and still no kayak, finally I made one hell of a racket and got some attention, saw her onto the kayak and headed on. Bless that lady’s heart, while her day ended I realized I was nowhere near THAT panicked and I could do this…or at least not quit. I came across another guy shortly before the first turn that was having trouble with no one around to help so I again stopped and assisted in getting attention of a kayak. At this point I was sure I was going to have to get pulled, I mean I’m a slow swimmer, and I stopped twice after a panic. After the second guy I helped, really calmed down though and could get to work. I made the turn putting the sun at my back and push onward, now being able to actually see where I was heading. A few (many) zig zags, and a punch to the head once, and I was making the final turn for shore. After getting out of the water and not falling, woot woot! I looked down to find 40 minutes. Obviously my watch was broken I thought. But my day wasn’t over and into T1 I headed at a nice jog knowing it was all downhill from here. T1 (6:52): Slower than it should have been if I had thought my options through earlier. First I was sure my wetsuit would never come off. I put a good amount of body glide on my lower legs, but I had vision the night before of it never coming off. Well, I’m sure I lost at least a minute while I stared in bewilderment at it on the ground after both legs just slipped right out. Eventually something told me to move. Next I lost time, because while I brought a jacket and arm sleeves, I left them all in my bag, thinking, “eh, I’ll just suck it up on the bike.” Well after seeing everyone else putting on near winter parkas, I figured I should put them on. So I had to go dig them all out, which lost me some more time. Rolling the sleeves though made me look like a pro as they went straight on my wet arms. On went the jacket and out I went. Bike (1:48:42): I was happy with my bike. This only being my second time on the bike course and having never done the whole run course, I didn’t want to push too hard, even still I eventually lost count of the number of people I passed on the bike, so I’m going to consider it a hard enough effort. One take away from the ride is to measure my nutrition better. My hydration seemed fine for the entire race, however, I added a little Gatorade mix to my CarboPro for flavor and just eyeballed the amount. I ended up with one bottle that was super sweet and one that was flavor less. Got to work on that. The highlight of the whole bike course when I emptied my torpedo (right on schedule) and then debated refilling or not. I brought a 2nd bottle of mix on the bike, but having never refilled the torpedo while moving, I just had planned to drink from the regular bottle. Well I had just crested a hill and must have felt cocky because I went for it…and DIDN’T CRASH! I let out an audible woot at that time and a guy behind me cheered me on talking about the hill we just claimed. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him I was cheering about refilling my water bottle. Lol. T2 (2:35): Uneventful. Dismount was fine and I quickly-ish found my legs. Dropped the jacket as it was getting warm, but kept the sleeves and I was off. Run (1:08:40): Ok, what sadist designed this course? The only time I ran any of the course was the Brick-n-Pic and even then we skipped the first hill and the neighborhood…and boy was that a mistake. I couldn’t help but laugh when I dropped into the neighborhood and saw the first hill ahead of me. And I’m not sure if it was laughing or crying when I turned the corner after a climb and saw more hill! That said I’m convinced that any detriment of carrying Ayumi on your back while you run would be negated 10 fold by the increase in speed her encouragement would give you the entire time. When I was running (or what passed for running at that point) up Gatorade Hill her and everyone else’s encouragement pulled me up that hill SO much faster than I would have otherwise done. Which was beyond appreciated. In the end I blew away my goal of finishing in 4:10 (to be honest I think I over padded the goal), but I still wouldn’t have guessed I’d beat it by 25 minutes. I can’t say enough how much I need to work on swimming, even if not to get faster (which I could use), just to get more comfortable during the swim. But the race did show that for the training I did, my bike and run fitness isn’t in too bad a place for building upon. Thanks to everyone in the club that threw out any advice or encouragement it was/is greatly appreciated. | |||||||
| Racer | Ben Olvey | |||||||
| Race | Cascade Lake Triathlon & Duathlon - Sunday, May 15, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | Just as hilly as Columbia Tri | |||||||
| AG Place | 1/3 | |||||||
| Overall | 25/37 | |||||||
| Time | 01:38:39 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Cabell Greenwood | |||||||
| Race | Columbia Triathlon - Sunday, May 15, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | Silver Lining | |||||||
| AG Place | 2/17 | |||||||
| Overall | 117/382 | |||||||
| Time | 02:56:47 | |||||||
| Race Report | I’m not too excited about getting older, but occasionally there’s a silver lining. In triathlon it’s called aging up and this year it led to me getting on the podium for the first time at an Olympic distance race. I’m now a youngster in the “junior-senior” category, otherwise known as 60-64 ;-) That brings some changes; there are now fewer guys in my age group, and I’m starting the race sooner then I’m used to. At Columbia it also meant that I was on the bike rack closest to the exit and I was facing out. It doesn’t get much better for transition location. It also meant I didn’t have to pay attention to which row to turn into. Nice! On race morning I was up earlier then I planned. Since it was the first race of the season I wanted to spend extra time reviewing my checklist and ensuring I had everything before heading to Centennial. At my bike I organized my gear and pulled my wetsuit up to my waist before heading over to the start. As I left transition I realized I forgot to put my timing chip back on after removing it to put on the wetsuit. Back to my gear to retrieve the chip, thinking if that’s the only thing I forget today I’m in good shape. I was. Swim 35:47 246/382 OA 10/17 AG Still my Achilles. I knew the water was going to be cold and I had splashed my face when I arrived in the start area. It didn’t help. As soon as my head went in the water my respiratory system went into shock and my face came out. I couldn’t get my breathing going for almost 200 yards. I wasn’t panicking, I just couldn’t coordinate breathing when my face went in the water. (This is why I really like races that allow you to swim prior to the start. The opportunity to acclimatize makes a huge difference for me) After the first 200 yards I was able to settle into a normal routine and felt like I swam