Race Report - 2010 Bourbon Chase

After a two year hiatus, it was time to pack up the vans, resign ourselves to no sleep for a couple days, and hit the overnight relay circuit again. This year, the destination was the Bourbon Chase, a 200 mile course crossing Kentucky from Louisville to Lexington. Our little group managed to field two 12-person teams this year, so there was a pretty good caravan on the way down from Columbus. Unfortunately, one of our runners had to drop out last minute due to work, so our team would be going with an 11 runner rotation: less sleep, and extra legs for a few runners.

Once we arrived, we went for a pre-race dinner at the old Olive Garden standby. (One disadvantage of this race vs. Reach the Beach - the neverending pasta bowl had ended. That doesn't seem quite right, does it?) After dinner, it was time to get one last good night of sleep before the long day(s) ahead.

Friday dawned clear and beautiful - a great day to start racing! The first teams started at 8:00 AM, but we wouldn't be starting until 3:00 PM. So, there was plenty of time to hit up the grocery store for in-car snacks and drinks. We even found a rubber chicken at Petsmart to join the crow on top of our van for our team, "Three Old Crows, Nine Spring Chickens". :) Meredith and I were in van 1, so we'd be running fairly early in the rotation. As the time drew near to get underway, we drove to the starting line at the Jim Beam distillery, though we declined the free samples! (Side note: we had followed the Garmin to find a Subway on the way there, and it turned out to be inside a hospital. I'm pretty sure their staff wasn't used to twelve smelly people in shorts and dry-fit in the middle of the day! Somehow we even got free cookies, which are physically impossible to turn down in the middle of a relay.) Our two teams started in a wave with two other teams, who we'd see quite often in the next 24 hours. And with the gun at 3, we were off! We all hopped in the van and began the trek. Meredith took the second leg, and a couple hours in, it was my turn to take the handoff.

My first leg, "Stairway To Heaven Hill", was a 3.9 mile run through the middle of Bardstown. It started off on a pretty narrow road on which I had to duck out of the way of the mirror on an ambulance (ironic, eh?). I was matched up against my father-in-law on this leg, and Meredith handed me about a 3 minute head start. Before the leg, I had predicted that I'd need four minutes to hold him off. I haven't done much running since Cedar Point, so my feel for pace wasn't great, and I took off pretty hard. I managed to hold it together for a couple miles, but by the time I was in town, I was hurting and had to slow it up a bit. And true to my prediction, he caught me with about 3/4 of a mile to go. And what a 3/4 of a mile it was...



I had conserved just enough legs to make a final charge at him on the last hill. Steadily the distance closed...20 steps back...15...10...then my stomach said "no mas" and I was suddenly dry heaving on the side of the road. I walked for a few seconds and then jogged it in to the next handoff at the top of the hill. Oh well. I couldn't have given more effort than I did, so no worries. I ended up with a time of 32:00, for a perfectly acceptable 8:12 pace. That's actually dead even with my 4-mile PR pace, which was on a pancake flat course. So despite the head-to-head loss, I now feel like patting myself on the back a bit. :)

As the rest of our van finished up their legs, afternoon turned to evening, and we pulled into the beautiful (seriously!) campus at the Maker's Mark distillery. Not only was the campus beautiful, their bathrooms were clean - a rare sight on one of these races! We bundled up, as the evening was getting chilly, and our final runner handed off to van 2. Soon, we realized that we were kind of in a sparsely populated area, and asked for a good place to get dinner. That turned out to be Cozy Corner, a local bar/restaurant. We even got hit up by one politician while eating, who was friendly even after he found out we weren't local. My stomach was still a little uneasy, so I just stuck with a grilled cheese. Since our van 2 only had 5 FAST runners, we didn't have much time...had to get back to the course for our second legs!

My second leg was leg 14, "Heart of Danville", and kicked off around midnight. It spanned 5.7 miles, which would officially be my longest run since Cedar Point. The profile didn't look too bad, but not too long into the run, I found myself on a hill that felt like it would never end. Not steep, just long! Even a couple runners that passed me here commented on it, so I knew it wasn't just me. Now that I look back on the profile, it's pretty obvious, so mea culpa on not being mentally ready for it. It was a beautiful night for a run, Orion's belt hung right over the horizon, and I ran steadily for it. And on this leg, I tallied my first roadkill (read: passed a runner) of the trip. She was ahead of me and moving pretty well, but I could tell I was steadily gaining, and when she stopped to tie a shoe, I made my move. Unfortunately, I was also passed by three, putting me at -3 when combined with my first leg. I liked the end of this leg, as you transitioned from dark highway to the streetlights and buildings of Danville and Centre College. I'm pretty sure the "1 Mile Left" sign was a little off here, but regardless, I came into transition just ahead of my predicted pace again. I ran the 5.7 miles in 49:49, for an 8:44 pace.

After the second running leg is always the darkest time for me in these races. There's still one to go, you're soooo tired, and you know you'll get a few hours of sleep maximum. Because of our odd team size, we weren't handing off at the "normal" spots that were set up for sleeping. We pulled into a parking lot around 3:00 AM, dragged our sleeping bags onto the grass a few feet from the car, and crashed on the ground. However, we didn't anticipate problems from our proximity to the bathrooms. "crreeeeaak....SLAM!" doesn't make for great sleep, but it was enough to heed the message that the other team was on the way at 5:30.

