Post Jemez trail run

Great day today.  We started with a fine breakfast, enjoyed coffee on the porch then headed up to the foothills for another trail run.  We managed to find information about the Santa Fe Foothills trails systems and even better we found that we could get a free map of the area!  Love having maps when running in unfamiliar territory.

Today we chose to run trails associated with the Dale Ball trail system.  From our little condo it took less than 15 minutes to arrive at the trailhead on upper canyon road (that was after stopping at the visitors center for the free map).  The terrain was mostly runable for us although there were a few spots where one or both of us walked up (or down) a section.

We started with the Nature Conservancy Interpretive trail that goes around a small pond.  A quick stop at the Audobon Center and we were back on the trails.

It was a great day for running and the foliage in the area provided for some shade along the way.  The route we took seems to be at an elevation between about 7000' and 7600' (not clear on the map).  That being said, the elevation definitely played a part in our effort.

Despite the difficulty my calf gave me on the Jemez half marathon last weekend, it felt great today.  Crazy!  Very glad there is no more trouble, but bummed it had to happen for the half.

The trails were well marked and at each intersection was a permanent copy of the map I had in my pocket.  Distances between intersections are indicated and the intersections are numbered.  Even better, the map is properly oriented so the intersection is easy to figure out which way to go for the different trails.

We saw a few mountain bikers out there.  No wonder, the trails were technical but totally rideable.  A great resource for the folks in Santa Fe.  If you come out this way, definitely pick up a map at the Santa Fe Convention and Visitors Center at 201 W. Marcy Street (not far from the plaza) and give these trails a shot.

The most difficult trail run yet

Was the Jemez Mountain Trail heavy Half.  14 miles through some very rugged but very beautiful mountains surrounding Los Alamos, New Mexico.  A number of factors lead me to the title statement, but let's start a bit further back.

Jenny and I made the choice to do this trail half marathon several months ago.  With our nephew graduating High School in Clovis (New Mexico), it seemed a great opportunity to work in a nice event and wouldn't you know it, an excellent opportunity presented itself with the Jemez Mt Trail Runs.

These runs include the heavy half, a 50km and a 50 mile run.  Neither of us are prepared for the longer distances, but we both felt we were prepared for the half.  After all, we'd just finished the Smoky Mountain Relay where my last leg was one of the harder legs on the relay (certainly not the hardest, but among the most difficult).  That last leg was 9.5 miles with about 3000' of elevation gain over about 5 miles.  Furthermore, just a couple of weeks before the Jemez, we did a little less than 11 miles with plenty of climbing at Paris Mt State Park.  Because we weren't looking to set any records at Jemez, we felt we were well prepared.

We flew into Albuquerque on Wednesday prior to the event date (event date was May 24).  Dinner with family (in Clovis) Wednesday night and in bed early to try to work out the kinks from a long day of travel.  Thursday morning we got up to do a little run just to keep the legs fresh.

In Clovis there are really no hills, but the altitude is somewhere near 5000'.  We saw this as an opportunity to begin our acclimatization.  We left direct from the hotel and within 3/4 mile I suspected I might be in a little trouble with my right calf.  My lower leg was sending me some signals that I didn't like, but I thought I'd be ok, I'd felt this same feeling before.  Unfortunately by the time we hit a mile my calf was near full lockdown.  I told Jenny about it and decided I needed to stop running.  Because she was feeling fine, she was doing laps out and back to me as I walked, then ran back towards the hotel.

I made it by mostly walking back to the hotel.  By that time my calf was VERY sore.  I did my best to stretch it out after arriving at the hotel.  I wasn't pleased.

The rest of the day Thursday and all day Friday I didn't do any running and stretched as best I could.  Friday was a lot of hanging out with family before our Nephew's graduation which started at 6pm Friday.  We didn't get out of Clovis until around 8pm.  Thankfully we have a great friend in Los Alamos who put us up for the night (we arrived at midnight) and had some nice hot coffee ready when we woke at 530am Saturday morning before the race.

DeWayne and Valeria led us over to the start line where we were greeted by the awesome volunteers at packet pickup.  All went smoothly as expected and we lined up for the start.  Both of us were equipped with 50 oz camelbak packs with three or four Gu packs each. 

We started off like many other races do, we were passing people, people were passing us.  No complaints here, it made for a nice warmup.  Downhill on the road with plenty of room to maneuver around other folks.  I was trying to get a feel for my calf and I didn't really like what I was feeling. 