well. Unusually for me, I wasn’t being passed by many people. I think I would have cut several minutes off my time if the start had gone well. At the finish I came out onto the concrete ramp and promptly fell down. I was thankful the wetsuit cushioned my knees! I shook it off and headed to transition, but figured my chances at the podium were slim. T1 4:43 I think this was the longest transition of my life. I was cold and trying to methodically take care of everything. I had put a towel out to somewhat dry my head, figuring that would help reduce chilling on the bike. I also had laid out my bike jacket and gloves. First I had to get the damn wetsuit off. I had sprayed lube on my calves to help, but it wasn’t helping enough. Finally, I had to sit down to pull it off my feet, something I’d never needed to do before. I’m chalking that up to the cold. Then my arms didn’t want to go into the jacket sleeves… While this is going on people are still beginning the swim. At one point I hear the announcer say that a couple of people are getting in without wetsuits. The woman next to me and I both look at each other and say – Those people are crazy! Bike 1:21:12 74/382 OA 2/17 AG I always look forward to getting on the bike and making up some of the time I lose on the swim. Today was no different. I had been worried that because I was in such an early group there wouldn’t be many riders on the course. However, most (or all) of the Duathletes were already out there. I find it helpful to have people in front of me, as it motivates me to keep up my cadence and do some passing. It turned out there were so many riders out that car traffic was backing up frequently as drivers waited for an opportunity to pass. There were several times that I was passing cars on the shoulder, something I’m not used to. One time there was a truck with a trailer and he was too wide to pass on the right. There wasn’t any traffic coming so I crossed the double-yellow to pass. I was fortunate there wasn’t a race official there :-), but I wasn’t prepared to wait until the truck could pass the numerous riders in front of him. I was very pleased to have taken the time to put on a jacket and gloves. I ended up being comfortable and was especially happy when the wind picked up. Coming over Linthicum Road the wind was from the side and a couple of times I thought I was going off the road! I had been consistently passing riders, including several in my age group (you never pay so much attention to someone’s calf as when you’re racing!), but on the last third of the ride I was seeing many 40-somethings going by me. T2 1:20 This was a breeze. I came in (thanks for the callout Greg!) and took the straight line to my rack spot. I had decided to keep the jacket on for the run (too windy) so all I had to do was drop my gloves, put on my race belt and shoes and grab my water bottle. Kristen was at the exit and gave me five on the way out! Run 53:46 147/382 OA 3/17 AG This is where RBR pays off. I had noticed that there weren’t many bikes in my area of the rack so I started thinking I might have a chance at the podium. The goal now was to stay focused on turnover and keep running. My first three miles were all 9:0X pace and I was concerned that I wasn’t going to be fast enough. However, mile 3 is right around the top of the nasty hill in the neighborhood and I was able to pick it up from there. My last three miles were 8:49, 8:32 and 8:43. It had been great to go up Gatorade Hill both times and see all the MMTCrs cheering. I crossed the finish line feeling that I had biked and run the race I was capable of, but didn’t know where I stood. I was about a minute slower than last year, but I felt like the race was tougher this year. I was pleasantly surprised when results went up and I was second in my AG! Thanks to everyone who volunteered on the course and at the tent. You guys rock! Cabell (rhymes with Scrabble) | |||||||
| Racer | Kerry Lenny | |||||||
| Race | Columbia Triathlon - Sunday, May 15, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | BRRRRRRRRRRRR | |||||||
| AG Place | 13/26 | |||||||
| Time | 03:41:01 | |||||||
| Race Report | 2016 is a big year for me as I move up to my first Oly and HIM. And in true Tri form I signed up for the HIM (AC) before the Oly. Go big or go home right? When it came time to choose the Oly I realized that Rock Hall would be a better course for many reasons, but I knew that I would always regret not doing Columbia. It’s iconic, especially when you live around the corner from the venue. I was surprised just prior to race start with “my people” showing up to support me! Dan, Tim & our friend Andi showed up with warm hugs, a sign, and lots of encouragement. Major props to Dan who was sick and still traveled back from Kinetic in VA the night before so he could be there for me (I got good people). I was grateful that Mother Nature didn’t cause the swim to get cancelled – until I got in the lake. I chose to go sleeveless since I had limited experience with sleeves and didn’t want to panic in the water. Thankfully a friend had given me a tip the day before which helped my body acclimate to the cold temperature. I took a few moments to fully submerge myself while breathing out and that helped me avoid a racing heart rate for the start. But at no point did I NOT feel the cold. A little bit of jostling and bumping at the start as people worked to find their path but nothing too drastic. While my sighting form is spot on, I struggle to actually SEE anything so I will sometimes switch to breaststroke while getting my bearings. I laughed when I realized Prince was playing on the sound system and laughed even more when Dan shared the video of me swimming and he caught me at that exact moment. I’ve been steadily increasing my distance in the pool, easily getting up to 2800 yards but this still felt like it took forever! While I wasn’t exhausted when I reached Swim Out I was definitely ready to be done and moving on to the bike. My people were there at Swim Out and I ran right over to Tim, letting everyone there know that water was SO COLD as I turned to run to transition I promptly fell to my knees in the sand. They call me Grace. T1 was long and the sand now on me didn’t help but I was so happy to be out of that water I didn’t care. I enjoy doing this sport so much that my giddiness always bubbles up in transition and I tend to laugh and chat. Yay me for enjoying it but it sure does annoy my coach! Dan helped me settle down and focus and I got to the business of the bike. Always my favorite part! I know this route like the back of my hand. I know every rut in the road, every hill and every descent so I was extremely confident going in. I’m not super fast but with new aero bars and recent hill training I knew the only concern for me would be a mechanical issue, which I thankfully avoided. I really could have used the bathroom that I was told by UCF would be at the aid