Matt's 2012 Timberman Race Report

Heading into this year’s Timberman was kind of strange.  I suppose it was because both Genine and I knew we hadn’t done the training we should have done to make this a successful race. Which I suppose took the pressure off in terms of expectations. On the other hand, I had no desire to suffer through the cramping I dealt with at Mont Tremblant 70.3. So even though there were lowered expectations, there were some goals in place, and there never seems to be a lack of lessons learned during each event. I’ll start off with one of them.

We had to check in our bike the day before the event. No problem, except we were meeting the McFadden’s for dinner at their place and I felt we were running behind schedule. So I checked my bike in leaving all the taping of equipment into place onto my bike for the next morning. Not a big deal. Except that the next morning I was doing my tape job while it was packed in the rack. 6 GU’s on the top tube, it looked good but I found out on the course that I didn’t tape some of them low enough. So when I ripped them off, I only got half of the opening, which leads to much longer than twice the time to consume the GU while on the bike. Lesson learned.

Swim: I knew this wasn’t going to be a good swim for me. (haven’t put in the laps). I still planned on focusing on a few things. At Mont Tremblant, I was way off line and had to swim like crazy to get back on track. After that race was when I realized that because I tend to go left, I have to pass people on the right, otherwise I’m going to be going off track. This worked very well other than for the first 300m or so. Because I’m so slow, I put myself further back in the pack for the start, almost last in fact. I started on the buoy line because it was a clockwise swim. Unfortunately, someone nearly the same speed as I was to my left and he kept drifting right, to my drifting left…. We were hitting each other so much I was expecting an elbow to my ribs or a punch thrown at any moment. I backed down. I let him swim ahead and I watched him swim to the inside of the buoy line. After that it was a pretty good swim, meaning I found feet when I could, I swam a good line and I wasn’t killing myself aerobically. On the way back to the shore, I spotted a cap from the wave behind us. I jumped on his feet…. For about 4 strokes.  I kept his kick in sight as long as I could for a directional aid tho’. I ended up using about 3 or 4 people from the wave behind me as a guide on the way to shore. The best news, when I stood up to get out, my legs didn’t cramp on me. Finally!!!

Swim: 38:00 for comparison in 2009 I swam a 33:27. This year IMMT 37:44.

Wetsuit stripping: I hope the kids weren’t offended that I didn’t go to them even tho they were waiting. I waited briefly for the only adult male I saw there. It went smoothly and I was headed for my bike. 

Running into T1

Bike: I plan to go really easy on the bike today. If I have the cramping issues I had at Mont Tremblant, I’ll likely never do another 70.3. I told Genine I planned to stay in my small front chain ring as much as possible.

I was in the 7^th of 12 waves starting today. The later waves were equal to my age or younger so there were people passing me like I was standing still. I had read about how when racing an ironman, your bike ride should feel like the easiest ride you’ve done all year in terms of effort. Well, considering my training, I figured this was a good strategy to follow. So I kept my ego in check and watched what felt like 100’s of people pass me. I was being more than courteous to people that were approaching. I’d wait to pass until the really speedy people were around me. Which I thought was going to lead me into taking a penalty. We were on the way out, approaching an intersection, which had cones  out to separate us from the cars. I was looking to pass some slower riders and I looked over my shoulder to see others approaching. Well I think it was a group of 5-8 riders…. And a motorcycle with an official on it. When we reached the cones, it got really congested. I was definitely close to the slow cyclists who where ahead of me and to my left was this peloton of 5-8 going by and I’m watching the official on the motorcycle write down numbers onto his clipboard. I felt that he looked right at me as he wrote it down. At which point I thought to myself, this is going to be my slowest 70.3 bike and they are going to give me a penalty on top of it! Ah well, the group that was passing deserved it. If I got caught in the slow lane in a “draft” waiting to pass, that will teach me a lesson. (I didn’t get a penalty).

Shortly after that, I heard a siren behind me. Up ahead, I see a tangle of traffic and people off the road tending to someone. That always makes me nervous. A good reminder that safe is better than fast. (at least for me).

I spot Ed who started 15 minutes ahead of me just before I turned off of 106 towards the turnaround. I note the time and see how long it takes me to reach where he was. It was a bit of a guesstimate, but I was about even with him. That was encouraging. I really expected that he might beat me by 10 minutes or more today.

This next statement might give light to my lack of intensity. I think it is important that friends point out to THEIR friends, when it is time to replace their bike shorts or Triathlon bibs, as it is unlikely that they will be in front of a mirror in full sunlight. There were several people on the course today that their shorts, in full sun, were presenting a full moon to the people behind them. Not pretty. I know it’s a tough topic to bring up people but I’d appreciate it if you’d mention to them that it’s time for some new shorts/bibs.

 Once I got off of 106, I knew that I could probably get away with pushing a bit harder. As I was climbing the connecting road to 107, there were 2 kids on BMX bikes (or 20 inchers as they are called, I think). As I climbed by, I said “Race Ya!”. The younger of the 2 said “All Right!!!”. The older said “Noooo, you can’t do that”. Could have been a funny race to the top of the hill!

107 is a downhill bomb on somewhat iffy pavement. So perhaps a blessing in disguise, I had a few bikers ahead of me that were overly cautious and a car between them and me, there would be no bombing of 107 today.

Next we climb across Frank Bean road to 11. I passed quite a few people here. I started to feel good about my pacing decision. Then when I started to climb 11, I knew I wanted a clear road to bomb the downhill if possible. I passed enough people to create a gap ahead of me, then eased off a bit. At which point a couple people passed me but not very convincingly. So I passed them back as we neared the top an then FLEW down the hill. I don’t think I was passed again until I was in the no pass zone just before transition. That’s right. A QT2 person passed me, and the person ahead of me in the no pass zone going into transition. I get that we should have been going faster here but seriously, we are talking maybe a 5 second difference. I hope that was the difference of a podium for him….