I'm a natural fore-foot runner so of course my calf plays a very important part in my stride.  I could tell it was not going to cooperate with me this day.  It was still early but I could feel the soreness and I had to compensate for it in my stride.  This put me into a heel strike mode.  I've run plenty of miles using a heel strike stride but they never turn out as well for me. 

Part of my compensation was to relax into the run and forget any competitive thoughts.  While I'm not a guy who is generally looking to win any races, I am a guy who sets goals and pushes myself to meet or exceed them.  My competition is with myself.  I had to really work to put these thoughts aside.  I knew I would end up with real issues somewhere along the way if I didn't take this relaxed approach. 

Off the road and onto the trails was great.  There were a lot of people out there but all were very cordial when passing or being passed.  At times I just sat in behind a group and at others I worked my way past them.  I'm a big proponent of giving the person in front of me the opportunity to find the right place (read 'safe' place) for me to pass so I talk to them when I am ready to pass.  Others who passed me treated me with similar respect.  I like that. 

My calf was feeling well enough as we ran through some beautiful terrain and up on the lower slopes leading to Mitchell Aid Station.  Except for maybe a rare occasion when traffic caused me to have to walk for a couple of steps, I was able to run all of that terrain.  Not bad considering we come from a town whose elevation is something around 1000'.  I could feel the altitude though.  I knew it was going to play a factor in my day. 

After Mitchell AS of course the trails turns up.  It was here that the terrain combined with the altitude really could be felt.  While my calf was forcing me to run differently than my natural stride, I was able to run / walk well enough.  As with many others on the climb to Guaje Ridge I was walking the steeper parts and running when I could.  I thought it was very cool that I could look back on the trail and see Jenny coming up behind me.

At the AS at the top of Guaje Ridge, the folks were super nice.  Because I knew Jenny wasn't far behind me I decided to wait.  Of course as I waited I chatted with some of the volunteers.  THANK YOU so much to these folks who give up their day to help us out.  I hope I was able to communicate my thanks to them. 

Within a few minutes Jenny arrived at the summit.  I was glad to see her and while I could tell she was feeling the effects of the effort and the altitude, she looked to be in fine condition.  We ran for a while together, then I started to open a gap. 

Here's where my calf really started talking to me.  Normally when I am not nursing an injured calf, I can move quite quickly down a trail.  Of course I do this by bouncing from rock to rock on the ball of my feet.  My calf was having none of this so I was in short stride, heel strike mode.  Add to this the VERY narrow trail which forced me to take slightly longer strides than I would have liked and I found myself moving quite slowly down the mountian. 

It wasn't too long before I was being passed by a lot of people.  I knew that Jen wasn't too far behind so I would look back to see her occasionally.  We would run together at times where the terrain caused our paces to match and at times I would open a small gap when the terrain leveled out or the trail became wider to allow me a more natural stride length. 

We ran briefly on a fire road before turning right onto more single track.  This brought us to the top of a very beautiful canyon.  I can't find the name for this canyon, but running down through this canyon was one of the highlights of the run for me.  I was starting to feel some fatigue now and I was a little worried that my heel strike stride was causing a blister on my right foot.  Just what I needed. 

Jenny was still with me or just behind me as we ran through this canyon.  She looked like she was beginning to feel the effort as well, but as normal, she soldiered on.  We came upon the Oasis which was the last chance saloon after running past a number of signs that made me laugh.  These folks really went all out to make for a great aid station. 

Of course the route then took us up one last slap in the face of a climb.  We managed to pass a couple of folks going up this climb, then into the home stretch.  Again, some great running on some wonderful trails.  Jenny and I stuck together through this last part, although I opened a small gap before our final climb through the rocks to the finish chute. 

I waited for her at the top, and we ran through the finish chute together.  I love that we can share these events. 

In the end, I have to rate this as my most difficult trail run to date.  Combine the altitude with the elevation gain and some extremely rugged terrain with the fact I was running injured and it all adds up to a very tough day for me.  That said, I really enjoyed spending that 3 hours out on the trails in the Jemez Mountains.  Maybe next time I can do it without the injury and just battle the course.

A final note - We had it easy with the weather.  We were back at DeWayne's house, showered and having lunch by the time the skies opened up.  The folks on the 50k and 50 miler have my enduring respect for the conditions in which they had to race.  Congrats to all of you who ran in those conditions, bummed that some were not able to complete the course. 

JD's Blacksheep - 1997 Jeep Wrangler

1997 Jeep Wrangler Sport

Auto, AC, tilt wheel, 75,000 miles


I have taken the Jeep off the market so please don't contact me about selling it.  Since I had all of the specs listed, I thought I would leave it up.  

