Newton Trail Triathlon

Should we jump straight to the part where I suffer the indignity of my most embarrassing moment of my middle age to date or do you want to hear all the gory details?  I guess we'll start at the start since the moment happens fairly early on in the story.

This is a small race, only 51 people, held in the evening on the trails surrounding the Boulder Reservoir.  750 meter swim, 5 K trail run, 10 K trail bike is how they bill it but the run is way short, maybe more like 2 miles or less, and some people end up doing a 5 K bike while most of us do the 10 K due to some confusion amongst the volunteers that wasn't their fault.  This is how it sometimes goes in the world of triathlon, especially the off-road races, and you have to learn to go with the flow.  It's a very laid back, friendly race and nobody seems the least bit bent out of shape about it.

The Boulder Rez is around 10 minutes from my house so why I leave 2 hours before the start of the race is beyond me.  I end up sitting around baking in the hot 90 degree sun for an hour 20 minutes, not my brightest move ever.  I get a great spot in the transition zone though, right near the 'bike out' so I don't have to run far in my cleats pushing my bike.  I spend the time stretching and listening to bad 90's and modern rock coming from the race's speaker system.  I don't get Lady Gaga at all.  Well actually I get it but I wish we could get past it.  Didn't we already go through this with Madonna and like a million other people?  She's skeezier than Madonna I'll grant you that but that's a good thing?  Aren't we over the cheesy generic pop music delivered by scantily dressed crack whore routine by now?  Did Courtney Love teach us nothing?  It's 2010 already dammit, can't we please move on?  We need a good modern day Crissie Hynde or Joan Jett.  I do see a 12 year old boy rocking out when Joan Jett comes on singing about her Bad Reputation so I'm slightly encouraged for the future.  This is the best I can do for thoughts to occupy my brain while I wait for my race to start.

This race goes Swim Run Bike rather than the traditional Swim Bike Run and I wish they all worked this way.  Your legs are stronger for the run, none of this 'noodle legs' that you get when you come off the bike, then you can hammer all you like on the bike, no holding back for the run.  So much more fun that way.

The swim is a mass start because the race is so small and this freaks me out a bit.  Even though I start at the back it's chaos at first and I can't see the first buoy for all the splashing and kicking.  That little voice of panic/survival instinct starts urging me to forget these shenanigans and head back to the safety of shore while I still can but I know I can do this swim no problem, it's way shorter than what I normally do for my masters workouts.  I put a calming song in my head and start thinking about some things I've been working on with my stroke to take my mind off all the other people and soon I'm o.k.  The first 2 legs of the swim go by no problem but when I turn to head back to shore for the final leg I'm swimming directly into the setting sun and I can't see a thing.  All I can do is look for the heads of the other swimmers and this causes me to sight a lot more than I normally would so I lose some time.  I can't see the shore until I'm almost upon it. 

I decide to take my wetsuit off in the water since it comes off more easily when it's wet and I'll get a blast of cool water directly on my skin because even though it's evening it's still hot.  And here's where my story turns into a tragedy/comedy.  The first thing you need to know is that these days they give you such a huge timing chip to wear on your ankle that you feel like you're under house arrest.  The second thing you need to know is that Ian Adamson is the race director for this little shindig.  For those too busy to click on the link, Ian Adamson is the most successful adventure racer ever.  If you ever watched the old 'Eco Challenge' races on the Discovery Channel then you know who he is because his team won or placed top 3 in a lot of them and he's won zillions of others too.  These adventure races are held in challenging locations and last for days, the amount of skill and athleticism and mental toughness required for these things is off the charts.  Anyway, I manage to get my suit off past my butt and all I have left are the legs so I sit in the water and start pulling them off when I hear someone yell 'Wetsuit Strippah!' and I see this guy running towards me in the water and next thing I know Ian Adamson is pulling my wetsuit off me while I'm wallowing in 2' feet of water on my back like a beached whale wearing nothing but a running bra and an impossibly short pair of men's lycra triathlon shorts, pale white 46 year old stomach flapping in the breeze.  My wetsuit says 'Orca' on it and has white killer whale stripes/markings on it for added effect.  And of course the damn thing won't come off because the leg is stuck at the ankle on the massive timing chip.  It's been a long time since I've been this mortified and that includes all the indignities I've suffered at the hands of my dogs in the agility ring.  I tell him it's o.k., I can manage but he's intent on helping me and with one final tug he frees me from the neoprene straight jacket.  Now to be fair he really was trying to help me, if you enter a big fancy corporate type race with a big price tag they'll have wetsuit strippers on the beach to assist you getting your wetsuit off so to have such an esteemed athlete as my personal wetsuit stripper is quite the luxury but still I was so embarrassed.  To add to the horror there was a photographer on shore taking pictures of people at they came out of the water and I'm already having nightmares of a photo of this scene being put on the race website for next year.

Next up is the run which they try to make like a real trail run so the course goes along the rocky shore of the Rez, over some small ditches, up a very short steep rocky climb to the smoother dirt trail that surrounds the Rez.  Reminded me of cross country races from high school.  The main thing for me is not to twist my ankle on the rocks or fall and be screwed up for the big race next weekend.  This race is for training.

Towards the end of the run I start catching up to a woman who's running her first triathlon.  She's struggling a bit, stopping to walk at the rocky steep bits, and her husband or boyfriend is on the sidelines cheering her on.  He's wearing his fancy dress clothes from work but he runs alongside her for a bit to offer encouragement.  I'm chasing down a different woman so I'm kind of wheezing and huffing but I give her a barely coherent 'Good Job!' as I pass her because that's how it works in the triathlon world.  It's a tough thing to get off the couch and squeeze into the skin tight Lycra clothes that you would normally never be caught dead in and go do a race in front of people so if you pass someone you always give them a word of encouragement because good for them for even being out there.  As I'm heading out on the run one of the top 3 women coming back into transition says something to me as well but whether it's a 'Good Job' or a warning about a wardrobe malfunction I can't tell because I can't hear her over my own wheezing.  I smile at her anyway and carry on.