3:08:18 .   2009 Timberman 3:06:36 (with a flat). Mont Tremblant 3:02:16

Liked the new Lizard Skins bar tape and CeeGee's aero pads!

Run: In my head I had 2 hours as my time goal. I realized that this would be difficult but I was hopeful that I might make up for time lost on the bike. (I was surprised that I finished my bike in 3:08:18, I was kind of expecting 3:15:xx).

Very early into my run, I see a pro woman approaching. Heather Wurtle. People are applauding and yelling. I figure she must be in first. Moments later I spot Cait Snow. She is FLYING. I shout “You can catch her!” I had a feeling that I’d like to see this finish line. (Cait came up 13 seconds short)

Back to me.

I didn’t have my footpod to track my pace. Nor did I bother to hit the lap button along the way. I just kept looking at my HR and it was low 170’s. Could I hold that for 13.1?

The first aid station I came to had a sign up. Pancakes and Bacon Ahead! Seriously, There was a 18” tall pile of bacon and dozens of pancakes on a table. I was very tempted to try the bacon but it was too early in the run. Not long after that, I came upon the best aid station in all of triathlon. (at least in my limited experience). The have a pile of ice shavings from the ice rink. So you can grab a snowball or two and put it wherever you think it would help the most. This is why I make sure I have a hat and not a visor at Timberman. The snowball under the hat is awesome.

As I was approaching the first turn around, I knew I should be seeing Ed soon. I saw him just as I left the highway and was heading into the neighborhood. I noted the time to see if I’ve made up anytime on him since the bike. I believe I came up with 10 minutes down with about 10 miles to go.

The way back to the park has some climbing. I was pushing along nicely right up to when you are about to leave the highway at mile 4. My right quad cramped. Not nearly as bad as what I dealt with at Mont Tremblant. I was able to start walking within a few seconds. I took this as my cue to dial the intensity down. That also meant that I decided to powerwalk the steepest hill on the course. Not a big deal, better than cramping up.

I get back to the park and am met with cheers from the McFaddens as I head out for loop two. I was tempted to ask how far ahead Ed was but figured I’d be better off just managing myself and not trying to push it.

As I reached the Pancake and Bacon table…. There was no bacon left on the table. The price you pay for being slow I guess. Fortunately, the snow pile up ahead was still in full operation. I can’t remember who I saw first heading in for lap 1 Ed’s son Dan or Genine. I think it was Genine. She was just pushing through it. Then when I saw Dan, he looked like he was doing just fine.

As I got to the end of the highway heading towards the final turn around, I figured I would soon be seeing Ed again. Only  I never saw him. I figured I must have been over confident in my pace and didn’t start watching for him early enough. I could have easily missed him at an aid station. Just keep running.

I was feeling pretty good about the fact that I had just run the entire way out once again without cramping, but the scene of the crime was just up ahead. Instead of tempting fate, I power walked that section. Kind of a bummer, but I’m going to call it game management. In golf you can go for the green and possibly drop it into the pond for a penalty, or you can lay it up and leave yourself an easy chip. There is a time when each of those decisions are the right choice. I took the easy layup. Then I was back running again. Oddly enough, just as I was approaching the steep hill again, I thought I saw Ed just up ahead on the hill. I knew running was going to be a bad choice. Fast walked the hill. The whole time thinking I’d be upset if I didn’t catch up, because at this point it would be fun to run to the finish line with him.

Once I got to the top of the hill, I couldn’t see him, I did see Genine headed the other way. I finally asked, “Have you seen Ed?” She said no, he’s got to be behind you. Now I’m really confused. Maybe Genine just missed him.

I get to the finish, no sprint down the chute or anything. I actually didn’t seem to have anyone nearby in front or behind me. The McFadden’s were cheering and I made it to the finish.

Run: 2:09:19   2009 2:09:54    Mont Tremblant 2:22:14

Total 6:01:31  2009 5:55:44 (with a flat).   Mont Tremblant 6:10:53

I’m going to say that Mont Tremblant is the more difficult bike course. Even so, I find it interesting that my slowing down by 6 minutes on the bike, made an enormous difference in being able to “run” without major cramping. Which saved me 13 minutes.

At first I found it surprising that my total time is only off by about 6 minutes compared to 2009. I think I weigh 15 pounds more than I did in 2009 and my swim was about 5-6 minutes slower this year. To be fair, I should subtract another 6 minutes from 2009 for the flat I fixed on the bike.

That may be it for triathlons in 2012. I have no inspiration to race Buckman or Skylands. I’m just not in the shape I should be in to make it really fun. Which is the big lesson for the year. If you want to see improvements, you’ve gotta be at race weight. Diet is going to the top of the list. It’s going to be more important than biking or swimming for awhile. 

NYC Marathon attempt is next. Maybe my pacing lesson can carry over to Marathon.

Working on the bikes.

A couple of weeks back I went into the bike shop where I typically have my work done. I certainly don’t go often, so it’s not like they know me. I’ve just been happy with the work they’ve done for me so I just kept going back.

This time I had a few easy things I wanted done. Replace the rear derailleur cable on both of our bikes and the rear brake cable. The housing may need to be changed on the brake cable.

As he was writing up the work order, he says “Alright so a tune up and a couple cables for each bike”.

“Tune Up? What is involved with that?”

“Oh we clean the chain, true the wheels… that type of stuff”

“And how much is that going to cost?”

“$70 per bike”

“Right, well that is unnecessary. In fact make a note that I don’t want to you make any adjustments to the Front Derailleurs as mine can be problematic and it’s working great right now”

“So just the cables”

“Right”

“Well since you are just having cables done, I won’t be able to get to your bike until a week from…”

“Nevermind.”

“What?”

“I’d like to buy 2 derailleur cables and a brake cable, I’ll do it myself.”

“Alright, it’s just that we are really busy. There are only 2 of us”

“Not a problem”

So I leave with 3 cables costing me less than $15.