Body and interior:

. Hard Top
. . I still have the half soft cab and tonneau cover that used to be on the rig.  it’s yours if you buy

. Full Hard Doors

. Neoprene front seat covers

. rear seat and seatbelts included but not currently installed

. CB radio with external speaker

. factory center console



. Cab cover for when you have the hard top removed
. Paint is in overall good condition.



Tires and Wheels:

. 35x12.5R15 BFG Mud Terrain (all new last fall, including new spare)

. 15x10 Black wagon wheels (including spare)



Lift:

. Rubicon Express Long arm kit with one wheeling trip on rebuilt joints

. . Pro-comp 3.5" springs

. . 1" budget lift (spring spacers)

. . 1" Body lift

. Front adjustable trac bar
 - new Heim joint June 2013
. JKS quick disconnects

. 1" motor mount lift

. New Skyjacker Nitro shocks and steering damper (not yet installed as of 9/16/13 but is on the honey do list)


Engine and drivetrain:

. 4.0 L inline 6

. . Fresh valve job Jan 2007 (less than 5000 miles since)

. . New Water pump, hoses, thermostat (2007)
. . New Aluminum Radiator (2013)

. Banks header and complete exhaust system w/ new cat (replaced complete system Jan 2007)

. Champion tri-core aluminum radiator (new July 2013)

. AEM Brute force intake system with throttle body spacer

. Factory automatic transmission

. . Aftermarket transmission cooler

. . Skyjacker deep tranny pan

. NP231 transfer case

. . Aftermarket slip yoke eliminator kit

. Dana 30 (F) and 35 (R) axles

. . Detroit lockers and 4.10 gearing (Front and rear)

. . Superior axles Super 35 axle kit (rear)



Protection and recovery
:
. Toys by Troy sport cage (replaces the factory roll bar to windshield bars - connects to the firewall)
. Toys by Troy front and rear bumper with tire carrier

. Poison spyder customs rock sliders

. Skyjacker steering box skid plate

. Kilby gas tank skid

. Warn 9000# winch with remote

. . fitted with winch rope

. . will include original steel cable

. . various recovery items in recovery kit (turnbuckle, shackles, tow ropes, tree saver)

. Hi-lift 48" jack

. . Hi-lift jack base (the plastic base for soft surfaces)

Here's some photos:  http://1997wranglerforsale.shutterfly.com/pictures/8

Half way to Iron

It's done.  In the record books.  My first half ironman triathlon.  It was a great experience and at this moment, my legs are about as sore as they have ever been.  I'll sleep well tonight, probably very shortly after finishing this blog!

The event was the White Lake Half Ironman in White Lake, NC.  This course is very flat, and I was actually a bit bummed about that.  Me being the sick individual I am, I really wanted something with more hills.  Let me be absolutely honest - had there been hills on this course, I may not have been able to finish.  I went deep into the pain cave on the run, and I struggled just to finish on this flat course.

A few comments about the weekend in general:
**Hanging with some of my favorite peeps is a big part of why I even became interested in doing this event.  Some notable characters were missing from our weekend, and we truly did miss them.
**The organization by Setup Events was OUTSTANDING!!!!
**The volunteers on the course were AMAZING!!!  THANK YOU so much for your dedication.
**The spectators were also AWESOME!!!  Folks were out with water guns and hoses to spray down the competitors, others were just out there to give a cheer and words of encouragement.  These folks made it so much easier to finish the run portion of the event.
**Congratulations to everyone who finished the event.  Not just my friends who were down there, but also to all of the other competitors.  The conditions were really hard for that run so anyone who finished is a first class athlete in my book.
**Congratulations to my friends Jenny for her 4th place age group placing and Kristin for her 2nd place in her category in the Half and to RJ for his 3rd place age group placing in the sprint.  These peeps rocked it big time!

I'll put this link up here at the top - it is the 'live tracking' link from Setup Events.  My bib number was 74 (you may have to type in the number):
http://setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=live_timing&eventID=1924
Other friends who I know their numbers:
Jenny:  420
Tedd:  54
Ron:  105
Keith:  727
Justina:  148
Kristin:  711
Robin:  85
Scott:  49
Danette:  71

So, here's my perspective:

The Swim.
The swim was wetsuit legal, but I elected to NOT wear my wetsuit.  This probably cost me pretty dearly in the swim.  How much did it cost, I'll never know, but I feel sure that I was slower without it than with it.  I also found that my sighting still needs work.  In the end, my swim time was 45m2s.  Really not so bad considering I swam probably at least 100 extra meters because of my sighting.

