Appalachian Xterra Off road Tri- Indiana PA- 8-2-2015

Standing on the beach, looking out at the buoys 400 meters out, I could feel those butterflies of anticipation in my stomach. When you’re racing week after week, they tend to diminish. You never get rid of them but years of racing diminishes the excitement.

It had been 3 years (and 2 major surgeries) since my last race. I had been training but till you put yourself up against others, you’re never really sure how successful your training has been.

The gun went off, and I had decided to take the swim conservative. Start out slow, get in a rhythm, and make sure not to go anaerobic. Had the usual bumping, getting swam over, swimming into people, and had to deal with a lot of plant growth (Lake Weed that would get all over your face, tangle up your arms & legs, and generally freak you out) that was all the way out to the 300 meter marker. I finished swim not at all out of breath, but hit the beach hammer it and immediately passed 4 or 5 people on way to transition. Karen yelled as I went by that I was doing great, but I wasn’t sure if I was in a good position, or she was just trying to reassure me.

Going into transition one, looking around I could see lots of bikes still there, that was reassuring had a great transition, passing at least 3 people there.

Getting on the bike, I felt at home. I immediately picked up the pace, and started passing people going up the first gravel road climb, before the single track. Hitting the single track I continued passing people, and came up on a large group. The young guy in front of me had just caught the group, and starting yelling to ask them if he could pass. People were great and moved over, and I simply stayed on his wheel, letting him do all the yelling. After we had passed maybe 20 people, I asked him if I could get around him. He was shocked, not realizing I had caught him, and that someone would want by. We hit a tight section and I got super close so he could feel me , letting him know I was serious. He let me past, and as we rode through another tight section, he asked if that was 51 on my calf (they body mark your age on both calves so people know if you’re in their age group). I saw a big hill approaching, and yelled back – no it’s a 59. I heard him moan, and I hit the climb hard, dropping him like a bad habit. The rest of the 14 mile bike went great, I never saw another sole. It’s a tough hilly loop, with lots of super steep hills, a river crossing, lots of rocks & roots. It’s one of the toughest on the circuit.

I hit transition 2, and noticed there were very few bikes there, so felt great. The 5 mile trail run went great. Several tree’s down you had to crawl over, rocky hills, and only had one minor mishap on a section of roots a fall that cut open my hand. Heck, if you’re not bleeding, it’s not an Xterra!

I finished 7th overall, 1st in my age group (second place was 25 minutes behind) in 2 hours 23 minutes, and felt like I still had more in the tank.

A great start to the 2016 season!!

MEGAN….8TH AGE GROUP, TIME 2:12:49

JIM….What a great event! – I never thought I would qualify for National and was honored to be there – If you ever get a chance go and enjoy the event. On Saturday there were 3200 age groupers who had qualified by finishing a prior race in the top 10% of their AG in a prior USAT race. There were really good athlete in each age group that made the race highly competitive.
This year the race was in Milwaukee – really beautiful city (sorry next year it moves to Nebraska) – and for the most part the weather was cool and good for racing. The event took place at the lake front adjacent to the Art Museum. The swim took place in a harbor that it walled off from Lake Michigan – water was deep and COLD! – On Friday there was a practice swim in waters that were 62-63 degrees – the first couple hundred yards were really tough then it was not so bad – The bike course has a couple of climbs – notably up and over one of the major highway bridges in Milwaukee – the climb was long but the grad was reasonable so it was not difficult – the run course was right along the lake and was flat.
On race day there were wave deep water starts with lots of time between waves so swimmers were pretty spread out – my wave went off at 7:55, Megan’s at 8:55 and the last waves were like 9:55 so there was racing on the course all morning. I started in bright sun by the time I got 1/2 way done with the bike the sky had clouded over and the wind had picked up – never did rain but it felt like it could. The good news is the temps were low and there was no sun soak during the bike and run. The bike course was closed to traffic but the bridge was under construction so the road surface was rough in spots – The bridge is elevated well above the city street surface and the wind at the top was considerable – That said it was a good course. The run was all on pavement and flat –
Very enjoyable weekend – great to see how good (and fast) some of the lead age groupers are.

Jim

Champ Racing Round-up Twilight Tri….1st age group 1:30:02

ASHLEY…1ST AGE GROUP..TIME 1:15:43

CARLO…5TH AGE GROUP, TIME 1:13:57

6/27…GREAT ISLAND ADVENTURE TRIATHLON, LOCK HAVEN PA…5k kayak, 25k bike, 5k run….18th overall, 10th age group

OLYMPIC DISTANCE….MEGAN, 1ST OVERALL WOMEN, TIME 2:12…… PAUL L, 5TH AGE GROUP, TIME 2:22……MATT, 4TH AGE GROUP, TIME 2:30……SPRINT DISTANCE….JOHN T. 2ND AGE GROUP, TIME 1:27