By the time I hit transition I've nearly caught up to the woman I'm chasing but I end up having a disastrous transition because my bike falls over and I need to make sure I at least take in some water so I don't pass out again afterwards and I have to switch my orthotics from my running shoes to my biking shoes and maybe knit a sweater so she exits on the bike with a better lead on me.  The bike course is 6 miles or so over gravel, grass, and dirt trails around the Reservoir.  There's one super steep short hill that pretty much everybody has to walk but other than that it's all rideable, nothing technical at all.  At one point I have to lift my bike over a gate that has barbed wired at the top of it and then climb over it myself (over a taller part that doesn't have barbed wire) and my back isn't happy about that.  I chase the same woman through the entire bike portion.  Sometimes she gets far ahead, mostly when there's a loose steep gravelly downhill with a turn because again I don't want to take risks and fall for a stupid practice race so I'm on the brake a bit conservatively but sometimes I get oh so close to her only to have her pull away again.  It's great to have someone to pull me along like that, otherwise I'll stop concentrating on the race and my mind will wander back to Lady Gaga and I'll end up riding along all La De Da.  With about a mile to go I realize I'm gaining on her again and that she seems to have let up her pace.  With about 1/4 mile to go to the finish I finally pass her on a gravelly bit that she's struggling with and hold my lead to the finish.  I finish 11 seconds ahead of her in 1 hour, 7 minutes, 7 seconds.

Final Stats:

Swim-750 meters (820 yards)-17:37 mins. includes wetsuit fiasco and run to transition, probably 16 mins. or
                                                so of swimming or roughly 2:00 min/100 yards, typical for me
T1-57 seconds

Run-maybe 2 miles or so?  maybe shorter-18:55

T2-1:16 mins

Bike-6 miles-28:25 mins.-12.7 MPH (off road)

Total:  1:07:07 (hrs/mins/secs)

Placements
27/44 Overall (long course)
14/24 Females
2/3 Age Group

I'm feeling o.k. about my race next weekend.  Not super crazy confident like this will be my best race ever but at least confident enough that it won't be a complete disaster.  And you can bet I'm going to take my wetsuit off on in the transition zone like a normal person this time.

Mrs. Crankypants Runs the Bolder Boulder

Welcome to summer reruns. No, I didn't run the Bolder Boulder yesterday. This race report is from 2003. But eventually I want to get all of my pre-blog race reports cut and pasted into the blog so I can have them all in one place. This report originally appeared on an old defunct running forum.

For those unfamiliar, the Bolder Boulder is one of the biggest 10K (6.2 miles) road races in the U.S. I think there were 44,000 or so people in this race in 2003, not sure how many raced yesterday. For some people it's a highly competitive road race, for others who walk it it's a big street party. Competitiors dress up, there are bands and belly dancers lining the streets for most of the course. Anyway, here's my old race report to tide you over until I have time to write about more recent events.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I entered this race completely untrained and had no goals in mind other than running as best I could. Someone gave me a free entry form a few weeks ago so I thought what the hey. I've been running only 2-3 times per week-one long trail run on the weekend and 1 or 2 short lunch time runs, and the past 2 weekends were spent at dog agility competitions so even those trail runs weren't happening. This is my 6th Bolder Boulder, I run it every other year or so, and I'm sure it'll be my worst, at least time wise.

My pre-race tactics involve trying to arrive at the start line as close to my wave start as possible so that I can lessen my chances of hearing a Bruce Springsteen song and getting it stuck in my head for the entire race, as almost happened to me at the Chicago Marathon. I leave my house at 6:55 am, park the car at 7:00 and have a nice 10 minute warm up jog to the start line, arriving just in time to hear the last 30 secs. of 'Born to Run'. Aaaaaargh!!! I try to drown it out with just about every Ramones song I can think of and finally succeed. My wave leaves around 7:30, within seconds of its advertised start time, and the Boss is mercifully purged from my brain.

Soon just about everything else is purged from my brain as I try to keep up with my wave. My first mile is 9:50, yes I know it's slow for most of you but for me, well, I honestly can’t remember the last time I've run a mile this fast, it was at least before starting to train for the Chicago marathon last June. I feel like crap and I can't remember why I thought this would be fun. The second mile's a bit slower at 10:05. I pass an Elvis impersonator and I still have enough oxygen making it to my brain to slightly enjoy his crooning. By the third mile I'm feeling much better despite the course heading uphill. This is usually the hardest part for me but all that trail running must be paying off as I'm actually passing people and my mile split is a 'blazing' 9:25 despite the hills. My split at the halfway mark is 30:36 and this is the last split I can remember despite looking at my watch at all the mile markers. The rest of the race is just a blur. Through the haze I think I see my massage therapist in a line of belly dancers and maybe my dog sitter playing African drums. Unfortunately I have enough of my wits about me to recognize the theme from Rocky being blared from two different locations on the course. At least it's the original theme and not 'Eye of the Tiger'. Somewhere between miles 4 and 5 there are jokers passing out donuts and hot bacon. Somebody actually takes the bacon and I turn my head away so I can't see the horror of him eating it.

By the time I reach the final short but steep hill up to the stadium/finish line I'm trying to figure out if I can possibly break an hour but I'm just too out of it to do the math. I look up stupidly from my watch to find an elderly woman in front of me who's crapped her shorts and is wheezing and staggering alarmingly up the hill. Being the kind and thoughtful person that I am all I can think is that I really need to get as far away from Miss Crappypants as I can or I'm going to lose my breakfast. Thankfully someone with a firmer grasp of priorities (and probably less oxygen deprivation) tries talking the woman into stopping. I'm angry with myself for being so selfish but keep on going up the hill, hoping very hard that the lady takes his advice and seeks medical attention.

My finish time is 1:00:31, pretty slow but over a minute faster than my worst time 2 years ago so I don't even manage the PW I was aiming for. I thought it would be a lot uglier so I really can't complain and now that it's over I've decided it really was kind of fun.

After the race I met up with the Colorado contingent of the V-teamers, very cool to meet them all though with the noise of the stadium I was having a hard time hearing (too many loud concerts in my youth). I didn't hang around to watch the pro race, it would have been fun to see in person but I've seen it other years and I really just wanted to get home. I actually preferred it when the pros ran the same course thru the neighborhoods as the regular folk and they didn't have the teams but I watched it on tv and enjoyed it anyway. The worst part of the whole race was having to wait 50 minutes for the freakin' bus. I could have walked home quicker. Instead I waited & waited while some crazy old guy from Ireland who was touring America told me bad jokes. All in all a pretty fun day.