station, but Mr. Satola has already heard from me that LOL Loved the volunteer at T2 who when I asked where the nearest bathroom was, told me to just pee on myself – um, no thanks. T2 was a bit quicker as I pulled off the warm clothes and threw on my MMTC shirt because I knew I was going to need to feel the love up Gatorade Hill. I got started on the run but I realized right away that I stink at map reading. I’ve run the Park dozens of times and thought I knew the right way but suddenly I’m going UP the first hill the way I usually come DOWN and I panicked a bit. As soon as I established that I was running with people who just started the route and not people who were coming in for the finish, I settled down and tried to get into my intervals. I managed to avoid stepping on the dead mouse but somewhere around the half-mile mark I realized I had something in my shoe. I ran for a bit before getting to the bench by the bridge and asked the 3 people sitting there to scoot over! I’m not sure they knew what to think but there was no way I was running 5 miles with a stone in my shoe. And before I knew it, I was tackling Gatorade Hill. God bless Ayumi!!! That little Japanese firecracker saw me and gave me some serious words of encouragement. She, along with Suzy, Bryan and the rest of the volunteers cheered me on and put a smile on my face as I got to work facing Carillon. Let’s just say that neighborhood took me to task! I chose not to struggle up the hills and walked most of them but did a continuous run whenever I could. The strategy worked overall as I had the best time on the course compared to my training runs. Motivation surrounded me in the neighborhood: from ASA competitors to a guy who wore a before & after shirt showing he had lost over 200lbs so far! Lots of “great job” from fellow MMTC’ers kept my spirits up and the negative talk out of my head. Coming back over Gatorade Hill I slowed to a walk. What can I say? Sometimes my walk is just more efficient than my run. “Boot Camp” Bryan, however, wasn’t having any of it LOL!! He did his absolute best to get me running but I’m Irish and can be very stubborn when I want to be. More cheers from Ayumi and the rest of the volunteers got me moving and I ran down the hill toward the last mile. Coming over the dam was a chore as I held on to my hat and tried not to get blown sideways. At that point I was doing shorter intervals just trying to get to the end. Coming down off the dam I slowed to a walk only to discover the race photographer. I started running, smiled, and then promptly walked as soon as I passed him! There was a gentleman near the middle of the last little hill offering lots of encouragement to run up it but I was done digging deep. He seemed pacified with my power walk and once over the hill I stumbled my way into the finish line. Erika (Race Director for UCF) was there at the finish and gave me a big hug along with my medal. Officially my goal for this race was to “just finish”. Unofficially I was hoping for 4 hours. I clocked in at 3:41. I’m thrilled with that and the race went a long way to boosting my confidence for a finish at Atlantic City in September. I can’t say for sure if I will do this one again next year but at least now I can always say that I finished. | |||||||
| Racer | Lynne Galiatsatos | |||||||
| Race | Columbia Triathlon - Sunday, May 15, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | Training Works | |||||||
| AG Place | 5/6 | |||||||
| Overall | 540/570 | |||||||
| Time | 04:21:34 | |||||||
| Race Report | I did Columbia Tri in 2013. It was my first co-ed tri and my first Olympic distance. It was a very tough race. I kinda freaked on the swim when the men’s wave from behind caught and overtook me. I did a lot of breast stroke and was still trying to get the whole sighting thing figured out. I thought I would have to be pulled, but after the first buoy I settled and finished. My bike was as expected and the run was horrible. My legs hurt and I walked pretty much the whole race. Total time 5:04. 2014 there was no swim, my bike and run were better. Fast forward to 2016. I’ve been doing strength work since December (thanks Triathlean), working on losing weight, and training in general [thanks RipIt Coaching]. I’ve also been using Tailwind as my primary source of nutrition. This was to be a training day (my A race is Patriots Half in September). My main goal was to do better on the run and get in under 5 hours. I totally exceeded my expectations with a total time of 4:21:34. I’d say the training is working :-) I ended up taking 12:35 off the swim, 4:17 off the bike and 26 minutes off the run. This was a great training race and now to work on taking off the 21 minutes for Colonial Beach Tri [they have 4 hour cutoff]. It’s supposed to be a flat run and rolling bike (can’t be anything close to Columbia). Weather will be my challenge as I do much better in cooler weather. Swim will be interesting as well – at least I should have the current in my favor in one direction. Nutrition: Pre-race breakfast of coffee and a bagle and peanut butter. Non-caffeinated gel in T1 1.5 20-oz bottles Tailwind on the bike 2 10-oz caffeinated Tailwind on the run. I took applesauce and a gel just in case, but never felt the need. | |||||||
| Racer | Jim Kaufmann | |||||||
| Race | Columbia Triathlon - Sunday, May 15, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 42/71 | |||||||
| Overall | 236/563 | |||||||
| Time | 03:10:49 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Erin Kelman | |||||||
| Race | Xterra Jersey Devil - Sunday, May 1, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | Wet, sloppy, cold fun! | |||||||
| AG Place | 3/21 | |||||||
| Overall | 13/132 | |||||||
| Time | 01:38:46 | |||||||
| Race Report | I kicked off tri season this year with the Xterra Jersey Devil. I have fond memories of this race as it was the first triathlon that I attended, as a spectator, years back. It was then that I gained the confidence to do a triathlon, witnessing the back of the swim pack doing the snow angel stroke. Plus I saw how much fun everyone was having! The race is located near the Jersey Shore and could be lined up as a fun beach weekend if it took place a month or two later during warmer temperatures. I traveled to the race this year with my friend Chris and we planned to take advantage of the free camping, but quickly changed our minds when we saw the forecast of low 50s and rain. The cheap hotel that we chose near the shore was surprisingly pleasant – the Sea Pine Motor Inn. There were also terrific food venues in the area. Race morning it was 50 degrees and raining. The water temperature was 58. I went with my full wetsuit. Swim - 800 meters – 11:38 - 31/132 Not surprisingly I posted my fastest swim split to date. A lot of people did. The water was so cold we wanted it over with! The swim was a little short I think too. There is about a ¼ mile trail run from the