Sunday - June 2, 2013
Today was the Little Miami Triathlon, spring edition. This is a race put on twice a year by Morgan's Canoe rental, near Fort Ancient in the Lebanon, Ohio, area. The race starts with teams of two canoeing (or individuals kayaking, like me) 6 miles down the Little Miami River, then running about 5.5 miles (might be more like 5 or high 4's), then climbing "Killer Hill" from the river to the Fort Ancient park where the bike transition area is, and finally you bike 18 miles around the area.
This is a fun race, and was my first "big" race back in 2011 when I started being more active. Back then, the race nearly killed me and I was sore for a week after. Now, I'm trying to better my time with each race (PR = personal record).
For the race this year, the weather looked bad. The river was "very high" and the race was nearly cancelled. Everything came down to a game day decision, with Gary Morgan (race director) emailing everyone Sunday morning at 5am to say, simply, "We're a go!!!!!" Booyah. Time to race!
They start 5 or 6 canoes/kayaks at a time, every 2 minutes, from the beach behind Morgan's. My start time was 7:38, and by the time I put my bike away and walked to the start I had to start with the 7:44 group. But, once the whistle blew I started my watch's timer, put on my headphones, and kayaked my little heart out. The river was "very high" but it didn't seem fast. It seemed about normal for spring. When this race is done in the fall, the river is much lower and slower. This is annoying as you hit rocks on the river bottom, which can kill your momentum, and can make you tip over.
I geeked it up today. My Timex with lap counter on my left arm, and my Garmin GPS watch on my right arm. Since you canoe and then run before you get your stuff, unlike a normal triathlon where you can change gear after each event, you need everything you're going to run with along for the canoe section. People often take ziplock bags with stuff, or put plastic bags around their shoes to keep them dry. I've found in the past that this slows me down a lot in transition one, and running with wet shoes isn't the end of the world. In addition to my dual watches, I had my iPhone on my arm for the music. So, if I tipped over I would ruin my iPhone and Garmin (not waterproof!). But, today's kayak went well. I only hit a couple rocks and got out of the water in a new river section PR of 59:51.22. My first sub hour time. Off to a good start. I was passed by zero canoes or kayaks, and I passed 4 people.
Side note: My goal time today was 2:52:00. The family LMT record is currently held by my youngest brother, Wade, at 2:54:21. He just showed up, never did the race before, never did a triathlon before, and rocked a 2:54:21. Before today, my best time in 3 attempts is 3:10:00.
At the river exit point, there were two clueless beginners in the way. So I had to go around them and step in the river to get out. The exit helpers, Boy Scouts from a local troop, were also clueless. They didn't want to get wet, but wanted to help people out of the water. Um, hello? You're going to get wet. As a result, my completely dry shoes were instantly soaked 100%. I threw my life jacket and oar at a 12 year old and ran off down the trail to the run start, popping a Gu and carrying a disposable water bottle I brought with me. Transition one (T1) time of 1:13.76. I'm not sure how this could get much faster, I jogged the entire thing. If you see below, my Spring 2012 T1 time was when I took a ziplock back and changed shoes. It's a huge time suck and again, wet shoes aren't that bad.
The run is a claimed 5.5 miles, but I think it's more like 4.6 or 4.7 miles. My best run time was Fall 2012, when I ran a 50:41. Today's run felt slow. For some reason, I had it in my head that my best time was 46 minutes. So as I ran along, I got down on myself for being "slow". I've been biking more lately, and my runs have been few and far between. Also, when I do run it's usually short, maybe 3 to 5 miles. Nothing like the training I did before the Fall 2012 LMT, when I was also training for a full marathon.
During the run, I was passed by 5 people, and I passed 4 people. This doesn't really mean anything, except it's nice to pass people and it sucks to get passed. I glanced at my GPS watch occasionally and saw things in the lower 10's, which is slower than my goal of 8:30's. I told myself that if I wanted a chance to beat my brother's 2:54, I needed to get to the end of the run in 1:45. My run today was 50:12.16, and I finished the run around 1:50, so I was unhappy. I didn't know at the time that today's run was a new personal best by 29 seconds. This is actually pretty good since my last time was during marathon training when I ran a lot more, and I've really been focusing on my bike lately. Hind sight is 20/20 though. During the race, I was annoyed with my "slow" run.
After the run, you get to climb Killer Hill. This hill is a beast. You basically climb from the river to the Fort Ancient parking lot. Elevation charts might not give the hill justice. It starts as a trail run on flat for 0.1 miles, then you get to 2 sets of steep stairs. Running up stairs isn't easy, so I normally jog the flat part and walk the rest of the hill. After the stairs, it's a trail "run" that winds up with erosion boards to use as steps. I've never seen anyone actually jog up the hill, everyone walks. After the race, however, I met a guy that finished the race in 2:30 and did run up the entire hill. He was a runner though, and probably crushed the entire run. I got to the top of the hill 4:52.40, nearly tying my best time on the hill.
At the top of the hill is the bike transition area, and they have restrooms and a bike mechanic for help. I had to use the restroom and after getting my bike shoes and helmet on, my race bib was falling off. So I took it off and didn't think twice about it. My T2 time was 3:57.32, my 2nd best T2 time here.