CU Turkey Trot 5K (Strummer's Racing Debut)

I don't do many 5K's, it's too short a distance for me and they hurt start to finish if you're doing them right. But every once in a while I get in the mood for one and lately I've been thinking it would be good to see if I've improved any over my race from last April. I don't care all that much about doing well at 5k's but I think they're a good indication of fitness. Last April's time was 30:06 by my watch. My official time in the published results was 29:45 but I don't see how that could be. I decide that anything under 29 minutes would be a good goal, maybe a bit on the wussy side but I can't see breaking 28 so 29 it is.

After a bit of shopping around I decided on the CU Turkey Trot. How can you beat a $10 entry fee and a 12 minute drive from home? The 10 am start time meant I could sleep in too. It's a no frills race-no t-shirt or post race feed but I don't need that stuff. I've already got way too many t-shirts and let's face it most 5K post race food sucks anyway. Races are so expensive these days, I found one at Red Rocks that was a whopping $35. For a 5K! Crazy man crazy, I can run up at Reds Rocks for free any time I want.

This race isn't billed as a dog race but I've heard of people doing it with their dogs in the past so I figured I'd take Strummer along and if it was a problem I could leave him in the car. When I got to the start line I saw people with enormous baby joggers, some 2 babies wide, and I figured if those were o.k. the dog should be fine. Normally I flat out refuse to do races where strollers are allowed because a woman ran one into my Achilles tendon once at a race and the pain was excruciating. I decided I'd take the risk since I was already there but I'd try to avoid them as best I could. Eventually I saw a few other people with dogs as well. None of us were quite sure if we were officially allowed to run with them but in the end it turned out to be no problem, none of the racers around me looked annoyed and no race official said boo the whole race.

The course is 2 laps on roads around the CU Research Park. It's not exactly a scenic trail run in the mountains but there is some nice open space on one side and beautiful views of the snow covered Continental Divide when you head west. The course is about as flat as it gets in Boulder so it's a good race for people seeking PR's or qualifying times for the Bolder Boulder. Still, I couldn't believe how crowded it was. I had to do quite a bit of weaving at the start and though it thinned out eventually there were pockets of congestion throughout the race.

I set myself up at the back of the back at the start line since I had the dog and I'm so slow anyway but this was a mistake because I didn't realize so many people would be walking. I got stuck in the crowd for a bit but nonetheless the first mile ticked off in 9:17 and I was plenty happy with that. If I could keep that pace up I'd easily make my goal. Trouble is apparently I couldn't keep that pace up and the second mile came in at a disappointing 9:52 for a total time of 19:09. I'd have to go 9:51 for the final 1.1 meaning I had to pick up a pace I was already having trouble maintaining. My main problem was cramps which in my case is a sign of lack of fitness. A 9:30 pace would mean the last .1 mile would take 57 seconds which would put me at 29:36, well over my goal. Calculating it after the fact, I'd have to have gone to a pace of 8:57 per mile to hit 29 and there's no way I had that in me. I didn't know that at the time of course, I just had a general feeling that the goal was out of reach but I picked up the pace anyway and started passing some people. Near the end of the course you pass the finish line going the other way for a short out & back before you actually finish so I had a good idea of how far I had left to go and picked up the pace on the final stretch back. Just after the turnaround for the final stretch I passed a woman who was running with her husband who was pushing a double wide SUV sized baby jogger. The baby jogger was behind me but she kept speeding up/slowing down so we kept repassing each other. I was nervous enough about the baby jogger being behind me but then with the finish chute about 15 yards away she started encouraging her husband and trying to pass me. I hate when people do that anyway, ie cut you off right in front of the chute. I'm sorry but if you're racing with me you're well out of the hardware and there's no need to be rude/dangerous about the finish line, esp. when you're pushing a giant baby jogger. I decided there was no way in hell I was letting these dorks pass me and/or ram into me and I managed enough of a kick to easily beat them into the chute. Final time was 29:40, well off my goal but at least it gives me an idea of where I'm at and that was the point of the race. There aren't any results posted yet but my time puts me in the middle of the pack for my age group in last year's results.

Race conditions were good, temps. in the 20's which sounds bad but really it's not a bad temp. for racing a 5k and remember here in Colorado it's a dry cold. Despite the bout with stomach flu a week and a half ago I was feeling pretty healthy and well rested, no major health issues or niggling injuries so I think this race is a very good indication of where I'm at.

As for Strummer, he was an awesome boy. I had him on about 3' of leash and he didn't pull or get in anyone's way. He was on task for the first 22 minutes but then got a playful fit and started tugging on the leash and bouncing around. But I told him 'enough' and he stopped and got right back on task, running just a bit to my side and ahead of me. Best thing though was that he was nice & relaxed both during the race and waiting in the big crowd of people at the start. When we first got him we couldn't get him near an event like this because the music/loudspeakers freaked him out so badly. He would go into full panic mode, completely out of his head. It was a wonderful feeling to see him with his pupils a normal size and sitting fairly relaxed by my side at the start line while the speakers blared away and the people crowded around him. He had a few quiet, nervous growls for a couple of dogs that were also waiting at the start line and sitting at the sidelines of the course but I easily got him focused back on me and there was not a single lunge/bark out of him the whole time. Most of the dogs he saw he stared at for a few seconds then ignored, even a couple who were playing rambunctiously off leash. I didn't even bring any treats with me other than a few loose pieces of kibble in my fanny pack.

Overall a fun race though I doubt I'll make a tradition of it. Big, short crowded races are o.k. once in a blue moon but they're just not my thing. I don't think I'd take a dog if I did do this race again. I didn't have any problems this time around but it's too crowded in general. I've got a good idea of where I'm at and what I can realistically expect with my training for the next few months. I was thinking about entering a winter duathlon series but I'm having second thoughts about it now.

