September 2006 Archives

[FYI: An aquathon is a swim followed directly by a run.]

This was the last of the series, but my first. A new thing for this summer, I hoped to do more, but these always seemed to fall on weeks directly prior to races, or I was out of town. Like all races this year, I was undertrained. The only thing I had going for me was my run fitness, up a bit because of my Chicago Half-Marathon training. My swimming; not so much. The race was laid back. Just walk up and set your stuff down. I got body-marked (number 6!) and went on a short warm up jog, and then got my wetsuit on and eaves-dropped on some conversations. There were quite a few people there that had just finished Ironman Wisconsin and hadn't run since. Some might call them crazy, I call these people die-hards.

Swim
The water was a bit chilly but calm. I paddled around a bit and called myself warmed up. Then things were delayed waiting for a few folks. A couple of quick announcements and the gun went off. I take off running to the water to the right of the counter-clockwise triangle course with the lead group. That was all I could hope for. But I veer constantly. I don't seem to be able to hold a straight line without a big black row of tiles under me. I swim like I'm drunk. I finally settle in and try to find a groove. I'm next two a guy I recognize from the Nat and we're stroke for stroke behind two leaders, one of which is on a relay "for fun." But I can't seem to find a groove. My stroke never lengths and I can't seem to stop sprinting. I guess I'm doing this one all out. I continue on my wayward path veering this way and that and finish strong, fourth out of the water.

Run
I struggled to get my socks on over my wet, sandy feet, then grabbed my shirt and headed out on the run. By the first turn, I lost my swimming partner. Unfamiliar with the course, I thought I missed a turn but it turned out I was okay. My run started out really short and choppy, but lengthened as I got warmed up. I got passed a few times, but held of a couple of people, too. That actually felt good. I did get passed by the first female, but that was right at the end and she won the entire series, so I wasn't too upset about it. I hoped my time would've reflected the hard effort, but the intervals the night before left nothing in the tanks.

Overall, a nice time with some really nice people. I hope to compete more in next year's series.

Swim (1000m): 11:05 (4th OA)
Run: (5K): 23:30 7:23 pace (21st OA)
Total: 35:23, (8th OA, 7th AG)

In the pool, I can always tell when my body clicks into gear and I go from getting back into shape to actually working out. It's a bit of a euphoric feeling, not quite a high, but enough to keep the motivation high. Every pull feels stronger than the previous and your speed increases without much additional effort. It usually happens in the middle of a harder set, after a series of consistent efforts across several days.

I'm happy to say that my run clicked last night. Finally, in my second year of running, I feel like I broke through. I ran 4.89 miles in 0:40:40, for an 8:19 pace. That's all you say? I agree, that's not fast by a wide margin, and I've run faster for about the same distance but for a simple Tuesday run it's outstanding. I've talked about breaking through before, but here's the real reason it was so good: my average heartrate for the entire run was 145. I can honestly say that I've never run that far as fast with as little effort.

I can point to a couple of reasons why this occurred. First, it was a cool night: 50°F and overcast. Although it was a touch windy, these are perfect running conditions. Second, I just finished a sprint race Sunday. Just as in swimming, the workout following a hard effort kicks the body into a higher gear. I've realized that my running fitness has gotten better, but it's been a long, slow process. I can only hope this type of fitness holds for another week and a half, where I hope to go 1:45 (ave. 8 min/mi) in the Chicago Half Marathon.

The Devil's Challenge is part of the Wisconsin Triathlon Series. It's held in Devil's Lake State Park, Wisconsin's most popular state park. Scenic and historic, it's a great setting for a triathlon. The weather forecast called for mid 70s and thundershowers. The radar supported the forecast as we left for the race site at 5:30AM. And the rain we drove through confirmed that maybe these weather forecasters might deserve their paycheck after the previous week's Ironman Wiscosnin forecast debacle. However, the rain stopped before we got the park and held off for the race. The sun even pushed its way through to make it quite a nice day.

Pre Race
Getting to the park and setting up my transition was a snap. I met up with some friends and even saw another that was just back in town. After a nice warm up run and some potty breaks, it was time to make our way to the water. Devil's Lake is rectangular, and we were swimming on the north shore. That allowed the strong morning wind to blow across the entire lake and make it nice and choppy, what every triathlon swim needs.

Swim
In these local races, I'm usually within the top 5 swim overall, so I positioned myself at the front and waited for the horn. I take off sprinting, and dive in and start swimming when I can. Now, touching other swimmers in a race isn't a new thing but, I actually bumped into another race as he ran next to me. The lake never really gets too deep. In fact, you can walk the entire course, which many people in the novice waves did.

I made it though the waves, missing strokes every so often as some got swallowed up. I made the final turn to the shore and immediately met the bottom. I couldn't stroke anymore and I found it hard to run in with the wetsuit on, so I did some dolphin dives until it was shallow enough to run in. I finished 1:30 faster than the rest of my wave and had the fastest time overall by two seconds.

Bike
The bike course was hilly. As predicted, the first two miles could ruin your entire race. You immediately climb a long slow steady hill, quite the hindrance in sprint race. I spun as best I could ("Spin to win, baby!"), thinking it may not have been such a good idea not to have ridden my bike for the entire month of August. Much like the Ironman course, there is no level grade; you're either climbing or descending. Lots of the roads were still wet from the morning rain and if you went too fast and ran over a leaf, you were asking for trouble. It was most frustrating just before the entrance back to the park. There's a steep, short climb before the main gate, and then you descend near hair-pin curves to the finish. I made it through safe and sound, and ran across the soggy ground to T2.

Run
In and out (I always feel like I miss something) and on to the run. I took it slow and easy to start out; short strides to keep the turnover high. As my legs loosened up, I could feel myself moving faster and gaining some steam. I actually passed some people, which never happens to me on the run. As we made our way to the heart of the run in the campground, I could smell fresh fire being built for breakfast, an odd smell during a race. Most campers were in a daze, wondering who the hell all these people running through their sites were. Nobody really cheered, not even when I tried to goad them into it. Oh well, I was still having fun. I made the last turn and got passed by two guys, one from the 25-29 age group and one from mine. Wait a minute, that's my age group, and can't let him beat me! So I took off after him, just nipped him at the line to take 69th overall and 7th in the age group. Once again, the elites were mixed in the age groupers, so I was shut out of the podium.

As we cooled down, we remarked on how you get the full gamut of racing abilities, body types, equipment, and attitudes -- all of it good. I've got to keep doing this - it's too much fun.

Results
Overall: 69th out of 747
Age Group: 7th out of 65
Males: 65th out of 465

Swim (~0.25mi-seemed shorter): 5:21
T1: 1:56
Bike (15 mi): 52:13
T2: 0:58
Run (3 mi): 23:00
Final time: 1:23:26