lake/pond to transition. Some go with shoes planted near the water, others barefoot. I went barefoot and it hurt a bit on the rocky terrain but I didn’t notice any issues later. Barefoot is faster I think. I did pay for the hard swim though as I was huffing and puffing and dizzy in transition. I had a challenging time putting on my bikes shoes especially. Mountain Bike – 13 miles – 59:19 – 34/132 The bike overall went well aside from me falling once on a deep sandy turn. Being so close to the shore, there are elements of beach sand throughout the trail. It was a soft landing but my chain dropped and I lost some time. The second lap was REALLY muddy as the rain was coming down harder. I sacrificed speed for carefulness learning my lesson after falling on the first lap. As I approached transition I realized how cold it and I was. My fingers were numb and I had a difficult time taking off my shoes, helmet, and gloves. It also took me a bit to close and pull up the lace locks on my running shoes. But I otherwise felt good and anxious for the run. Trail Run – 3.1 miles – 22:45 – 6/132 Exiting transition someone yelled that I was in 26th. I pushed the pace and my legs responded, passing several runners throughout the course. I love trail running and this course is one of my favorites. There is your typical single track but there are also large sections where you are straight up running through the woods. These sections are marked off-trail and like running blindly through the forest there are downed trees, large bushes, and huge puddles to contend with. This ‘bush whacking’ slowed my pace but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Overall I ended up 13th and 3rd in my age group. My friend Chris raced well also and got bad ass points for swimming in a sleeveless wetsuit and biking single speed. Post-race I was lucky enough to win another push up contest and earned a free Xterra Wetsuit coupon which I gifted to Chris (who had borrowed a wetsuit that I won at a previous race). There were showers available and hoses for cleaning bikes which we took advantage of prior to driving home and celebrating with a beer. Next up for me is the Lake Raystown Half Iron Distance race this weekend. Then lots of running with Eastern States 100 in August – yikes! | |||||||
| Racer | Jim Kaufmann | |||||||
| Race | Columbia Half Marathon - Sunday, April 24, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 12/69 | |||||||
| Overall | 78/478 | |||||||
| Time | 01:46:56 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Deb Cooley | |||||||
| Race | River Valley Run - Saturday, April 23, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | tough course | |||||||
| Time | 03:48:48 | |||||||
| Race Report | This is a tough course. Hopefully if they do it again, they take out the part where they take you back and forth up a hill, clearly trying to make the mileage work. There is a substantial river crossing which cannot be avoided. It was knee deep on me. I&##39;d do it again... | |||||||
| Racer | Dean Siedlecki | |||||||
| Race | Port To Fort 6k - Saturday, April 23, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | A little rain, only a slight view of Port, good race, pace and give aways | |||||||
| AG Place | 26/65 | |||||||
| Overall | 305/945 | |||||||
| Time | 00:36:30 | |||||||
| Race Report | This was the 20th anniversary of the Port to Fort 6k and it starts and ended in Locust Point near McHenry Row. This race venue is very easy to get to from I 95 North and is the last exit before the Ft. McHenry Tunnel. I first did this race in 1988 (3rd year of the race) when we started and ended near Rash Field and went to Ft. McHenry and back, so it really was a “Port to Fort”, but was also a 8k then. Now, we only see a faraway view of the Inner Harbor during one of the turns, but we don’t get close to the Inner Harbor. I have only done this race 3 times before today. Before the race, it started to rain a little, and was a little cool, so I did not take my long-sleeve shirt until after the signing of the National Anthem. Once we started running the light rain / cool weather did not seem to be to bad. There were lots of give aways prior to and after the race, including a free coupon for Chick-fil-A nuggets, plenty of Dap clear and white tube silicone calk, PayPal sunglasses and digital watch, and lots of post-race food, including cookies, ham / turkey wraps, chips/pretzels, bagels / cream cheese, bananas, bottled water, and iced gelato. Since I did the Cherry Blossom 10miler, where my pace has decreased from 12:01, to Sole of the City 10k last weekend at 10:35 to this week at 9:47, I can see pace improvement, though the distances are getting shorter. Also, I am still not running during the week like I will need to start doing to improve even more. For road races, I am place in the 50-59 age group, until I actually turn 60 in Auguat....but if I were racing in the 60-99 AG (like for I am now for triathlons), I would have placed 5th of 23 in this race. Prior results and pace: 1998(8k)----33:36:00-----6:45:32 2006---------27:37:00-----7:24:23 2015---------29:49:00-----7:59:48 2016---------36:30:00-----9:47:20 | |||||||
| Racer | Erin Kelman | |||||||
| Race | Boston Marathon - Monday, April 18, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | Hotter than expected day, faded late but enjoyed the crowds! | |||||||
| Time | 03:06:11 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Mark Yost | |||||||
| Race | Boston Marathon - Monday, April 18, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | Boston - a beauty and a beast | |||||||
| AG Place | 54/1564 | |||||||
| Overall | 4185/26639 | |||||||
| Time | 03:16:37 | |||||||
| Race Report | The Boston Marathon course is both a beauty and a beast. Boston is a spectacularly challenging course. The first half is seductively fast, but if you do not run the first half smart, the second half stands you up, then slaps you down hard. Sometimes very hard. A successful run at Boston, in my opinion, is a positive split by a few minutes. I have heard of negative splits, but they are pretty rare. This year, I was close to my goal split time of 1:30:00 at the half, but I faded, slowing to a positive split in the second half by over 15 minutes (about 1:45:00+). This scenario has played out before. Those were almost my exact splits in 2010. In fact, I’m batting about 2 good races out of 11 starts at Boston. The course can be a beast. The Boston Marathon is, however, beautiful in so many different ways. The race organization is almost flawless, even with the enhanced security after the 2013 bombings. The weather this weekend was excellent. The Bostonians treat marathoners like gold. The Boston crowds are incredible on race day, and the air is filled with excitement all weekend. Doug Smith, Missie Vess and I rented a 2 bedroom apartment near Harvard Square through AirBnB. For 4 nights, from Friday to Tuesday, the