I couldn't be more pleased with Strummer, what a good boy! Looks like he's finally growing a brain.

A well deserved post race nap:

Glenwood Springs Triathlon 2007

This is one of my favorite on road triathlons. The swim is in the Hot Springs pool, the bike is on the interstate but very scenic (trust me) and the run follows a path along the river. This is my fourth Glenwood Tri and I know it will be my slowest, the only question is how much slower? Three years ago my time was 1:57, I guessing this year will be something between 2:10-2:15. No matter, this race is more of a treat to myself than a horse race and I intend to enjoy it.

My right knee, the one that had the surgery, was bothering me badly last weekend so I decided to rest it as much as I could this past week. It felt a little gimpy on Saturday but that was probably from the 3 hour drive to Glenwood. Nothing to do with agility practice Saturday morning, oh no. I was prepared to DNF and skip the run if I had to, I didn’t want to be laid up for the next month because of a race but I knew I could handle the swim and bike and decided to see how I felt by the run.

Could I Be Any More Disorganized?

Thursday brought a couple of surprises, first of all an unscheduled site visit to Winter Park on Friday for work then after work I just happened to find out that the closing date for USDAA Nationals is Sept. 24. Yikes! It meant I had to decide, like now, if I wanted to go to Nationals so I could put teams together. I made a quick executive decision that yes, I want to go, and immediately advertised for teams. Mind you I'm also trying to find teammates and pairs partners for an Oct. trial with a Sept. 25 closing date. Of course I was away from the computer all day Friday and spent Friday night frantically sorting out teams & parters. When the dust cleared I had it almost all sorted out except Cody's teammated for Nationals. I had a woman interested but she's really good and I wanted her to know that Cody is inconsistent and told her to think about it, let me know on Sunday. I was tired from my 4 hours of mountain driving plus climbing around at the construction site and dealing with a problem they had. I still had to pack up my tri gear and get stuff ready for agility practice first thing in the morning before I left for Glenwood. At 9:45 pm I realized I didn't even know where to go to pick up my race number/packet. At least I was remembered to look it up before I hit the road.
Needless to say that by the time I made the 3 hour mountain drive to Glenwood Springs I was tired and dizzy and preoccupied with all the Nationals hassle, trying to think of team names and worrying about all I'll have to do to prepare to go. My head was not quite in race mode.

One of the few things I like about traveling is that you're away from your house and your crap so there isn't much you can do about all you have to do. I had a luxurious 45 minutes to kill before the pre-race course meeting so I sat outside on the lawn at the meeting place and read a book. Yes, that's right folks, I sat reading a book and put everything else right out of my mind. It was fabulous. I wasn't quite in race mode yet but at least I was out of frantic, overexcited mode.

Race Day

I don't sleep well in hotel rooms, especially when someone gets some kind of delivery at 2:30 am and makes all manner of noisy racket for a full 1/2 hour. I managed to get back to sleep an hour later but had weird fitful dreams and woke up tired and grouchy when the alarm went off. My stomach was a bit unsettled so I decided to skip breakfast. I had a late pasta dinner the night before so I figured I was good.

Da Swim-825 meters (902 yards)

The swim is my favorite part of this race. It's 7 lengths in the Hot Springs Pool and let me tell you 80-85 degree water is pure heaven compared to the high 50's that I had in my other races this summer. Air temp. was high 40's, low 50's so while I waited for my heat to start I warmed up in the soaking pool which is really hot like a hot tub. My stomach was playing up even worse but it calmed right down when I hit that nice warm, soothing water with all the healing minerals. Soon it was time to be off though and the regular pool felt freezing after that so I swam a bit to warm up before the gun went off.

Usually I don't have a problem with other swimmers and crowding but for some reason this year it was like being in a giant washing machine and it didn't abate even after 2 lengths so I finally made my way to the outside of the fray. On the plus side I had feet to draft off of nearly the whole way. Hard to say why but I love swimming in that pool. Maybe it's the soothing minerals or maybe because I have the security of swimming in a pool but the fun of swimming in a group in an open water format as opposed to swimming in lap lanes which would probably bore me stupid. I can focus on my stroke and enjoy the feeling of the water without the worry of a lake swim. I tried to savor the swim but it was over way too soon. I exited the pool in a big pack which is also unusual. They did a good job of grouping us all according to predicted swim time.

Da Bike-15 miles

The bike course is an out and bike on the interstate which sounds horrible but is actually pretty nice. Traffic is sparse at 8:15 on a Sunday morning and the rising sun turns the surrounding mountains bright red. It's a perfectly gorgeous morning, sunny blue skies and beautiful mountain scenery. What more could you ask for?

The first 3 miles are downhill and somehow I ran out of gears right away, leaving me spinning my cranks and getting nowhere while tribike after tribike go flying past me. What's the deal?! I don't remember this happening in previous years. I check my rear cog and it seems like I should have lots of gears left but try as I might I can't get the shifters to move the chain. All I can do is tuck down into the drops, get as aero as I can and coast. Finally after 3 miles the shifters start to work but at that point I've run out of hill. I haven't changed the cables in the 10 years or so that I've owned the bike so clearly it's time to pony up for some new wires. Of course the bike would wait until a race to crap out on me. Must be revenge for stabling her all summer while I rode my mountain bike.

The turnaround comes up so soon I can hardly believe it. I've been a weekend warrior on the bike this summer and most of those rides were on trails so I was sure my bike was going to be dismal but my ave. speed was 21.3 mph at the turnaround, not bad. Of course, when I make the turn I'm greeted by a hellacious headwind. I had this same wind the last time I did this race in 2004 so I wasn't terribly surprised. I was surprised to pass up a bunch of people who had blown past me in those first 3 miles. I suppose in a way mountain biking works some of the same muscles you need for powering against the wind so maybe I was better prepared than I thought I was. I end up trading places a few times with a tall guy who's got his work cut out for him in this wind. He passes me and I don't try to pass again but rather let him pull me along mentally.

