Like all races, mine began the Friday before when I arrived at the Gunstock ski area with my wife and parents. As has been tradition, we set up camp. My dad, who has become the guru of Gunstock, picked two campsites closest to the bathrooms and showers, which was very convenient. With tents pitched and air mattresses inflated, my younger brother and I set off for Elacoya for a final workout. Having done absolutely no open water swimming over the previous year, and knowing that this is an area where I struggle I wanted to get in 10-15 minutes in the water, followed by a few miles on the bike course. This was also my first time in full TOM regalia, and what a treat. The shorts were comfortable immediately, and performed well both in the water and in the saddle. I managed to swim my way right into a father-son team a couple of times during my practice which only further contributed to the race-like experience.
Timberman (Sprint) headquarters at GunstockThe rest of Friday night was spent with the usual - picking up my race packet and eating a lot of pasta. I turned in around 9, though really didn't fall asleep for at least an hour or so. With the alarm set for 4:45, I was ready for the morning. Unlike previous races where I would just get up, eat a peanut butter and jelly, and drive over, this year I tried to give myself time to really wake up and have a decent shower. I also abandoned the fibrous PB&J on whole wheat and opted for a yogurt smoothie and far more refined croissant. I think that was a smart move.
My plan was to get to Elacoya early enough for a real warmup - a swim around the swim course, a quick ride on the bike, and a run. My poor sense of time, the long lines at the bathroom, and the cold temperatures and whipping winds put that plan to rest. The water conditions were absolutely horrid. White caps were breaking all over the place and, being wetsuitless, I felt it would be improper to drench myself and then spend the next hour freezing in place. Instead, after setting up my transition area, I did about 15 minutes on the run course. Whereas in previous years I did very, very light, and very minimal, pre-race warmups, here I pushed a tempo pace and even did a few pick-ups. Besides getting my body ready to do some race-quality work, it also got my good and toasty. By the time I came back in and stretched a bit, it was nearly time for me to head out to the swim start (being in Wave #2 and all). I think by keeping busy in the hour or so leading up to the race and by having a substantive warm-up I got the extra benefit of keeping the pre-race jitters under control.
As in last year, the really shallow water along the swim course pushed the start out away from transition and so I joined a throng of athletes heading out along the beach to the start. Now, here I should say that not only did the TOM uniform fit well (I decided to swim in the top as well), but it was certainly distinctive, particularly when put up against all those black wet suits. After a final swim cap clarification from the race director ("if you're in the blue caps, but not the light blue caps, the dark, navy blue caps...") and a brief delay as the swim buoys had to be put back into place after being blown into shore by the wind and waves, we were ready to go.
Heading out to sea
This year, as I headed out to lake, I also adopted the "get out in front" strategy. Not because I felt particularly fast, but mostly because I'm just sick of fighting through mobs to find some open water. Given the cue to go, I plunged in and started out at a hard pace to try and keep people off of my legs. Immediately, I realized that the water was still only three feet deep, so I stood up again, ran a bit, then dove back in. Immediately, I began to struggle. We were swimming right into the waves, which made it really hard to breathe without getting a nice healthy taste of lake water. I was swimming head-out-of-water most of the time, and just couldn't find a rhythm. I really had to slow up, nearly coming to a stop. What saved me was switching to just breathing on one side. This allowed me to get my head down, but also to come up for air more frequently. As I rounded the first buoy, it also meant that I could breathe away from the incoming waves. With the waves making it hard to see, I had no idea where I was in the pack. I passed a few people from the first wave clinging to buoys and getting rescued by kayaks, so obviously a lot of people were struggling. Having settled into my 1-2-breathe strategy I was able to pick up the pace without problem. I was also happy to realize that I was swimming in a straight line, and relatively free from the crowds. Of course, I thought this meant that I was way far behind. For the first time I did not run headlong into a kayak and, rounding the final buoy, headed towards shore. I exited in 9:30. About a minute slower than I had hoped for, but apparently the poor conditions had held a lot of people back because it was one of the faster swim times.