Just after the first turn, I was struck by the lead woman from the group behind me.  She was flying!  I had a 5 minute head start, and she caught me within 600 meters or so.  AMAZING!  At the second turn, I was attacked by a pack of ravenous alpha females who must have sensed my weakness - there must have been about 10 of the light blue capped, over 34 women who passed me at that turn.  I just tried to stay out of their way.

I felt good at the end of the swim, and had a 2:41 transition to the bike.  Perhaps one of my better transitions so far, but I didn't have to remove my wetsuit.  I did spend a fair amount of time cleaning my feet and putting my socks on.  I know that would help me go faster.

The Bike:
On the bike, I went out feeling good and rocked a 22.8 mph pace for the first hour.  I was passing a lot of people and I caught up to Jenny at mile 10, Scott at mile 25 and Ron and Tedd at about mile 40.  Of course, after that first hour, I did start to slow a little, then we turned into the wind and had to fight that for about 20 miles or so.

It didn't help that my back started hurting at about the same time that we turned into the wind.  So, not only did I have to fight the wind, I had to do it from a less aerodynamic position to try and save my back.  That definitely slowed me down.  I finished with (I think) a 20.1 mph average.  The time was 2h44m29s.  I was hoping to get about 2h30m, but that was just not in the cards.

In the future, especially if I decide to continue these longer events, I'll be getting a professional fit and raising the handlebars a little to try to ease some strain from my back.  It is fine for a sprint, and maybe for olympic distance (20-30 miles - not sure exactly), but not for the half or full distances.

I was glad to see the transition area, and I had a 2:30 transition to the run.  I felt ok with that, although I made a serious rookie mistake.  I forgot my run number and left without it!

The Run:
I was about a 1/3 mile into the run when I realized I forgot my number.  I turned around briefly and asked a volunteer what I should do.  She said some people elected to go back for it.  I decided that I had my garmin, and if I didn't get an official time, at least I had my personal results.  I put it in the back of my mind and concentrated on the run.

My first mile was about 8m40s.  I was feeling ok, but I could already feel it in my legs.  More distressing, as I ran through mile 2 was my heart rate.  It was about 160 and I knew I would not be able to hold that pace for a half marathon distance.  My second mile was 9m9s and after that I slowed down.  I think the heat was really causing me some trouble, thus my high heart rate.

I grabbed an ice towel at mile 2, and stoppped in a port-a-john at about mile 3.  At first I tried to put the towel on my neck, held in by my jersey, but that really wasn't doing anything for me.  So I think it was at mile 3 that I simply laid it on my head.  What a relief that was.  I was so thankful for that ice water!

I ran for most of the first 7 miles.  I tried to stop running only at the aid stations which were placed at every mile.  I did drink water and refresh my ice towel at the stations.  I also took to scooping up some ice into my hat and putting it back on my head.  If my water cup had ice in it after the water was gone, I poured that down the back of my jersey.  I was soaked completely for almost the entire run.  My shoes were soaked!

The run course was out and back, so I was able to see my peeps after I turned around.  Jenny was just less than a mile behind me.  I figured she probably would catch me, but it would likely be very near the end of the run.  She looked good when I passed her.  Ron, Tedd, Scott, Robin, Justina, Kristin, Danette and Keith were all seemingly in good spirits when I saw them, some were walking, some were running.  I was glad to see all of them.

Miles 9-11 were the most difficult.  I struggled to keep running and I talked myself into doing 1/2 mile, then walking 1 minute.  Then, it was run 5 minutes and walk 1.  I don't know exactly what I did, but these two miles was when I was deepest in the pain cave.  Even though I knew there was 'only' a 5k left to run, I couldn't muster the mental fortitude to run the entire distance.

It was only when I crossed the 11 mile mark that I was able to summon the courage to pick it back up and run the remaining distance.  That is of course except the short walks at the aid stations to refresh my ice towel and get some water or HEED energy drink.  The last mile was tough, but it was actually a pretty decent pace - something near 10 minutes.

My overall pace on my Garmin showed 10:41/mile and the official results showed me completing the run in 2h20m25s.  About 20 minutes slower than I had hoped, but faster than I felt while I was out there.

Overall, my finish time was 5h55m5s (on 5/5 no less!).  My goal was 6 hours with a super goal of 5h30m.  I met my goal, so I am pleased with that. 

I'm in some pretty severe pain - mostly my quadriceps.  It is very difficult to navigate stairs and even slight grades.  Downhill is worse than uphill, quite surprisingly.

Will I do it again, Yes, but it will be a few days before you really start hearing the enthusiasm in that response.   

Lessons learned

My first on-road tri today. Me and a bunch of friends signed up and participated in the Downtown Columbia Tri. For many of us, it was our first 'real' triathlon. Without a doubt, all of us learned a heck of a lot!

