"Boy, am I glad that is over."
That is exactly what I said as I crossed the finish line at the High Cliff Half-Iron Triathlon this past Saturday. Now, as you may be aware I do enjoy a certain amount of physical discomfort every now and again. I also do not give up or break too easily. That course on Saturday crushed me! So, here is my race report with a few musings added for seasoning.
Not only was this a race weekend, but it was a get away for the Boss and me too. The kids were being corralled by Great Grandma, Grandma, and Grandpa (that made it a fair fight from the adult perspective) and we had a hotel room at the Hilton (shameless plug) for two whole, adult only, nights. Saturday was race day. The Wife was doing the sprint and I the half. After that, we had nothing else planned.
Saturday morning came around and off to racing we went. The day was beautiful as long as you were no where near Lake Winnebago. Unfortunately, the race course on, around, and through the High Cliff State Park is right on (and in for the swim) Lake Winnebago. The wind was blowing. Not like a knock in your house of straw or wood, but like a valiant attempt at your brick house. I said to myself, "Self, everyone else has to deal with same elements." I responded, "Self, you are not very convincing. And, I believe you are only trying to make yourself feel better." At that point I stopped talking to myself because I believe that talking to yourself is OK, but it is bad to start getting answers.
Anyhow, the swim started with a 200m walk through the shallows of Lake Winnebago. Every time I started to swim (and scraping my hairy knuckles on the sandy bottom of the lake) I would run into someone from a previous wave walking. It was beyond frustrating. The water was quite choppy (OK they were some pretty big waves), but I was digging it. For whatever reason the conditions suited me. The course was set up in a rough rectangle, and after the first turn buoy the walkers were forced to float and/or swim. They became easier to avoid either because they sank to the bottom (I heard no reports of this) or because I was swimming faster than them. By the second turn buoy, the currents had reeked havoc on the field. Most were being pushed into shore and way off course. I picked a nice straight line, accounted for the current and started swimming. I really felt all alone for a good ten unites or so. I kind of fell into a rhythm with the waves where my breathing was perfectly timed with my body just about cresting a wave. I was actually having fun. I was also passing a lot of colorful swim caps. I had started behind three hundred others, so the water had a bunch of dots of color bouncing around upon it. Rounding the last buoy (the third one if you didn't catch the whole rectangle thing before), I was forced to swim a little off course. Apparently, one of the course marking buoys had popped loose and floated about four hundred feet north. I was sighting on this one for a few minutes before I noted that it was pounding itself on the rocks of the nearby peninsula. Course corrected and then I was able to walk the last hundred meters into shore. As I am sure you are all astute readers, I can assume that you will have noticed that the water was very shallow near shore and made for a lot of water walking.
Up the hill, into T1, off with the wetsuit, and onto the bike. Julie and I had ridden the "big hill" (you know, the one up the cliff in High Cliff) the night before. I knew it was a little less than half a mile long and steep enough to warrant the use of my small chainring. I got to the top, didn't get passed by anyone, but passed plenty. Once the course got out of the park, I very quickly understood why people have invested so much money in building all those windmills around the area. It is freak'n windy around those parts. Sure, I saw and felt the waves in the water. It never occurred to me the wind making those waves would be the same wind on the bike course. It was mostly a cross wind, but when it wasn't, brother it was not. I had a fantastic hydration/calorie plan. Drink first bottle by aide station one, check. Aide station one was not there. There were boxes (I assume filled with delicious orange and green Gatorade), but nothing else. So, sip off bottle two I did until aide station number two. Got back on plan at station two feeling OK that I did not do any permanent damage to myself. Aide station two would get me through to aide station three. But, three never came. There was a drop zone. I could have gotten rid of all my empty containers, but not get any full ones. "Yikes," I believe I may have said (I assume that kids may read this some day). So let me explain something for those of you who may not understand. Approximately 10 ounces of Gatorade is not enough to get you through approximately an hour on a harder than your average bear bicycle ride. At about mile fifty, I got my first cramp. A little light spinning and some on bike stretching made it go away. Five minutes later it was back. First it was just in my left quad. Then both quads. Then my right calf. I could continue, but that would be a waste of 1's and 0's. I was never so happy to get off my bike and into T2.
I walked through T2. I'm not kidding anyone. I was cramping like a mo-fo (sorry kids). Put on the socks (yes I was actually wearing socks), shoes and race number. More importantly, I grabbed four electrolyte pills, two cups of water, and one cup of Gatorade and off to the run I went. Well, to say run is just plain wrong. I was jogging and I was walking. I walked up the cliff hill stopping twice to stretch out my still cramping quads. The run was not fun. It was actually un-fun. The course itself is mostly through the woods and I am sure it could allow for some great communing with nature and a lot of self introspection. I saw none of that. I was just living between vibrations on my Garmin 310XT telling me the next 1/13th of the run was completed and the not so well (to my very addled body) spaced out aide stations. I even started to think about the Hammer Nutrition guys handing out the electrolyte tabs as the pusher men. I really could not wait to see those guys. By mile 9, or so, I actually started to feel OK. I'm guessing that my electrolyte balance was back into normal ranges. Now, I'm not saying I was good. I'm just saying that by this time I was not as bad as I was on miles one through about six. Without too much more drama, the run and the race ended.
5:02:something is not a bad result. But, it is not as good as I think I could have done either. This race will have to be filed under "Learning Experience".
Let me add that I have never had cramps like that in my life. With all the silly training and the regular activity I have in my life, I've never cramped like I did on Saturday. Some eating and drinking experiments will need to be conducted.
Some things I have learned:
1. What you eat the days before a race matters. Duh.
2. Your training before a race should not taper too much. A twenty minute ride is not worth doing and only creates laundry.
3. Tapering your training tapers your eating and drinking which goes to number one above. I felt fine, but while training I tend to "crave" fluids and calories. I should have been eating more and drinking more during my tapered training.
4. Aide stations should not be completely relied upon. I know they are manned by volunteers, etc., etc. I planned on getting about 300 more calories and a bunch more electrolytes on the bike course. Three more gels and some little pills would have fit in my pockets without much issue. My minimalist side has a problem with this, but those cramps hurt (like a mo-fo(sorry again)).
5. High Cliff has a high cliff. Running down it does not make up for walking up it.
As for the rest of the weekend, let me say this:
We arrived home to find that the kids had not duct taped grandma and grandpa in the corner. Nor had they started cannibalizing each other or any of the dogs. Julie and I had a fantastic time to ourselves. I'm not so sure we even stayed awake until 9pm on Saturday night.
Although this race report comes across negative, the weekend was excellent. The race was good (not being able to race would be the worst), the people were all great, and no one got hurt.
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