I sort of lucked out in that my third leg started right around 8:00, and I didn't have to wear all my reflective gear and lights. It was even warming up a bit! My third leg was leg 25, "High School Reunion". This was a 4.7 mile run, and unlike the previous leg, I was quite aware of the upcoming hills here:



They're not killers by any means, but by your third go-around, you feel them. Luckily, I wasn't the only one on my third leg. As I started out, I'd pass a runner, then get passed by another. This repeated a few times on the first hill, and at mile 1, I was plus 3 and minus 3. As we turned onto the highway that would carry us the last 3+ miles, I was passed again. Dang, back to negative numbers. But then the most wondrous thing happened...the hills were taking their toll on everyone. I passed a runner. Then another. Then one who was walking. Thanks to the open scenery and view from the hills, I could see the runners laid out ahead of me, and realized I could do some damage. I powered up the hills with a quick cadence, and stretched it out going down. Whatever I had left, I gave, and by the time we turned into the handoff, I had passed 12 runners in total! That gave me a final tally of +5 overall for the race, my best to date. I ran the final leg in 40:21, for an 8:35 pace. This was a fun leg with all the runners out there, and it was a good cap to my experience.

Now that I was done, there were still 11 legs to go. It was a pretty relaxing end to the relay, getting to just cheer on my friends, get a couple little bourbon samples, and have a good time in the nice weather. Eventually, we did wind our way into downtown Lexington, and 25 hours and 52 minutes after we started, our team crossed the finish line together. We ended up 20th out of 200 teams - unfortunately behind our other team, but still a good showing! Then, all that was left was sharing stories over pizza back at the hotel, a good night's sleep, and a return to Columbus the next day, tired but happy.

Help me out!

One of my long standing weaknesses has been my run form. I've developed my run to the point where I can do some long distances, but from the start, I've just run however my little legs carried me. And along the way, I've picked up some bad habits. So I'm calling on you, blog-land! I'll post a video of my "normal" run form, and then my concept of "good" run form. Please give me some feedback on both, and any tips to improve what I've got and make it a fast 2011!

(If the videos don't load inline, try the links)

"Normal":


"Better?":

Race Report - Rev3 Cedar Point FullRev

After IM Coeur D'Alene last year, it's been reported that I said I didn't need to do another iron distance race. I just couldn't keep myself away, though, and when the opportunity arose to train again, I signed back on for another nine months of training. At times, I kicked myself for it, but I also saw some dramatic growth in my abilities as a triathlete this year. It seemed like September was upon us before I realized it, and with September came my big race for the year!

While I loved, loved, loved CDA, it was also nice to be able to drive to Cedar Point for this year's race. I had gotten to ride a loop of the bike course a few weeks ago, and I know that everything around there is pretty flat, so I felt a little more confident going in. For those who haven't been to Columbus, it's a little easier to emulate northwest Ohio than it is to emulate northern Idaho. :)

We drove up to Cedar Point on Friday, and were able to get in one more drivethrough of the bike course before getting Meredith to her volunteer duties. I had hoped that a couple of the chip sealed roads would be a little more flat by race day, but there were still some pretty rough stretches. There are only a couple hills of any note at all on the course, so I made a mental note where they were located as well. Friday evening brought one of the best perks of this race - Cedar Point opened some of their bigger rides for the athletes and volunteers from 6-9 PM, and it was fantastic! There were really no lines at all, even for the most popular rides. After a quick trip up Top Thrill Dragster, I ran into Carole and the Team Trakkers group, and they let me tag along for a bunch of rides, which was a blast! They really have a good group of people, and a cool product to boot! Eventually (no thanks to our phone service), Meredith managed to find us after she finished volunteering, and we got to hang out until the park closed. Very hungry, we followed a local recommendation to Chet and Matt's Pizza. Highly recommend it!

On Saturday morning, we got up to walk down the beach and go for a practice swim. Now, maybe for you ocean swimmers, it might have been a reasonable day, but for those of us used to swimming in small bodies of water? It was like nothing we'd ever seen. What were those white parts at the top of the waves?! The swim course is fairly shallow, and people were just standing out in the water. Sure, the occasional person tried a few strokes, but mostly just horrified looks all around. Meredith and I did give it a shot for a bit, but it wasn't much of a swim. My fingers were firmly crossed that the weather would change by the next morning. The plan was to get our bikes and bags turned in, then plant ourselves on the couch for an afternoon of OSU-Miami football. At halftime, we went back to Chet and Matt's for some pasta (stick with the pizza, it was pretty bland), and to watch the rest of our Buckeyes finishing off the Hurricanes. There was time for a Gatorade mixing party back at the hotel room, and then it was bedtime.

Sunday morning dawned plenty early, and I concentrated on getting everything put together that still needed to be put on my bike or in my bags. Strangely, I couldn't find the two Luna bars I'd packed, so I figured I must have already stuck them in my bike bag. Got to transition, and nope, they were nowhere to be found. Well, you have to be flexible to do one of these races, right? (Not literally. Thank goodness!) I quickly revised my fueling plan - I had enough EFS shots to make it 7 hours on the bike; I just wouldn't have any leeway if I went longer. And so I mentally prepared myself to grab other nutrition if needed. The rest of setup was pretty easy - I liked the layout of transition, everything was very straightforward and accessible. And so it was time to walk to the swim start and get ready to race! Good news - the water was flat today!



I said goodbye to the family, watched the pros go out, and then got into the mass of people at the starting line. One of my favorite parts of race day is meeting new people, and I chatted with a guy next to me who was doing his first full distance race.

Then, a quick countdown, and we were off! Or...well, we were walking. Slowly. Remember the part about how shallow the beginning of the course is? Lots of people were just walking out as far as they could, and for those of us behind them, there wasn't much we could do but walk as well. Eventually, most people figured out that swimming would be faster, and decided to get the day underway. I followed suit, and stuck my face in the cool, but comfortable, water. For a mass start, this race was significantly smaller than some of the IM starts, but I didn't think it lacked anything in brutality. :) This was probably the roughest swim start I've been in - the plan was to start to the outside, but I never quite made it out there. I never took any direct hits, but there was a lot of grabbing, pulling, and being swum over. The good news is that I've become a pretty confident swimmer, and by the first turn buoy, I'd pulled away from most of the nastiness. The rest of loop one went by pretty uneventfully, save the velcro on the neck of my wetsuit folding in and scraping me. All those one-armed drills paid off, as I must have fixed it 50 times during that swim!