This is actually a great course. The pool at Carolina is very nice. 10 lanes in the 50 meter pool. It made for perhaps the best introduction to a pool swim triathlon possible. Since the swim was 500 meters, you swam each lane one time. No doubling up in the lane which gave plenty of room to pass (or be passed!).

The swim was a complete eye-opener. Most of my friends agreed with me that the swim was a very hard event. It's going to take some time to get used to that. One thing that was nice was the way the race was started. One at a time, swimmers are released to do their swim. A five second gap between each swimmer. Being 172nd in the line, I had about 20 minutes to hang out before my chance to swim.

When it was my chance, I dove in and went about as hard as I could. What a fool! I did great for the first 50 meters, even passed the girl who went out in front of me. About half way down the 2nd lap, I swallowed a bunch of water and had to breast stroke for a couple strokes. By the end of lap 2, she re-passed me.

It wasn't until I was well into lap 3 that I started to settle down a little. I was too worried about going fast, and not worried enough about having good form. Had I slowed down just a little, I bet my time would have been better. My breathing was all messed up, I don't think I was using my core correctly and I'm certain I wasn't getting the appropriate amount of rotation. I was a mess.

My results showed it. I was ranked 141 out of 196 with a time of 11m58s for the swim plus about a 150m run to the transition area. The timing pad was not at the exit to the pool, it was at the entrance to the transition area. Not a problem, but it made it difficult to get an actual swim time.

However, since I was using my super cool new Garmin 910XT, I hit the lap button as I got out of the pool. It shows my actual 500m swim time as 11m23s. That means it took me about 25 seconds to jog that distance to the actual timing pad.

When I arrived at the transition, I did decide to wear socks for the ride (and thus the run as well). I didn't anticipate how tired I would be after the swim, so it took me quite a bit of time to get the socks on, and then the shoes. I lost my balance a couple of times before I started to slow down a bit and get squared away. I popped a gu packet, on with the glasses and helmet and I was heading out towards the bike course, and another timing pad to get my transition split.

Turns out that was a pretty slow transition at 1m43s. The fastest guys were doing it in around 30 seconds. Probably the average guy was doing it around 45s. Something for me to think about when I do the half ironman in May - I should just go ahead and sit down on my towel to put my socks on. Do it right away and don't waste the time.

I'm committed to putting on the socks. I don't think I can be comfortable for a 56 mile bike and a 13.1 mile run without any socks. That's why I did it today - all in training for the half iron. I probably could have been ok without socks for today, but it didn't serve the purpose of doing the transition just as if it were half iron race day.

I ran my bike out of the transition area and mounted up. The course immediately goes uphill. Not a super steep uphill, but a nice hill nonetheless. I kept it in the small chainring until I got to the top, then I kicked it into the big ring and started pushing as big a gear as I could handle.

The bike course was a great course. Three laps of 3 miles each. As a loop, of course you get to do some descending since you had that great opportunity to climb coming out of transition. I was really amazed to see people coasting down that hill. I was big ring, small cog and pushing for all I had. I was determined to gain as much as possible whenever I could push the gears.

I passed a lot of people. I think I was passed once where it actually stuck. One guy passed me just as we were getting towards the top of the climb, but I bombed past him on the downhill and never saw him again.

Of course I was riding my Javelin TT bike. For the most part, I was able to ride in the aero position. When I approached a corner at speed, I did sit up a bit and grab the bars with the brake levers. Never know when you're going to need to slow down a bit.

On my second lap, I passed Robin who was cheering us on outside the transition area. Almost as soon as I got past her, as the road started up again, I lost my chain! I had shifted into the small ring to tackle the hill, and boom, the chain falls to the inside of the crankset. I had to stop, so I lost between a half and a full minute getting the chain back in place. That includes the time for stopping and the re-acceleration in those big gears. Not the end of the world, but losing a minute on the bike cost me 10 positions in my bike leg ranking. As it was, I was ranked 40th with a time of 28m44s (the guy ranked 30th was 27:47).

Of course, I'm pleased with that result as it puts me in the top 21% of the field for the bike leg. Much better than the bottom 25% on the swim!

As I rolled back up to the transition area, I was feeling pretty good. The legs were holding up just fine. I dismounted and ran to my transition area to get ready for the run. I got out of my bike shoes and into my running shoes just fine. Removed the helmet, spun the race number from around back to around front, and headed out for the run.