The thing is, I’ve never replaced the cables on my bike myself. I’m fairly certain that I could do it, but when I do something like this, I like to know all the details.

This is where I’m should be posting links to all the great videos on youtube showing how it’s done. Well, I didn’t look very long but I never found anything that was very good.

I’ve got a bike maintenance book but it didn’t have anything for bar end shifters…

The good news is we were headed to our hometown for a week off. I decided the best plan would be to go to the shop there to get some help. I might even be able to go in and do the work and have them give me pointers along the way. Except that it’s race week, so they are going to be busy. I stopped in anyway. I explained that I wanted to try to do the work myself but needed a backup plan in case I ran into trouble. They scheduled me in to drop by so they could check my work. Perfect!

I started by taking apart the shifter on my bike. (If I’m going to make mistakes, I’d feel better if it was on my bike and not Genine’s) Of course when I pull it apart, pieces have to fall out… I suppose the good thing is that I’ve now seen the entire shifter apart and I was able to put everything back into place. I then sent the new cable through and tightened it into place… a couple times until I got it in the right place.

Next the brake cable: I ran the new cable through and noticed it was still slow to release. So the problem was with the housing. The housing was catching, right where it enters the brake. Trimming off a small bit of that housing fixed that problem. The only other problem was that the cable end at the brake lever wasn’t the right shape. So I was going to have to buy another cable and run it again.

Now to Genine’s bike: I had to swap her rear derailleur cable as well. It was going to go easier than mine. Because once I had the shifter all pulled apart on mine, I realized that you don’t have to take the shifter apart to change the cable! Just shift into the smallest cog, release the cable from the RD. I cut it because it was so frayed and didn’t want to damage the housing when I pulled it through. Then just send the new cable through the front of the shifter.

Then her brake cable: It was also just a housing issue. A quick trim and she was back in business.

Next I headed to the bike shop to have them check the indexing and to get a few pointers.

My bike was up first.

First he swapped out my brake cable for the right barrel end. Then he checked out the rear derailleur. I had the indexing set well. The only part I missed was to “center” the barrel adjuster before tightening the cable down. This would assure me that I’d have adjustment in both directions.

As he was checking the indexing he noticed that the chain line was bad. This had been pointed out to me at 2 other bike shops in the past, but no solution was ever offered. I always figured the previous owner obviously crashed the bike badly, seeing how it had been repainted and the original derailleur was not on the bike. Well today, they pulled out a derailleur hanger adjustment tool and went about bending the hanger/frame back into alignment. It probably took less than 2 minutes. My guess is my chain catcher isn’t going to see much action now. (not that you can ever tell when the chain hits it). Good as new! He did warn me that bending the frame is trickier/more dangerous than adjusting a removable derailleur hanger.

Then Genine’s bike: Quick brake cable adjustment. Indexing looked good other than I didn’t center the barrel.  It was good to go.

I talked with him briefly about the squealing brake issue I’ve been having since I’ve put new brake pads on. He showed me how the front of the pad should hit should touch first at a very slight angle. It might be that I’ll have to take some sand paper to the one pad.

Total cost in parts + what they charged me to take a look at my work. Less than $40.  Money well spent seeing how I now know how to cable our Tri Bikes. 

The one tool I need to buy is a decent cable cutter. The cutters I have in my toolbox will be destroyed if I continue to try and cut bike cables with them. They can barely cut the cables. The money I saved will go towards buying this tool.

I also put new bar wrap on my bike. Yellow Lizardskins. I’ll admit that my cutting of the wrap wasn’t too fantastic but I can hide that under the tape. I'll revisit that step again when I have some time. I think my bike is going to be in better shape than I am at Timberman. Ha ha!

Matt's Kinzua Country Tango 2012 Race Report

The lead in to this year’s Tango was a bit crazy. Largely because we kept thinking that putting together a women’s relay team was possible. But there were also some injuries that limited the options of what everyone was going to be able to do.  I think I may have caused some stress/confusion because of this uncertainty. I guess because I was ready to do as much of the race as was necessary, I didn’t think of the fact that everyone else would feel better knowing what they were going to do and who they were going to be racing with. To give you an idea of how in flux the teams were, Genine’s team picked up their 4.5 mile runner a day or two before the race. The good news is that everything worked out. We also introduced 3 new people to the Tango.

Matt’s Team:

Chad Burns 13.1 (new to our teams but has run the Tango before)

Craig Cerra 20 Mile Bike (6^th Year that Craig and I were on a team together)

Claudia 2.5 Mile Swim (Todd’s Daughter, 1^st Tango Event)

Todd Olson and I Orienteering (Todd’s 2^nd year, 1^st year orienteering)

Christian 4.5 Mile Run (Todd’s Son, 1^st Tango Event)

Craig and Todd 8.5 mile Canoe

Genine’s Team:

Marty Durnell 13.1

Scott Ferguson 20 Mile Bike (1^st Tango Race)

Genine 2.5 Mile Swim

Jerry Johnson / Genine Orienteering

Amanda Costagnino 4.5 mile run (2^nd appearance on our Tango team)

Scott/Jerry 8.5 Mile Canoe.

Marty was signed up to be Jim Robert’s support team. In order for Marty to help us out and run the 13.1, I had to jump in and help support Jim up until my event started. I was more than glad to do this. It turned out to be a good learning experience. There are a few things I would do differently had I the chance to do it over. I’ll speak more on that later.

 RACE MORNING:

I didn’t sleep well at all. Not sure if it’s because we had heard that the orienteering would be challenging this year, or because depending on how closely Jim races in comparison with my team, would determine how difficult it would be to support him.

Day started off low 70’s and very humid. It’s going to get hot fast today.

13.1 Run:  This is going to be a good race. Jim and Chris running the whole race today are shooting for a 1:45 run. Chad hopes to do better than this. Marty figures 1:50-2:00 range.