The swim at Rev3 is a little different than most - there are two loops, but they are actually two distinct swim areas. So, after the first loop, you run down the beach a bit before you get back in the water. My family had, unbeknownst to me, made signs for me this year out of a goofy picture we had taken in Italy a few years back, and I couldn't help but laugh at how funny they were.




The second swim loop was almost a little lonely! I've felt like I was by myself in swims before, but I knew I was swimming pretty well, and I figured the loneliness was a good sign. There were certainly plenty of people in front of me, but as another swimmer and I realized on the way back in, there were even more behind!



I did my best to catch bubbles when I could, but most of the second loop was all up to the individual swimmer. The water had gotten a little rougher, but was still fairly nice. For a change, I kept my sighting pretty good until the home stretch. For some reason, I couldn't for the life of me see the exit arch, and I was sighting off the wrong end of the crowd. Eventually, I realized my error, and swung back to the left, swimming as far in as I possibly could before standing and making my way up the beach into T1. (I got teased about this later, but hey, if you can swim in 6" of water, why not? :)) I didn't find out my swim time until later in the day, but it was a 7 minute PR, a little better than I had hoped for!



Swim: 1:16:42
Pace: 1:59/100m
Rank After Swim: 15/35 AG, 91/421 Overall



Let's be honest. From last year's blazing fourteen minute effort, there was nowhere to go but up for my T1 skills. :) I grabbed my bag from the rack, found an empty chair, and did a full change into bike jersey and shorts. After getting badly burnt in CDA, I decided a bike jersey was a better idea since it would cover up the areas that don't see as much sun. It turned out to be even a better idea than I thought, because I missed any sunscreen on the way out of transition. I think I surprised Meredith and my family at how quick I got out of there this year. The only thing I forgot was my brain as I pulled my bike from the rack and swung a leg over it in the middle of transition. Whoops. Back off the bike, running for the exit, and ready to take on the longest part of the day!



T1: 6:03

For the bike, I had made the decision to pack all my hydration with me for the day. CeraSport (the course drink) sits fine with me, but I hadn't done the training with it, and it didn't have as many calories as I was used to. I had four bottles of Gatorade Endurance on my bike to start, and another three waiting in special needs. That gave me 7 hours of bike time, after which I'd need to start grabbing CeraSport from the aid stations. I'd get my water from the course as I used up Gatorade.

The first part of the bike course goes down the peninsula of Cedar Point itself, and is a little older road with some seams and potholes. And wouldn't you know it, three miles in...

Kachunk. Whssshhhh...Thunk. I launched one of my Gatorade bottles from my rear cage at the rider behind me, who was thankfully paying attention. I had to make a split second decision whether to go back or not, and I decided to keep going. Make that 6 hours of Gatorade I had available. The good news was that these were 24 oz bottles, and I usually train with 20. I figured I could space them out a little more to extend my bike time before having to mess with my (at this point, heavily amended) plan. I was mostly alone for a little while, but then the masses caught me on the bike, and I don't think there was another point in the day when I couldn't see another athlete.

I can't lie, this bike course was not as "epic" as CDA, but that also meant it was easier to simulate for a flatlander. Other than a couple short, moderately steep, little hills this was a pretty fast, easy course on paper. The steepest of the little hills brought us up into the town of Milan around mile 23, and I was happily surprised to see my parents and brother had come out to see me there. This was early enough that I was still feeling great, but even then it's a nice boost to see people you know. And if I thought I was feeling great then, the next 15 miles had a dead on tailwind. I was cruising! (Well, for me at least) But what goes east must come back west, and turning back took us straight back into the headwind, as well as onto some rough chip seal for a lot of the winding return trip. This was the biggest mental challenge of the day for me - you never knew which turn would have you on good or bad road, into head or cross wind. The HalfRev course rejoined us at our mile 50 and stayed with us for the next seven miles or so. This was the most crowded stretch, and at one point I started wondering if I had missed a turn since I only saw bikers wearing HalfRev bibs. I did finally find another fellow FullRev athlete and confirm that I hadn't missed it. Frankly, the turn to the second loop would be hard to miss - they had signs, volunteers, and the road chalked. :)

I saw my family again at mile 60, and knew that from there on, the support would be pretty limited on the course. The drag strip section of Route 113 was still there with as much tailwind as ever, but the way back was even more of a slog. It felt like the wind was picking up during the day, and I was just about seeing single digit speeds on some of the stretches. Chip seal, false flats, and a headwind can be a deadly combination to your psyche at that point in the race; I just wanted to be done. At mile 93, we passed the loop turnoff again, and at least had the good news that we were headed home. I took stock of my time and my nutrition - I would be fine on EFS, but would run low on Gatorade. For the last stretch, I diluted down the half aero-bottle I had remaining with water, and survived on that rather than introduce something new. In retrospect, I think I had done well enough on nutrition that it didn't really hurt me. The Cedar Point sign never looked so welcome as when I saw it, but the last few miles still draaaaaagged getting back to the park. They finally came to an end though, and I was back past my cheering group and into T2 with a new best bike time (on a MUCH easier course) by 46 minutes.