I was already out of transition and headed up the road when I realized that I had forgotten my hat. While not the end of the world for a run that ended up being short of the advertised 3 miles (I clocked it at 2.75mi), I certainly don't want to forget that for the half marathon that finishes out the half ironman!

This transition was better, and the results show a time of 54s. Again, the fastest guys were doing it in 30ish seconds. Although I was better, it can use improvement. No reason to mess with my number at that point. and, DON'T FORGET YOUR HAT!!!!

As with the bike, the run heads uphill from the transition area. It was a mostly out and back course with a loop thrown in at the end before the finish. I set out on the course just trying to find my groove. At mile one, my pace was 7m58s. I was good with that, and would have been happy to have kept that pace for the entire distance.

At around mile 1, I passed my buddy Scott. He started about 40 swimmers in front of me. I didn't recognize him as I really was in a zone. Once he said something, I realized who it was and said hey. We weren't too far from the turn-around, so I got to see him again shortly. He was looking pretty good.

The next of my friends I saw was Rene. She looked like she was rocking it! Then, I saw Jen just as I started the last leg of the run, which was a loop around the block. Mile 2 was clocked at 7m32s, and the last .75 mile to the finish was clocked at 5m29s (a 7:17/mile pace). I really didn't feel like I was moving that fast! I was ranked 77th in the run. In the upper 50th percentile. Looks like there is room for improvement there.

My garmin shows a total time of 1h4m33s, while the official results show me at 1h4m31s. That puts me in 63rd out of 196 men. I'd say that is the top 30%, which is where I seem to end up in many of the larger events in which I participate.

So, what did I learn?
I need to concentrate on my form, and forget about speed for the swim. I'd probably be faster just in doing that. I'll contact a swim coach to see if I can get some help improving my technique. 1.2 miles is a hell of a long way to swim, and I need to get better. I have a little over a month.

Need to speed up the transition to the bike. Sit down immediately if I am going to wear socks. I'm certain that is where I lost all my time. I had a towel to dry my feet, but don't think that is necessary, just need one on which to wipe my feet.

DON'T FORGET MY HAT!!!!! Stupid move here. Again, not a big deal for a 2.75mile run, but I will definitely be hating it if I forget for a half marathon! Concentrate on smooth during the bike - run transition. Smooth is almost always fast.

Tune up my bike, and test ride it about a week before the event. For some reason, even though I have been riding the TT bike, I had not noticed the front derailleur contacting the big ring when I switched from small to big ring. Also, fix the damn thing so it won't drop the chain to the inside when shifting from big to small ring. I have time to mess with it, so I need to work that out.

Overall, I had a great time. My finish of 1h4m31s puts me in 9th place for my age group, and 63rd in the overall men's ranking. Nine women finished in front of me, so for the overall event, that puts me 72nd out of 271 participants.

Next up: I need to find another on-road tri. I need to get more swimming!

The Santee Off-Road Triathlon 2012. I love it when a plan comes together

Drove down from Greenville to Santee State Park on Friday evening. On the way, we encountered some gorgeous country in some perfect weather. Of course, if you were in South Carolina on Friday, you know we also encountered some AWESOME thundershowers!

A Greenville Spinners Team-mate and I were headed to Santee to compete in the Santee Off-Road Triathlon. Like the Winter Challenge, this event consists of a trail run (3 miles), a flat water paddle (3 miles) and a Mountain bike (8 miles).

This time, my team-mate and I decided to work together as a 2 person relay team. She would do the run, while I would do the paddle and mountain bike.

During the morning, as we made our preparations, I was thinking the event didn't start until 1030am. However, it actually started at 10am!! I was feeling pretty relaxed as we made our final preparations. We dropped the boat at the put-in, got the bike transition set up, then headed back to camp to get changed into our kit. We arrived back at the start / finish line at 955am!!!!

Had I known the race started at 10am, not 1030, I would have been a basket case! Thankfully, we were actually there in plenty of time to get lined up. Everything was ready and she just had to walk to the start line.

They started the race, I started my garmin. Even though she was running, I was keeping track of our overall time. After the runners were out of sight, I walked the 1/4 mile over to the boat transition. This is actually an added distance for the run, and the distance I'll have to travel from the boat to the bike.

I waited at the boat and chatted with some other folks who were also on relay teams. Interestingly enough, both of the guys I spoke with were on c0-ed teams as well. I dreaded seeing the boats they were paddling. These are real flat water racing boats. As compared to my 16.5' flat water touring boat!

I was expecting to see the leaders come through at about 20 minutes, but it was actually closer to 22 or 23 minutes when John Wellens came crusing in. He jumped in his boat and was gone with one guy right on his tail and another about 20 seconds back.