Chad was in the lead at the 9 mile mark which is right after the crossing of the dam. At the finish, Chris and Jim were there first at 1:47:00, Marty at 1:48:00 and Chad at 1:53:00.  This was a good start and set up the bike race well.

20 mile  Bike: Scott left about a minute before Jim and 5 minutes before Craig. Scott is on a fat tire 29er. Jim is on a fat tire mountain bike. Craig is on a Cyclocross bike but has an injured calf muscle.

We had to drive over to T2 which meant there was a chance we would see them out on the course, and we did. We saw Craig. Then very shortly after, we see Scott and Jim. Jim was directly in front of Scott just about to turn up to the road to Jake’s Rocks. Close race so far!

Jim arrived at the boat launch first. 1:43:00 split. Then about 5 minutes later Craig arrived with a 1:44:00 split. Claudia is going to get a head start on Genine for the swim.

Scott arrived about 12 minutes later with a 2:01:00 split and Genine starts her swim.

2.5 mile swim: Genine and I have not put as many laps in the pool this year, so I was curious to see where she would finish. 1:04:00 was her previous time. This being Claudia’s first year, I really had a hard time guessing how she would do. I had guessed a range of 60-90 minutes.

Genine finished in 1:04:00 again!! Claudia showed up about 8 minutes later having swum a 1:24:00! Which sounds similar to what most of us swam our first time. She should be pretty happy with that.

Orienteering: Genine and Jerry headed up the hill a few minutes ahead of us. She had to get out of her wetsuit and get into her running shoes, so it was less than an 8 minute lead.

Todd and I got our map. It was obvious which direction we had to go to start. As we went down to point 1, I was already concerned for my ankles. We passed Genine and Jerry on the way to point 2. I kept looking at the map deciding where to go after point 2. As we climbed our way through the rocks to point 2, I had decided I was going to take the easier route and go to point 3 next, rather than going through the woods.

Point 3 was on a steep slope near route 59. Getting down and back up from there was a challenge. Todd did a great job finding this point.  I just had to follow his lead. I did better going up than down. At this point, I was warmed up and moving well. Now it was time to run the trails!

We made good time running to point 4. We kept rolling towards point 5. As we reached the point where you’d leave the trail to find the point. I think we had just caught 3 or 4 other teams. It sounded like many of them had yet to do point 3 tho’. I wanted to stay ahead of all of them if possible. So on the way back out, we tried to push the pace.

I figured we’d see Jerry and Genine on the way back. They must have been on the other trail as we went by, so we didn’t see them. As we approached the rim rock parking lot there was a team ahead of us that I figured we needed to be in front of before we reached the stairs. With random sightseers, there was always a chance they could get between us on the stairs and they could gain time on us there. So we sprinted to the stairs and…. Of course there were 4 or 5 people walking down slowly. (it wasn’t awful, just feels like it when you know you are on the clock) Then to make matters worse. I was impatient at the bottom and cut across what I thought was the start of the trail. It wasn’t. So we had to jump down from a few large rocks to get back onto the trail to the beach. The tough part here is not to trip on the way down. I felt like we did well. Very little wasted time. We finished in 1:34:00 (1:22:00 was fastest time for the day Officially)

Now is when the day gets kind of crazy. We waited for about 2 hours for Genine and Jerry. They along with many others had a really hard time with point 5. They finished in 3:27:00 and that was not the worst time of the day by any stretch. There were 15 teams with times over 4 hours!! People were coming out of the woods Very dehydrated. I started to get very concerned for Jim. He was still out there as well.

4.5 mile run. Christian ran for our team and ran it in 39 minutes. Amanda ran for Genine’s team. (She gets the super patient award for the day.) She knocked out a 37 minute run.

I didn’t see the start or finish of either of our canoeing teams. I stayed up at the beach waiting to make sure Jim was alright. When he came out he was like so many of the others. Dehydrated! So he sat down and started to down fluids and get calories in. Eventually he decided he would keep going and we were headed down to the boat launch. (I’m hopeful that Jim will write something up on the blog).

When I got to the race finish. I saw that Jerry and Scott finished the canoe is 1:26:00 and Todd and Craig finished in 1:31:00.

Matt’s Team Total time: 8:45:00  About 12^th place of 42 open relay teams unofficially

Genine’s Team Total Time: 10:23:00 About 30^th of  42 open real teams unofficially

As always, it was a very fun day. It would be interesting to know how much fluid we went through in total. Our cooler alone we went through 14 32oz bottles of Gatorade and a 24 pack of 16 ounce bottles of water.

It’s also great to hear everyone already talking about next year. I have a feeling that our fastest times are yet to come!

I apologize for the lack of pictures. I didn't take the camera out of the bag the entire week I was in Warren. Which is quite disappointing considering the great weather.  Genine will have some photos or videos on her iPhone. Maybe she will post some of them.

Here is a link to the pro photos.

2012 Kinzua Country Tango Results. Unofficial/Partial. Hopefully full Tango results will be posted soon.
Final results update can be found on their website Click "official times" will look much better than my image here.

It's Time

Yep. I've been saying for about 8 months now that I've got to get serious and get my eating on track. Well after that sufferfest of a 70.3, once I got back home, the diet was on.

I decided that I wasn't going to mess around either. I'm going to go with the one thing that has always worked for me in the past. Low Carb or Modified Atkins. Which is terrible for someone training for an endurance event but it's got to be done. Up at the Mont Tremblant race, they had you weigh in at registration. I saw the highest number I've seen since 2008 I think. Not good.

So I'm already 4 days in. The first 2 days my legs were still sore from all the cramping at the race. The only work that got done was Ab Ripper.
Then I had a short bike last night 45 min and a 2000m swim today. Without carbs, there is only so much fuel in the tank. I'm fine with that, as long as the number on the scale keeps dropping.

I'm also bringing back more of the strength work. The pushup plan has started. Ab Ripper is in the mix along with planks. I've got to make it to the gym to do more leg workouts. What I'm able to do at home falls short of what I'd like to get done.