apartment worked out to a little over $100/night each (as opposed to a hotel room for $300 to $400 a night). It was comfortable with a decent kitchen, and it was about 4 blocks from the Harvard Square MBTA stop. The apartment was also about a quarter mile from a pool, so we got a swim in on Saturday. And I got a few pointers from Missie. The weekend weather was perfect for running, but true to the forecast, race day was a bit warmer with a predicted high near 70. After training in temperatures that have been 30-35 degrees cooler, few of us were ready for a 70-degree race in the full sunshine. It was comfortable hanging around in Athlete’s Village in Hopkinton pre-race, but if you aren’t uncomfortably cold before a marathon, it is going to be a hard race. It was a hard race. There was a headwind, which did not significantly impede our progress but it masked water loss, drying your sweat almost immediately. I was caked in salt at the finish, even worse than the inevitable salt streaks at Kona. My plan, like last year, was to make a run at sub-3 hours with Erin Kelman. Last year, I ran with Erin and Nicole, until they dropped me in the hills of Newton. They ran 2:58; I ended up running 3:05. Despite the forecast, Erin and I agreed to stay with our plan to run 6:50 splits (after two or three 7 minute miles out of the start) and then adapt if necessary for survival. Pre-race I was concerned about whether I was ready. My left glute and upper hamstring had been tight ever since the Napa Marathon in early March, and my resting heartrate had been chronically high. Resting heartrate is a key indicator for race readiness and I check it daily. Mine is normally about 45 bpm during training, dropping to the low 40s or high 30s after a good taper. However, it’s been consistently in the high 40s or low 50s, indicating stress or the likely onset of illness, injury or overtraining. There has been a lot of stress at work and the lingering soreness from Napa may explain a lot of it. My resting heartrate the day before the race was 52. Not good. Equally concerning is that my heartrate while running at Zones 2 from 4 has been 20-30 bpm high, which is really bad because it signals that I am burning a higher proportion of carbs to fats than I normally would at marathon goal pace. Which means, of course, my body is not metabolizing fats well and I run the risk of bonking, and earlier than usual, in marathon. Normally, I race about 125-130 bpm. At Napa, I averaged 160 bpm. Not good, but it explained the mini-bonk in the final miles. (My heartrate at Boston turned about to be 20-25 bpm higher than normal, averaging 150 bpm, also explaining how I felt in the final miles). Other than the heartrate issue, I went into Boston well rested and mentally ready. The apartment I shared with Missie and Doug, was relaxing and stress free. We ate well and minimized both distractions and stress, a key towards a successful race day. The race started out perfectly, except for sweating up a storm while we waited in Corral 5 of Wave 1. It felt warm in Hopkinton, but it did not seem bad once we got going. The downhill start in Hopkinton can be madness. With the crowds, energy, enthusiasm and fact that you are starting with people who qualified at or near your pace, it is easy to start too fast. Erin and I pretty much stuck with the plan, starting around 7 min pace (or a little slower), then building to 6:45 to 6:50 over the course of several miles. We went through the 5K at 21:39 and the 10K at 42:48, where I passed Kevin D’Amanda, a friend who started in Corral 2. I have a great deal of respect for Kevin, he’s a sub-60 minute 10 miler and ran a 2:50 marathon a few years back (he&##39;s currently 50-54 AG). We spoke briefly as I passed, trading goal pace plans. He (correctly) suggested it was not a day to hammer due to the heat. He was moving at 7:20-7:30 pace. I told him we were going to do 6:50s for awhile and see how it went. Kevin’s wise words stuck in my head and as we went through the 15K in about 1:04, I kept assessing how I felt. I decided I was working too hard for the 6:50 pace (probably reflected by the high average heartrate in the post-race data analysis), and that it was time to cut back to about 7:15 min pace. Erin and I split amicably at about 10 miles; he was running strong and I decided it was time to run cautiously. There is not much you control in racing except pace, attitude, hydration and nutrition. You have to run your own race, and my better judgment said to slow the pace. I went through the half in 1:31:08, which looked to me then as about 3:05-3:10 likely finish time. But the long downhill at Wellesley did a little damage on my quads. I slowed more in the Newton Hills and then hobbled down the other side at Boston College. (I am fond of saying the Newton Hills are over-rated and the downhill at Boston is under-rated. Unless you can scamper like Boston Billy Rogers, the downhill destroys quads as too many of us lean back and brake on the steep drop into Cleveland Circle). I was right to slow down and let Erin go on his own. He finished in 3:06. My final 7k was pretty ugly. I could feel the glycogen depletion, despite taking four gels and Gatorade at every water stop. My stride became a bit jerky and my pace soared to 8 min pace and beyond. The 5K splits always tell the tale: 5K – 21:39 10K – 21:09 15K – 21:13 20K – 22:15 25K – 22:41 30K -- 24:15 35K – 25:28 40K – 26:16 Over the last six miles, it is the crowds that pull you forward and, particularly since 2013, you appreciate and love them more. They stand 5-6 people deep in places and roar encouragement. There was a bit of carnage this year, mainly walkers and crampers, and I saw a few prone or stretching on the pavement. The crowd often helped get them up and running. At mile 24, I saw Kevin D’Amanda again. He’d caught me, running his steady 7:30-7:40 pace. And he passed me. I love running marathons, but by the time I reach mile 24, I am more than ready to be done. Nevertheless, the finish at Boston makes it all worthwhile. Right on Hereford Street, left on Boylston, then you see the finish line in the distance that seems to tease you, slowly ever so slowly getting closer. I crossed in 3:16:37, about 5 to 10 minutes slower than what I anticipated at the 13.1 mile mark, averaging 7:30 min/mile. Everyone seemed slower this year. The elites were about 5 to 10 minutes slower, and the winning time in the 55-59 AG was 2:46. Usually the 55-59 winner runs in the high 2:30s or low 2:40s. Yes, Boston is super competitive. After the race, I met a 69-year-old who ran 3:29. He said he would not make the top ten, and he expected the 65-69 year old winner to run about 3:01. (This guy ran 2:30 when he was young). I finished 54th out of about 1800 in the 55-59 AG; Matt Mace finished 53rd about 33 seconds ahead of me. (We ran the JFK50 together in 2012, running side by side for around 30 miles and then crossing in identical times. I