Delta Lake Triathlon

I'm terrible about posting on this blog. Anyway... I haven't done a triathlon this year and honestly haven't been riding by bike for squat. Barely swimming too. I was signed up for the Henderson Harbor Triathlon because it's local that proceeds go to a good cause. But that event was cancelled due to heavy rain all spring that created a major issue with the water levels on Lake Ontario. So with that cancelled, I needed another short distance Tri. I've never done the Delta Lake Tri before due to timing conflicts so this was my first there.

The event has a sprint distance consisting of a 750 meter swim, a short 12 mile bike, and a 2.9 mile run. They also have an intermediate distance which is double the sprint. A third option is their signature "Delta Double" which consists of racing the sprint within a cut off time, directly followed by doing the intermediate race. The sprint and intermediate races do not run at the same time; which obviously is what makes the Delta Double possible. I just did the sprint because I'm lazy and haven't been training much. Judge all you want. 😄

The night before the race there was a crazy rainstorm that came through. Road crews worked that evening to clear the roads of tree debris and worked to remove the washout areas on the bike course. The race director gave updates on the sites' Facebook page to calm everyone who was w design the status of the race. I'm sure a lot of work went into setting things up and reacting to the weather issues.

Come race morning everything was ready to roll for the athletes. Parking was plentiful... no issues there. The transition area is split in two, with the sprint athletes on one side and intermediate on the other. Registration was smooth. Volunteers were there to point you in the right direction. There was a time to warm up in the water prior to the start. Before we knew it, the start was here.

The swim was simple enough. A typical rectangle clockwise. Large bright markers along the route. Water had a little chop due to some wind and light rain. Again, not much as the area is relatively secluded. My swim time was consistent with how much swimming I had been doing. (Not a performance to write home about). As for the actual swim though, I had minimal contact from other swimms and sighting was easy due to the overcast sky. The swim exit is a sand beach which then runs through a breezeway and right into T1.

T1 was easy to navigate. Always count the racks to know where you are when rolling into transition. I always seem to be a bit dizzy during transition. Probably from being horizontal swimming and then upright directly into race mode. So run down transition counting off the racks until I get to mine. Peel off the wetsuit, helmet, socks (yes even in a sprint I through on socks), bike shoes, and grab the bike. As I was running to the bike mount line I was really dizzy and had to stop for a few seconds to get the marbles in my head to stop rolling around. Again, first Tri of the season. I always dial back a bit in T1 to avoid smacking into others who might be rushing more that their reaction speed can handle. I've had people smack their Tri bars right into my backside in transition. I know it's a race, but have control of your equipment people. Rant over.

The bike was a quick out and back. Some wet on the road, a light drizzle on and off. No big hills of note. Just some rolling hills and flats. There was still sand on the road an a couple areas due to the night downpour. Later in the intermediate race a rider went down there. My bike was less eventful. I ride an older Tri bike compared to the new stuff that's out there today. Mine is a 2009 Cervelo P1. An aluminum aero bike. I had some HED trispokes on. Which is a bike overkill for a sprint race. But come on... use your fancy wheels if you've got them. There were all sorts of bikes... sweet race machines in excess of five grand, plenty of high speed Tri bikes, road bikes with clip on aero bars, and even some mountain bikes. So I was in the middle of the technology bike parade that is triathlon. The bike was nice and scenic. I didn't see drafting other than when people bunched up a bit at the turnaround and then at the end as we came into T2. Even then I don't really look at that as drafting as much as a bottleneck.

T2 was quick in and out. The run is a loop and a half. That sort of confused me at first when hearing about the course. But it was simple and well marked. Starting the run was the usual "why don't I brick more" internal conflict with my calves. The run goes up through a trail section. Very cool. The tree roots were painted in orange. You definitely could see them, and then not trip. The run was through the park with lot of trees and a few scattered other runners. There is one water stop that is passed twice. All in all it was a fun race. These sprint races are over way too soon. I actually won my age group. But that's more due to a small field. I can podium in the small local races, but usually there are others getting those awards well ahead of me. It's all about who shows up that day.

 

Will I be back next year? It depends on what else is on my race calendar. I certainly would return if I have the chance.

Syracuse Mountain Goat

The Syracuse Mountain Goat is a very hilly 10 mile race. "Hilly" is relative of course. People in Vail Colorado would think it's not bad whereas people from the Florida Keys would thinks it's alpine running. Lol.

My wife and I have run this twice before. I was going solo this time around. We drove out the morning of the event and paid to park in a parking lot very close to the start. We probably could have found some free parking elsewhere, but we wanted to be near the start where my wife could sit back in the car and read while I was on the course.