After about 0.5 miles on the bike, I realized my bib (race number you pin to your shirt) has the radio chip on it to get my time at the finish line. I turned around for 5 seconds to get it, then realized my Timex lap counter was all I needed, and then turned back around and headed out - eating a delicious Clif Bar on the way and chugging Gatorade. This was my chance to make up some time, or at least not fall more behind. I still wanted to break the 3 hour mark for the first time, even if 2:54 is out. I recently bought new wheels, and last night I put a pair of 23C racing slicks on them. I had the slicks in the garage, which is starting to look like a bike shop, and used them last year once. I forgot I had them. Without going into too much math or physics, the smoother the tires (and these slicks literally have no traction at all - anything slippery could send me into a crash) the less friction between the ground and the tire and the faster you go. They're also slightly lighter. My normal tires are 25C (0.2 cm wider) and are heavier with tread, thus slower. I immediately thought I was rolling faster. I also had my clip-on aero bars on, and planned to use them to cut wind on all flats or downhills.
A couple miles into the bike and I'm stuffing my face and chugging Gatorade, pedaling hard. Per my Garmin data, I kept around 18 mph for the first 5 miles, hitting as high as 25.8 mph in spots. After the first bit though, the wind was really howling. The same thunderstorms that brought all the rain and high river concerns, also brought the worst wind I've ever seen on the course. My slick front tire was being pushed left in a few spots, and I even heard my aero bar ends (no caps or shifters, just open tubes) whistling in the wind. But, I kept my head down, aero as much as possible, and cranked. I had one earphone in, listening to everything from death metal (check out 'No Compromise' by The Haunted for a nice pick-me-up) to Taylor Swift's 'Love Story'. I think that's the girliest song on my playlist.
Anyway, I pushed hard on the bike and was passed by zero people and I passed at least 12 people. In all LMT races, I've been passed by at least 3 or 4 stud bikers. There's actually this one guy that's passed me in 2 of the races, and he's haunted me since. Some of my passes today though, were sweet. I remember a line of 4 or 5 people on a slight downhill. I looked and was going 22 mph as I blew by them. It was my best LMT bike ever, though the time of 1:02:05 doesn't show it. The wind was crazy, or I would have broken an hour easily. Great ride. But, you can see the minutes ticking away as you watch the speedometer tell you there's still a mile or two to go as 3 hours comes and goes. Another 3+ hour race! Total time today was 3:02:12. Below are my time splits, but I improved my PR by 8:23. This is great. Looking at my past times, Fall 2011 was a mess and I've come a long way since (using that as my baseline for when I started training).
Here are some finishing stats:
Fall 2011 - 3:37:06 - 591 of 894 racers, 66%
Spring 2012 - 3:10:35 - 442/1087, 41%
Fall 2012 - 3:13:40 - 234/834, 28%
Spring 2013 - 3:02:12 - 205/852, 24%
I raced with a co-worker, and he finished in 2:52:31. A new best time for him also.
I think I'm going to chill out on the racing. I have a race in 2 weeks, 6/15, but it's the Loveland Amazing Race and it's an easy/fun race with my wife. After that, I think I'm going to lay low this summer and just keep training. I will shoot for a fall race, probably the Rev3 Cedar Point 70.3 half Ironman triathlon. Racing throws a wrench in schedules, as you have to taper off the training, then race, then recover, then get back to normal training. Not to mention the cost. The LMT was like $85. The Rev3 race is around $250, but it's a 70.3 and would mark an amazing accomplishment for me. My wife is also interested in doing Cedar Point, and I'm trying to talk my brother into it. Could be a fun weekend.
I also need to chill out on results. It's good to be motivated and have goals, but I've found that I set too high expectations for myself. I'm not a young stud, who can train 3-4 hours a day. I have kids and a family, and I'm lucky to get 2 or 3 days of training in a week. I'm not going professional, so I need to chill out. As soon as I finished the LMT run around 1:50, I was furious. I didn't enjoy the race until I started passing people on the bike, and that's not the way this should be. I used to enjoy the entire thing, not worrying about times and perfect transitions and racing slicks. After the Tri for Joe, I was very depressed. My wife had to say, "Hey, psycho, you put too much pressure on yourself and you set unrealistic goals." I've lost myself in the beast that is competition, and I needed to face that. Not doing a summer race will help a lot. I'll still track my workouts and races, but I will try not to worry too much about the numbers. As long as they're not crazy bad, I hope to return to enjoying this hobby. I've got two kids to raise that think I'm Superman. I can't ignore them trying to chase a dream of being fit or whatever. No matter how a race or training session goes, I've got them cheering me on and excited to see me. I'm already not the "fat dad" anymore. It's time to return to my roots!
| | | | | | | | |
| Fall 2011 | Spring 2012 | Fall 2012 | Spring 2013 |
| Kayak/Canoe | 1:09:47.00 | 69.78 | 1:00:58.00 | 60.97 | 1:08:41.00 | 68.68 | 59:51.22 | 59.85 |
| T1 | 1:48.12 | 1.8 | 4:15.28 | 4.25 | 1:10.78 | 1.18 | 1:13.76 | 1.23 |
| Run | 57:36.35 | 57.61 | 52:11.14 | 52.19 | 50:41.82 | 50.7 | 50:12.16 | 50.2 |
| Killer Hill | 5:41.53 | 5.69 | 4:52.08 | 4.87 | 5:29.93 | 5.5 | 4:52.40 | 4.87 |
| T2 | 4:33.47 | 4.56 | 6:00.44 | 6.01 | 2:47.98 | 2.8 | 3:57.32 | 3.96 |
| Bike | 1:18:24.00 | 78.4 | 1:02:18.00 | 62.3 | 1:05:05.00 | 65.08 | 1:02:05.00 | 62.08 |
| Total | 3:37:51.00 | 217.84 | 3:10:35.00 | 190.59 | 3:13:56.00 | 193.94 | 3:02:12.00 | 182.19 |
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LMT photos of me and Andy Parker, and his brother Shannon, team Tri-Agra. Andy is the one flexing! Hah ha. Note my nerdy dual watch setup!