Being 19 weeks out from the marathon, it's also time to start running OFTEN. I think I'm going to up my frequency but keep my distances reasonable for awhile. Then once I've got some carbs back into my diet, I'll start adding longer runs.

I still think a PR at the 70.3 distance is possible this year. I've just got to focus for 7-8 weeks. That sounds do-able. I'm looking forward to it! Other than the weak workouts for the first couple weeks and being hungry... It will be over before I know it.

Matt’s Mont Tremblant 70.3 Race Report

Last year after Timberman, Genine decided she wanted to choose a different race for 2012. When the Mont Tremblant 70.3 was announced, I sent her the link and she was sold on the idea pretty quickly. It looked like a pretty cool place to spend a few days.

As my training fell apart in May, the idea of going to Mont Tremblant became more and more of a concern. On the drive up to the race, I kept telling myself that the goal is to complete the event. Take it easy. Have fun. And hopefully it won’t be too much of a sufferfest.

When we arrived we were glad to find that the room we booked was as advertised. We were going to be here 4 nights. We wanted to save a few bucks by being able to prepare some of our own meals. It had very functional kitchen. It worked out perfectly.

The night we arrived it was in the 90’s but it cooled off for the rest of the weekend and we had clear skies until after the race Sunday Evening.

Friday we did a bit of biking. Went through registration. Went through the Expo. And got a feel for how everything was arranged. Later in the day, I got a text message from Jon letting us know he had arrived. Jon and I have raced many of the same NYRR races in Central Park. We’ve never been able to meet up at them tho. So instead we were finally going to catch up over dinner at the microbrew restaurant in the village.

So far this year, it’s been quite a successful beer tasting tour during race weekends. It’s really been something. I was looking forward to continuing that run. Sadly I have to report there was nothing special about the beer choices at the 5 different places we ate at throughout the weekend. It was underwhelming to be honest.  The good news is that was pretty much the only disappointing part of the entire weekend.

Saturday we got up and went over to the lake for a short swim. We were surprised to find the lake was warm! As in I decided to wear my sleeveless wetsuit for race day, warm.

A bit later Jon drove us around the bike course on Saturday. Genine really wanted to see it to know what she was getting into. Honestly, I was afraid I was going to see more hills than I could deal with right now but figured knowing the course a bit better could only help. At the very least, it would save me from making a wrong turn.

As you know, we love to get good race pictures. Well that’s really hard to do when both of us are in the race. As luck would have it, Jon’s sister Abi, who arrived in the afternoon, was willing to take our camera and take pictures for us. Which was fantastic because this really was a very fun weekend and now we’ve got a ton of pictures to help us remember it.

RACE MORNING: Seeing how we were a short walk to transition, we didn’t have to wake up hours ahead of time. It was also nice not to have to worry about parking so far away that if you forgot something, you probably wouldn’t have time to go get it. Quite the opposite, if we forgot something we would have time to stop back at room and make it to the race start easily.

You definitely wanted to make it to the race start in time. Following the singing of the American then Canadian national anthems. The Snowbirds flew by in tight formation 3 times! And the cannon to start the race? How about they just use a Howitzer? (That link is the beach on race morning). Someone said they felt like they were at the start of the Olympics. Pretty good analogy, it was emotional. 

Swim: The course was 3 sides of a rectangle, swimming clockwise. Clockwise is my nemesis, as I tend to pull left. There were too many people tight to the buoy line, so I started further to the left to keep out of the mess. Especially since it was a beach start. I think this is the first time I’ve had to run into the water.

Because I started to the outside (left) of the buoy line, I had planned on making my way towards the buoy line by the half way point to the first turn. The lake was wonderfully clear so I was able to follow feet quite well. Unfortunately, I still ended up pulling left. It seemed every time I’d look up I’d be no closer to the line than the previous check. It wasn’t until after the race that I realized part of my problem. Every time I’d go to pass someone, I’d always pass to their left. I need to remember to pass right when it’s clockwise. (Glad I finally thought of that)

Anyhow, once I got to the turn and was swimming parallel to the beach, I followed the line better. My only mistake here was when I thought I saw 2 people turning for shore after a buoy. So I started turning in. Then I realized there was nobody towards the shore ahead of them, and I corrected myself. I’m not sure what they did.

The swim towards shore was uneventful. Once I had to stand and run to the exit… Yup my hamstring cramped on me. This has happened for all 3 of my races so far this year. This one was the worst. I was standing knee deep in the water for a good 30 seconds waiting for it to stop. It would have been nice to at least make it to the timing mat to start T1. Then to make matters worse, when I crossed the mat, I decided to go with the wetsuit stripper. He got it to my ankles, then dropped the suit and looked to the next person. Which I suppose was good. I’m not sure he’d have cleared the suit off my ankles quicker than I did. I then hobbled along the path to transition. This cramping after the swim is getting old.

Swim Time 37:44.  Not surprising considering my terrible direction at the start. My lack of swim fitness certainly plays a part too.

Bike: Take it easy. That’s what I had in my head. The course was closed to traffic and the pavement was in great shape for the majority of the course. The ride out to the first turnaround was great. My only disappointment was the fact that I got blocked on a couple of the descents. If I’m going to race 15-20 pounds overweight. I’d like to be able to get the gravity assist on the downhills. Instead I’d have to sit up and wind brake, and sometimes even hit the brakes. Top speed on the downhill 44mph. Of course what goes down, must crawl back to the top on the way back. It was very obvious at every climb how slow I was, as a new pack of riders would slide by each climb. I had to keep it even tho. If I started to power 90 minutes into the bike, I was going to be toast later.

