Today's Adventure

I didn't register in time for races last weekend, so was on the hunt for options over the holiday and found the Firecracker in Elma. It's a small race at Vance Creek, but looked like fun. Here's how it went.

 

I could not find much information about the race on the web, so punted and just filled the truck with my bins. With lots of space, I could figure out the details once I arrived. As usual, I spent too much time watching late night TV and ended up with only a few hours of sleep. 5 am came early, but I was up, had my breakfast and final gear check, heading out right on time at 5:45 after a quick check of the forecast. Rain was a possibility - ICK. 

 

I arrived at the park right on my schedule - 8:15 for a 10:00 start. I'd been there before, so I knew I was in the right place. Oddly, I was alone.  I double checked the directions and schedule and decided just to chill for a bit in the truck. Sure enough, others and the setup folks started to show around 8:30, and that was my first sign that this was going to be a very casual race.  I slowly started to pack gear and found other ways to kill time.

 

By 8:45, they were ready for people to start picking up packets and at least the parts of the transition area were on the ground. It was pretty clear that I had another 45 mintues to kill before anything would be ready.  I opened up the race packet and found two items - my race number and a t-shirt. That made things simple - no timing chip, no stickers, no paper propaganda to recycle. 

 

9:20 rolled around, and the bike racks were finally set up. I walked my bike over and surveyed the transition area.  There were just two racks on each side of the sidewalk, three rows, and room for no more than 60 bikes.  While I thought the race would be totally low key, it was quickly obvious that the small group had a good mix of fairly serious folks along with more casual participants.  I picked the obvious rack - more serious toys were all grouped together and bike porn was in full view.  I chatted up one of the guys next to me, trying to get some info on the course and details. He let me know the swim was very short, the TT course was flat but on chipseal, and the run would go quick too.  Looking around, it seemed that there were far too many older guys around (likely my AG) and a clear separation with folks who were using this as their first race.  If bike inventory was any indication, there were 20 or so of us racked together with dedicated TT bikes, and the rest a wide variety including bigwheels and green machines.

 

Walking around earlier, I could not quite figure out the swim course. In chatting with the guy next to me, he talked me into not bothering with a wetsuit (a first time ever - yet another experiment) and said it was insanely short. After I asked a few more questions, he claimed he had a sub-2:00 swim split the year before, and typically swam 34:00 1/2 IM. Since we swam a similar pace, I could not quite figure out how that was possible.  I trusted his judgement and hopped into the water with just my kit, and it was ok - but no cheating with the wetsuit - I'd have to actually swim this one.

 

Five minutes before the start, the swim course was still not clear to me. Then, a gal hopped into a rowboat tied to a long length of rope with foam floaters on it and headed toward the other side of the lake. It turned out that the course was out to the rowboat along the rope, then back to the beach. The boat simply held position with the other end of the rope tied to the shore. And yes, it looked really short.

 

There was a single mass start for everyone. With a minute notice, the race director had everyone in the water and the countdown started. I still didn't know how I'd to without a wetsuit.  Looking around, there were only a few of us without wetsuits, increasing my concern a bit. At the start, I pushed out as strongly as I could from the far left and quickly fell into a good rhythm. Trying to sight, the rowboat was not big enough for me to see, so I just followed the waves in front of me and tried to keep a straight line. Halfway out, I started to bump against one of the other swimmers, and we were tangled up for a bit - I suspect I was going a bit crooked and they were jammed into the rope.  Regardless, it was annoying and slowed both of us a lot until I peeled left a bit.

 

Reaching the rowboat for the turn was a bit of a mess. While there weren't too many of us, it was a sharp turn with folks nearly stopping trying to reverse direction. Heading back to the beach, sighting was just as tough - there was nothing I could see, but the group had thinned dramatically. When the beach was about 30 yards away, I thought I counted 4-5 caps ahead of me, so I was pertty happy with results, but was cut short. For some reason, my next breath sucked in an entire lungful of water and I totally crashed - coughing up the water, just trying to keep moving, and all messed up.  Others started going by, and I ended up out of the water 8th.

 

Swim: 3:46.8

 

Transitions were definitely going to be quick. I ran up to my bike and opted to take the same shortcuts as Cascades Edge - no food until on the bike, no blood sugar check, just a quick change. The run out to the bike start was literally no more than 10 feet, so the transition was easy.

