Tri for Ole Glory 2014 (Triathlons are tough, even tougher without a saddle)

Race report for Tri for Ole Glory 2014

Let me start this by saying that last year’s Tri for Ole Glory was a blast despite the torrential downpour.  Although not without hiccups, the race was lots of fun and was not one that I could justify being a spectator for this year.

This report can’t be written without the obligatory pre-race prep.  My expectation for this race was to “have fun.”  I have not ridden my mountain bike since last year’s Tri for Ole Glory, not that I don’t enjoy mountain biking.  I just can’t find the time to fit it in the schedule.  After borrowing a friend’s 29’er for last year’s race, I was not motivated to ride my 26-inch mountain bike for “fun.”  I did, again, borrow the 29’er for this year’s race.  I made it to the course late Thursday evening to do one loop, check out the two jumps and preview some of the other “gotchas” on the course from last year.  I also discovered the river rocks that were used to fill in the erosion areas on the powerline, which added a little bonus pain to the top of the hill climb.  The last lesson from my preview was that tinted glasses on this course would not be a good idea.  Although it was late in the evening, I could tell the dense canopy kept the wooded area very shaded and clear lenses would be important to prevent unplanned delays (aka crashes).

Friday was planned to be a light day of road biking to maintain my training for road triathlons.  This plan was soon subverted when I was invited to do 104 miles with a few friends, none of whom were racing Tri for Ole Glory.  I gladly accepted and proceeded to do my first century ride on Friday.  This first also included a “second,” that is my “second” dog-instigated bike crash in the last month.  Fortunately, the result was less troublesome than the first.  Minus a scratched brake lever and cracked helmet, I escaped with just a few minor scratches and a sore shoulder and was able to complete the 104 miles.  I followed this ride with a late night of Huntsville Stars baseball and fireworks to celebrate Independence Day.  Nutrition included a ballpark hamburger and water.  Please don’t try this strategy for your “A-race”.

Race day morning, I violated the rule of “superstition nutrition,” and only fueled with a banana and peanut butter toast.  After putting some lock-laces in my running shoes and getting my transition area set up, I did down a Honey Stinger waffle.  Last business was a quick team pick by Melissa Johnson with fellow Fleet Feet Tri Team members, Paul Erickson, Wendy Tyler, Donny Neal, Jess Ahrens, Dink Taylor and Tonya Hardy.

I was in wave#2 for the start and managed to get my goggles on prior to entering the water this year – improvement.  The swim was uneventful, although it was very difficult to see the first buoy due to the sun.  T1 was slow as a result of the extra gear associated with mountain biking: socks, lace-up bike shoes, gloves, and Camel-bak.

Then the fun began.  About a half mile into the mountain bike course, I felt my seat tilt to what I thought was a very steep inclined angle.  Thinking the bracket must have loosened, I continued.  The two jumps went okay, but the log just prior to the wooden bridge proved fatal to the seat post. It wasn’t the bracket that was loose. The carbon seat post had broken right at the clamp, and it fell to the trail as I crossed the log.  What to do now?  My first thought was, ‘this race is over.  How can I ride this course without a seat?  I am not a mountain biker.  This is not a good idea (unplanned colonoscopy).  Explaining this to the ER nurse would be uncomfortably comical.’  I stopped, picked up the saddle with its broken post, got back on my bike and started to carry it with me.  It’s hard enough to mountain bike without a saddle – don’t try carrying an item in your hands too.  Realizing that wasn’t an option, I threw it off the trail and went back to racing.

Conveniently pushing the ER nurse situation out of my mind [until Julio Driggs speeding up behind me was kind enough to remind me of the risk].  Seatless mountain biking does change your strategy.  And I must say, if my legs weren’t fatigued from the previous day’s mileage, they were on fire by the end of the mountain bike course.  I also discovered how important a seat is for things other than sitting.  It is also a big part of steering and maintaining a good center of gravity while mountain biking.  Although I was passed by a few bikers, I finished the two loops (sans saddle).  I hope this was due to my fatigue as a result of standing the entire course… or maybe the ballpark hamburger.