As I said earlier the roads were nice and smooth. Yet I found the largest pothole on the course and hit it square on. Man did that hurt. It was in the shadows on a downhill headed towards the Bienvenue traffic circle. I really thought I was going to be dealing with a double flat. I was thinking at least it was a short walk to transition from there. Fortunately, the tires held. Now I just had to climb the last out and back. I remember thinking that it was quite possible that I could finish the bike in under 3 hours, which would be a personal best for the distance. Unfortunately my quads decided it was time to let me know that they were angry. I had to really keep it easy on my climbs, trying to keep my quads from locking up. I was successful until the 2^nd to last climb back to transition. I had to hop off the bike. (I would have fallen over otherwise). It wasn’t far to the top. So I figured I’d better walk it up so I didn’t have to try and climb the rest of the way on the bike. It had to look hilarious as I was walking without bending my knees. I couldn’t! Eventually they gave up and I got back on the bike and made it back to transition.

For the sake of record keeping. I drank my entire speedfil of Gatorade endurance and 2 bottles of perform during the ride. Guess it wasn’t enough? Or more likely the case, I pushed too hard and my muscles were not ready for the effort that I asked of them.

Bike Time 3:02:16 If I didn’t cramp and stop, I would have been under 3 hours. Grr.

The Run: I picked up a few things in transition. I took 2 salt tabs and I took a bottle of flat coke and my hand flask of flat coke. I also had a flask of mocha EFS that Jon had given me the night before.

As I started my run, I was actually surprised at how quickly I was moving. The run was feeling good. Then the first little hill showed up and my legs let me know that a full on muscle cramp was not far off. I decided to walk rather than deal with that. When I got to the first aid station, I saw that they had coke. So I was able to ditch the bottle I was carrying. I knew I needed salt more than anything. So I’d drink 2 cups of electrolyte drink they had and get moving. Eventually that became 2 electrolyte drinks and a refill of my hand flask at every aid station.

 I’m not exactly sure when my first “stop me in my tracks” cramp happened. Because the entire time I was already slowing to a walk trying to keep them at bay, every time I’d feel one was approaching. The worst one was right after I had handed someone else that was stopped a couple of my salt tabs. I made it 15 seconds past him and I was locked up. It hurt so badly that I broke into a cold sweat. I was just about to tell someone to send medical my way when it eased off. It was strange just how well I was running when I wasn’t cramped up. I tried to see if running slower would help but it didn’t matter. I can’t guess how many times I stopped completely because of muscle cramps. A dozen? More? I guess a GPS watch would have been funny to look at to find this out. It was the sufferfest that I was afraid of. Funny that the running was the easy part. It was when I wasn’t moving that was painful!

Anyhow, I was glad that I was able to run through the finish chute through the village without cramping up. So I got to get the finish line experience, which was cool.

Run Time: 2:22:14  I’m surprised this isn’t a bigger number... Later in the day, I realized that my abs were not sore as they had been after the Olympic races. Either the few rounds of ab ripper helped, or I never ran for a long enough stretch to actually cause them any distress.

My Finish

Total Time 6:10:53

This number definitely reflects where I am right now. I’ll use this as motivation. I’ve got 7-8 weeks to Timberman. I will be in a better place for that event. I’ve got 19ish weeks to NYC Marathon. I really have to be in a better place for that.

I’m really glad we decided to race this event. We really enjoyed being at a new venue. Now the question is, do we pick another new place next year? Or come back to get some revenge on this one? Or both? Or do I just give up on 70.3’s? Unfortunately, I don’t think even get to race Timberman before making the decision to sign up for next year’s IMMT 70.3. I think registration will be before then. 

PS: Craig would love this race. Everything is metric!

Here is a link to a professional video of the weekend.

Just after Genine's finish

Genine Jon and I

Jon, congrats again on a great race. Looking forward to catching up some time soon!
Please thank your sister once again for taking all these great pictures!

IMMT 70.3 Venue Pictures

This place is so cool. I couldn't wait for my race report to post some pictures so here is a set of pictures showing the "Venue".
Link to Pictures.

Another Tubular Install

With the race coming up next weekend. I've been riding the race wheels. Being all carbon, the braking has a different feel. Then there is the being pushed around a bit in the wind. Things I like to be familiar with on race day.
Well unfortunately, that new tire I installed 2 weeks ago got punctured during the ride. And if you click that link, you will see that it's not a cheap tire. Grrrr.
So I break out the spray in latex to seal the puncture. It went in very easily. You don't have to remove the valve stem or anything. Unfortunately, the latex just kept oozing out of the puncture. Fortunately, I've been carrying an extra tire with me on my rides. So I tear off the bad tire. Put a bit of air into the spare. Which turned out to be sort of tricky. I had to use the crack pipe adapter with the CO2 inflator. I pulled the trigger and not much happened. Hmmm. Turns out I had pushed the adapter too far into the inflator. We backed it out a bit and we were in business.
I was surprised that well over half of the glue pulled off the rim of the wheel and stayed on the old tire. Which meant the spare tire's glue which is tacky at best at this point, was going to be the majority of the adhesive. Not a big deal. You know going into this that if you flat, you are going to have to brake and corner very cautiously once you mount the spare.
Because of the problems with the adapter and the inflator, I had to break out my 2nd CO2 cartridge. Only to find out it was the wrong size!! Again not a big deal because between the 4 of us we probably had 6 cartridges but talk about missing a detail in your emergency kit!

So even tho that was an expensive flat. (1 new tubular, 2 glues,  2 CO2s, 1 latex inflator). It was definitely a learning experience.
1) I actually removed the rear wheel to put the latex in. No need to do this. Just wasn't thinking straight. Should have simply hooked up the spray latex and if it worked. I'd be on my way.
2) Now I know what a failed latex fill looks like.
3) I now know the right depth to put the crack pipe adapter into the inflator.
4) I definitely want my spare tire to have somewhat fresh glue on it for race days.
5) I know that once it's determined that I've got to swap tires, that the tear off and new tire install can happen very quickly. Perhaps even quicker than a clincher if things go smoothly. (although with a clincher you are as good as new and don't have to worry about cornering).
6) If you are going to carry CO2 cartridges, you should buy the right size!
7) Not related to the flat but useful for all glue jobs: To check how well your tire is glued. Deflate the tire and try to lift it from the rim. You are just looking for the weak links in your gluing. It should be tight all the way around.

