I will let everyone discuss his own portion of the race in his own words, but we have completed the race, finishing respectably, though I think it's safe to say we did not finish in the top 3 in our division. It was a great day of fun and excitement, and we all learned a lot.
Here are some things I learned from my section:
Put sunscreen on your eyelids if you are planning on having them closed while looking at the sun for a long time.
Some people underestimate the value of hand paddles, while other overestimate their ease of use. I did neither.
Watch out for submerged Christmas trees while swimming.
Properly planned buoyancy assistance could be very helpful next year.
As for my swim, it went well. From what I saw, I passed 7 people, and almost caught one more on the run to the transition, but the safety canoers said I passed 9 people, and they surely had a better view than me. No one passed me. Our rough estimate of my time was about 85 minutes, though I'm very curious to see the splits from the race officials. That time was based on a general feeling of when I jumped in the water until I tapped Craig and Matt at the orienteering transition. I forgot to set my stopwatch when I tapped in because of all the excitement and my urge to get going. Considering the average swim time last year was 117 minutes, I think we are all pretty happy with that time, especially me! I felt great afterwards, like I could have kept going, though the run up to the transition was not easy after the swim. My sorest spots the following morning were my traps (from doing my patented reverse butterfly), and my eyelids. My Achilles tendons and my hip flexors were also a bit tender from the constant flipper flapping, though nothing major.
It appeared that I had the largest hand paddles there, and probably the largest flippers too. Many people had training fins and no paddles, or very small ones. I'm sure that gave me an advantage, though Amy heard before I started someone making a remark that those hand paddles would "rip my arms off." They didn't.
Our canoe section was extremely uneventful, as we passed the only other canoe in the race in our first minute, and never saw another one. We just cruised along at a reasonable pace and seemed to navigate successfully. I jumped out once to push and get off some rocks, and Matt had to deal with some residual cramps from the orienteering, but other than that, it was pretty much a typical canoe trip down the river, although we paddled more powerfully and constantly than we would have if we weren't in the race. Basically, our rankings were sealed by the end of the orienteering, which appears to have gone quite well.
There are many stories to tell about the race, but I think it will be better if each piece is told by the people who lived it. I definitely want to participate in some fashion in this race next year too.
2 comments:
9 hours 15 minutes.... No that's not our tango time. That was my drive home. (Typically 5:30) Remind me to take Monday off next year. Driving on Sunday towards NYC is just stupid.
First of all, I want to say it was a great day overall. The weather, the scenery, the company. Can't wait for the Mooseman and the Tango next year.
I second Shawn's opinion that we finished with a pretty respectable time of 10 hrs, 15 min (by my watch - I haven't seen the official times yet). Had we not encountered a few issues (I will share mine below and I'll let Craig share his own), I believe we could have finished in under 9 hours, which would have put us around 3rd or 4th in our division.
I stuck to my original plan (which, in retrospect, was a mistake) and kept a 7:30 pace, at least for the first 3 miles. I thought I would keep it up for as long as I could (my goal was the halfway point), then drop back to my normal 8 or 8:15 pace. After mile 3, the inclines kicked in and ended my plans. From then on, the course was one of two things...either sort of uphill or really uphill. I just wasn't physically prepared for it. I also had a stitch in my side that I couldn't shake. Usually I am able to work through them, but again, because I never got a break from the inclines, I couldn't lose it.
I think I crossed the dam somewhere around the 75 minute mark. I estimated that to be between 8.5 to 9 miles in. Around mile 10 I felt the knife in my right knee. I had the same problem 4 years ago while training for the Pittsburgh Marathon. It was run, hobble, walk the rest of the way. I think I finished right at 2 hrs.
The second run was much worse. I wrapped up my knee nice and tight and found that it didn't make a lick of difference. Thankfully it was only 4.5 miles and mostly downhill this time. I got there in 50 minutes, which was better than my goal of an hour.
I figure I cost us 20-25 minutes total.
By the way, my orthopod is going to name his boat after me. The knee makes my third different body part with him. I will keep you posted on how that all works out.
One additional note. Joe (my brother) and his teammate Scott Angove finished the race in just under 11 hours. They came in third in their division and 4th overall. Not too shabby. Their biggest issue was in the swim. Scott had some difficulties so Joe ended up towing him with a rope for almost two miles. They still finished the leg in 2.5 hours.
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