Went down to Annapolis to cheer on a friend, ES, who signed up for the Annapolis TriRock Sprint. Waking up earlier is much easier when you're the one racing!
Aside from convincing ES that she could totally rock a tri...not sure we imparted much wisdom other than "rent a wetsuit - they're magical!" and our new race strategy: "swim, bike, run, smile!" You can find her name on our Athletic Supporter page.
Some random observations:
* TriRock provided TriTats. Pretty cool and look sharp. They seem to stick best if you accidentally put them on so that you can read them. Luckily, we were able to get them on properly, but it was touch and go for a little while. Sadly, they negate the joy that the sharpie aroma causes.
* Honey Stinger Waffles + mocha = great breakfast for a spectator! (ps-if you haven't tried the waffles, give 'em a go...much joy. And if the HSW folks happen to read this...as I plan to eat my own body weight in HSW over the next few months...please send samples!)
* People at tris need to cheer more. There's really no point standing in the drizzle silently waiting for your person to bike/run by. Just yell or cowbell or clap. The folks out there are totally busting their butts and you can afford the energy loss from cheering...trust me, you'll get more out of it than you think - esp since some folks smile back. Causing a triathlete who is sucking to smile is a *good* thing, so don't just cheer for your athlete, cheer for 'em all. More Cowbell!!!!
* Adults see limits while kids see possibilities. I talked to a bunch of folks while standing around. The kids I talked to all said it looked awesome and that they would like to do one. The adults - had either done one and were cheering someone else on or thought it was crazy and something they couldn't do. I think I'll stay a kid for a little while longer. Age, after all, is just a number you put on the back of your leg.
* If you are playing electric guitar for the National Anthem while standing in the shadow of the US Naval Academy, and your name is not Jimi Hendrix...just play it straight. Anything amazing you might be doing musically will get lost as people try to figure out what's going on. We will all cheer for your music later when you're rocking out.
* The TriRock setup was well done. The expo was solid for a sprint tri, the announcers kept things lively, transition area had designated spaces, and it seemed well organized. I have to question the bike course - a 2 loop bike course for a 12-mile route with over 800 folks still seems like a sketchy idea, but am guessing they didn't have much of a vote. The overall race atmosphere almost makes me ponder checking out their Gettysburg offering. It wasn't on the radar prior, even considering it's basically in the backyard. It may be now.
* There really is something magical about crossing that finish line - watching folks' faces light up was awesome. If you haven't gone out and watched and cheered in a while, it's a very fun experience. If you really want the full "athletic supporter" experience, then volunteer for a race. You'll feel great about it and the athletes will appreciate you being there even more.
* And ES rocked it! Yay!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Long-winded race report...but it was a long race!
The Gulf Coast Triathlon. Here’s the executive summary: We went, we conquered the ocean
swim…and then the rest of the race happened (thanks to some awesome volunteers)!
This was not an “A” race for us. As the first race of the season it was a lot to bite off to chew, but we
wanted to learn a few things, so we’ll approach our race report that way.
Lessons learned:
1. Set reasonable goals. Our primary goal for this course was to gain confidence in the ocean swim
prior to returning in November for Ironman Florida. In that regard, goal achieved. Being hard-core
land-lubbers, stepping off a beach, diving into waves and then swimming about 1/2 mile straight out
into the deep blue shark-infested waters was, uh, enough to cause shrinkage, even with relatively
warm ocean temps. However, we know that our wetsuits have magical properties that protect us.
So we did our practice swim on Friday morning without them, thinking it would give us a confidence
boost on race day. The practice swim went okay; we weren’t terribly comfortable in the water, but we
neither were we completely freaked out. And the only thing that was remotely shaped like a dorsal
fin was the buoy’s, which was both funny and not right. Dawn was in the first wave (well, after one
para-triathlete (total stud) and four pros (studly, but mortal)). Going out first was, well, a first - there
weren't a whole lot of other swim caps to chase and use to sight. On the plus side, Dawn stayed with
a group of red caps and only got passed by a few pink caps. This represents *major* progress. Dean
dove into the surf about 20 minutes later, which meant he had no choice but to “man up” since all
the ladies had preceded him. We both had solid swims, learned to sight on top of waves instead of
in the trough, and survived the creatures of the deep to make it back to land in one piece and not
terribly dizzy.
2. Soak your wetsuit in the tub and then let it dry again a few days before your first tri of the season.
While still snug, it didn’t have that “oh my gosh I must’ve gained 10 lbs or my wetsuit shrunk” feeling.
3. Acclimatization (or lack thereof) will affect performance. The spring weather in the Northeast has
been cold and rainy for almost the entire month of April, which followed on the heels of an unusually
cold March. The temps in Panama City Beach for the race started out at a nice 68 (at 6:15AM), but
then rose to a balmy 85 under a glaring sun on the no-shade run course. Yup, the heat and sun
sucked whatever bit of reserve energy we had right out of us.