The plan was to have some gel at the halfway point but my stomach's still way too queasy so I decide no food for this race. It's short enough, it shouldn't be a problem and I can tell nothing's going to stay down anyway so why even try? I made it about 3/4 of the way through my water bottle by the 2/3 point, was hoping to finish a whole bottle but all of a sudden my stomach finally feels better at just about the same time I unexpectedly puke up a bit of water and food. Yes, while riding. Food?! Where did that come from, I haven't eaten a thing since last night's dinner. Then I remember I had forced down half an energy bar while I was setting up in the transition area. I did it purely out of habit and forgot all about it. Oh well, I felt o.k. so I brushed off my shorts and kept on riding. I've never had that happen before and hope it never happens again.

A few miles to go and my tall guy is slipping away. I'm pedalling as fast as my little legs will go but it's no use, I can't reel him in. I think to myself, 'Yes dear, it's called training, you should try it sometime'. But I can tell from my bike computer that the ride isn't going to be quite the disaster I was imagining. Not a PR but way faster than I thought I'd be. Before I know it I'm back in town and it's on to the run.

Da Run-5 miles

I've been devoting most of my training to running, partly so I can exercise the dogs but also because I knew this would be the hardest part. I was running 4 miles several times a week no problem but hadn't quite made it up to 5 on a regular basis. It's not because I've been slacking but rather because I have to be so careful about adding mileage or I end up injured. I was happy enough that my knee felt good enough to attempt the run and best I could hope for is that it would hold up the whole way.

The first part of the run goes around the Hot Springs Pool and a volunteer says, 'Don't forget to have fun'. Uh oh, do I look that bad already? The first 1/2 mile off the bike is typically challenging for me but I don't feel like I have spaghetti legs or any unusual fatigue. The run goes through downtown Glenwood Springs then cruelly passes the finish line and heads out of town to a bike path along the river. I watch the people finishing from earlier heats but somehow I'm not jealous. Am I actually looking forward to the run?

Once I'm out of town and on the bike path I start to hear the pitter patter of feet as the runners start to pass me. There's not much I can do about it, I'm doing the best I can and all I can do is ignore them and run my own race. The first mile ticks off in 10:57, ugh. This is bad even for me. My only real goal for the run is to run a negative split and with such a slow mile maybe it will happen. This is kind of a cheater goal though because the first half of the course is more uphill than the last half.

At about the halfway point I run into Duane and give him a quick hello. He was looking pretty strong at that point, much better than I felt for sure. I kept plugging along and soon enough I was heading back to town. Each split was getting a little faster but not by a lot and I never had a single mile under 10 minutes. In 2004 I averaged 9:36 per mile so yeah I felt super slow this year. Nonetheless I finished with no cramps or knee problems. I even had a wee bit left in the tank for a little bit of a kick to the finish line. The race finishes downtown and the locals are out there at the finish line screaming their heads off for you and ringing cowbells whether they know you or not.

Post Race

There isn't much fuss at the finish of this race, just some cut up pieces of bagel and bananas, because there's a nice catered picnic and awards/raffle ceremony in a park a little ways out of town after everyone has finished. I force down a few pieces of bagel, don't ask me why, force of habit again I guess but they stay down o.k. I don't push my luck though and head back to transition to pick up my bike.

On my way back to the hotel I pass the finish line again and take a quick peek down the road. As luck would have it I can see Duane heading towards the finish line so I stop to cheer him in. He's looking great and has some loyal fans also cheering him in. Duane's quite the rockstar btw, those involved with the race took time at both the pre-race meeting and the awards ceremony to tell his inspirational story. Go check out his blog, he's got some great photos of the race and his own race report.

Stats

Final results compared with previous years:

825m 15 miles 5 miles
Swim T1 Bike T2 Run TOTAL

2007 17:42 1:59 52:58 1:24 52:36 2:06:37

2004 16:54 2:35 51:31 :50 47:46 1:59:41

2000 17:35 54:13* 51:08* 2:02:56

1999 19:03 4:03 51:39 :45 44:26 1:59:56

*transition times included in these numbers

Mile Splits for the Run:

10:57
10:46
10:27
10:10
10:13

I got my negative splits.

Placements:

11/24 in age group
55/110 overall women
146/227 overall (men + women)

Very solidly in the middle of the pack, better than I thought I'd do.

My worse finishing time ever but 4-9 minutes faster than I was predicting and not so bad considering the fractured pelvis and knee surgery in the interim. Maybe next year I can think about improving but for now I'm happy enough for the simple joy of being able to race.

Going Underground - Indian Peaks Dirtfest Off Road Triathlon

750 m swim, 17.5 k bike, 5 k run

Eldora Ski Resort, Eldora, CO

Elevation 9300'

This was the inaugural running of this race which is always a bit risky for the competitors/guinea pigs but I've done lots of host Racing Underground 's races before and I've enjoyed every single one of them. The race director typically does a nice job of putting on a fun, well organized, low key event and this one was no exception.

Swim

The swim took place in Lake Peterson which is a private lake just outside the ski resort. In winter it doesn't just freeze, it gets covered in big icy snowdrifts that look like they're never going to melt. Every single person shivers when I tell them where the swim will take place. Eldora required everyone to wear wetsuits. Water temp. was supposedly 62 degrees but I seriously doubt it, felt more like high 50's. The swim start was an unusual time trial format which had racers going in one at a time 5-10 secs. apart. We were seeded according to a combination of our predicted swim time and mountain biking skills. Out of nearly 200 racers I was seeded 181 and I started about 20 minutes after the start of the race. I thought this would make for a lonely race but in the end it worked out well, I was riding and running with people of my own ability and had very few conflicts on the trail. The swim was wonderful, I had plenty of open water to myself, it was easy to pass people and I even found some feet to draft off of for a wee bit until she started swimming way off course and I had to let her go. There was a small warm up area so I got in and dunked my head under to get used to the water. I had a good head freeze and nearly decided to call it a day right then and there (62 degrees my ass) but eventually I got used to the water or maybe I was simply numb and couldn't feel anything, swam a few short warm up laps and was ready to go. I had no panic attacks or trouble breathing and fell into a nice rhythm right away. Swim went well, did a good job with the sighting, passed a bunch of people and the scenery around the lake was beautiful. It felt good after last race's disastrous swim. I've been going twice a week to the Boulder Rez for my masters group's morning open water practice and this has been a huge help. I was out of the water in 17:20 for a pace of 2:07 mins./100 yards which is fairly average pace race pace for me. I was purposely taking it easy because I knew the bike would be tough.