T2 was relatively quick since I “parked” my bike in the bushes next to transition.  I mean you can’t really hang it on the rack without a seat.  I switched shoes, dropped the helmet and Camel-bak, and grabbed my hat and sunglasses.

This year’s run course went around the lake and then back to the power lines for an out and back.  Powerline hill was not fun.  Legs are toast.   At least I got to hit the water station twice.  On the way back in, Gregg Gelmis, had retrieved my saddle with the broken seat post and passed it to me as I hit the pavement coming off the powerline.  I felt like I was at the Olympics’ opening ceremony, and he had just passed me the torch.  Thanks to the hill (and the seat post) I can say that I negative split the   run, even though it was a slow 5K.All of this effort resulted in 2^nd place in my age group.  I guess it does pay to be in the same age group as the Overall Male Winner, Jonathan Krichev.

Thanks to RD Dan Pline, the sponsors, and volunteers that kept this race going:  Eric Broyles, Dink Taylor, Rick Greif, Mike Gerrity, Melissa Johnson, and many more.  As always, a huge shout out to Gregg Gelmis for taking incredible race photos.  I hope this race will grow and mature, as it has great potential as a local favorite and a perfect beginner race for off-road triathlon.  

Team Rocket Tri Club has a host of quality races, so get out of your comfort zone and sign up!

Race Report by Mark Hudnall - Frantic Frog 2013

Frantic Frog Triathlon, 7 Sept 2013 

400m Swim, 24K Bike, 5K Run

This is my tenth triathlon of 2013.  I always like to mention what went on the day before a race.  It’s very rarely relevant to racing, although sometimes it can impact the race day performance.  I think it’s important to enjoy the sport and be competitive, but still enjoy the rest of your life.  Some of “us” (me included) can occasionally let our triathlon training take over our lives.  I haven’t met anyone lately who is making a living doing triathlons, and “triathlon” will not shed a tear when we are gone.  So keep it real and have fun racing. 

Rocketman 2011

Callaway Gardens 2012

On that note, my Friday night was spent watching local high school football.  Later that night the Bius Family drove up from South Mississippi to spend the weekend with us.  Great to see friends and looking forward to racing with my good friend Joel for the third year in a row.  He is the one to blame for my triathlon habit, since he talked me into doing the 10K as a relay team with him in 2011. 

A late night made race morning came early since I wanted to get a bike rack near the bike in/out.  Normal morning routine and I even shared my superstition nutrition with Joel.  Since he has been short on training time this year, I knew he could use the boost. We departed home at 0500 hours. 

As we arrived at Goosepond, it was evident that two cultures were trying to occupy the same space.  Bass fishing and triathlons…interesting mix.  Just for the record, most of the bass fishermen were there long before the triathletes began to arrive.  I enjoy bass fishing when I have the opportunity.  But I can honestly say I never got up at 3:00 a.m. to fish!  Wish I could say the same for triathlons.   

Even though we arrived at 6:00 and went straight to the bike racks, we still weren’t the first bikes to claim a space.  Packet pick was nice and simple, as always at this race.  Then I had time to set up my transition area and enjoy the time catching up with lots of folks at the race.  Got a good warm-up on the bike, but took longer than I normally do.  This resulted in no run warm-up, and I missed the team picture.  

Frantic Frog with Joel Bius 2013!!

I made it to the dock as the swimmers were lining up.  My bib number was 18, even though I think I was closer to 30^th going in the water.  No, I’m not that fast, but I had to be back in Madison to coach a soccer game that started at 11:00 so I took a “few” seconds off my estimated swim time.  Added bonus of being at the front of the line was seeing all of the fast people at the beginning of the race, instead of while they were finishing as I started my run. 

Last year, I was putting my goggles on as I jumped off the dock.  This year I was goggled up and ready.  Unfortunately, my right goggle must have been over my swim cap and filled up with water almost immediately.  I can swim with one eye, but at the turn buoy, the left goggle fogged up.  I should have emptied them and resealed, but (for some unknown reason) I didn’t.  Since I started at the front, there weren’t very many swimmers to follow in, and I couldn’t see anything but swimmers going the opposite direction.  I tried to stay towards the buoys and keep the outgoing swimmers in view.  This resulted in swimming back towards the starting dock and then angling over to the swim exit.  My gps track showed I swam 543 meters in 10:11.  Last year’s swim time was 07:41, so I’m thinking the swim might have been a little long this year.  I also compared some of the top swim times and most of them were approximately 1.5 -2 minutes longer this year. 