never saw him on Patriots Day though; he was in a different wave). About 10 minutes after crossing the line, I cramped hard, taking me down to the ground. Then I started puking violently. What’s that all about? It happened at Placid 2015, at Kona 2015, and now at Boston. I gave back a lot of the free Gatorade from the final miles. At least my body waited until after I crossed the line. This was a hard, painful year at Boston. A lot of us had tough days (the City and the course were flooded with MMTC runners or so it seemed). It is so true, however, that a bad day at the Boston Marathon is better than a good day anywhere else. My race did not go as planned or as expected. So, what changes for next year? More long slow runs to enhance efficiency in metabolizing fat. I probably did too many of the medium distance and long runs at high Zone 3 or low Zone 4, depriving my body of fat burning-training. I have to figure out what is going on with this heartrate thing. I need more hills, both downhill and uphill repeats. And, I promise to stretch more, do more core and get regular deep tissue massage. And floss daily. Maybe Erin and I will try to tame the beast again. | |||||||
| Racer | Cabell Greenwood | |||||||
| Race | Clyde's American 10K - Sunday, April 17, 2016 | |||||||
| AG Place | 6/49 | |||||||
| Overall | 148/954 | |||||||
| Time | 00:47:53 | |||||||
| Race Report | ||||||||
| Racer | Dean Siedlecki | |||||||
| Race | Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run - Sunday, April 3, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | Winter running conditions, so glad to start and to finish | |||||||
| AG Place | 330/357 | |||||||
| Overall | 14478/16003 | |||||||
| Time | 02:00:12 | |||||||
| Race Report | This is my 15th running of the (44th) Cherry Blossom 10miler, starting in 1993. I had trained more consistenly before this race in other years, but having just completed my 5th week after raditation/chemo treatment stopped, and still being on a primarily liquid diet, I have not felt as compelled to train consistently as I normally would. That is my story and I am sticking to it. However, I did run a 4+ mile run on Wednesday, March 30th. I overslept and did not leave the house until 5:30 a.m., (about the time I wanted to be a the Washington Monument (race site)), downed a cold cup of coffee, and was still able to find relatively close parking anyway. With the “freezing” temperature and very high winds (50mph gusts), I dress in tights, 2 polypropelene shirts, a running jacket, gloves and MMTC ski hat. For the approximately 1 hour before race start, all the runners were looking for places to stand in “wind shadows”, to try to not be as cold! I stood near the medical tent. After the Elete runners, and a few of the faster runners had started, I enter the start corral, and was glad to finally start running. I started at a very slow pace, knowing I would need the energy for later miles. I was acutally in a group that were taking it easy for the 1st mile. Brian Clark said hello at just past Mile 1, as we when over the Memorial Bridge. Normally, I will keep my splits, but because of 50mph wind gusts, the race organization decided to make the following adjustments: ? Elimination of all race signage and overhead structures at the start and finish lines of both races ? Elimination of all on-course signage including split time clocks ? Elimination of all tents on the Washington Monument Grounds except for the bag check tent and the main medical tent ? Elimination of pre-race warm-ups and post-race awards ceremony . After mile 5, there seemed to be timing mats at every mile anyway. At about mile 4, I took off my race jacket and held it in my hand. I did not want to through it off, not have it at the finish, and then have to try to find and retreve it. I ran most of the way out to Hanes Point, but started walking after making the turn, and then walked/ran the remainder of the race. My pace dropped but not by too much from various spots (averages): 5mile -11:01, 10k – 11:14, 9mile – 11:43, finish pace 12:01. Prior finish times: 1993---1:09:10 1994---1:20:12 1995---1:10:26 2001---1:20:43 2003---1:28:09 2004---1:18:46 2005---1:21:57 2006---1:21:44 2008---1:23:08 2010---1:22:57 2011---122:42 2013---1:24:30 2014---1:38:33 2015---1:23:37 2016---2:00:12 I will continue to do this race every year, regardless of physical or weather conditions. It now one of my favorites, and I look forward to getting back to a more normal pace. | |||||||
| Racer | Rick Fitzgerald | |||||||
| Race | Smithfield Sprint - Saturday, April 2, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | Very wet race! | |||||||
| AG Place | 2/31 | |||||||
| Overall | 49/521 | |||||||
| Time | 00:55:44 | |||||||
| Race Report | The Smithfield Sprint is a VMTS race, which has been a big tri team event in the past and was a big college tri team event this year. It is well run, as are most VMTS races. The field was very competitive. The swim is a 300m pool swim at the YMCA, with a time trial start. The race started at 10:00am, but some racers had to wait until after noon to start. Your estimated 300m swim time determined your seeding for the swim start. I completed the swim in 4:45 and ran to the timing mats, which were slippery from the rain, so I took it easy. T1 was slow for me, as I fumbled to put my helmet on in the rain. I ran my bike to the mount line and again had some trouble slipping my foot into my shoe, due to rain. Once I got going, I felt good and decided to "go for it"on the short 10mi course, despite the rain. I knew a couple of places I had to be careful, after racing this course 3 years ago and driving it the day before. I was blown a bit when crossing open fields, due to gusting winds. I raced a Zipp 808 front and put my hands on the bullhorns when the wind picked up. I caught up with Matt Coleman after a few miles and noted he was looking very speedy! After I got to the final turn on the course, I stomped on it, as the road was straight and fast the last 4 miles. The rain was stinging!. I got my feet out of my shoes fine, in preparation to dismount and ran back to T2. I had a tough time slipping my wet feet into my Noosas. The path out of T2 was now a mud pit and the rain was teaming down at times. My shoes felt very heavy. I pushed the pace on the flat, fast course, and the rain slowed a bit. After the turn around I saw Chip Warfel coming the other way and gave him a fist bump. I finished strong and then scrambled to shower and get warm. I sat down and talked with Mark Yost, Chip and Matt Coleman after the race. We had a nice conversation, as I did not know them very well before the race. This is a great sport, with great people! | |||||||
| Racer | Mark Yost | |||||||
| Race | Smithfield Sprint - Saturday, April 2, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | Thank you, Matt Coleman! Smithfield was a good decision. | |||||||
| AG Place | 2/16 | |||||||