4. Bonus lesson from the weather: The Florida sun is real, and will find you. We applied copious
amounts of sunscreen but still ended up missing patches of skin, so we look a bit like a two-legged
red and white cross between a zebra and a cheetah in some places. Sadly, despite looking like a zeetah or a cheebra, we ran like neither a zebra nor a cheetah.
5. An early May half-iron is probably not the best choice to kick off the tri season, from a fitness
standpoint, at least for a couple of Yanks from the north. After hibernating over the winter we went
into the race knowing that we weren't in top late-season "race shape." We had done the best we
could to maintain over the winter and build to some decent rides and runs this spring, but run fitness
coming off the bike was definitely going to be a limiter. Our longest bike ride so far was only about
38 miles - not good enough to prep for the 56 mile bike leg of the half iron. The result: a painful
half-ironman run experience.
6. Pacing strategy (fancy term for holding back a little on the bike to save some legs for the run)
is important. Dawn and I decided in advance that we wanted to get the full Florida experience of
cycling fast on pancake flat terrain (something we’ve NEVER experienced before). The biggest
elevation change on the course was a bridge overpass. Hooray for the real hills of Pennsylvania!
Somehow in our minds “flat” translated into “hammer time.” Our pace was significantly faster than
during last fall's Augusta half-iron...which should've been a huge red flag. Dawn was fired up to be on her new bike (that she built herself!) nicknamed “the honeybadger.” And Dean stubbornly
wanted to learn the lesson the hard way, by experiencing it. We’ve always heard that you should
leave something in the tank for the run, especially for longer distance tris, but we had only taken that
advice on face-value. Now we’ve experienced it and can announce to all that it’s pretty good advice.
If you hammer the bike, you WILL get soul-crushingly hammered by the run, no matter how flat the
course. Add lesson 3 above with temps about 20 degrees warmer than we’re used to, and we had
the potential to become a “DNF – Medical”. Fortunately that didn’t happen to us as we both settled
into a version of the “ironman shuffle” and survived, but it wasn’t pretty.
7. A great “sherpa” and the race volunteers can make a big difference in a race. Brandie, Shawn’s
(Dawn’s brother) newlywed bride was there at every opportunity – she got up at stupid-thirty in the
morning with us and helped with gear and morale. She was there to give us courage as we dove
into the water, and to cheer us when we came off the beach to transition. She waited while we
hammered our legs off on the ride and worried about us in the Florida heat on the run. Finally, she
gave us all a huge congrats hug at the finish line, despite our nasty-salty-sweaty-dizzy bodies. The
volunteers at GCT were also awesome...they were everywhere and they were all fired up. They
even had volunteers to hold bikes near the portapotty for an, uh, extended transition break. We
thanked them at every opportunity. Those icy sponges and cups of ice they cheerfully handed out
on the run course probably kept us out of the medical tent! After the race we met a 3d grader who
participates in "Girls on the Run" who'd done a 5k and was volunteering at the tri – very cool!
Overall, it was a great race - well organized, good course, and great volunteers. We learned some
good lessons. There were some absurd age-groupers out there (the top pro came in 7th overall...cue
RCA dog head-tilt) and there were lots of mere mortals out there. We were lucky to include
ourselves among the mere mortals who embrace our new race strategy: “swim, bike, run, smile!”
swim…and then the rest of the race happened (thanks to some awesome volunteers)!
This was not an “A” race for us. As the first race of the season it was a lot to bite off to chew, but we
wanted to learn a few things, so we’ll approach our race report that way.
Lessons learned:
1. Set reasonable goals. Our primary goal for this course was to gain confidence in the ocean swim
prior to returning in November for Ironman Florida. In that regard, goal achieved. Being hard-core
land-lubbers, stepping off a beach, diving into waves and then swimming about 1/2 mile straight out
into the deep blue shark-infested waters was, uh, enough to cause shrinkage, even with relatively
warm ocean temps. However, we know that our wetsuits have magical properties that protect us.
So we did our practice swim on Friday morning without them, thinking it would give us a confidence
boost on race day. The practice swim went okay; we weren’t terribly comfortable in the water, but we
neither were we completely freaked out. And the only thing that was remotely shaped like a dorsal
fin was the buoy’s, which was both funny and not right. Dawn was in the first wave (well, after one
para-triathlete (total stud) and four pros (studly, but mortal)). Going out first was, well, a first - there
weren't a whole lot of other swim caps to chase and use to sight. On the plus side, Dawn stayed with
a group of red caps and only got passed by a few pink caps. This represents *major* progress. Dean
dove into the surf about 20 minutes later, which meant he had no choice but to “man up” since all
the ladies had preceded him. We both had solid swims, learned to sight on top of waves instead of
in the trough, and survived the creatures of the deep to make it back to land in one piece and not
terribly dizzy.