Bike: 6:48
Pace: 16.44 MPH
Rank After Bike: 23/35 AG, 199/421 Overall

I've had problems with my right little toe going numb on the bike and then hurting like crazy when the blood comes back. That happened during T2, and I was limping over to the bags. I knew it would be okay in a few minutes, so I took my time doing another full change into my "Run Dave Run" shirt and running gear. Once again, I was the only one out there with my name...someday triathletes will figure out what marathoners already know - spectators love to shout your name if they know it. :)

T2: 6:45

More than anything, I was thrilled to be off the bike. My long runs have been...questionable...this summer in the heat and humidity, so I just wanted to go out and do my best. Doing a quick overview of my body, my HR and stomach were going to be the limiting factors for me, so I decided to start walking water stops early to let them settle and get in nutrition each time. I was wearing my Garmin this year, so I had a good idea of my pace, and put in an effort to keep it around 10 minute miles to start. The Garmin was a great move, because my legs kept gravitating toward paces I knew I couldn't hold long term. The nutrition plan for the run was a Gu gel every 30 minutes or so, with water/sports drink as needed at each aid station. To that, I ended up adding ice under the cap for the first loop, since it was still kind of warm for a marathon.



The run at Cedar Point is two loops, with the first loop coming almost all the way back to the finish line before heading out again. The course starts out with a scenic run across the causeway over to the Sandusky waterfront. While it was technically a "city" run for much of the course, I was surprised by how much was along Lake Erie, and presented a really picturesque backdrop. The only hill of any note at all was one little bridge on the causeway itself. For much of the first loop, I held my pace and nutrition spot on. I got lots of "RUN DAVE RUN!" from the spectators and volunteers. One volunteer in particular had (I assume) her young daughter with her, who loved yelling for me. In general, I was pretty impressed with how many people were on the run course; I had assumed it would be pretty deserted. By the time I got back toward the park at the end of the first loop, my stomach was starting to turn on me a bit. I wasn't about to lose my lunch (er...gels), but it was starting to walk that line between unease and upset. As Meredith jogged with me on the way out again, I told her my pace would probably drop in the second loop, as I didn't want to push past that line and ruin the rest of my day.



In this race, as opposed to CDA, I felt like a "mid-pack" racer. There were plenty of people going in to finish while I was heading out on my second loop, but last year I felt like everyone was finishing while I wasn't even to the finish of the first loop. And so, I never had the down feelings I did during the run of that race. For all the issues my stomach was presenting, my legs were still solidly underneath me, and I knew I was going to finish with a pretty decent time. And those gels I had planned on? Those were turning my stomach more than anything right now. I turned to that best of friends to the triathlete, flat coke. That and the occasional CeraSport and salt tab became my nutrition for the last ten miles of the run, and I think it was the right move. I did begin walking some more stretches, but felt like I was being honest with myself. Run until you're nauseous. Walk till it's under control. Repeat. This still kept me going around an 11 minute pace including water stops. And while there weren't the vast hordes of walkers from IM, I still felt like I was gradually moving up in the ranks. Then, at mile 20-something, I started seeing runners with glowsticks. And I realized that I might not finish before dark, but I was going to finish without a mandatory glowstick this year. :)

The last few miles across the causeway were beautiful. The temperature had dropped to something very close to ideal, and the sun was fading into the lake with all shades of oranges and purples, and the park was silhouetted in the midst of it all. To the end, my legs stayed with me, and I was running sub-10s as long as my stomach could take it. I was offered water at mile 26, and kindly let the volunteer know that I could probably make it from here. :) From there, it was into the park, down the chute into the crowds, and to a final chant of "RUN DAVE RUN" from the announcer and spectators, I finished my second iron distance tri.

Run: 4:46:27
Pace: 10:56/mi
Rank After Run: 19/35 AG, 171/421 Overall

Total: 13:04:45




I'm really feeling happy and content with my effort. Do I wish that I could have found 4 minutes out there and come in under 13 hours? Sure. But I sort of feel like I had the race I wanted, and I can be satisfied with it. Will I do another one? Sigh...probably. Somehow I've found that I really like these things. :) But not next year.

Maybe next year?

NO.

Next year, I plan to focus on the shorter distances. Local sprints, some Olympics, maaaaybe a half if I feel like it. But I think if I want to improve my speed, it's time to learn some technique and focus on that for a while rather than enduring another season of IM training.

And now, the most important part. Thanks to both sides of our family for coming out and spending yet another long day cheering. Thanks to my amazing coach, Elizabeth Waterstraat. Thanks to all the friends, local and remote, who I've met through this sport, and who have supported me throughout the year. Thanks to Team Trakkers for adopting me for the weekend, and for being cool people all around. And the biggest thanks as always go to my wife Meredith, who somehow got me into all this, and without whom I couldn't do it at all.

Mirror, Mirror

I think I have an evil twin.

Back in college, I wasn't the best at actually keeping in contact with my advisor. Let me rephrase that. I first met my advisor when filing for graduation. Never saw the point in talking to them as long as I was doing okay, I guess. But I was a little shocked when he asked me about all the classes I had failed, and how I had apparently made a big turnaround.

Huh?

After some further investigation, it turned out that there was another David Michael Gordon at Ohio State (go figure!), and he apparently had some issues with actually attending and participating in classes. It got ironed out, and I did graduate on time. What? Lots of people go to school for seven years!



Two David Gordons in this little group? What are the odds?

Fast forward to today. Dave has gotten married, settled down his wild ways, and is trying to refinance his house. But wait! There's a lien on the house. Seems that I've forgotten to pay tens of thousands of dollars in federal and state taxes. Again, I think it will be cleared up since I've never lived in the address where they were field, and I've never even heard of the company who filed one of them. Has evil Dave surfaced again? Will his antics follow me my whole life? If you ever see this man, TURN HIM IN!



