Quartermax Triathlon

I have officially entered the triathlon world. It wasn't long ago that I greatly admired those that did them, but feared I was too weak of a swimmer to ever tackle one myself. A few swim lessons and several hours at the pool later and I found myself shivering on a beach in a pair of spandex waiting to hit the lake and start the long course of the Innsbrook Ultramax ... what had I gotten myself into?!!!

The starting gun went off with a blast and all the men hit the water - the once smooth water was instantly transformed into a churning mess of bodies and splashing water. I hung towards the back of the pack with a plan to relax on this portion of the event as it was mentally very intimidating for me - this was the first day I had ever even put on a swim cap! Initially, I settled into the swim pretty well, I was calm, the strokes were coming easy, and I actually liked the fact the the cap kept water from getting in my ears. About 150 yards out, the nerves found their way back and the next thing I knew I was choking on a mouthful of water, looking for an escape route and life preserver, while also contemplating how big of a loser I would be if I didn't finish this. I really did not want to be "that guy" that was being towed back in with a big orange life vest around my neck - not exactly the type of photo I would like to post here. All these images and thoughts raced through my mind in just a matter of seconds as one of the race officials heard me coughing and called out asking if I needed help. She paddled her canoe over to me and said if I needed a break I could grab hold for a moment without breaking any rules. I took her up on the offer and used the time to clear my throat and regain my composure. Once I started swimming again, all was fine. Despite my troubles, I was still ahead of a few guys (very few, but I wasn't last!) and just took the rest of the swim slow and easy. It was not physically fatiguing, but my little panic attack was mentally very taxing. I was thrilled to hit the beach again and transition to the bike.

As I ran into the transition area, probably 2/3 or better of the bikes were already gone, reaffirming that my swim time sucked if I had had notions otherwise. I didn't care though, I was still just happy to be alive. My transition time was pretty (very) slow too, I fumbled trying to put socks on my wet feet, and just generally jacked around much longer than an experienced triathlete would. Soon enough I was off and riding. I'm relatively new to cycling too, and this was my first event on a bike, but I felt much more comfortable on the pavement than the water. The short course race started 20 minutes before ours, and we shared the first portion of the bike route. Although it was primarily other newbies, it was encouraging to be passing people again. That said, I got passed a few times myself, but felt pretty "average" amongst all the competitors on the bike despite how green I was to the sport. About 1/2 way through the 28 mile route, a real sense of "I'm actually doing this!" came over me and I was thrilled to be out there having a great time.

Before I knew it, I was back at the transition area ready to run. Again, my transition time was very slow, but I was ready to run. I knew this would be my strongest leg, but was mildly nervous about my IT Band syndrome rearing up. The 6 mile run course was 95% gravel road and extremely hilly. The race description said it was "challenging", but wow, I didn't really expect this may hills. I was happy to see them though, because I was used to this stuff from trail running and assumed most of the others probably weren't, at least that's what I hoped. I was running around 7:30 miles through the elevations and passing people left and right. I was having an especially good time recognizing people that had passed me on the bike as I now passed them. With only a mile to go on the home stretch and still feeling strong, it felt like someone stabbed me in knee with a dagger. The IT Band had reared it's ugly head and literally stopped me in my tracks with no warning. I stretched as best I could and started hobbling in the final mile. I half skipped, half ran, half hopped the final mile as the pain came and went. Finally, the finish was in site and I was crossing the finish line.

Mendy had finished the short course and was there waiting for me. It was her second tri and she had done a really good job. We ran into some other folks and new friends from the Liberty area at the finish festivities and enjoyed meeting and talking to them. Ultramax did a great job organizing the event and we had a great time. I can't wait to do it again.

Berryman Trail 50 Mile

It's been several weeks since this event, but I guess a post is better late than never.

Our weekend started with a huge downpour, flash flooding the streets and making it difficult to navigate through town to pick up our two oldest kids from school...a great way to start a weekend of camping and running. Mendy's parents had gone down the day before with our youngest son to get a good campsite and get things set up. I was thankful that they had, because it was well after dark when we finally arrived at the Berryman campgrounds, and the last thing I wanted to do was set up a camp for my entire family. If awards were given out for the best campsite preparations, they definitely would have won (it was slight overkill, but that's a whole different story). I slept on a blow up mattress in the back of our van that slowly deflated as the night went on and the rain continued to pour until the wee hours of the morning, so I was exactly well rested come morning...not that I would have slept much anyways.

As with any trail race, the start was a very modest "get ready, set, GO!" and we all started lumbering off. The marathoners had a slightly more ambitious pace than the 50 milers, but nobody was starting with blazing speed - there were plenty of miles ahead of us. I settled in with a group of 4 or 5 other guys for the first 10 miles or so and was feeling great, and then out of nowhere my knee started hurting, bad. There was an aid station coming in a few miles where I knew Mendy with be with my gear which had a knee strap in it. I figured if I could get there, all would be good and the pain would go away soon. Unfortunately that was not the case, the strap was in my stuff, but it didn't help.

With almost 40 miles yet to go, I knew this was going to be a long day. I slowed my pace considerably and decided to just enjoy the experience rather than worrying about a good time. Mendy was faithfully there at each of the stations she was able to travel to, sometimes with the kids, sometimes without. I enjoyed having her out there and spent a little more time than normal at the stations giving the leg a little break. The last few miles seemed to drag on forever. Eventually I hit the last aid station and knew I had just over 2 miles to go until the finish with the 11 hour mark looming. I was way over my original time goals, but decided it would be nice to stay in the 10 hour range, so I decided to put the knee aside and just try and finish strong. Somehow I managed to run those last couple miles faster than any of the prior individual miles and finish under 11. I was glad to be done.

Unlike shorter distances where I push hard the whole time and then don't have much of an appetite afterward, I was starving. We hung out for a few minutes so I could eat a hot dog and relax, and then we were off to my parents house farm for the rest of the weekend.

Aside from the knee, which ended up being IT Band syndrome which is still bothering me now, I loved the race and the distance. The trail itself was pretty much all single track, which just enough rolling elevation to make it interesting without any really crazy climbs. There was a couple of creek crossings to get wet in, and a lot of mud from the prior rains. Aid stations were every 3-5 miles and well supplied with all the typical stuff. Good race that I look forward to doing again and redeeming my time.