 

T1: 1:13.2

 

The bike let was on the Vance Creek TT course. It was totally flat with only one turn except the turnaround. I started out and just wanted to get my heart rate back down and comfortable. The chip seal on the road was really rough, and it took the first 5 miles or so to get comfortable. I fell into a rhythm and was surprised to feel alone. Two other guys caught me and moved forward, but other than that, I could not see anyone in front or behind, so I know we were spread out a bit.

 

At mile 6, I started to get concerned that I missed a turn or didn't understand the course - it was to be 13 miles out an back, but I didn't see the leader. Just a second later, I saw him criuse back (the guy racked next to me), and then a few others after a big gap. I knew I was only 4 minutes off the front, but there was no way to make up the gap. Counting bikes, I was sitting in 10th and out of range in front or back unless there was a disaster.

 

After the turn, my heart rate started to drop, speed increased, and I maintained my spot with big gaps, feeling pretty good going into the run.

 

Bike: 37:43.5

 

Non-event, just quick.

 

T2: 0:37.0

 

The run was flat, and I wanted to hold postion as long as I could. I made it through the first mile before I started to get munched. 5 positions went by quickly, but after the first mile I started to fall into a more comfortable pace than usual. I relaxed a bit and tried to pick up the pace - successfully. Around the turn and headed back, I was in 16th. In the last mile, I lost a few more spots, but still felt pretty good.  running into the finish, I looked back and there wasn't anyone in sight other than the kids and families watching.

 

Run: 29:10.6

 

Crossing the finish line, there were no timing chips, water bottles, medals, or anything else, so it seemed a bit odd.  I bent over to catch my breath, stood up and the guy who won handed me his water bottle for a sip. I congratulated him on his win and thanked him for his advice. The feed after was fig newtons, gatorade, and cold meat sandwiches. I looked at the leader board and saw that most of the top finishers were in my age group, so I was way out of the medals despite being near the top 20 overall. Regardless, I'm pretty sure I had a PR for every event, so no complaints. It was fun.

 

Finish: 1:12:31

 

Chip seal sucks

It's MELLOW

The bike course needed a few more marshalls. The last left turn back to the park really needed traffic control - that was dangerous.

Not enough rack space

Setup should start earlier

I'll be back next year

Cascades Edge was my second race for this season. I looked forward to it with mixed feelings - I know the bike course well and figured it would be fast. Mom was in town to watch one of these crazy events for the first time - those were the postives. On the other hand, the lake is known to be absolutely frigid, and given the weather we have had, I backed out of the Oly and signed up for the Sprint instead.

 

Setup

As usual, I packed up the truck on Friday evening. It was weird to do it with mom around - I kept getting these strange looks that clearly said "what the hell is all that stuff?!?". At Issaquah, I did my first barebones experiment (no spares on the bike, dial in the blood sugar early and trust the plan), and decided to repeat for this race - accepting the risk that if anything went wrong, I was simply done. By sunset, I was ready to go, and we watch a movie before early bedtime. {The Other Boleyn Girl is pretty good on BluRay} After the movie, we talked about the morning schedule and said goodnight.

 

Sunrise

I didn't sleep very well - partially having a feeling that something was not quite right. Finally, I figured it out. My time math was wrong by an hour, so the whole schedule I gave mom was off. 4:30 rolled around and I started to get dressed and woke her up - again to another 'what the heck' look. Breakfast, dialing in the blood sugar, and a gear double-check went fine. We were on the road exactly on schedule - 5:45am we rolled.

 

Setup

We arrived at Nolte State Park right around 7am. 2 hours before the race, so easy going to get the packet, set up and chill a bit with mom. On the drive, I tried to explain how the race would work, but it was pretty clear that I made it even more confusing. On the way, we drove along the bike course and I only saw a couple spots likely to surprise - rocks on the shoulder and a few gravel spots.  We picked up my packet and then futzed by the truck to get the numbers in place and all my gear into my bag.  All the while, mom was looking around at all the funny bikes and gear and trying to make sense of it all.  We ARE kinda weird.

 

Rolling into the transition area, the usual 14 year old marked my legs.  10 feet further along, I had to pass the race marshalls and found out she did it backwards (AG and race number on the wrong leg) so she sent me back. The original numbers were crossed off in permanent marker, with replacements on the opposite legs. Now I looked like I took a bath in black ink.