Evil Dave (Artist's Rendering)

And bonus points for anyone who gets the title reference. :)

Race Report - JCC Independence Day Triathlon

Okay, first off - I know I still owe an IM Kansas 70.3 report. It wasn't quite what I had wished for, so I've put it off, and now I've gone and done another race. And this one I am excited about, so you get it first. :)

When coach told me the July 4 weekend would be a good one to find a race, I was excited to find out that not only was there a race in Columbus that day, it was right in our backyard! This was the inaugural year for this race, which always carries some risks, but the lure of a race that starts four miles from our house was plenty to get me to sign up. This would be the first sprint tri I'd done in two years, so I had a few nerves the night before. What if I don't remember how to push hard in a race? What if all I have in me is long slow distance?

On race morning, we were able to get up at a leisurely 5:45. (Though it ended up being 5:35 when Meredith asked if I had an alarm set. And then 5:40 when our dog started barking. Fine, I'm up.) I got my stuff gathered, ate a couple quick pieces of toast, and we were off for the LOOONG eight minute drive to transition. The race field was limited to 250 due to parking, so it was a fairly small transition area, and I lucked out with a rack near one of the exits. Since I decided I would swim in my tri jersey, there wasn't too much to set up. Helmet, glasses, shoes and socks, plus a hat for the run. There were no bibs, and I didn't need any nutrition other than my aerobottle. Kind of a far cry from the hyper-organization I'm used to lately on race day!

Once set up, we moseyed down to the pool to get in a little warm-up and test how the tri jersey felt in the water. I got in a quick 100 yards, felt good in the jersey, and so Meredith and I just grabbed a lounge chair, chilled out while everyone finished up in transition, and chatted with some other athletes. For one, this was his first triathlon! It was a nice race for a first timer, I think - pretty laid back vibe to the day. This race had a long run between the pool and T1 that crossed some questionable terrain, so I took a cue from what some others were doing and stashed a pair of shoes to grab on my way out of the pool.

While we lined up, I got to chat with Colleen and husband Tom, as well as new friend Rebecca. The swim was seeded by your own estimate of a 300y swim, and we all happened to be in the same range, so we just lined up together. Better to have a friend run into you in the pool than a stranger, right? :) While the seeding worked well for the most part, we did notice a pack of three swimmers who started among the first 20 athletes or so doing the breaststroke 100 yards in. Not sure what happened there? Regardless, it soon was my turn, and I took a running jump into my swim.

I realized before the swim that it would be difficult to pass people, since it was a serpentine swim with people going both directions in the same lane. So, I decided to swim at a comfortably snappy pace, but not to overdo it, since I would just get in a traffic jam. This worked really well - I caught the guy in front of me around 150 yards in, and drafted off him the rest of the way. We passed one guy standing at the wall, and near the end of the swim I turned on the afterburners briefly to pass another swimmer who got mixed in there somehow. I came out of the water with my watch at 5:07. That's a 1:51/100m pace, which is pretty slow for me over that distance, but with the format, I'm not sure I could have done much better. It also paid off because I came out of the water at a run, not feeling out of breath at all. Next year, maybe I'll seed myself a little higher. The mat wasn't until the entrance to T1, so the official swim time is a lot longer.

Swim: 6:41 (5:07 in water, 1:51/100m pace)

T1 was pretty efficient for me, and I got in and out in a hurry. I thought about going sockless to save a few more seconds, but ended up opting for the socks.

T1: 0:58

The bike course for this race was almost exclusively on roads we ride ALL.THE.TIME in training. For me, I took this as a benefit - I knew the gearing, I knew the corners, I knew which roads were false flats or slight descents. And I rode HARD! The ride started out down a gravel driveway. This was a little scary, with a lot of "Please don't flat!" and "Please don't wipe out!" thoughts going through my head. However, I made it through fine, and was soon out on the roads. The fact that I started fairly early in the time trial start made me a little resigned to getting passed by a ton of people on the bike, but other than jockeying back and forth with one other rider early, this really didn't happen. I started picking off some of the earlier swimmers, and every time I looked back at a corner, there wasn't anyone back there. This was very different for me! I kept the hammer down (at least as far as my hammer goes), and just rode. The inevitable pass from Tom happened about halfway through the course. (Seriously inevitable, he was on the team that won Race Across America, I'm just glad I could hold him off this long!) But that was the last time I'd get passed. Maybe the only time? I can't remember for sure. Part of that was the time trial format, of course, but it felt very different to be toward the front of a race for once. I could get used to that feeling... :) The only other blip in the bike race came when a car turned right in front of me, but he was also right in front of a policeman, who chewed him out pretty well as I rode on. One more safe trip across the gravel, and I was back into transition with what I knew was a speedy time. What I didn't realize at the time was that I broke a 20 mph average for the first time in a race, and that somehow I managed the third best bike split in my age group!

Bike: 33:59 (21.18 mph)

T2 was blazing fast - shoes off, helmet and glasses off, shoes and hat on, GO!

T2: 0:28

My stomach was bothering me a little on the bike, so I was nervous to see where it would go on the run. Didn't end up being an issue. My legs were also pretty tight as I started out on the run. After exiting the park, you go down maybe a quarter mile hill, and then immediately back up. I had to slow my pace a little bit here, as my legs really hadn't loosened up from the bike yet. Once up the hill, I tried to get into a good rhythm - never felt super fast, but just kept on trucking. I did get passed by a few runners, but they were going at speeds I couldn't possibly hang with at the time, so I stayed at my own pace. It was starting to get a little hot by this time, so at mile 2 I dumped some water over my head to cool off. (heard later that someone accidentally did the same with a glass of Heed, hehe!) As we got back toward the park, we had to do the hill one more time, but I think I came up with a little more speed this time, and then it was just a sprint down the entry road and into the finish line! I feel like I ran fairly well here - just on the edge of what I could do. There maaay have been one more gear that was left unused at the end, but I still give myself an A- on the run. This ended up being a PR for me in a 5K triathlon run by about 30 seconds.