This was one of those days I don't care for... cold and rainy. Many people wore tights. I was contemplating which was to go and stuck with shorts and a very light long sleeve shirt. No hat, but I had some cheap throw away gloves. I run all winter long... outside and every single day. In the snow, sleet, and whatever cold temperatures come. So I'm not a fair weather runner. Still, I never care for standing around waiting for a race to start shivering in the rain. But soon and with good fortune the race started. A half mile later and I was at a good (and warm) operating temperature.

The race is pretty tame to start. Then come long sustained hills. Early in the race that is no problem. As the race goes on the hills take their toll. And what goes up must come down. There are some steep (again relative) downhill sections that often pound the crud out of feet and calves.

There are plenty of water stations along the course. I tend to bring my own just because I train that way and, let's face it, the aid stations are often crowded. I'd rather avoid the bottleneck and carry my own. It's overkill, but a choice I make. I use a Hydraquiver Single Barrel. It's sort of like a small pack with a holster to hold a single water botttle. It has a zippered section in the back for things like phone, car keys, and stuff I'd be needing after the race. The shoulders straps each have a pouch that can fit gels, sunglasses, iPod, etc. I often use this because I'm carrying things for myself and my wife when we race. Again, overkill in a race with aid stations. But I don't think it slows me down at all.

Ultimately, the race was fun and certainly a challenge. Too many people are out looking for a flat and fast course. Why? Have some fun with something that really pushes you. My time was 1:21:16. Not fast but not slow. I'm just a MOP guy trying to have fun staying fit anyway. The post race food and music was great. This race has beer, but I'm not so much into that. I grabbed a banana, a chocolate milk, and some cookies. The jacket and medal are cool. I bought the glasswear too because I liked the design. Running this race was a blast and I'm pretty sure I'll be back next year depending on what else is on the calendar.

Marine Corps Devil Dog Double

I haven't posted anything on this blog in forever. It's basically a dead blog, but I should add some race reviews when I'm able. One fun race I did last weekend was the Marine Corps Devil Dog Double. This race was a combination of the Semper Five and then straight into the Historic Half. The race was in Fredericksburg VA.

My wife ran the Semper Five and left the extra miles up to me. 😄

I did the race on a spur decision. I picked up the bib from another runner who needed to transfer. That's a great benefit of many of the Marine Corps races. They offer deferrals and transfers within certain windows of time. This was going to be a tight schedule because I needed to drive down  on Saturday (9 hour drive), followed by a 6:40 race start, and then a 9 hour drive back home. I wouldn't recommend that tight of a race weekend, but I had to be back to work Monday for a 13 hour day. So it had to play out that way.

The race is unique. It starts with running the Semper Five, which is 5 miles. It includes "hospital hill" which is a challenging hill based more upon length than outright ascent. I ran a race called the Mountain Goat weeks beforehand and that is a hilly race by far. So hospital hill, while challenging, wasn't really a factor for me. The twist on this race is that runners must maintain at least a 9 minute mile pace throughout the 5 miles to get to the start of the Historic Half. For some this was easy. For others this was much tighter window. I ran the Semper Five in 41:15. Then the runners do a 180 and head right out onto the 13.1 mile main course.

So at this point all the regular runners for the half had already started and were 20 minuted ahead of me and the other Devil Dog runners. After a couple miles or so I started running into the slower runners from the half. The grouping got more and more as I made my way into the BOP and slower MOP runners. The Devil Dog had about 500 runners whereas the half had over 5,000. So it quickly became hard to stick to a solid pace because there were people everywhere to run around. It was actually quite tiring because of speeding up to go around people, veering around small groups, and slowing when I couldn't get through. I'm not complaining, just stating that it burnt more energy than typical. I hit hospital hill the second time with about 2 mile left in this 18.1 mile combo. That hill did make me work hard this time around. I was ready to be done. Soon enough I was at the finish with a 2:02:00 half marathon. That isn't a fast time, but I was satisfied given the 5 mile lead-in to this half.

Overall, it was a great race. The Marines always do a great job. I'll try to be back next year. But this time with extra time off from work so I don't have to slog it back 9 hours after a long race. The medals were wicked cool. The Blue Mile is very moving (blue mile is where servicemen and women who have died are honored. Their pictures line that section of the course and voluneteers, many family members, hold American flags throughout the entire section.)

The bling is phenomenal. The shirt is cool, and you get three medals for the Demper Five, Historic Half, and of course completing the Devil Dog Double.