Friday, September 17, 2010
It is official - Ironman Wisonsin 9/11/2011
Well I have done it. I have signed up for my second Ironman triathlon. This time I am heading west to Wisconsin. This is going to be a great time. The first time IM jitters will be gone. My triathlon club (Annapolis Triathlon Club or ATC) has 20 members signed up for the race. I have a year to prepare and unlike last year when training for IM Florida, I will have plenty of training partners.
Monday, September 13, 2010
2010 Nations Triathlon - You have to love the rain!
Well after 21 days with no rain, Mother nature decided she would let the rain come down on Sunday September 12th. The weather reports called for light rain and when I woke up at 4am and it was pouring, I was a bit surprised.
I was driving down to the race with Gus Curtin and we got downtown about 5:30am and had no trouble finding parking. We walked over to transition and started to hear the announcer telling everyone to expect more rain. About 6am the rain started. It poured for about 1/2 hour and made the transition area a muddy mess. As we stood there waiting for the rain to stop it was fun to meet several racers from other parts of the country. I was also thinking to myself that I must be crazy standing here in the rain at 6am waiting to punish my body for the next 3 hours. It would have been easy to not race, especially since my training has been very spotty this summer. I have been pretty busy with work and the training has suffered. But I was there and I was going to race!
The Swim
The swim was pretty uneventful. The staging area for the swim was better organized this year with signs marking the wave times and swim cap colors. The race was delayed by 25 minutes because of the rain, so my wave started about 8:25am. Since the water temp. was 75 degrees it was a wetsuit legal race.
I entered the water and started to tread water waiting for the start. I was a bit concerned because my wrist was still sore from my fall on the bike last week. As I was treading water my wrist was starting to hurt and I thought I was in for a long day. The horn blew and we were off. I took a few strokes and tried to find a clear path to swim. As many triathletes know, sometimes the swim is like a boxing match. I was determined to find a clear path and keep away from elbows and fists. At about 100 meters my goggles started to fill with water. Not a lot of water but enough to slosh around my eyes. I decided not to stop and just kept moving forward.
The swim course had the best markers I have ever seen in a race. The course was marked every 100 meters and the markers must have been 5 feet off the water. It was great to know exactly how much further you had to go. As I made the turn at the 600 meter mark the swim course got much more crowded. I just stayed to the outside and kept a nice calm pace. My wrist was doing ok and my breathing was in check. I was actually feeling pretty good!
I made the last turn with 100 meters to go to the finish and now it was an all out slug fest. People were punching and pulling at my legs and just flat out banging. It made for an interesting finish.
I exited the water and checked my watch and I was about a minute faster than last year and felt pretty good. I then started on the loooong run to transition. It had to be 200 yds of running on the street, wet grass and then the slippery mud. I saw Tucker Hite and Jeff Jacobsen as I exited the swim and their wave hadn't even started yet. I also saw Ashley Halsey standing in a prime spot for picture taking. All in all I was pleased with my swim.
The Bike
With the rain and the warnings about standing water on the bike course, I made the decision to be a bit more conservative out on the bike. I do have to work and provide for my family and the last thing I need is to get injured. I am a big guy and when big guys fall, we fall hard. Heck, I almost broke my wrist falling in a parking lot! After all we do this for fun right?
I actually had to carry my bike out of my row because of the mud and standing water. I made the run to the bike exit and onto the bike course and I was off.
The bike course was different this year with more slow turns. The pouring rain didn't make it any easier. I do not like riding in the rain and I wasn't really paying attention to my speed. I was watching my cadence and trying to watch the road ahead. I was wearing clear lenses in my riding glasses and the water was just dripping off. I was trying to ride on the right and avoid any standing water and potholes. At about 3 miles I saw the first of probably a dozen people with flat tires. I don't know why but there were a bunch of flat tires.
The rain was coming down pretty hard for the first 15 miles. It was also pretty breezy. The worst part of riding in the rain is the spray from the other bikes around you. I just kept my head up trying to clear my glasses every few minutes. The new bike course seemed to spread the riders out more. With the weather conditions as they were, the other riders were pretty considerate. This was not my fastest bike ride but I was pleased I finished without a flat and up on two wheels. My avg. speed came to 19.2 mph. Not as fast as some of the crazy ATC crabs (Glenn, Jeff & Lise), but fast enough for me.
The Run
I am not going to write much about the run. The run for me is more like a jog. I tried to keep a nice even pace and not worry about everyone passing me (I am used to that now). The run course was also different this year and I really liked it. We ran the first two miles on the street and right around the Washington Monument. We then entered West Potomac Park for the last 4 miles. It was a pretty flat run and nicely supported.
I was wearing the new ATC bike jersey and I had more people yelling support than at any race I have done. I heard "Go Maryland" and "Go Terps" at least 20 times on the run. I didn't mind as I am a proud Terp. I think the new look was very well received.
I have been trying not to focus so much on my time in races this year and just enjoy the race. Even though my time was slower this year I enjoyed the run. Lise flew past me and so did Susan near the finish, but I was glad to see them doing so well and looking strong. As I approached the finish I saw Ashley again with his camera and I tried to smile for a picture. The crowd was great and again heard the "Go Maryland" loud and clear. I had a nice strong push to the finish.