I suppose the expense of this partially offsets the great deal we got on Genine's wetsuit this week. $150 for a QR superfull! (550 new/440 closeouts) She wasn't thrilled about the blue graphics on the suit, but when I told her $150, she didn't mind them anymore.

Since I was in money spending mode. We got a code for 25% off trisports.com. So I hit their winter clearance section and picked out some stuff that we've been meaning to buy. Maybe this will be the year we ride through the winter. (50%+25% off is my kind of shopping.) Heck some of the stuff would have been handy as Mooseman a couple weeks ago!

I wish that was the end of the spending. The bite valve on Genine's speedfil is partially torn. It's working properly but for how long? I also found that I am at the end of the line with the carbon brake pads.

I think I'll try to repair that punctured tubular. I'm not sure that I'll be successful. If I am, I'll be one step closer to being an "Old School" bike guy.

Off the Program

Off the program. That’s probably the best way to describe where I am right now. I fell off the program back in May when my hip was giving me trouble. Then I recovered in time to race Columbia and 2 weeks later, Mooseman. Now we are about a week from our first 70.3 of the year and I haven’t been on a training plan for 5 weeks. I haven’t even been writing down the workouts that I have done. I’m guessing I’m managing 2 swims, 2 bikes, 2 runs a week right now. So this first 70.3 of the year is going to be challenging. I’m looking forward to it though.

After Mooseman my abs were sore. That was an pretty obvious signal that I needed to get back to do my core exercises. So last week I put in the P90X abs workout. I suffered through that. Next day I was sore. Day after that I was even MORE sore. Then I was fine and I did the workout again. I wasn’t very sore the next day. Which was a relief. I’ve got to keep that in the schedule from now on. (Will back off week leading to IMMT 70.3. Lower abs hating me on my runs)

Because my swims have not been awesome, I started the pushup plan again. This will probably happen every 3^rd day. Maybe that will change once I build up some strength again.

My first trip to the pool following Mooseman, I didn’t take a workout with me. I did a reasonable warm up and just thought about how I wanted to prepare for the rest of my race season. I was trying to think how best to get ready to swim these distances and not fatigue. My solution is my old friend the Pull Buoy. I really don’t swim with that as much as I used to because I keep trying to become a better swimmer. Well, I’m putting my technique on the shelf for a bit. It’s time to think wetsuit swim times and for me that means pull buoy.

I think I’ve been swimming 1:50/100m at Columbia and Mooseman, which I’m not happy about.

You get speed by practicing speed. So my first pull set was going to be 5x100 on 2:00 (figuring 10-15 rest). First 100m in 1:37. Hmmm more rest than I was planning for. I’ll probably fall off. Second 1:37. Third 1:38. Fourth 1:38. Fifth 1:39. That went much better than I expected.

Next I figured I’d tax the muscles a bit more and pull 5x100 with hand paddles. 1:33, 1:33, 1:33, 1:34, 1:34. Again, I’m pleased with this. I am not sprinting, I’m being aggressive but these are not all out flailing efforts. As much as I’d like to continue to push and do more. I know I’ve got to slow it down and not do too much. So I lose the buoy and hand paddles and now I’m a tug putting across the pool. For now I’ll just consider my normal swimming as resistance training. I’m glad to see these paces tho. I’ve just got to put it all together again.

I’ve had no motivation to wake up early for workouts before work. Maybe this is a good thing. Maybe I won’t get shingles this year!

I’d like to think that once we are back from Mont Tremblant, I’ll get back onto the plan. I’ll have 8 weeks before Timberman 70.3.  and 19 weeks to the NYC Marathon. That should provide plenty of motivation.

I have a pretty good idea of what my Timberman schedule will be. I need to look up a marathon plan tho’. I’m really at a loss as to what I should do differently this year in my attempt to make the start line for the marathon. I’m going to look at a bunch of plans to check my options. I’m looking forward to making another attempt at becoming a distance runner.

Mooseman 70.3 Pictures 2012

Finally got through all the Age Group photos we took.
Here is the link to our photos.

If you would like an unwatermarked picture of yourself. Contact me at catmarlson@hotmail.com

Link to our Dana Farber Cancer Research fundraiser
http://www.rundanafarber.org/2012/mooseman_fundraiser
Please make a donation, even a little will add up!

Racing in the Rain: Genine's 2012 Mooseman Race Report

Mooseman.  My favorite race of the year.  Our “hometown” race, my favorite swim in beautiful, clear Newfound Lake and a house full of friends & family joining us for the race.  It doesn’t get any better than that for me!  Especially with many people (Adam, Debbie and Denise) racing their first olympic or 70.3 triathlon! Exciting!

We drove up to the farm on Wednesday.  It was nice to have Ruth join us and Milo was happy to have a backseat co-pilot for the trip.  A little front door key “mishap” had us back in the car (adding another 2hours to the trip) driving to Matt’s brother’s house to borrow his key for the house.  But the good part to this was that we were able to see Ryan and Tammy (who we were not otherwise) and enjoy dinner at one of our favorite Chinese restaurants in the area.  We finally made it back to the farm (and actually in the house!) around 10:00pm.

Thursday was the typical flurry of activity.  Grocery shopping, cookie baking, meal prep, getting guest beds made, etc.  We also got in a practice swim. The water was unseasonably warm and very comfortable. Newfound never disappoints.   Adam arrived late Thursday night after dropping Denise off at her hotel in Gilford.