I got into transition, took in a bit of a gel, and headed out on the bike course. I think next time I would wait for the gel until I was riding a bit - too much to worry about in transition. As I was trying to clip in (a little less gracefully then I would have liked), some maniac was yelling at my from the sidelines. It was TOM-a-Lot, jumping around like a fool, but giving some much appreciated encouragement. With the spirit of the TOMs behind me, I headed out. Now, having biked this section yesterday, I knew that there was a climb right at the beginning, so I didn't push it. I kept the cadence fast and just motored up the hill. I knew that when it leveled off I could really pick up some speed - until a gust of wind punched me in the face. Not fun, but at least relatively brief. The wind kept up throughout the 15 mile ride and I was happy to see that I was not being persistently passed by other cyclists, as usually happens to me. One guy did pass me on a hill, but then immediately dropped his chain. I also made a much more conscious effort to take in fluids on this ride, and setting my watch on a repeating 5 minute timer to help me in this effort. This only got a little hairy on the return trip. At one point I had to thread between a stopped bus and an oncoming car, and, later, someone decided to pass me in their car, and then park themselves between me and the two guys in front of me that I was pursuing. After I gave them a couple of aggressive "get the hell out of the way" head shakes, they pulled over. I picked off another rider on some of the final hills before the decent back to transition, for a total ride of just over 45 minutes (though my computer said the ride was really 15.6 miles, and if you can't trust your bike computer, well who can you trust?).
Transition to bikeThis year was also a first in that I managed to pull off the fancy triathlon dismount coming into T2. I was a little unfocused, however, taking off my sunglasses along with my helmet, realizing that I would just need to put them back on for the run. Oh well. I got my flats on and headed out for the run. I knew from previous races that the course was generally uphill to the turnaround, and I had a good feel for the terrain having run some of the course in the morning. I think because I avoided doing any pedal mashing during the bike course that my legs felt pretty good. I had forgotten, however, to pay attention to my watch coming out of transition, so I really had no idea how I was doing. At the turn around, I benefited from the downhill and picked up some speed. I got passed by a guy at about the 2 mile mark, but a quick left-calf check revealed that I really didn't need to push to keep up with him. As I came into the finish I could see on the clock that I could break the 1:16:00 mark, so I picked it up a bit and passed through at 1:15:55. Ultimately, I was really (and pleasantly) surprised by my run time: 17:43 - well over a minute faster than last year's time, and significantly faster than my pre-race expectations.
Running to finishOverall, a very good race, both in terms of performance and enjoyment. Usually I'm mashing the pedals while getting frustrated with everyone passing me on the bike course, and then playing this "why am I doing this?" mind game during the run. But this year, except for getting forcefully hydrated by the waves during the swim, I really felt in control and comfortable during the whole race.
After it was over, I grabbed some food (ice cream first, of course), but my warm clothes back on, and met up with TOM-a-Lot to cheer on some people. By 10 a.m. or so they had begun to post unofficial results and I was very happy to see that I had (unofficially) placed 2nd in my age group and 24th overall. By 11 a.m. I got to go stand up on the podium and get my bottle of maple syrup (or, at least I assume it's maple syrup). Being my first time on the podium I did manage to shake the hand of the first place person, blowing off the race director and almost forgetting to get my award.
Podium ceremony (but who took off the numbers and what is with that pole in the middle?)With that, the race day came to a close. TOMasz and Kasia met up with us at the campsite about an hour later, and joined us in a celebratory champagne (something that was leftover from an anniversary that my wife and I had failed to spend together, but this was a good use for it too). Later, we all went back to the expo to join the other TOMs who were staring down the barrel of the following day's 70.3.
Overall a great weekend, though next year I've already decided that it's time to move up to the half iron. Some things from this race experience I would hope to carry over to next year.
1) Race-effort training a few weeks before the actual race seemed to really help. It gave me a clear feeling of what I could really expect, rather than going into a race with high hopes that only get frustrated.
2) Maintaining race efforts in the week (and even days) leading up to the race seemed to really help. These short races just don't leave time for warming up at the beginning of the race. I think by keeping myself attuned to race speeds, I was more able to switch into that 'gear' when it counted.
3) Fluids and nutrition, even on the short race, is a big help. In previous years I did a "less is more" strategy feeling that, with such a short distance I was better off not futzing with food and drink. That was a mistake. This year, I took in some calories and drank and it really paid off in the run.
4) Racing under the TOM flag is a big help. The uniforms are great (and necessary in my case, since I did the brilliant move of leaving mine in Delaware), as are the cheering maniacs.
5) It's nice to know that if I decide to let myself go, there will always be a place for me on Team Angry.