I didn't wait long before I saw my team-mate, however, there was a pretty good number of people rolling in between those first three and her. She rolled in at about 27 minutes. Not a bad pace for a 3.5 mile trail run! I didn't count (should have) the runners who came in before her, but I am VERY certain she was in the top 20, and pretty certain she was in or nearer to the top 15. We switched off the timing chip, and I jumped in my boat.

I set out trying for a solid pace that I could maintain for the 3 miles of the paddle. I was quickly catching and passing some of the paddlers that were close, and I had my sights set on those further out. By the time I reached the far buoy for the first time, I had passed most of the people I would pass while in the boat. My garmin automatically counts a lap every 1 mile, so looking back, I see that my average pace on the boat was about 10m30s per mile. Not too bad.

As I approached the near buoy at the end of lap one, I was very close to passing the last guy I would pass. After the turn, I hit it hard and got past him. There was one more guy I was trying to catch, but it would turn out that I was only able to match his pace.

As we approached the far buoy for the 2nd and final time, I felt a presence behind me. Sure enough, as I came around the buoy, there was one of the two relay guys in his racing boat right on my tail. I pushed hard to keep him at bay, but a fast boat with a decent paddler is always going to beat a slower boat with a decent paddler. He passed me about 1/3rd of the way into the last leg of the paddle.

He probably got about 30 seconds on me as we approached the landing, and I basically followed him all the way to the transition area. At the transition area, I kicked off my shoes, put on my bike shoes and started fastening them up. Unfortunately, in my left shoe was what felt like a huge boulder! I had to take the shoe off twice and shake it out to make sure the (I'm sure tiny pebble) was gone. Meanwhile, that dude is riding away from me.

As you know from my last post, I'm obviously not the strongest bike rider out there, but in fact, I am a pretty decent rider. I have the confidence perhaps of someone stronger than me, and I take advantage of that whenever I can. As I mounted my bike, and set off in chase, I felt certain I could overtake that guy. I wasn't about to lose 1st place! My team-mate had worked too hard for it!

I was actually pretty surprised at how quickly I was closing the gap with that guy. Within a half mile or so, I had caught him and passed him. I kept pushing, now in time trail mode.

Unlike the last off-road tri I did, this time I did do the proper maintenance and test ride of my bike before leaving home. I did the best I could with the rear derailleur adjustment, but I was expecting a little bit of shifting issues. Thankfully, I knew exactly what I was getting into, and I knew what I needed to do to make the shifting work.

I only had a few spots where I had to play with my shifting to push it up into the easier gear. No problem at all, and totally fine with it. That being said, it is time to do a chain replacement, cable replacement and COMPLETE cleaning of that poor bike. It has been so neglected!!

I kept pushing on the bike, essentially riding by myself. At one point, I thought I saw another rider in front of me, but I didn't seem to catch further sight of him, so I thought I would be alone to the end.

The last several miles were technical in the fact that the route was very twisty. This meant a lot of slowing and re-accelerating between turns. Thankfully, the course was quite flat, but this constant re-accelerating was tough! Plus, the roots and rocks (and pine needles) were a bit wet, thus they were quite slippery. I must have had at least a half dozen close calls as my tires nearly slid out from under me.

After taking a turn a couple miles later, I did again see a flash of white jersey. YES! there was another for me to pick off. This gave me additional motivation and I pushed hard to catch him. Again, I nearly crashed probably twice before I got close enough to call out "coming behind". I always like for the rider in front to pick the place for me to pass, so he can make sure he is ready and we have enough room. He didn't waste any time telling me I could go around.

Of course, as soon as he said that, we came upon a chicane between some trees, and I knew I couldn't pass there. He pulled aside as soon as we got past the trees, and I accelerated past.

Now, I truly was alone for the rest of the ride. I kept pushing though, because just like I came up on him, I didn't want anyone to be coming up on me.

As I took the final turn to head back to the finish line, I clicked it up a couple gears and started mashing the pedals. I was flying as I crossed the line! As I turned to watch the next rider come in, I realized that I hadn't needed to worry, I had enough gap between the next rider that there was no way he was going to catch me. In fact, it was the guy I had last passed crossing the line a couple minutes later.

According to my garmin, I crossed the line at about 1h42m. Not sure how far the leader was in front, still waiting for the official results to be posted.

We loaded up all the stuff and headed out for lunch at the Lone Star BBQ. Chris Williams is the proprietor of this restaurant and catering business, and does a great BBQ. We had a fine lunch, then we all gathered for the results.

