Race Coverage

A Season's Worth of Calamities....

Tuesday, 22 May 2012 02:30

By Dan Chies

I'm not sure there could be a worse season debut race. Been training hard, prepping for 3 early sprints, Chisago half, and IM Wisconsin, feeling great, and finally ready to let the dog off the chain at Albert Lea after 5 months of training in the gym and home pain cave...

Recap:

Swim: I consider myself a strong swimmer, first pack at worst, and positioned myself as such. It was 10seconds before the gun when I realized I hadn't put Body Glide on my already-chafed neck. Whoops. Figured there'd be a little jostling like usual....

Never in a dozen races over 3 year have I been pummeled as hard as I was in the first 100 yards. After 15 yards of wrestling, I felt a firm hand clamp on my shoulder and use me as a springboard. I went backwards and further underwater. Came up short of air, immediately got a karate kick right in my face that tore my goggles off. Took a second to regroup, and headed back in. Never fully caught my breath after that, and was breathing every stroke, hyperventilating. No sense trying to find a rhythm with only 3 minutes left to swim (I'll pay for that later). Somehow, still made it out hanging on the back of the lead group, and went <6 minutes for the quarter mile. Not bad! Probably sitting about 10th at this point.

T1: Whip off my suit, put shades on, aero helmet on. Head out. One rubber band must have fell off at some point, so my right shoe is doing a whirlygig.

Get to mount line. My flying mount was poor, so my front wheel turned a bit. As I corrected, somehow, my left shoe comes off the cleat and gets left behind. Turn around, walk back, put it on, finally get on to ride. 3-4 guys pass me.

Bike: First five miles...hyperventilated swim comes back to haunt me. Cannot breathe. Hills and headwind not helping. Second swim group passes me. Sunglasses fogging up, I just tuck them in my pocket. Finally get into a decent rhythm at mile 5. Cruising nicely. Can see bikers way ahead, so small they look like ants. What place am I? No idea, 20th?

Mile 11: Sunglasses fall out of pocket. Well, they are fake Oakleys, so who cares. Not going back. (Note: got picked up AND returned to me, incredibly)

Mile 13: coming to a sharp right hand turn. Decide I'll take it wide to avoid the gravel on inner corner, and not lose as much speed. 50 yards from the turn, I see a volunteer start to walk across the intersection, right into my intended line. 20 yards from the turn, I start yelling for him to move. I hit the turn, he's 10 yards in front, on my wide path line. I'm still yelling. He's walking straight ahead, as if he assumed I'd be able to straighten out back to the middle of the road. Realize to get back to middle, I need to turn too sharp, but try anyway. He's still in my way. I slam both brakes and completely lay it down on my right side. A real nice metallic clang and a fleshy skid. But no bones are sticking out of me, and nothing on the bike looks immediately broken. First thought: my bike is destroyed. Second thought: can I still do Iron? My tri coach (Scott Beasley of SolesInspired; free advertising for you, coach, be sure to remember that) who was racing also and happened to pass by me at this exact moment, "You're still in it, get back on and go." If he wouldn't have said anything, I might have pulled out right then and there citing mental difficulties. Instead I give the death glare at the still dumbfounded volunteer, another pack of 7 bikers pass by, and I slowly climb back on and finish the bike leg. (Bike Injuries: scrapes on rear axle and derailleur and handlebars, but front right brake and right shoe look like they got hit with a belt sander; frame ok, getting it checked out of course. Body injuries: road rash, sore hip, My awesome Zoot suit didn't tear, go figure). Bike leg approximately 43 minutes.

T2: Flawless, but hurting. Decide to give the run leg a shot.

Run: An effort in finding a decent zone and staying there. Mentally, out of it. Physically trying to take stock of whats wrong. No blood gushing, so that's good. Push my pace a bit, right hip is balky, so I pull back. Future women's champ starts running next to me at mile 1.5. I told her, "not sure I'll be able to beat you by 3 minutes (head start for guy's race so I don't get chicked!). Jen?: "I'll just try to hang with you." Oh gosh, I'm running maybe 7:30's, she could totally kill that. At mile 3 I speak again "It's ok, you can pass me!" And the Age-group 41 year old flies by me (quite impressive). Run leg approximately 30:30. Final standing, 1:22 and change, 31st or so out of 103. Ugh.

Post-race and race set up: Great food. Mini-burgers were incredible. Give-aways were impressive, although I didn't win any. Use of park pavilion was nice when the rain moved in. Loved the one-lane transition, felt very pro-style and fast.

Personally, a poor race for myself after expecting a lot and training hard, and top it off with a crash. Hopefully, all the bad things that can happen in a season are done after this. Great for my 3 friends (Ben B. and the husband-wife team Kyle+Andrea V.)

HEY EVERYONE - Minnesota's oldest multi, the Apple Duathlon, is Saturday. Will we see you at this 30-year-old classic? We sure hope so. For Info and registration, link HERE.