RACE RECAP…..JIM,
West Branch Oly – very good race/training workout – it would be hard to have a better day for the race, even though temps were a little cold (low 50’s) at the start but the sky was clear and the sun warmed up quickly – since they had a ½ Iron and a Sprint in addition to the Olympic that I did. There were a lot of athletes out there, the ½ and sprint went out first (the start was 30 min late) but it worked out ok. The swim was 2 loops of a trapezoid and the water was flat – real good for swimming except the long 4th leg of the first loop was straight into the sun – hard to pick up the buoys – I swam well to the outside to avoid the crowed and Ashley had warned me that had to stay out of her way (the women started 5 minutes after we did) all said it was a good swim for me. The bike course is flat and fast with a few rollers to make it interesting – no real climbs – 2 loops again – I rode well – ended up passing a lot of riders – the run was a 2 loop out and back – starts with a long gentle incline that remind you that you just got off the bike – Legs were pretty tight throughout the run – just an OK run. Overall it was a good workout for me – 2nd place in the AG

1/2 Distance…..CHRIS S. 2nd age group…..4:42:27 JASON, 6th age group….5:08 MIKE, 11th age group….5:36

OLYMPIC ….. STEVE Z. 2nd age group….2:36 ASHLEY, 1st age group (qualified for nationals) 2:40 JIM D, 2nd age group….3:07

SPRINT….CARLO, 1st age group….1:12

Beach to Battleship 2014 Half Iron Distance Race Report

This wasn’t the race I had planned on. In 2012 I finished the B2B half iron distance in 4:30:14. My plan for 2014 was to finish in the low to mid 4:20’s. Unfortunately I suffered an injury in late spring that hampered my training all summer and into fall. So race morning left me with a “lets see what the day hands me” type of attitude. I had a nice swim, coming out of the water only 15″ slower than two years ago, and this was on significantly less swim training. The bike would be a challenge as riding aero really stresses the high hamstring tendon injury. 10-15 miles in I was really feeling the pain but decided to go with it and gut it out. My goal wattage was a NP of 220, I finished at a NP of 221 – spot on, I biked smart. My time was almost 3′ faster than my 2012 bike split! However, once I dismounted and headed into T2 I knew it wasn’t going to be my day. I spent A LOT of time in T2 trying in vain to roll out my hamstrings but to no avail. I actually thought about quitting in T2, the run was going to be painful! Then I realized that only 13.1 miles lay before me and the finish, and I sure as heck didn’t drive 10 hours to quit. I saw my wife at the run start, she asked how I was doing. “I am dying,” I said, “don’t expect anything fast today!” Went through the out and back and saw her again 5′ later. ” Are you doing better?” she asked. “WORSE!” was my reply. As fate would have it, my watch stopped working around mile 50 of the bike. I am usually so meticulous about my run splits, and at times it causes undo stress. Two years ago I told myself that I wasn’t going to see any mile split that started with a 7, every mile would begin with a 6. Well about four miles in I registered a 7:08 mile and started stressing. I ended up running 11 of the 13 miles that day at a sub 7 pace but I am not sure how much I enjoyed the day in 2012. Back to 2014, not having a working watch might have been a blessing. I just ran on feel and enjoyed the aid stations and scenery. It’s funny, in that respect. Two days prior my wife, good friend and I all walked along the river walk. My good friend remarked at how scenic the run course was. My reply was, “Ed, the last two years I was so dialed in, I didn’t even notice.” So today I was taking notice of the sights and not taking notice of the mile splits. As painful as the run was, every mile brought me a mile closer to the finish. It felt like I was walking, and if you had pulled alongside me on race day and asked me to guess my pace, I would have told you a time at least a min/mile slower than I was actually moving. Time was really slowing down due to the pain I was experiencing. Each and every step hurt! I felt as if people were going to go flying by but in the first four miles, but somehow nobody passed me. Well, one guy did very early but he never pulled away and I ended up passing him back. Around mile 5 a runner came by, the first to pass me, and I asked him what pace he was running. “Right around a 7:15 mile,” was his reply. Hey, that’s not so bad, I thought to myself. Near the turn around the fast runners from earlier waves were hauling ass back to the finish. Two years ago I only counted 4 or 5 athletes, today it was close to 20. Two years ago that was me flying towards the finish and a top ten finish. Today, I just hoped to get there. Around mile 10 or 11 the pain was becoming almost too much to take and I thought about walking. That thought lasted all of 5″, because I knew if I started walking, it was day over for me. I forged on, and when I made the left turn down the hill into downtown Wilmington and the river walk, I knew I had made it. Less than a half mile remained and I took in all the sights and sounds. Beach to Battleship has one of the best finishes and post race finish line parties of any long course triathlon I have ever done. As I entered the chute, I got my first look at the clock since way back in T2. If I kicked it in, I knew I would finish in under 4:40:00. As luck would have it, the final push got me in at 4:39:41, good for 25th overall out of almost 1000 athletes and first in my AG. Was it the time I had hoped for? Not even close, my run was almost 10′ slower than 2012, and the 2014 run course was easier than the 2012 course. Under much better conditions than the 2012 race, my 2014 race ended with the final stats: Swim 26:30 – official swim of 27:57 as the timing mat is a WAYYYYYS away from the swim finish. Bike split 2:25:17 and run split of 1:39:35. How fast would I have raced this year racing healthy and in almost perfect conditions? I guess I will never know! However, this much I do know – I finished my 18th half ironman under circumstances that had me wondering if I would ever finish. And that, in a nutshell, is what I will always remember about this race!