Motiv-8: Radio Silence - Steelman Triathlon & Perk Up Race Reports

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Radio Silence - Steelman Triathlon & Perk Up Race Reports

Alright, quick post to catch up here. Wow, summer has just flown by. Since my last post I've spent 4-6 weeks dealing with a fun staph infection. Hopefully we're all cleared up now. My riding and racing was quite sporadic, but I did manage to squeeze the Steelman OLY triathlon in. Here are some shots for the day (which was a blast by the way, my wife volunteered in the transition area and it was so cool to see her at T1 and T2)....

WARM WATER, 80 degrees and no wetsuit.

I didn't expect much, hadn't swam for 6 weeks or so since my last triathlon (Rev3 Quassy). Ended up 29:xx which I was very pleased with, probably my best effort at sighting ever...

In for a quick T1 and off to catch up to the two waves or so which started behind me and passed me in the water....

Off to what was the biggest surprise of the day.

As I mentioned above, bike time has been very limited between my "illness" and my run training for the Mad Marathon in July. My typical plan on this course is to "let the bike come to you". There's a very challenging climb out of the marina (when your HR is already pegged from swimming) and some rolling, turning terrain through the park until you make your way out to the "highway" which is two lanes with two WIDE shoulders completely closed to traffic. This year the RD adjusted the courses so the OLY cyclists would do two longer laps and the Sprint would do one shorter one. Overall a good change (now 24.8mi versus 27 mi last year), just got a little hairy at the sprint turn around.

OK, on to the surprise, once I got onto the highway I started to feel better and better, slowly picking people off and checking time gaps at the turn around. I headed into T2 and ended up turning the 2nd fastest bike split of the day.....1:04:xx and >23 mph.

Onto the run with a smile, thing maybe this is my favorite part of the race?

Blazing T2 (after I scared the crap out of the relay teams that were using my bike rack to hang around on while they waited for their cyclist) and I was off on the run. Didn't feel super strong, but kept chugging away. The run is two laps as well and it's a great mental boost for me to keep reeling people in.

The finish line is in sight......

Ahh, sweet finish.

I crossed the line at about 2:12 or so. 10K run was 36:12, good enough for the 2nd fastest run time of the day and 4th overall out of about 450 finishers in the OLY. Very satisfied with that.

Bad news was, that was the last time I would ride my bike for another 2+ weeks after a relapse of the infection... :-(

So, no running or riding for a couple of weeks (made for a fun vacation as well). BUT, I had signed up for a local first time half marathon since I knew there was no way I was trained enough to do REV3 Maine (which was probably the race I was most excited about going into this year).

It was a great race, well organized and back for their second first attempt (that make sense?) at the race. Last year Hurricaine Irene spoiled their plans, but they wouldn't give up.

I had no expectations, or no idea how my body would react after all of my down time and medication. So I took it out easy, but felt pretty good. First six miles I was running an average of 6:05 or so, but then the wheels fell off.... It was a tough course (1,100' of elevation gain), but I just had nothing and was reduced to walking on two of the hills.

Mile 12, looks like my next step is into the grave!

I contemplated stopping, walking back....but after doing the math I figured I could get back to my car faster if I just stuck it out. And I survived....2nd overall nonetheless. Time was a dismal 1:25, but I'll take it. Just don't remind me that I ran the run course at day 2 of Quassy (just as hilly) after a 1.2 swim / 56 bike in nearly the same time!