As I sit here writing this report I feel that I should be training to get fitter. But I am so sore there is no way that I can do any more than some light training this afternoon. Last Saturday I did my first race of the year. It was a duathlon of 5K run, 30K bike and a final 5K run. I did ok taking 6th in the 45-49. The field was fairly tough as in Colorado there are no triathlon until next month. Darrin Eisman runs these races and does a great job. Check his web site www.racingunderground.com He does a great job and does not empty your wallet. Just like it was in the beginning of the sport.
There are a couple of funny stories which I will get to in a moment but first I will give you a race recap. My wave consisted of all men 40 and over. The race started a little late and the sun was shinning. This was the warmest days in Colorado yet. We hit over 80 degrees on Saturday. As I looked around I only recognized a couple of people in the wave. I also noticed there was no big hurry for many and plenty of room at the front of the start line so I lined up in the front. That was kind of cool. When I was younger you could not get a spot in the front unless you stood there with plenty of time. The gun went off and I ran controlled yet at a good clip with the top 10 guys or so. About three or 4 more guys passed me over the first 2 miles and then we settled. I did pick up the pace a bit about half way and I looked at my heart rate monitor to see a 171. Yikes! I felt fine with it however. I have not seen that number on my monitor in a couple of years. My 5K split was somewhere around 20:30. I’ll find out later tonight when they post the splits. My first transition was a little sloppy and it took me a little to get settled on the bike. Once I got settled I started passing people. That was cool. I even caught up to a friend who is usually tough on the bike. In the last 10K of the bike I am not sure if I lost concentration or what but some guys passed me and I had a hard time staying in contact. But at the time I felt that I could hammer them on the second run which is usually one of my strong points. My second transition was fast and I even passed some of the guys ahead of me. I started the run strong but then the roof came off. My hamstrings tighten up and I was having cramps. Not in a race this short please! I dealt with it and stopped about 3 or 4 times to stretch them. That worked better as the run progressed and I ran hard on the last mile. There was a group of guys that I passed each time I ran and they passed me every time I had to stop. That was crazy. I finished the race in 1:36 I think.
I am glad in a way I am finding these little issues now. I guess that is the idea. I do not like excuses but in trying to figure out the cramping I think I know the reasons. One was that I spent all day Friday working at the old house. Fixing everything and doing yard work. It is going on the market so I want it to look nice. My back was very sore Friday night from all the bending. I took some anti-inflammatories but I think that the tight back pulled my hamstrings. The other was not enough hydration. I only drank a small bottle thinking it was such a short race and in a cold Colorado morning it would not matter. Well the late start, the much warmer weather plus the much higher intensity got me dehydrated by the time the second run started. More lessons I can pass on to my athletes right?
Now I have to find another race before my half Ironman in late June. I think I will do a short triathlon June 6th. It is a 550 yd swim, 16.5 mile bike and a 3.5 mile run. I have to finish strong in one of these to get my confidence back. No moving the day before and much better hydration are the goals for that one.
Now here are the funny stories. Remember that I have not really raced in almost 10 years. So as I line up I looked around and I see my friend Geoff and said. Geoff, is this the wave were if you make it to the start line injury free you are a winner? He replied, “Yes I think so, I am looking around and everyone does not look so good, but then I have to remember that I look just like them.” I guess we do not look in the mirror to much eh?
Geoff took off to do another strider. As I am standing and waiting for the start, I see this much older fellow standing next to me. He is not only older but has also quite a few more pounds than desired. But the kicker is that he is also wearing a Speedo bikini style swim suit and no shirt. Now to add insult to injury this gentleman is pale white. Do you get this picture? So I stand next to him and say, “Did you put on sunscreen”. He looks at me and says no. Then I say “you should, or you are going to get sun burned, the sun is shinning and it is going to get hot today.” “The race was supposed to start half an hour ago” he replied. At this point he looks at his wife on the sidelines and asks for sunscreen. She does not have any but asks if he wants his t-shirt back. He first says no. But later reluctantly gets the t-shirt and puts it on saying “I hate wearing shirts”. I told him to wear it for part of the race and dump it later. It may save the sun burn. As I was telling him this, he tucks the t-shirt under his Speedo. What a character.
My final story is that before the gun went off the announcer says “ok this is the wave of all men 40 and over, there should not be any woman in this wave”. A bunch of guys said “good”. Only 40 and over guys would say that!