2. Soak your wetsuit in the tub and then let it dry again a few days before your first tri of the season.
While still snug, it didn’t have that “oh my gosh I must’ve gained 10 lbs or my wetsuit shrunk” feeling.
3. Acclimatization (or lack thereof) will affect performance. The spring weather in the Northeast has
been cold and rainy for almost the entire month of April, which followed on the heels of an unusually
cold March. The temps in Panama City Beach for the race started out at a nice 68 (at 6:15AM), but
then rose to a balmy 85 under a glaring sun on the no-shade run course. Yup, the heat and sun
sucked whatever bit of reserve energy we had right out of us.
4. Bonus lesson from the weather: The Florida sun is real, and will find you. We applied copious
amounts of sunscreen but still ended up missing patches of skin, so we look a bit like a two-legged
red and white cross between a zebra and a cheetah in some places. Sadly, despite looking like a zeetah or a cheebra, we ran like neither a zebra nor a cheetah.
5. An early May half-iron is probably not the best choice to kick off the tri season, from a fitness
standpoint, at least for a couple of Yanks from the north. After hibernating over the winter we went
into the race knowing that we weren't in top late-season "race shape." We had done the best we
could to maintain over the winter and build to some decent rides and runs this spring, but run fitness
coming off the bike was definitely going to be a limiter. Our longest bike ride so far was only about
38 miles - not good enough to prep for the 56 mile bike leg of the half iron. The result: a painful
half-ironman run experience.
6. Pacing strategy (fancy term for holding back a little on the bike to save some legs for the run)
is important. Dawn and I decided in advance that we wanted to get the full Florida experience of
cycling fast on pancake flat terrain (something we’ve NEVER experienced before). The biggest
elevation change on the course was a bridge overpass. Hooray for the real hills of Pennsylvania!
Somehow in our minds “flat” translated into “hammer time.” Our pace was significantly faster than
during last fall's Augusta half-iron...which should've been a huge red flag. Dawn was fired up to be on her new bike (that she built herself!) nicknamed “the honeybadger.” And Dean stubbornly
wanted to learn the lesson the hard way, by experiencing it. We’ve always heard that you should
leave something in the tank for the run, especially for longer distance tris, but we had only taken that
advice on face-value. Now we’ve experienced it and can announce to all that it’s pretty good advice.
If you hammer the bike, you WILL get soul-crushingly hammered by the run, no matter how flat the
course. Add lesson 3 above with temps about 20 degrees warmer than we’re used to, and we had
the potential to become a “DNF – Medical”. Fortunately that didn’t happen to us as we both settled
into a version of the “ironman shuffle” and survived, but it wasn’t pretty.
7. A great “sherpa” and the race volunteers can make a big difference in a race. Brandie, Shawn’s
(Dawn’s brother) newlywed bride was there at every opportunity – she got up at stupid-thirty in the
morning with us and helped with gear and morale. She was there to give us courage as we dove
into the water, and to cheer us when we came off the beach to transition. She waited while we
hammered our legs off on the ride and worried about us in the Florida heat on the run. Finally, she
gave us all a huge congrats hug at the finish line, despite our nasty-salty-sweaty-dizzy bodies. The
volunteers at GCT were also awesome...they were everywhere and they were all fired up. They
even had volunteers to hold bikes near the portapotty for an, uh, extended transition break. We
thanked them at every opportunity. Those icy sponges and cups of ice they cheerfully handed out
on the run course probably kept us out of the medical tent! After the race we met a 3d grader who
participates in "Girls on the Run" who'd done a 5k and was volunteering at the tri – very cool!
Overall, it was a great race - well organized, good course, and great volunteers. We learned some
good lessons. There were some absurd age-groupers out there (the top pro came in 7th overall...cue
RCA dog head-tilt) and there were lots of mere mortals out there. We were lucky to include
ourselves among the mere mortals who embrace our new race strategy: “swim, bike, run, smile!”
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Mojo Poster Posted!
What to do when you've got a tri that you're woefully undertrained for?
Use our new race strategy!
The kind folks who host the Lewisburg Area Kid's Tri (part of the River Town Race Series) have a great event and awesome t-shirts. Their slogan is pretty good too...as even better is the CC&BW's daughter "chicking" a fellow competitor!
Use our new race strategy!
The kind folks who host the Lewisburg Area Kid's Tri (part of the River Town Race Series) have a great event and awesome t-shirts. Their slogan is pretty good too...as even better is the CC&BW's daughter "chicking" a fellow competitor!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Episode 7 - One week until the Gulf Coast Tri!
Yo! Sorry for slacking lately. I'd like to say that we've been busy training...but sadly that is not the case.
Here's the new video!
Enjoy!
Here's the new video!
Enjoy!
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