We didn’t set an alarm for Friday, figuring everyone could use whatever extra sleep they could get.   After breakfast, Adam went to pick up Denise and we met at the lake for packet pick-up & another quick swim.  Adam was thankful to have the practice time in the water.  This was going to be his first olympic distance triathlon (He had raced only 1 sprint tri 2 weeks prior to this) and I know he was feeling some nerves and apprehension.  After the swim, Matt, Adam, Denise and I went for a quick 20-30min easy ride while Ruth stayed at the beach.  She was enjoying the freedom of swimming in Matt’s sleeveless wetsuit top. 

Genine, Denise and Ruth at Friday's practice swim.

Matt and Adam getting ready to test the water.

The C5 relay team arrived Friday evening, as did Matt’s brother, Eric and nephew, Evan.  The house was filled with food, family, friends and laughter.  All of the things that made Judy smile…for that my heart was happy.

After enjoying 2 beautiful days of sunshine and warm temps, Saturday’s race morning arrived with relentless rain and temps in the low 50’s.  Even though the dismal weather gave everyone all sorts of excuses to complain, not once did I hear a negative comment.  It was time to put on our game faces and get ready to race!  Because of the cold & rain, I was a bit wishy-washy on what I was going to need to wear on the bike and run.  I decided that I would tough it out and left my long sleeve gear in my bag, set up my transition and covered everything in plastic in a futile attempt to keep things somewhat dry. Ha! As if that were possible!

Setting up transition in the rain.

This was the first race that I decided to be confident enough to start in the front row (but far right) for the swim.  Since my wave start was small enough, it worked out just fine.  The swim went well.  I somehow managed to spot Adam out there shortly after the turn buoy.  He was backstroking, but I was relieved that he was cruising along through his least favorite part of the day.  I was hoping to finally break the 30min mark on my swim, but finished in 30:45.  Still a 2 second PR for this course, so I’ll take it!

I was cold coming out of the water, but figured I would warm up on the bike.  That did not happen.  I only proceeded to get colder.  The rain was unforgiving.  My hands lost feeling and became so numb I could barely move the shifters.  I was shivering and my quads were cramping from the cold.  I could not feel my feet.  I trusted that they were still in my shoes as I moved the pedals around.  At times the rain was pelting my face so hard it felt like needles stinging my cheeks & eyes.  I had my glasses on, but rode with them down my nose most of the time as they were fogging over.  Yet somehow, despite all of these crazy conditions, I found myself smiling.  I was loving this moment!  I was gritty, soaked to the bone, shivering and LOVING IT! Many of my Inten-Sati mantras flowed thru my brain as they always do when racing, but what I kept saying most to myself was, “This temporary suffering is NOTHING compared to what Nathan, Judy, Dan, Katie, Aunt Kay, and Mike went thru.  I CAN do this!  I WILL do this!  For them and for all of the other people who can’t be out here riding a bike in this crazy, wonderful rain!”

I finished the bike in 1:35:49.  About 3+ minutes slower than my best time, but I was very cautious on the wet roads, so I wasn’t surprised.  I came in to T2 cold & confused about what to wear & take with me on the run. By that time, nothing in transition was dry, so I put my wet, muddy feet into my run shoes, grabbed my hat & left my glasses there. I started to leave transition, but turned around to dig thru my bag for my long sleeve shirt & grab my Fuel Belt palm bottle.  Then I decided to leave them there.  Then I came back to get them.  Then I decided to leave them there.  Then I came back to get them… for a THIRD TIME! Oh man!  I think my brain was frozen!  I could not make a decision to save my life.  Where was Ruth with her video camera? This was worth recording! Even I started to laugh at myself as I finally started out on the run course…with my long sleeves and palm bottle!

My run, while not any faster, felt much better than previous years.  The only time I walked was going up the hill out of the turn around. And since I had my palm bottle, I did not stop at any aid stations.  My legs felt strong, just need to get them to feel speedier!  Run time 1:02:30.

As I made the final turn in the finishing chute, I saw Matt, Ruth and Denise cheering for me.  What a great support crew they were! It was awesome!  I jumped my way over some giant mud puddles and across the finish line! Wahoo! 

 

 

The muddy finish!

Despite some backstroking and a minor bike crash, Adam made it to the run and was home free!  I saw passed him as he was heading out at mile 2, thankful to have his feet on the ground!  He finished his first Olympic tri in 3:40:55.  The race conditions were not for the faint of heart, but he toughed it out! Way to go, Adam!!

 

Adam happy to be done! Big Congrats!!

 

The C5 relay team all posted PR times in their respective legs of the race!  Awesome job, ladies!!

After the race, we relaxed back at the house.  Matt made a fire in the wood stove (aaahhh…. warmth!) while everyone cleaned up, shared our favorite stories of the day and ate cookies.

Sunday morning was still rainy for the 70.3 race, but it cleared up after the swim so that Ed and Denise were only cold instead of cold and wet.  Matt and I had a grand time spectating, cheering, taking photos and a little pro-spotting on my part!

By Sunday night, Matt and I were back to just the two of us, as everyone had to start their travels back home.  As we sat at the kitchen table recalling the weekend’s events and reviewing photos, my heart filled with joy.  Over the past 5 years, our Mooseman journey has brought some many wonderful people and experiences into our lives.  With the support of these amazing people, we have raised awareness and money to make a difference in the lives of children fighting cancer.  I can only hope that Nathan, Judy and Dan are proud.  Because in the end, it is not about me or my stats, it is about them and honoring their lives.  Lives that were well lived.  Souls that are still loved.

With a grateful heart, I say, “Thank You” to all of our Moosemen and women!  I am already looking forward to 2013!

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.

Mooseman 70.3 2012 Pictures of the Pros

We watched a couple of our friends race the Mooseman 70.3 today. They were spared the all day rain we raced in yesterday. Which made taking pictures easier today. Below are some of the pictures I liked.
Here is a link to all the shots I took of the pros. LINK

Clayton Fettell

Karl Bordine

Maxim Kriat

Mary Beth Ellis

Magali Tisseyre

Logan Franks

Lesley Paterson