After the finish I started looking for the ATC tent. I found the tent and saw Glenn, Gus, Kate and Steve. I immediately signed up for a massage and went to look for some food. (Unfortunately I was not able to get a massage since Glenn took so long) :)
This was my second Nations triathlon and I thought this years race was better organized even with the rain and the delay. But this is a BIG race with a lot of people. I am going to skip the race next year, but I will be back to do it again.
I was driving down to the race with Gus Curtin and we got downtown about 5:30am and had no trouble finding parking. We walked over to transition and started to hear the announcer telling everyone to expect more rain. About 6am the rain started. It poured for about 1/2 hour and made the transition area a muddy mess. As we stood there waiting for the rain to stop it was fun to meet several racers from other parts of the country. I was also thinking to myself that I must be crazy standing here in the rain at 6am waiting to punish my body for the next 3 hours. It would have been easy to not race, especially since my training has been very spotty this summer. I have been pretty busy with work and the training has suffered. But I was there and I was going to race!
The Swim
The swim was pretty uneventful. The staging area for the swim was better organized this year with signs marking the wave times and swim cap colors. The race was delayed by 25 minutes because of the rain, so my wave started about 8:25am. Since the water temp. was 75 degrees it was a wetsuit legal race.
I entered the water and started to tread water waiting for the start. I was a bit concerned because my wrist was still sore from my fall on the bike last week. As I was treading water my wrist was starting to hurt and I thought I was in for a long day. The horn blew and we were off. I took a few strokes and tried to find a clear path to swim. As many triathletes know, sometimes the swim is like a boxing match. I was determined to find a clear path and keep away from elbows and fists. At about 100 meters my goggles started to fill with water. Not a lot of water but enough to slosh around my eyes. I decided not to stop and just kept moving forward.
The swim course had the best markers I have ever seen in a race. The course was marked every 100 meters and the markers must have been 5 feet off the water. It was great to know exactly how much further you had to go. As I made the turn at the 600 meter mark the swim course got much more crowded. I just stayed to the outside and kept a nice calm pace. My wrist was doing ok and my breathing was in check. I was actually feeling pretty good!
I made the last turn with 100 meters to go to the finish and now it was an all out slug fest. People were punching and pulling at my legs and just flat out banging. It made for an interesting finish.
I exited the water and checked my watch and I was about a minute faster than last year and felt pretty good. I then started on the loooong run to transition. It had to be 200 yds of running on the street, wet grass and then the slippery mud. I saw Tucker Hite and Jeff Jacobsen as I exited the swim and their wave hadn't even started yet. I also saw Ashley Halsey standing in a prime spot for picture taking. All in all I was pleased with my swim.
The Bike
With the rain and the warnings about standing water on the bike course, I made the decision to be a bit more conservative out on the bike. I do have to work and provide for my family and the last thing I need is to get injured. I am a big guy and when big guys fall, we fall hard. Heck, I almost broke my wrist falling in a parking lot! After all we do this for fun right?
I actually had to carry my bike out of my row because of the mud and standing water. I made the run to the bike exit and onto the bike course and I was off.
The bike course was different this year with more slow turns. The pouring rain didn't make it any easier. I do not like riding in the rain and I wasn't really paying attention to my speed. I was watching my cadence and trying to watch the road ahead. I was wearing clear lenses in my riding glasses and the water was just dripping off. I was trying to ride on the right and avoid any standing water and potholes. At about 3 miles I saw the first of probably a dozen people with flat tires. I don't know why but there were a bunch of flat tires.
The rain was coming down pretty hard for the first 15 miles. It was also pretty breezy. The worst part of riding in the rain is the spray from the other bikes around you. I just kept my head up trying to clear my glasses every few minutes. The new bike course seemed to spread the riders out more. With the weather conditions as they were, the other riders were pretty considerate. This was not my fastest bike ride but I was pleased I finished without a flat and up on two wheels. My avg. speed came to 19.2 mph. Not as fast as some of the crazy ATC crabs (Glenn, Jeff & Lise), but fast enough for me.
The Run
I am not going to write much about the run. The run for me is more like a jog. I tried to keep a nice even pace and not worry about everyone passing me (I am used to that now). The run course was also different this year and I really liked it. We ran the first two miles on the street and right around the Washington Monument. We then entered West Potomac Park for the last 4 miles. It was a pretty flat run and nicely supported.
I was wearing the new ATC bike jersey and I had more people yelling support than at any race I have done. I heard "Go Maryland" and "Go Terps" at least 20 times on the run. I didn't mind as I am a proud Terp. I think the new look was very well received.
I have been trying not to focus so much on my time in races this year and just enjoy the race. Even though my time was slower this year I enjoyed the run. Lise flew past me and so did Susan near the finish, but I was glad to see them doing so well and looking strong. As I approached the finish I saw Ashley again with his camera and I tried to smile for a picture. The crowd was great and again heard the "Go Maryland" loud and clear. I had a nice strong push to the finish.
After the finish I started looking for the ATC tent. I found the tent and saw Glenn, Gus, Kate and Steve. I immediately signed up for a massage and went to look for some food. (Unfortunately I was not able to get a massage since Glenn took so long) :)
This was my second Nations triathlon and I thought this years race was better organized even with the rain and the delay. But this is a BIG race with a lot of people. I am going to skip the race next year, but I will be back to do it again.
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