I made it to the shore eventually and jogged into T1.  This run felt a lot longer than it really is, but in and out.  It is a psychological boost to see all the bikes in transition as I’m headed out.  Who cares that it’s a time-trial start, I like the mental boost.

Right out of T1, Will Barnwell comes by me doing warp speed…mental boost gone.  Overall bike seemed to be a very fast course this year.  I passed a fellow age-grouper around mile three.  Since my calf sleeves cover my age, I politely let him know (as I passed him) that if he needed any motivation that we were in the same age group.  It must have worked because we proceeded to pass each other about 6 times for the remainder of the bike course.  This may have helped him, since he was 8^th in our age group and I came in 11^th, but it helped me to push harder on the bike, too.  My average bike speed was 22.3 mph compared to last year’s 21.8 mph. 

T2 was quick and my fellow age-grouper and I departed on the run at the same time. 

I introduced myself and enjoyed the first ¾ mile with Jeff Summerlin-Long.  He told me he usually runs about a 7:15 pace and I knew that I couldn’t keep that pace on the winding, rolling Frantic Frog run course.  He ended up running a 7:03 to my 7:22.  Another PR for my 5K pace in triathlons this year!  I also owe part of that time to Dink Taylor.  He started to pass me in the woods a few hundred yards short of the finish.  Yes, he started the swim way later than me, and is a fast bike and crazy fast runner, but out of principle I couldn’t let him pass me at the end.  I can say that I crossed the finish line ahead of a 6-time Alabama 50-miler state record holding runner.  He ran a 6:15 pace and finished in 1:09:20, great job Dink!!

All of this made for a great day and I still got to coach my younger daughter’s soccer game and watch my older daughter play soccer later in the afternoon.  Shout out to my pastor and friend, Andy Wulff, for completing his first road triathlon.  He beat his goal time by 4 minutes.  Great job by Doug Wright today, he also exceeded his goals for the race.  Fleet Triathlon Team took 12 of the top 50 overall places and 12 podiums.   Scottsboro Trisport Club puts on a quality race with great after party.  Looking forward to racing in the 40-44 age group here next year.  David Rawlings captured the 1st place podium this year in the 40-44 AG, and he only beat me by 9 seconds.  Maybe I won't have to ride a mountain bike in the rain to get a podium next year.

I mentioned in my last report how important it is to be fast in Transition.  Almost prophetic, since this race I was 57^th, 63^rd, and 53^rd in the respective race events.  However, due to my  transition times I ended up 39^th Overall.  Four weeks and “a taper” remaining before the Goosepond 70.3 grand finale!  

Wet Dog Triathlon Race Report by Mark Hudnall

Wet Dog Triathlon, Decatur, AL – 20 July 2013

400m Swim, 15km Bike, 5km Run. 

So, pre-race routine was an experiment in what "not to do." the night before a race.  After picking up my race packet on Friday, I went with the family to Point Mallard waterpark compliments of Alabama Pediatric Dental Associates.  We left the water park around 9:00 pm and arrived back home at 9:30.  Since I had not eaten dinner yet…pizza to the rescue.  I polished off half of a large pizza around 10:30.  Not exactly the time or the meal to expect great things from on race day. 

Race Day - Early wake up with the usual “superstition nutrition”.  Picked up a friend and arrived at transition at 5:30.  Grabbed a good spot on the bike rack, picked up my race bib, and went through all the normal set up routine.  Took a short jog and then a warm up on the bike.  Tried something a little different this time for the bike warm-up...I did three 1-minute intervals at approximately 90% RPE with 1-minute rest in between.  Made it back to transition and hurried to the start line to barely make the team picture.  I managed to snag Gregg on the way and used my "search" for him as my excuse for being a little late.  73°F and 93% Humidity, yeaaah, love this Alabama weather.  Last thought before going in the water, "Why didn’t they play the National Anthem before the race?"