| Overall | 35/589 | |||||||
| Time | 00:55:59 | |||||||
| Race Report | I don’t usually do sprints, but when I do, my son, Matt, is usually the reason. He signed us up for the Smithfield Triathlon in the Tidewater area of Virginia. I agreed, even though I would be in my Boston Marathon taper. It was a good decision, I think. The final verdict will be in after Boston, but it was a fun race. Well organized and on a fast course, despite the rain (torrential at times), cool temps (but not cold), muddy transition and wind. The bonus: Chip, Rusty and Rick Fitzgerald from MMTC all raced, and raced well. Chip turned in a hour time, despite being sick. Rick raced 55:44 and second in his AG. Matt and I drove down Friday, battling the awful I-95 traffic between DC and Fredericksburg. That alone keeps me from doing more races in the Virginia Beach area. We stayed at a Marriott in Chesapeake, about 30 minutes from the race start, which is totally manageable since the time trial swim start doesn’t begin until 10 a.m. on Saturday morning. Matt, being Matt, had to do everything and early. He’s type triple AAA, which I respect. He learned his lesson once when he ran the wrong course and lost a race. So now we drive the bike course and bike the run course. We went to packet pick-up, when it opened. We attended the race briefing on Friday with the 30 (mainly newbies) of the over 600 registrants and listened to the questions like, “what is drafting?” But, whatever calms his nerves. Except I draw the line when he wants to be a transition 3 hours before the race start. The swim is short: 300m. A snake swim in a very nice pool. Based on your estimated swim time, you have an assigned start time and, even if someone ahead of you does not show, they stick to it. You switch lanes every 50 with a flip turn (or not) that takes you under the lane line. Some people were not so good at estimating their times, so it looked a bit like an Ironman swim every so often. The bike is ten miles on what would normally be a lightning fast course. Slower this year, I suspect, because of the wind and rain. The run is a 5K out-and-back winding through town. We arrived when transition opened on Saturday morning, but about 400 other type Triple AAAs were already there. Matt disappeared with his bike, despite the pouring rain and set up transition and did his practice swims in the pool (open from 9 to 9:30 for warm up swims). I dropped my bike off at the assigned rack (not assigned place on the rack) to get a decent spot, then retired to the car to stay warm and dry. Matt went off at 10:26 a.m. (he’s a faster swimmer than I am….), so I took a couple of pictures, then back to the car for my final preps before the swim and to put my glasses in bike helmet. (Transition never really closes…. they just ask you to be respectful of the racers). Swim: 5:31 (T2/16 AG, 1:50/100m) My estimated swim time was within a few seconds of 5:31; no one passed me and I passed no one, so it was uneventful, except for one flip turn in which I didn’t make the crossover to the next lane immediately. The pool water was warm, and we would be the warmest we’d be all day. The temps were dropping outside even while the rain and wind were increasing. T1: 52 seconds (1/16AG) T1 was, fortunately, uneventful. It was getting muddier by the minute, but I had a good position and only had to put on my glasses and helmet. I considered a rain jacket, but decided to be tough like Matt. My shoes were on the bike and the mount was uneventful. The key to a fast transition is simplicity I think. Some racers in transition brought far more than they needed and it clogs the area while slowing them down. Make your decisions, less is often more, and go with it. Particularly in a sprint. The pain doesn’t last long. Bike: 28:08 (2/16AG, 21.3 mph avg) The bike course is an out and back with a triangular loop in the middle. The roads were good, but there is a treacherous downhill followed by a 120 degree left turn to a short climb. It seemed worse driving than it did during the race, but it has disaster written all over it. I heard there were over 20 crashes on the course during the race, but didn’t hear of any at the nasty turn. People were warned. The course would be very fast under dry conditions. Yesterday, not so much. Lakes on the side of the road, and the driving rain in the wind slowed things down. My focus was on keeping the rubber side down on my tires. Several times, mainly in the gusty winds, I seemed to be losing traction and/or control. Even so, there was a tailwind on the return pushing my speed up to 30 mph (according to Mr. Garmin). In the last half mile, on a flat stretch of road, I slid my feet out of the bike shoes and made an uneventful dismount before the line. I watched the race leader crash during his dismount, mainly due to the slippery roads. T2: 1:29 (3/16AG) T2 was slower than I wanted, but I had made the decision to go sockless on the bike (good call), but wanted to wear socks on the run (to prevent blisters with Boston around the corner). So, I sat on my butt, dried my feet and put on dry socks. I keep my shoes and socks in a sealed plastic bag inside an Ironman transition bag). They were nice and dry, for about a minute. But even wet socks over 5K will protect me from blisters, but my feet had to be dry when I put them on. So the major delay was drying the feet. Immediately after crossing the time mat, I ran through a mud swamp…..whatever, you have to accept the conditions. Run: 20:01 (1/16AG, 6:25 min/mile) The run was a mixed bag. I had energy in my legs (after feeling nothing but sluggish legs since the Napa Marathon on March 6th). I’d taken the entire week off, after running a slow 20 miles with Erin Kelman the previous Sunday. So it was nice for them to feel like they wanted to run, and the nagging hamstring tightness that I’d had since Napa was not too bad. I expected to run under 6:15 pace, but could not. My toes felt like ice blocks and this was, admittedly, the first run off the bike that I had done since Ironman Florida last November. Most of the run is on pleasant streets, despite the headwind on the way out. Police monitor the intersections, so it is pretty safe. I crossed in 55:59, second in the age group. Another 58 year old crushed me on the bike by over two minutes and I only made up about 90 seconds on him in the run. This is a good season opener. It will tell you where you need work (for me, always the swim and certainly on the bike). Matt and I will do it again, hopefully under better weather conditions. A tip for next year. There are lockers and showers accessible in the Y where the swim is held. It will simplify your logistics to bring a lock and use a locker, rather than going back and forth to your car. (Plenty of parking by the way, but get there early. I guess Matt was right). The real highlight of the day was watching Matt race. He finished just off the podium in 57 minutes, a good time in a fast age group. It’s fun to watch him mature in his racing and get faster. He beats me on the swim, the bike (usually, as long as he keeps the wheels down and his feet in his shoes), and will be beating me soon on the run (if he keeps training smart). I&##39;m leaning towards more shorter and faster races. I think they may be healthier and they make more sense to keep a normal work/life balance. But I&##39;m naturally a slow twitch fiber guy, and I have a hard time shaking the marathon/Ironman distance addictions. And Matt keeps saying he wants to go long; I&##39;m trying to convince him to enjoy his cardio and speed, while he is younger.... Save the Ironman distance for when you slow down. Smithfield Tri: consider it for 2017 despite the awful traffic on 95. (By the way, Chip and Rusty came down on 301 and 17 to avoid 95). | |||||||