Run: 25:56 (8:20/mile)

I was holding out a bit of hope that I might place in my age group here, but I ended up in 6th place out of 16. Speedy people in that 30-34 group! What I was excited about, though, was placing 23rd overall out of 241. Top 10% for the first time! I think I can take a lot of positives out of this race - I have more speed than ever before on the bike and run, I possibly ran my best race to date mentally, and just had a lot of fun doing it!

Now, the real push for Cedar Point begins! First iron distance swim is this week, as well as the first 6+ hour bike ride. Just over two months to go...yikes!

Race Report - Rev3 Knoxville Olympic Triathlon

Let's just start off by saying kudos to Knoxville for being a great site for a race. It's a nice little city that's completely walkable with plenty of fun local places to eat and see. For Meredith and I, that's exactly how we love to do races - settle in and don't move the car unless we have to.

We arrived on Friday night, and basically just had time to check in and make it up to the restaurant area of town before everything closed down around 9:00. A little early, but still better than most of Columbus' downtown restaurants! We found a little cafe called Trio, and the food was good enough that we'd return the next morning for breakfast. There was also an art show/community gathering going on in the park outside, with lots of hula hooping, dreadlocks, dancing, and the like.

Saturday morning, Meredith had some team obligations for Team Trakkers, so we headed down to the expo/finish area and met up with her team. I met lots of people there, and not knowing names coming into it, I failed big time at remembering them all! Sorry... However, everyone seems really nice and really fast! And thank you Carol for my shiny new Trakkers visor for doing the hard work of hanging around during the photo shoot. :) I was joking with Meredith later that someone should have taken MY picture - while the age group team all lined up on stage, I was lined up on the side with Richie Cunningham, Michael Lovato, and Dede Griesbauer. If you're scoring at home, the four of us hold a combined FOUR Ironman titles AND a top 20 overall finish in the 2009 Last Chance For Boston 10K!

After the shoot and some breakfast, Meredith and I scampered down to the river with fellow ELFlete Rachelle to get in a practice swim.



My "Andre the Giant" Look



Mid-swim picture break!

The water was warmer than expected, but just about as murky as expected. We swam down a couple buoys and back, and realized the only way out of the water was to press yourself up and out onto a floating dock. Not a huge issue, but might be difficult after a hard swim. We figured they would have a ramp, or ladder, or something on race day. After the swim, Meredith got to man the Trakkers booth while I went back to the room and got our bikes packed up and ready to check in to transition. One more trip down to the river, and we were finally all done for the day. Somewhere in all that, I also managed to acquire a decent sunburn. Oops. I was never outside for an extended amount of time, but it all must have added up. We did dinner at Altruda's, a nice local Italian place that was out away from the race atmosphere. Lasagna, ravioli, and some garlic rolls to die for...yum!

Race morning came later than most, since we were only a couple blocks from transition and we didn't have to be out of there until 7:40. The previous morning, we had picked up some homemade bread at a local farmer's market, so we ate some chunks of that (yeah, forgot the plastic silverware), honey, and bananas. Setup was quick and painless, if a little chilly, and before we knew it, we were lined up to hop in the water.

The swim start was an in-water start, a first for me. We all jumped off the landing, treaded water for a couple minutes, and then swam off into the morning sun. The course went upriver for maybe the first 250 meters, then did a u-turn and came straight back down. That first stretch between the start and the turnaround was definitely the roughest swim I've been in so far. No particular hard hits, but I felt like I didn't have much room - always right in between two people, and sometimes getting squeezed out. I felt like I was swimming hard, though, and holding on to a pack from my wave. The good news was that I sighted this course probably better than any other to date. I never felt off line whatsoever, and when I climbed out (nope, no ramp or ladder), my watch verified it. 22 minutes and change! My goal coming in had been to break 30 minutes. Yeah, I guess I did that.

Swim: 23:05 (1:32/100m) (PR)

As I jogged up toward transition, I fumbled for my wetsuit zipper and couldn't quite get it. No problem, I'll just get it once I get up there. But even then...stuck fast. I thought I might be the only one out on the bike course in a wetsuit, but finally another athlete came by and was willing to help me out. So, a slower T1 than I would have liked.

T1: 3:55

I got out on the bike and really didn't feel too hot to start. I might have swum just a little out of my league, and now I was feeling it. Apparently, so was my speedometer, because it didn't start working until about mile 10. I just went on perceived effort and my cadence, which was working. This course was WAY hillier than anything I've ridden. CDA and Maysville had hills that probably outdid anything in Knoxville, but they also had some flat parts. This was pretty much nonstop up or down, and the down was usually twisty. I never really got my bike legs and my mind both in the same place at the same time, and ended up biking a little slower than intended. I kept a high cadence because my legs didn't feel like pushing hard, but couldn't make up the lost speed purely through cadence. I never had a problem getting up any of the hills; I just didn't do it quickly. By the time I rolled back into T2, I was more than ready to do some running. The course was about a mile long, we think, so my time was a little high, but it still wouldn't have been a bike PR.

Bike: 1:29:15 (16.7 mph official, 17.3 mph real)

I had three things to remember in T2. Hat. Race Number. Gel Flask. I remembered two, and my nutrition wasn't one of them. But hey, it was a pretty fast T2 at least!

T2: 1:44

As I started on the run, I realized that I had forgotten my gel and was already overdue for some calories. I also realized that my legs were kind of fried, so I took the good advice of my coach and held back for the first mile. At mile 1, I was running under a 9 minute pace, and I asked the volunteers for "anything except water!" They handed me a cup of Cerasport, which wasn't altogether bad - I've certainly had worse. It tasted kind of like sweet tea, but in looking at their site, that's not a flavor, and I can't figure out what I drank. So Cerasport, maybe your flavoring is a little off. :) Anyhow, I finally had some calories, and my legs started settling into a decent rhythm. At mile 2, I grabbed a Gu, downed it, and was back on track nutritionally.