600 m dash and T1

Unfortunately I couldn't stop to take off my wetsuit in the water without blocking the other racers so I had a bit of a struggle with the thing on shore. Sometimes it comes off so easily and sometimes I feel like I'm wrestling a big black rubber octopus that's trying to strangle me. The more you struggle, the harder it's grip becomes. Once I finally freed myself from the neoprene beast I had to lug the heavy sopping thing for an uphill 600 m trail run to the transition area. I threatened serious violence on any and all photographers who even looked like they were thinking about taking my picture as I must have looked like the creature from the black lagoon complete with pale white belly since I was swimming in my running bra and my cycling jersey was in the transition zone. The battle with the wetsuit and 600 m run took 8:15 and I was out of T1 in 1:39.

Bike

I'd been looking forward to this part of the race the most even though I knew it would be the longest and toughest portion. As it turned out the trails were way less technical than the ones I'd been riding with Jonny. There was one very steep rocky hike-a-bike section that was unrideable for probably everyone but other than that almost the entire rest of the course was rideable. Lots of beautiful, smooth singletrack and dirt roads. The trails were mostly cross country ski and snowshoe trails that I've skiied during the winter and it was kind of cool to see what they look like in the summer. I was also shocked at how steep some of them were and couldn't believe I'd been down them on skis. These trails aren't open to the public during the summer so it was a rare treat to be able to ride them.

The course started with a steep uphill then leveled off for some ups and downs for about 2 miles. I held my own for this part, even passed a few people on the downhill. Then we hit the hike-a-bike section which was my least favorite part of the race. I was hiking up an incredibly steep rock garden in my bike cleats while pushing my bike and neither my back or I was happy about it. Loads of people passed me and I could feel my heart rate going through the roof while I crawled at a snail's pace up the neverending hill. It was supposedly 300 yards but felt oh so much longer. Once at the top there was some wonderful singletrack and I caught up with and passed a couple of people. I missed the trail at one point and one of the guys I passed got ahead of me again and I got stuck behind him on the singletrack, the only place in the race I had a problem. Eventually he fell right in front of me for no reason I could see and after checking to make sure he was o.k. I rode on. I was by myself for quite a long portion and it was easy to forget I was in a race. The woods were gorgeous, the trail a lovely mix of ups and downs and I even saw a deer dash down the trail in front of me. There were spotting's of a moose mom and her baby in the area over the winter so I was keeping my eyes peeled but sadly I didn't see them. There were a few short super steep uphill sections that I had to get off and walk and a few mud puddles on the downhill but otherwise I rode just about the whole thing.

By the 7 mile mark I had had enough fun for one day and I was thinking that had I entered the DOCNA trial I would have been eating my entry fees because I knew there was no way I was going to be up for an agility trial the next day. I was also thinking that I was so not in the mood to run a 5k on steep trails at 9000 ft thank you very much and I still had quite a bit of biking left before I got the privilege. A guy finally caught up to me and I let him pass me before a steep downhill and followed him for a while. We came to a trail called 'Cheater's Corner' and he headed down in so I gleefully followed knowing that this was the quick way back to the base. Now my brain knew this was wrong because we had way too many miles left but my heart wanted to believe the lie so I followed without question down a steep hill then back up a steep hill. Where a kindly volunteer told us, uh, sorry folks but you've come the wrong way. So it was back down the steep hill and back up the other steep hill only to find the guy who'd fallen and I'd passed ages ago had caught back up to me. I lost at least 5 minutes and some precious energy on that little detour. I was doing so well following the signs too. I almost got led astray at my last race by a guy in front of me not paying attention. So from now on I'm reading all my own signs, no more following the boys.

A few more miles of steepy hills, both up and down and finally the volunteer said 'Just down this road and around a corner to the transition area'. I told him sweeter words were never spoken and cruised down the hill to T2. Total bike time was 1:49:24 for a measly 5.96 mph ave. speed and a max. speed of 24.6 mph.

T2

As I came into T2 a woman who had finished must have seen how tired I looked and in an effort to give me some encouragement told me the bike really sucked but the run was great, I would really love it. Boy did she lie. I was out of T2 in 1:07.

Run

I was pretty toasted by this point, the bike was fun but the hills and constant redlining/recovery cycles had worn me down. The run was also on the ski trails so I was familiar with most of them and knew what I was in for. I had to power hike all the steep hills but managed to run the rest albeit very slowly. At the 2 mile mark I came to a hill that I knew was awful and as I was contemplating the enormity of it and fighting back the swear words I somehow managed to fall for no particular reason on a wide, flat, smooth piece of trail. The same guy who had fallen in front of me on the bike was hot on my trail and this time it was his turn to ask if I was o.k. I was fine, just a little twisted ankle that quickly felt o.k. to run on but man I felt stupid after handling all those bike trails with nary a problem. We both stopped at the top of the hill at an aid station to get a quick swig of water and he said I was doing so great, he was struggling to keep up. I told him I certainly didn't feel all that great but thanks anyway. I left him at the aid station and tried to pick up the pace, not because I cared about beating anybody but because I so badly wanted to be done. With about 1/2 mile to go one of the women I'd passed way back on the bike passed me back like I was standing still. Normally I don't care about such things but there was something particularly heartbreaking about it maybe because I was so tired and oxygen deprived and because I so badly wanted to be done. There was no way I could keep that pace so I watched her go. The finish line came up abruptly after a turn so I didn't have much opportunity to pick up the pace for a final kick but to be honest I didn't have much kick left in me anyway so it was just as well. Run time was 38:23 for a pace of around 12:48/mile which is slower than my worst marathon pace.

Final finish time was 2:56:06. I was happy to finish under 3 hours. It's so hard to have a sense of what the numbers mean because trail riding and running are so different from the road. Hopefully they'll do the race again next year and I can see if I can improve.

