Mooseman International 2012 Matt's Race Report

Ah Mooseman, I love this race. The fact that we’ve usually got a good group of friends up here racing with us plays a large part.

This year our friend Adam who has done the relay team run twice at Mooseman in the past, did the whole thing this year. He picked one heck of a year to do so, as you will soon see.

We also had a women’s relay team of my co-workers. Ruth and Alexa have both relayed twice before. They added Debbie as their new biker. It’s always fun to have a first timer in the mix. It was a challenging day out there for a first race.

Genine, Ruth and I arrived at the house late on Wednesday evening. We didn’t even unload. I went to the front door to test the key that I thought might be the right one. It wasn’t. We now had to drive 2 hours round trip to go pick up a key from my brother. We made the most of it by stopping at one of our favorite restaurants in the Merrimack Area. A Chinese/Japanese place called Taipei and Tokyo 3. It didn’t disappoint and it gave us a short break from being on the road.

Thursday we went down to the lake to swim. It was a beautiful day. The event crew was already there setting things up. I’m always glad to spend time in the wetsuit, trying to find my balance and stroke with it on. The water temp was fantastic. I had to keep myself from swimming too long. I could have stayed for a full 4000m workout it was so nice.

Friday back to the lake again. This time Adam and Denise were with us. Another beautiful day to be at the lake. After a short swim we hopped on our bikes for a short spin down the road. Then I drove the race courses with Adam and Denise. Before heading back to the house to have some Pizza and catch up with the rest of the crew driving up from NYC. My brother also stopped up for the evening with my nephew.

Race Day Saturday morning. The forecast does not look good. Mid 50’s and rain. I’m glad we arrived early. Genine’s bike was picking up the wet sand from the road as we were walking in. She heard that it was causing friction between the tire and frame. I didn’t have the tool with me to fix it but there wasn’t a line at the bike tech station. They adjusted the wheel and she was good to go.

Into transition we go. I lucked out and had the end of a rack and a no show beside me. Our car was far enough away that I wanted to leave my transition bag in transition, so the extra room was helpful.

I saw a lot of people working hard at trying to keep their bike and run shoes dry. I had a feeling that it wasn’t going to matter. So I kept my setup simple and the same as any other race.

It eventually started to rain harder I ducked into the heating tent and stayed there for awhile before going to put on my wetsuit and heading for the race start.

It’s amazing how small this race has become. Right around 300 people starting in 4 waves. Works for me! I’ll gladly take this venue all to myself.

I put myself near the front and to the far side of the buoy line. If ever there was a swim where you can chase feet, this is it. The visibility is incredible. I felt that I found a good rhythm early with my swim and spent a good portion of the first 750m chasing feet well. At the turn back to the beach, I had to admit to myself that I’m not in great swim shape. I was fatigued already. Unfortunately that typically translates into drifting to the left as I swim. I worked hard at finding feet that I could follow that might keep me on line. I kept working hard all the way to the beach. I stopped for the wetsuit strippers and chose the right team of guys. Off it went and then my right hamstring cramped. (What is going on with this?). So now I’m walking/hobbling over to my bike. Through large puddles that had formed over the last 40-50 minutes and it’s still coming down. I glance at my watch to get an idea of my swim time and I see it’s 30+ already. Oh man! My swim was that bad? Whatever, it’s over. Moving on.

I put my glasses on. They fog instantly. I take them off and put them in my run shoes. I’m going to bike in the rain without glasses. I just think it’s going to be the better decision.

I know this course well. I decide that I’d be smart to hold back a bit on the first third of the course. I don’t bike in the rain much I’m not concerned about it but it would be good to get a feel for the ride. I also have a new GP4000 as my rear tire glued on.

Going up Devil’s Hill wasn’t an issue. The descent on the other side could be tricky with the wet pavement. I only had people ahead of me. I didn’t have to worry about anyone trying to get by me on the descent. I topped out at 37 mph on this descent. Which might be a couple mph slower than normal but more important thing is that I felt in control and I won’t be going that fast again.

Now it’s time to get into a zone and work.

As I was riding down the east side of the lake, I realized that I started my watch for the swim at the “one minute to go” mark. So perhaps my swim wasn't THAT awful.

It was miserable out there. Non stop rain and it was cold. I think my extra 15 pounds may have been helpful today! I was also thankful that the wind gusts weren’t too out of hand. Oddly enough I think the weather kept my mind off of the bike effort. I’m not going to say that it went by quickly. Just that my mind was dealing with issues that aren’t typically there.

1:28:01 Bike Split

It was nice to have my friends cheering for me at the bike finish. It kept me hustling through transition. I always think of that first year when Ruth and Alexa gave me grief after the race for having such a long transition.

I decided I had to put on socks for the run. Otherwise my feet were going to be messed up for a couple of weeks with blisters. It’s one thing when it’s dry conditions but my shoes were already soaked.

I got out onto the course and my feet felt awful. My right foot strike felt awful, and just like last year, it felt like there was something stuffed in the front of my shoe around my toes. About a half mile in, I had to pull the shoe off to check. Nothing there. My feet are just that numb. First mile was an 8:20. 2^nd mile 9:00. Oh man!! 3^rd mile 8:20. 4^th mile I finally felt like I was running and it was still only an 8:00. My HR was very low the entire run, I just couldn’t get going. At least it felt like I was running when I was on my way back to the park.

I got to the finish line with a 52:35 run. 8:28 min/mile pace. 

Total Time: 2:53:24 About 6 minutes slower than my best time. I'd love to blame transitions due to the weather, but most of it was the run.

It turns out my swim was a 28:29. Exactly the same swim as last year! (Which really isn’t good, just funny that it’s the same).

After I finished, it wasn’t long before I started to get cold. I went to the warming tent to find a number of people there already. Some had been there for an hour. They finished the bike went to the tent to get warm. Some figured they’d run once they got warm again. Only they didn’t.

I could be upset with my results but they are in line with where I am right now and these were the worst conditions I’ve raced in. Last year was much colder but dry. Mid 50’s and cold rain is bad news.

I need to remember to be more ready for this. The next day was the same temperature but much drier. Yet the majority of the pros had on toe covers, arm wamers and such. I’m not sure how much it would have helped me but it’s worth keeping in mind.

First order of business after the race was to get everyone warm. Fortunately we’ve got a wood stove at the house and I’m guessing we got that room up to 85+ degrees before we opened the room up. It was nice and toasty!

We went out to dinner. Then we came back to the house, played games and ate cookies. Lots of cookies.

I’m going to leave it at that. I’m sure Genine will get a report posted soon. She will fill in the details I’ve left out.

Less than 3 weeks to IMMT 70.3. Can’t wait to see that venue. I REALLY hope we get some nice weather for that one.