I was expecting the turnaround around mile 2, but apparently, the course had changed last minute. At an aid station near mile 3, I stopped to ask a volunteer if I was still on course, but she didn't really understand me.

Me: "What mile am I at?"
Her: "3"
Me: "Where is the turnaround?"
Her: *blank stare*
Me: "Am I past the turnaround?"
Her: "3?"

So, somewhere in there, our communication broke down just a bit. It turned out that the turnaround was pretty much just around the corner out of sight, and soon I was headed for home. A few minutes later, I saw Meredith flying down the course, and started doing the math in my head to see if she was going to catch my time. I knew it would be close! I knew I would also be close to a PR time, but as my watch climbed past 9 minutes on mile 5, I figured I would just fall short. However, once it then climbed past 10...11...I knew I had just not seen the last mile marker. As we passed transition, a volunteer let us know that we had half a mile to go, and I realized I still had a chance! I used whatever energy I had left to power up the last hill, into the park, and across the finish line with a big run PR. My goal pace was 8:30s - didn't quite hit that, but still snuck into my goal range for the run of 50-55 minutes.

Run: 54:50 (8:49/mile)

Overall: 2:51:50 (21/31 AG, 165/372 Overall)

In the end, it was good enough for a new overall PR, and I knew it when I hit the line! In all, it was an amazing swim for me, a "meh" bike, and a pretty solid run. I think on a flat course, I would likely give back a little swim time, but I could easily make that back on the bike. (And subtract a few minutes for that extra bike mile) I'm pretty happy with the way everything went. Rev3 has a few glitches to work out, and there were some city construction issues that weren't under their control and impacted the course, but I think Knoxville has a LOT of potential as a destination race. I'd certainly consider going back.



Post-race, we got to catch up with friends old and new about the race, and then refueled with gelato, pizza, and margaritas! (Yes, in that order) It was great to hear all the stories of success and perseverance from the day, and a nice way to cap off a good weekend.

Fitness Is Feeling Great!

I was always pretty good in school. Maybe not always the hardest worker, but I did just fine on my grades. But every year, there was one test that I dreaded.



(Please, SOMEONE else tell me they remember that commercial?)

The Presidential Physical Fitness Test. My old nemesis. Sit-ups. Shuttle Run. Sit and reach. Mile run. Pull ups.

What am I gonna do?

The other day, I was thinking about it again. Okay, technically that song was running through my head.

Now's the time to ex-er-cise!

That got me wondering...does that test still exist? And could I pass it now?

And it turns out that it DOES still exist! And I found the qualifying standards. Unfortunately, they only go up to a 17 year old standard, so I guess that's what I'll have to qualify as. There's also an adult program that's more of a "get active" thing. I'm signing up for that too.

Favorite activities? Let's look at the list. Definitely "Marching". Ooh, "Nintendo Wii"! And we'll round it out with "Trap/Skeet Shooting" and "Billiards". No? Okay, SwimBikeRun it is. I have 0 points out of 40,000 for my bronze award! We can choose activities from "My Favorites", "The Great Outdoors", "Entire List", or "Adult Favorites". I'm a little scared to click on the last one. So, I have filled out 3 days so far, and I'm up to 2154 points. At that pace, I'll reach 40k in two months. Bronze award, you will be mine!

It's fun to treat your body right!

But the real challenge will be passing the 17-year-old standards for the coveted Presidential Physical Fitness Award that has eluded me since fourth grade.



Now you're looking great!

Seriously, can you deny that face? Come on.

Here's the standards I'll have to meet:

Curl-ups: 55 in one minute
Is that a newfangled word for sit-ups? (Research says "yes"). I think I can do this one. There's also a "partial curl-ups" option that's more like slow crunches.
Shuttle Run: 8.7 seconds
Not a big strength, but seems doable.
Sit & Reach: 41 cm
Uh-oh, this one could be trouble.
One Mile Run: 6:06
Attainable, I think. It would be a PR, but I've never really tried.
Pull-ups: 13
My real nemesis. I couldn't do ANY in 4th grade. Or probably now. There's also an option to do 53 pushups instead.

If I remember right, these weren't all on the same day, but during the same week. So that will be my goal. Pass each part of the test within a one week timeframe, and this will be mine:



So there it is, Mr. Reagan. I'll pass your test yet and make you proud.

And to end this post in true 80's style, let's all high five as the camera freezes and the credits roll!

Marching Onward

March was a good month. No, not because my decimated bracket still somehow has a chance at 2nd place in our pool. There's no prize anyway! But March was a good month for plans and for progress!

First off, I am now OFFICIALLY signed up for the Rev3 Knoxville Olympic race on May 9th. This will be my third Olympic tri, after Sufferfest '08 and Impromptu '09. This isn't my big target race for the season, but I think a PR might still be a strong possibility. The course will be a little tougher than either oly I've done, but I think I'll be coming into it with better fitness than either prior olympic tri. And that elusive sub-30 swim is still lurking out there...

Next! I got to retest my running fitness last week. I'm pretty happy here. My last run test was in January, and I'm not sure what was up with myself, but it was terrible. Stomach felt bad, heart rate was out of control high, and my pace was all over the place. This time? My mile paces were a whopping 0:02 apart, my HR recovered like it should, and my pace was almost a minute faster per mile! Now, I don't think I ACTUALLY improved that much in two months; I think a lot of it was a bad day during the first test. But it was nice to see my feelings about the January test validated along with the work I've put it. The best part was comparing it to last year's test, which was about the same length of time before IMCDA as this year's test is before Rev3 Cedar Point. I've cut 0:13 off per mile! And that's legit pace gain - same track, similar HR, and all.