 

I found my spot, set up my gear, and chatted a bit with Michael. We were coworkers for a bit and have crossed paths at quite a few races. In the same age group, he's always been ahead of me a bit, so I gave him a hard time that I would finally beat him out of the water (at least). Once set up, I had about 40 minutes to relax and hang with mom. She'd already found a picnic table and was chatting with others. With the flood, being from Iowa was a novelty to some.

 

Goals

My training has been a bit of a disaster, so my goals were pretty simple. It was also my first sprint on that course, so I did not have a baseline.  I wanted to have a strong swim, hold position on the bike, and keep under 30:00 for the run (yeah, I suck at running). Of course, feel good and have fun is even more important.

 

Swim

I put on my wetsuit, found a friend to help zip up (again to another confused look by mom), and walked down to the water 10 minutes before the start - saying bye to mom and offering some hints on where to watch. Wetsuit and cap on, I didn't expect she would be able to pick me out of the crowd after that.  The race was small enough that they had a single wave/mass start. I stepped into the water and OH YEAH it was cold - but not as terrible as I convinced myself was on the way. After a short warmup swim, I chatted with a couple other guys and lined up in the middle for the start. A couple people back and in the middle was not my preferred location, but we were spead out so far across the beach that I did not see too many options.

 

The start was the usual mosh pit of trying to find open space and getting into a rhythm. I was stuck behind on person, then squeezed between a couple others before I finally found some open space. Sighting was a bit of a challenge, and I couldn't find a good place to draft, so off I went through open water. After the first buoys, it was smooth sailing and it was just a matter of cranking through my first 1/2 mile open water swim for the summer.  Halfway to the turnaround, I look off to the left, and see these black goggles - Michael! crap. We spent the rest of the swim shoulder to shoulder and I could not get ahead.  20 yards from the finish, I put my head down and crank for the carpet. When I look up again, he's already out of the water and running ahead - never to be caught.

Swim: 15:29, 33th overall - happy with the result given a crowded start

 

Bike

T1 was uneventful after the 100 yard run there. I didn't know where I placed on the swim, but I was happy to see that nearly all the bikes were still around. As I mounted, I said 'bye' to mom and headed out. The first 3 miles were absolutely miserable. I just didn't feel good, but it's a usual thing for me. Once past the first bit, I always feel a ton better - just need to get all the blood moved to the right parts. 

 

Of course, some things started to go wrong. First and worst, I forgot to put the extender on my straw int he drink bottle. Leaning down as far as I could, I just could not reach it. DRAT. I carried a pound of drink a foot below my chin and it was out of reach.  The second error was that I forgot to hit start on my computer. It was not until I reached the turnaround that I started tracking information.  That said, the road was smooth and fast - lots of fun. 

 

As I started to feel better, I started to knock off quite a few places, but then gave up even more to guys that were not the best swimmers but crushed the bike. On the way back, the wind started to pick up from just on the right, and the new bike started to show it's value. While others were slowing down, the wind angle was just right to start pushing me ahead at over 35mph for the last two miles - that was fun! I saw mom at the finish and was off to T2.

Bike: 36:44, 56th overall

 

Run

I still suck, and rocky trails make it worse. T2 was slower than I wanted, but there were no major issues. I took an extra few seconds to get some drink that I should have had on the bike. The organizers did an awesome job of marking rocks with chalk on the trail, but there were so many that they should have just coated the whole thing. After the first 1/2 mile, the run started feeling ok, and no news.  After the first lap, I looked for mom in the park and was surprised not to see her. Around the second lap and into the finish felt pretty good, but still no mom. 

Run: 29:35, don't even ask.

 

I had my medal and water bottle and walked around for a bit to cool off - still not seeing mom. After another 10 minutes, I was a touch worried and started walking back to the truck to see if she was sitting there. As I walked to the parking lot, I needed to cross the bike finish - and there she was, still waiting with a concerned look on her face.  She didn't see me finish and totally missed the rest of the race. Me saying that I was 'done 15 minutes ago' earned another one of those looks and we chatted for a bit before packing and heading home.

 

Fun race, mom enjoyed learning about the craziness, and as always a good start to a morning. No complaints about the course or organization. It's one to do.