Carl Schneider – SavageMan 70.0 – Sunday, September 18, 2016

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.