SWIM – 6:43. Swim line up was a little hectic.  Kinda, sorta by race number.  IF the estimated swim times were accurate (they were not, judging by the number of "wet dogs" I had to pass) it would be nice to see the line-up order better enforced.  I had estimated a 7:29 swim so I expected to pass a few people but not every 5 strokes.  I wasn’t able to find a set of feet to follow this race and had to maneuver around a lot of other swimmers. 

T1 – Other than the slow jog from the water to the bike, transition was smooth.  I came out of the water pretty winded and jogged through the gates and into transition.  I got passed by a little kid who ran around me as I was jogging through the bike racks….youth, ha!

BIKE – 23:45/22.7mph.  The plan was to never let my speed get below 23mph on the bike.  I averaged 21.2mph at last year’s Wet Dog.  After getting my feet secure in my shoes without the shenanigans from my last race, and witnessing what was almost a nasty bike pile-up I was able to get to 23mph within the first minute.  (Please, if you are trying to get your feet in your shoes just stay to the right side of the road and keep your wheel straight.)  I kept the speed above 23mph and passed lots of disc wheels and tri-bikes (evil laugh).  As I turned back into the park, I must’ve run out of gas.  I couldn’t keep the speed up for the last mile and averaged 20mph coming back to the transition area.

T2 – No problem on the dismount, but my legs were definitely feeling the effort on the bike.  Almost collided with a volunteer who was “moseying” through transition as I tried to get to my bike rack.  Checked my Garmin and heart rate was showing 179bpm.  This is not where I want to be starting the run with the heart rate maxed out.  Shoes, hat, glasses and I’m off, wondering how I’m going to get my heart rate to settle down.

RUN – 24:18/7:52 pace.  Goal was to run a 7:40 average pace.  Started the run and immediately I knew I was going to pay for the fast bike time.  My hamstrings felt like they were tied in knots.  I had not drunk enough on the bike due to concentrating on keeping my speed up.  So now I’m dry-mouthed and feeling a little overheated.  I managed an 8:06 for mile 1.  Water station must have been prepared early, but the water wasn’t cold enough to help cool me down.  (side note: If only the sponsors would provide paper cups because it’s really hard to run and drink from a Styrofoam cup). The next mile was even worse at 8:17.  I knew I had to make up time just to stay under 8 minute miles for the run.  To make matters worse, at the turn-around point I kept going straight.  Thank goodness there was a runner behind me.  He whistled me back into consciousness telling me “Left!, Left!”.  I was completely zoned out.  Looped back and hit the water station and I must have woken up from there.  I came out of my funk and knew I had to make up time.  I turned in a 7:25 for mile 3 and sprinted through the finish line with a goofy photo op for Gregg Gelmis. 

This was my 7^th triathlon this year but the first repeat race from last season.  Good to be able to compare and see some progress.  I shaved 5:15 off of my total time and improved significantly on the bike and swim.  I was 9^th in my age group and 34^th overall with a final time of 56:38.  Hot and humid race day made the run a little more challenging than a 5K should be, despite the trail being mostly shaded.  Colder water stations with paper cups would be nice, and I need to make sure and get more liquid down during the bike.  More bike-run bricks will hopefully improve the first half of my run.  Another good show of support for Big Brothers Big Sisters.  Great race support on the course and great to see local athletes and volunteers making a difference in support of a worthy cause.  Lots of podium spots from the Fleet Feet Tri Team! 

Short plug for the CEP calf sleeves.  Foremost, all the cool triathletes wear them, just ask Rick Greif or Wes Johnson.  Psychological or physiological, I couldn't say.  If you read other reviews, you'll find the jury is still out, and maybe you should try a pair and make your own decision.  You can wear them during the swim and they don't absorb enough water to notice.  They claim to improve circulation and help prevent shin splints.  I've had problems with shin splints in the past so maybe this is an ounce of prevention (compression IS a medically accepted treatment for shin splints).  I have started wearing them this season and my run times are getting faster (and it's not because I'm training more for the run).  They do help to keep your muscles more stable which should help conserve energy, and compression helps prevent your blood from collecting in the lower extremities during longer races.  Science or pseudoscience?  Stop by Fleet Feet Huntsville and give 'em a Tri.