| Racer | Matt Coleman | |||||||
| Race | Smithfield Sprint - Saturday, April 2, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | Great course! The 120 degree downhill turn is a bit daunting. Especially in the rain | |||||||
| AG Place | 4/10 | |||||||
| Overall | 41/589 | |||||||
| Time | 00:57:12 | |||||||
| Race Report | Smithfield was my first tri that I have ever done this early in the year. I basically just wanted to see how my running base is now that I am running with a track team and how well I could swim now that I am swimming with the Masters program ( four years too young…). My Dad and I drove the bike course the day before...Yikes! There is a 120 degree downhill turn and right after the turn comes an uphill. We also biked the run course, so I was pretty familiar with where I was going. Good. The only problem was the weather forecasted rain, rain, and a whole lot of rain. And rain was what we got. Swim: 5:02 (1:41/100m) 300 Meters I don&##39;t know what happened!!! At Tenleytown a week prior, I was swimming 4:25-4:35. I probably just did not have enough rest. Only one person passed me in the pool. He was the winner of the Master Men. My Dad clocked me at 4:57, but I still had to run to the timing mats. T1: 1:00 I think that for the first time ever I heard someone telling us to slow down running into transition. The timing mats were soaked with mud and it was like a skating rink. I would have been faster if it was not for my sunglasses. I know right! Sunglasses in the rain! They fogged over and became too dark. It was a hard decision as it was raining really hard, but I realized I don’t have the time and said to myself, “heck with it!” So I threw the sunglasses down, buckled the helmet and off I was, on my way. Bike: 28:36 (21 mph Average) 10 Miles I knew that I was going to have a great bike leg because the bike is my best and I’m riding the DA. I was doomed from the beginning. My Velcro on my cycling shoes came loose in the rain and I reached down to put my feet in my shoes and it came off. I had to stop and I lost precious time… I got back on and I peddled super duper fast. Only one person passed me on the bike (it was a time-trial start) that person was bib 99, Richard Fitzgerald. He passed me on the bike at mile 3 (about). I was reeling people in one by one. I caught bib 87 in my age group of 15&U. I was bib 97 they staggered us by 15 seconds. My bike leg was strong and the rain stung. T2 : 00:56 Racked my bike put on my shoes and did not forget my race number belt this time… Run: 21:39 (6:58/mile) 5k I was feeling like Forest Gump. I could have run forever, but not 3 years, 2 months, 4 days, and 16 hours! But I felt like I did have the legs for a 10k if I had to run it. Let&##39;s put this in perspective, out of T2 I was 81st overall. That means I passed 20 people in a 5k run. If I were to sprint to a sub 6:00 kick, I would have thrown up. This was a great race! I would do it again! | |||||||
| Racer | Carl Blake | |||||||
| Race | HAT Run - Saturday, March 19, 2016 | |||||||
| Comment | tough 50k with lots of great food and free stuff | |||||||
| Time | 05:25:00 | |||||||
| Race Report | This past Saturday in Susquehanna State Park was the 28th annual HAT run. Every March, hundreds of runners gather to run this popular 50k, and many religiously return year after year. It’s not an easy run. There’s nearly 7200’ of climbing along with a variety of stream crossings, but even with that, I think I too am completely hooked. My regular routine on Saturday mornings involves an 8 mile trail run with a small group of ultra runners, regardless of the weather, and four of us in this group signed up for HAT. For me, it would be my second 50k, having done the Rosaryville 50k last fall. On Saturday morning the race began with about 483 of us lined up in a field just down the hill from a barn, a farm house (complete with rooster), and a large State of MD Parks pavilion under which there were 4 rows of picnic tables. The first 3.8 miles of the race consists of a short loop followed two 13.5 mile loops. Generally, the strategy is to have your bag of extra clothes, water, shoes, food, etc. on one of the picnic tables by the start. You have two opportunities to pass by the start to pick up anything you need, once after the first 3.8 miles, and then again after the first big loop at around mile 17. The aid stations were extraordinarily well stocked with just about anything you can imagine. It was like a post-race buffet at every stop. There may have even been plates. I made the mistake of chowing down on random snacks at Rosaryville, so this time I was determined to not need the Tums. I used only Infinit in my 50oz salomon pack and nothing else, with the exception of a few orange slices and two swigs of Mountain Dew at the second-to-last aid station to get a jolt of caffeine. My training consisted of a number of hill repeats, some on the Mormon Temple hill and some near my work on the hills in Dumbarton Oaks in DC. Fearing the distance and also the elevation profile at HAT, I also ran lots of long slow miles, some on the roads but mostly on hilly (dirt) trails. Despite that, I didn’t have much confidence at the start, and I began the race very slow. Basically, I let everyone go, and my plan was to slowly catch and pass people along the way based on how I was feeling at the time. While it was depressing to see most people take off in the beginning far ahead of me, picking off other runners one by one, mile after mile, was a huge confidence booster. I ran fairly strong and consistent right to the end, finishing at about 5:25. One of the perks about finishing HAT is the free stuff you get at the end. This year they gave away small camping chairs and running hats, which is in addition to the free shirt at check-in. On top of that they also had a mini-store setup at check-in where you could you buy more deeply discounted stuff with the HAT logo. I came home with lots of gear. For more info about the race, go to www.hatrun.com. It was a fantastic experience. I&##39;ll definitely be back next year. | |||||||