Turns out Team Greenville Spinners Racing did in fact finish first amongst the relay teams. We were quite stoked about that! In looking back, it looks like we finished 7th in the overall results. I may not be a great bike racer, but I feel pretty good about the results we had today, and the results I had last month at the Winter Challenge. Maybe this multi-sport thing is for me.

Tomorrow (sunday) I'll compete in my first 'on-road' triathlon. This is the more traditional swim, bike, run event here in Downtown Columbia, SC.

At least I wasn't last...

Two bicycle races under my belt this weekend. I don't have the fitness and it really showed. Both races I ended up getting dropped on the very first lap.

Saturday's race was at River Falls - a great course with a rather gnarly little hill just before the finish line. The cat 4s do this 5+ mile loop 5 times.

The course starts off downhill. I was struggling almost immediately. The pace was fast from the get-go. After the first turn, of course there was a huge acceleration as I was in the back of the pack. I managed to keep in contact until we started up that hill. Dropped almost immediately.

I continued to ride the course, picking up one of my team-mates and another guy I know pretty well. We rode the course together, finishing out the 5 laps pretty far back from the main pack. Interestingly, a lot of people that get dropped don't even finish the race, they pull out and take a DNF. Well, I guess that means I wasn't last, although technically, I was scored 46th out of 47 finishers.

Sunday's race was at SCTAC (Donaldson) on Perimeter Road. I felt better about my chances of sticking with the pack for at least a lap, despite HORRIBLY windy conditions. We started off and after the first turn, the course runs through a rolling hill section before making a short climb up alongside the golf course, topping out at the golf course's club house. About half way up that climb there is a false flat.

On the very first lap, as we were coming through that false flat, I was forced off the road as riders squeezed to the right to avoid a rider moving backwards through the pack (he was getting dropped, and the stronger riders were moving to either side to get around him). I was on the grass side of the road, and did my best to stay on the road. However, it was just too tight, and to insure against crashing, I went off the road.

The grass was a little wet, the ground a little soft, but overall not too bad. I pushed to keep a good pace and not lose ground to the peloton. Unfortunately, by the time I found a safe location to get back on the road, a gap had opened.

Of course this had to be as we were turning into this horrible wind, and we are still going uphill. I tried to catch back on, but just couldn't push through that wind and up that hill. Maybe I could have overcome one, but the combination kicked my ass.

Thus, less than 1/4 lap into the race, I found myself alone with that wind. The remainder of that first lap was bad. My mind was really messing with me and it took all I had to resist the temptation to quit. It would have been really easy. That nice warm car (out of the wind, with a nice sunny day to warm it up inside) sounded really good.

I hate quitting, so I pushed on. For most of that first lap, I chased a rider I could see in front of me that had also been dropped. I caught him as we turned into the wind about 1.5 miles from the start / finish line. We tried to work together for that 1.5 miles, but the wind was so strong, you really couldn't find a draft.

So, he and I pretty much rode side by side for the rest of lap 1, and all of lap 2. He talked about quitting at the end of lap 2, but I think my decision to keep going kept him in it. We rode together for about half of lap 3, until 3m hill. He was much stronger up the hill, so he rode away from me.

At the end of the 3rd lap, with only 1 to go, I was feeling ok, but definitely slowing. As I crested the hill at the Golf course clubhouse, I bonked. I felt like I had nothing left at all. I nearly sat up, but started playing mental games with myself to at least go as hard as I could. That really wasn't very hard, but at that moment, it was hard for me.

At 3m hill, I dropped into the small chain ring and stayed there for the remainder of the lap. I had already been lapped by the Pro, 1, 2 group who started about 10 minutes ahead of us, and the Cat 3 guys started passing me as I rode past the Michelin Plant. By the time I finished the lap, I had been lapped by the entire Cat 3 field. they started 5 minutes ahead of us.

The only consolation I could take was that those Cat 3 guys weren't really moving that much faster than I as we rode into the wind between the top of 3m hill and the finish line. Definitely faster, but not by much. That's more of a statement about how bad the wind was than about how strong I was riding - I wasn't riding strong at all.

As I dropped into the dip at the end of the runway, a little over a kilometer from the finish, I realized that I couldn't just noodle into the finish line. with the wind almost at my back (but still quite a cross wind), I shifted back into my big ring and tried to give it one last push to the line. It may not have been fast, but at least I did that last push.

When I got to the line, I stopped to check with my friend Jamie, who is also an official. I asked her if I was not too late to get scored. Of course she smiled and told me I'd be scored. As I checked back to see if it was safe to roll out onto the road, I saw one final cat 4 guy cross the line. Perhaps that is the greatest consolation of all - at least I wasn't last (35th of 36).