Final stats:

Swim-750 m (820 yards): 17:20 or 2:07/100 yards (111/168 overall)

600 m dash (656 yards) + wetsuit removal: 8:15

T1: 1:39

Bike-17.5 k (10.87 miles) ish/1400 foot elevation gain: 1:49:24 or 5.96 mph ave. speed (142/168 overall)

T2: 1:09

Run-5 k (3.1 miles) ish/300 foot elevation gain: 38:23 or 12:48 min./mile (150/168 overall)

Overall: 2:56:06 (148/168 overall)

I was 2/2 in my age group and got a nice glass for an award. On the one hand I felt a bit silly taking home hardware just because I showed up but on the other hand it was a long, hard day out there and if I get a little something extra to take home for it, well, why not enjoy it. I can't help it that not many 40-44 year old women chose to show up on the day. Oddly enough the 45-50 and 50-54 female divisions all had faster times than the first place woman in my division. I ended up beating the woman who passed me in the final stages of the run by 1 second because she had started so far ahead of me in the swim. The guy right behind me in the run ended up beating my by 29 seconds because he started the swim behind me. This is one of the disadvantages of a time trial start, you don't really know how much time lies between you and the people immediately around you. Personally I don't care because I don't race the other people anyway. I loved the format, esp. having so much space in the water and room on the trails on the bike. However I can see how it would mess with the people who are really competitive minded.

I'd been fighting some health issues all week and I wasn't feeling all that great on race day. I'd started taking drugs on Sunday that messed with my hormones and was struggling to adjust to those plus the effects of the disease so I wasn't in fighting form but still I think I can get in a lot better shape than I'm in. That bike course was good for the climbers and I could have done better, esp. on the hike-bike part. Running always has lots of room for improvement. Swim went fine, I can improve a bit but I was happy enough with it. Race conditions were perfect-low 70's and cloudy with some nice cooling breezes. There was a chance of thunderstorms but thankfully they never came during the race. Overall a very fun race in a beautiful setting.

I also won a hat, bottle of Hammer Gel and $25 gift certificate to my favorite bike store in the post race raffle. Jonny suggested a Cervelo bike frame but I don't think $25 is going to make much of a dent in that $3800 price tag (never mind the components). Think I'll put it towards some new tires or a saddle pack. Darn, why do I always have to be so sensible.

Buffalo Creek Off Road Triathlon-Short Course

500 yard swim, 10 mile off road bike, 2.5 mile trail run

It's been 2 3/4 years since I've done a triathlon so it was difficult to set a of a goal. My best guess of a finishing time was somewhere around 2:05, if I finished under 2 hours I'd be thrilled. Also not finishing last in my age group (40-45) would be nice though looking at how fit the other women looked I thought there was a good possibility I'd be finishing toward the bottom. Maybe I should shoot for not last overall. I really have no idea of where I'm at and the last 5 days in Chicago with no biking and one 20 minute half assed swim was not boosting my confidence.

I decided to spend the night at home and get up at 4 am rather than try to camp on my own at the race site. I was lying in bed the night before wearing fleece PJ pants, a long sleeved shirt, a sweat shirt and socks while snuggling under 2 comforters and flannel sheets that were also being warmed up by Lola and Jonny and I was thinking I was just about comfortable so how was I ever going to be o.k. camping outside on my own. This was a good decision since I blinked wide awake at 3:55 am on my own and had no problem getting up and at 'em for some freakish inexplicable reason. As it turned out I could have slept in another 1/2-1 hour or so and still had plenty of time. I got there at 6:20 and had to wait 15-20 minutes for them to even open the gate to let us in. I almost hit a border collie in the middle of the highway on the drive down. I had to screech to a stop and barely missed it. There was a second bc on the side of the road and I thought about picking them up but there was nowhere safe to pull over on the steep winding mountain highway. I drove around a turn and there was a house so I figured the dogs belonged there and that there wasn't much I could do. I certainly couldn't keep the dogs in the car for the next 6 hours and even if I knew where there was a shelter in the rural mountains it would not have been open at 6 am on a Saturday. I also avoided hitting an elk crossing the highway, apparently noone taught him to look left/right/left before crossing.

I got a nice spot in the transition area though it was set up in such a way that there was no advantage to any particular location. Why does that only happen when I'm early to a race? I set up all my stuff, globbed on the sunscreen, ate an energy bar, globbed on more sunscreen, ate some peanut butter sandwich, drank a bunch of water, went to the porta potties a million times, yakked with a woman racked near me (who went on to win not only my age group but first place overall of the women with a smoking fast time) and still had 2 hours until my wave started. I never get to races that early, I'm much happier having enough time to set up then maybe 45 minutes until the gun goes off but it was such a beautiful area and the sun was beating down even at 7:30 so I was happy enough to hang out for a while.

The swim was shortened from 880 yards to 500 due to the cold water temperature. However the water was supposedly 58 degrees and when I stuck my toes in I thought it was cold but not too bad so I was a bit disappointed about the shortened swim. Off road tris attract people who are strong on the bike because you need specific skills to ride trails which means there are often lots of people who's swim skills aren't the best and since my best event right now is the swim and my other 2 suck big time it was to my disadvantage to have the swim shortened. Or so I thought.

I was in the last of 3 waves which is good because it means less people in the water but still it was a large wave. There was a 40 minute gap between the time allowed for swim warm ups and the start of my wave so I figured there was no point in warming up and I didn't want to go hypothermic in the cold water before the race even started so I didn't bother. I stood around for ages baking in the hot sun like a sausage in my thick black wetsuit waiting for my wave to start then finally I was on my way, my first race in years-yeeha. It only took 20 seconds or so for the panic to set in. As soon as I hit the cold water my heart rate went shooting up and I couldn't catch my breath. I remembered too late how the cold water makes me hyperventilate at the start and I know from the wretched ice baths I used to take that it takes about 3 minutes for my breathing to return to normal. Yes, I've timed it. Yes, I am a geek. So I figured no problem, I'll just do backstroke until I can breathe again, I've done this before and it works no problem. Except this time it wasn't working. Every time I flipped back over to swim normally I'd make it just 3-4 strokes then feel like I couldn't catch my breath again. Finally I swam over to one of the rescue kyaks and hung on for a moment until I felt like I'd finally calmed down and caught my breath. I told the guy in the boat, 'Don't worry, I'm o.k., I don't need help, I'm just panicking, I'll be fine.' I'm surprised he didn't forcibly pull me out right there. After a few moments I went on my way but again, 3-4 strokes and I was on my back again. I swam to the next kyak, rested a bit then same thing again and I was on my back. It was the worst experience I've ever had in a race and I have panicked during the swim before. Luckily it was just my body panicking and not my brain because I kept it together and made it back to shore. As soon as I saw solid ground I stopped swimming and started running even though I was a way off shore and it would take me longer, I didn't care, I was so happy to be on solid ground. I took my wetsuit halfway off then the ground dropped away again so I had to swim with my head up until finally I hit the beach. My watch said 12:18 and I couldn't believe it, it easily felt like 20 minutes. A swim like that should have taken me around 10 minutes so I was pretty disappointed. I took 15 seconds or so to take the rest of my wetsuit off while still in the water since I think it's so much easier. I don't know why more people don't do this, I ended up having the second fastest combined swim and T1 transition time in my age group despite the crappy swim.