I also got to retest my swimming. While this one wasn't as big an improvement as the run test, it still showed some growth. It seems like every time I do a swim test, I tell myself not to go out too hard. I then proceed to go out too hard, and am dying by the end of the test. This time, I reeeealy told myself to hold back, and actually did. Over the whole test, my pace per hundred only varied by 2 seconds! I managed to tie my swim test PR, but I think this one was a stronger effort overall since I didn't have one super-fast (for me) 100m artificially making my average look better.

And finally, in the biking world, spring has finally sprung in the midwest, and I got to do a 2:45 ride in the great outdoors. It's funny how much your race calendar affects your training - this time last year I was busy doing 10 5 (Really? Only 5? Seemed like more) hours on coach's computrainer. Meredith came along for half the ride, and boy did she pick the wrong half. We fought our way through a deceptively strong headwind toward home, and when I rode back to the car, I reaped the benefits. Mentally, I've sort of had a block with 20 mph on the bike. I figure if I'm cracking 20, I'm probably working too hard and I back off. With the aid of a tailwind to get me started, I just decided to see how long I could hold it on this ride, and began to realize that my bike fitness might just be improved over last year. Funny how that works, huh? I'm excited to see if that can translate into some good bike splits. This weekend is supposed to be super-nice in Columbus, so I'm looking forward to a good day, and cracking 3 hours for the first time this year.

So, it's on to April... One month till the outdoor race season kicks in, and I can't wait!

Grady Indoor Triathlon Pics

Wave 1 on our bikes.



Don't I look like I'm having fun? Bonus points for the hair - maybe next time I'll wear my helmet.

Race Report - GRIT And Bear It Indoor Triathlon

Hooray, it's race season! Meredith and I headed up to Delaware EARLY Saturday morning for the first race of the year. We had a wake up time of 5:00 AM, hopped on the road, and rolled into Ohio Wesleyan's campus in plenty of time. We even got a scenic tour of campus, as I read the map wrong and we ended up on the wrong side. Little did we know that we drove right by it. Oops!

This race was a 15 minute swim, 15 minute bike, and 15 minute run format. At the end, your paces for each were extrapolated to a 750y/20K/5K sprint tri format. We got our bikes turned in, our swim suits on, and we were ready to get 2010 underway! Meredith and I were in wave 1, so we got on over to the pool. Maybe it's just our gym, but we're used to some pretty cool water and the OWU pool was nowhere near as cold. Nice surprise on a 14 degree morning. We got in a few warm-up laps and discussed the possibility of drafting since we were in adjacent lanes and we swim a similar speed. And then I almost missed the start since I forgot there's no "Set" in swimming, just "Swimmers take your marks...Go!".

I kicked off at a good pace and almost immediately dropped Meredith, who was being a little more conservative. Oops, guess we should have discussed our pacing strategies too. My stroke felt smooth and strong, and I kept pushing at a "comfortably hard" pace. For some reason, I completely forgot to count laps, so I had no idea where I was in the swim. At some point, I decided to start, thinking there couldn't possibly be time for more than 10 more laps. And there wasn't. I came to the wall, saw Meredith standing up, and realized we were done! I ended up doing 975 yards in 15 minutes, which would be a 1:40/100m pace. For reference, this was exactly the pace I did in last year's indoor tri, but for a 15 minute swim instead of 10 minutes. Very excited by this, I had in my mind that I would be thrilled with 950. It turned out that I finished second in my age group in the swim, and 8/69 overall.

Swim: 975 yards (1:40/100m)

I stopped off at my locker for a quick gel and change, and it was out to the fieldhouse for the bike leg. One thing I really liked about this indoor tri was the chance to ride your own bike! We had a few seconds to warm up here, and I quickly realized that the resistance was a lot higher than what I was used to at home. As we started our ride, I settled in around 18-19 MPH depending on the gear. I played around with gearing a little, but eventually just held a pace for the first half of the ride. Halfway through, I decided to crank up the gearing and held it around 21 MPH. And every minute or two from there out, I increased my speed until I was going around 23 at the end. In retrospect, I might have been able to go a little harder, but compared to the competition here, a few tenths of a MPH wouldn't have made much difference - nobody that finished above me overall averaged under 24 MPH! I ended up 10/16 in my age group on the bike.

Bike: 5.1 miles (20.4 MPH)

After getting off the bikes, I remember commenting to Meredith that my legs didn't feel great. (I know, what else is new coming off the bike?) We had a 5 minute transition, and the 5 people in our wave toed the start line of the indoor track. (Another nice thing about this indoor tri - no treadmills!) Within the first 200m, it was obvious that I'd be running by myself: Meredith and another guy were about a quarter lap ahead, and the other two were well back. Once again, I settled into "comfortably hard", and since I'm not used to running a 200m track, I didn't bother trying to do pacing math, I just ran.

Soo...maybe I should "just run" more often? When we finished up and I sprinted the last few meters to eke out my last half lap, I had done 15.5 laps, or 3100 meters. That was good for a 7:47/mile pace. Um, when was the last time I ran that fast in a race? My 5K PR pace is a 7:42. Interesting. Hopefully that bodes well for the coming year.

Run: 3100m (7:47/mile)

Total: 1:13:05 Predicted Time

I won my wave, but as the day went on my position slid down to 6/16 in my age group, 10/29 men, and 10/69 overall. That's right, I would have been first overall woman. Probably the first time I can say that, actually. :) I would have loved to have placed in my age group, but this year brought some tougher competition than the results we saw from last year. That's fine, though! I was thrilled with my swim, surprised by my run, and have some work cut out for me on the bike. Bring on 2010!