During the swim I thought I'd abandon the race once I got back to shore. The swim had gone so badly and I'd used so much extra energy doing backstroke that I figured there was little point in carrying on with the 2 weaker events. But once I hit transition I'd completely forgotten about any notions of quitting and jumped on my bike raring to go. The bike started off with a short but steep uphill then a super steep downhill on a badly rutted dirt road. I figured I was way at the back of the race at this point and the few people that were back there came blazing past me on the downhill. I ended up picking my way down behind a 54 year old woman who was being very careful. Still, she went down right in front of me which freaked me out a little. I stopped to make sure she was o.k. and she claimed she was and told me to go on. I had to pick my own line the rest of the way but managed with no problem albeit a bit slowly. After the 3 mile downhill we turn onto a flattish trail that follows along Buffalo Creek for a mile or so then we pick up the Gashouse Gulch trail which is a couple of miles of beautiful smooth but steep singletrack. The race director didn't want people passing on the singletrack while riding but we could tell the person ahead that we wanted to pass whenever there was space and they could put a foot down to let others by when there was a good place. I was worried that I'd be the one holding lots of people up but as it turned out I ended up passing quite a few people on the uphill. Some fell over right in front of me on the trail, others couldn't make it up the steep switchbacks and had to stop to walk. I knew I could ride the whole thing but had to walk at least one switchback because I got caught behind a line of people walking. The hardest part was having to start back up again when I got caught behind someone who had to stop. They'd let me by but it's hard to get up momentum on a hill from a dead stop. It was fun though and I did much better than I thought I would. After the singletrack there was a short descent on a dirt road then the hellish 3 mile steep climb back up the badly rutted road that I had been worrying about for the past few weeks. In the end it wasn't so bad though, I passed some people and felt o.k. by the time I got to the top. I was careful not to race people and push too hard on that hill because I still had the run to go and didn't know what to expect. I switched places back & forth many times with a 40 year old guy and I beat him to the top of the hill but he passed me on the downhill on the way back to transition. He turned off at a place that didn't look right and sure enough I saw a volunteer further up the road motioning me straight ahead. Thankfully I didn't follow because it was the wrong way but he was too far down the trail for me to yell to him.

I was fully planning on DNFing at the run if I was too sore to continue because I didn't want to get injured for the rest of the summer but I felt fine so I racked my bike, threw on my running shoes and cruised on my way. The run started on a terrible uphill and I quickly had to resort to walking/hiking. The trail went up and up then finally leveled a bit for some rolling uppy downy stuff, very fun. For the first time in ages the running felt effortless and I had a great time romping through the woods. The trail went out to a waterfall but there were steep steps down at that part of the trail and I was concentrating so hard on not falling that I didn't even notice it. I almost took a wrong turn onto the Xterra course as a volunteer giving out water was blocking the sign for the short course trail but as I headed the wrong way someone noticed and called me back. I had been trading places back and forth again with the 40 year old guy that had gone the wrong way on the bike but I lost him somewhere in the woods and was running on my own for most of the time. The 54 year old woman who had fallen in front of me passed me with about 8 minutes left in the run but I wasn't up for chasing her. I didn't know how far until the finish until suddenly I turned a corner and there it was. I knew there was someone a few seconds behind me because of the spectators cheering and I had a bit left in my legs for a sprint. He came up right behind at the finish and we crossed the timing mat together or maybe he was half a step ahead.

I was tired at the end and oh so happy to finish. I had no idea how I'd done placement wise but I saw at least one woman from my age group come in behind me so I knew I wasn't dead last. The post race food was kind of crappy but I managed to force down a couple of cookies and some chips. They had BBQed hamburgers and no veggie burgers so I was out of luck but to be honest I wasn't very hungry anyway.

Final Stats:

500 yard swim: 12:48 (actual swim time was around 12:18, extra 30 secs. was wetsuit removal

and running up the beach to transition)

T1: 1:42 (fastest in my age group)

10 mile trail bike: 1:13:43 (my speedometer measured over 11 miles but could be calibrated

wrong)

T2: 1:11

2.5 mile trail run: 27:00

Total: 1 hour, 56 minutes, 20 seconds

Placement: 4th out of 9 in my age group

I was shocked that I'd placed so highly in my age group but apparently other people had a rough day in the water and I was so quick with my transitions that I was 2nd when I left for the bike though I had no idea at the time. I was very happy to finish under 2 hours as well so overall it was a great race. I was 7 mins., 16 seconds off of third place and 9 minutes, 4 seconds ahead of 5th place so as it turned out the crappy swim didn't really matter other than the horrible experience. On a good day a swim like that should take me 10 minutes so I really only lost 2:18 and I didn't have an extra 5 mins. in my legs for the bike/run anyway.

I'd definitely go back next year, the bike course is really good for me with lots of climbing but the race director was trying to get the Forest Service to increase his permit to 500 and if that happens I doubt I'll go. I'm not sure how many were there but too many more people on the course, esp. the bike, would spoil it for me. Otherwise though a great, fun race esp. for the climbers. Oh and next time I'll warm up for the swim even if it means just wading in the water for a few minutes (doh).