{"id":763,"date":"2012-05-22T12:05:02","date_gmt":"2012-05-22T17:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/?p=763"},"modified":"2012-05-22T12:05:02","modified_gmt":"2012-05-22T17:05:02","slug":"busy-race-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/?p=763","title":{"rendered":"Busy Race Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

Raced two races this past weekend:\u00a0 The Spring Couples Relay and the Harriman Triathlon.<\/p>\n

The Spring Couples Relay is an old favorite where male\/female teams race against one another, and where one party runs 2.2 miles, the other party cycles 12.2 miles (two loops of Central Park), and both parties get into a row boat and row around the periphery of the Central Park pond (approx 3\/4 of a mile).\u00a0 I’ve done this several times and am generally good at picking a good teammate.\u00a0 This year was no exception; Carin Klarsfeld was my runner again (we partnered a couple of years ago and got 1st place in our age group).\u00a0 To our surprise, the race organizers switched up things and decided to have the bike portion first, then the run segment.\u00a0 Once announced, the grumbles and surprised faces were abundant, including from us.<\/p>\n

As it was described, competitors would get on their bikes and ride as a mass group behind the lead race organizer’s car, and once sounded the horn, the race would start (what we call a rolling start).\u00a0 So, with good friend John Neiers also competing, we rode up and prepared for the horn.\u00a0 Once it went off, the guy in front of me attacked Cat Hill, and I immediately followed with a high intensity effort.\u00a0 I never caught him, but the effort created a huge separation from the pack which is what I wanted.\u00a0 Throughout the bike leg, I punished myself and rode as hard as I could.\u00a0 From what I was able to gather, I was in 5th position for the entire first loop of Central Park.\u00a0 Halfway through the second loop, two guys managed to ride up to me, and I was so surprised by it that it got me re-focused and helped me to really clamp down and hammer those pedals.\u00a0 Sure enough, I was able to get away from them, and it gave me better vision for the obstacles ahead, including dogs, tour groups, random wayward pedestrians, etc.\u00a0 Literally, it felt like an obstacle course, and fortunately, I seem to thrive in those situations. Lots of very sharp angled turns later, I was clear of the mess and close to finishing the bike segment.<\/p>\n

Once into transition, I tagged Carin’s hand and she took off on the run.\u00a0 As she later told me, she got passed by one person, but managed to overtake someone else, thus netting us the 5th place position we had when she started.\u00a0 Great job by Carin, and despite battling a respiratory condition.\u00a0 It was so troublesome for her that when she arrived back into transition and as we ran together to get to the boathouse, I could hear her wheezing and panting loudly.\u00a0 Poor thing.<\/p>\n

Once we got to the boats, we settled into our seats and each took an oar in order to get them properly situation for rowing.\u00a0 After we got set, I began what would become a monstrous effort (and a painful one too).\u00a0 Carin provided micro-corrections for our navigation which was key given how bad these heavy, flat-bottomed, heavy oak-oared boats were.\u00a0 Within the first couple of minutes and right near the first buoy marker, we passed a team that couldn’t seem to go straight.\u00a0 4th place at that point.\u00a0 A little while later, we approached another boat where the guy and girl were switching positions.\u00a0 Big mistake of slowing down cost them, and Carin had me take an aggressive inside line.\u00a0 We passed them easily.\u00a0 3rd place at that point.\u00a0 There was a long stretch thereafter and I just tried to be consistent as I watched the two boats I had just passed regain their respective forms and come after me (remember that in a rowboat, I’m facing backwards).\u00a0 After another buoy turn, we were in the home stretch.\u00a0 I took a quick glance and thought that the next boat ahead of us was just too far for me to catch… unless they made a mistake.\u00a0 Sure enough, Carin reports that they rowed into some rocks along the banks.\u00a0 They were there a little while trying to get out, and it was long enough for me to slip past them into 2nd place.\u00a0 We managed to hold that position to the end, and wound up getting a very nice 2nd place plaque.\u00a0 Credit to Carin for a great effort on the run and great navigation on the boat.\u00a0 Really, that’s a key skill.\u00a0 Here’s our pic.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The next day, I raced in Harriman State Park in a sprint triathlon with distances said to be a half mile swim, a 17 mile bike, and a 2.6 mile run.\u00a0 As I later learned, none of those reported distances were accurate.\u00a0 Roya joined me with our doggies since it was a rare day off for her.\u00a0 We arrived at beautiful Lake Welch and with absolutely perfect conditions.\u00a0 After a brief set-up in transition, we got the pre-race announcements and were told to head to the water.<\/p>\n

Once the gun went off, I chose a straight line to the turn buoy and swam reasonably well.\u00a0 I haven’t spent nearly as much time in the water this year as I should have, and it’s shown in my race performances.\u00a0 So, I didn’t have lofty expectations for today, but my goal is always nonetheless to feel good and not let my technique degradate and slow me down.\u00a0 I got out of the water and felt ready to attack the bike.<\/p>\n

I blazed into transition, got my wetsuit off very quickly, and grabbed the bike as I ran to the exit.\u00a0 I later found out that I was the fastest athlete in T1!\u00a0 I love that that happened!<\/p>\n

Once on the bike, I tried to hammer at the same intensity as the day before, and for the most part, that was doable… but only for a while.\u00a0 The road surface was actually quite difficult for athletes who wanted to maintain a consistent effort.\u00a0 Road spacers (really, they are just spaces between the slabs of concrete that make up the road surface) felt like speed bumps, and some were quite violent when cycling fast.\u00a0 In the middle section of the bike, the terrain was a bit hillier and while I used to think that was a good thing, on this particular race day, I didn’t feel great.\u00a0 At the turn-around point, I realized that this bike segment would be 18 miles, not 17… and it’s not like the extra mile is an issue; it’s just that the race organization is consistently inconsistent.\u00a0 I do like the race director quite a bit, and this is part of the charm of the races they put on.<\/p>\n

In any event, after the bike turn-around, I felt a bit renewed energywise and really took advantage of some downhills and fast flat sections.\u00a0 For a good few miles, I was averaging 26 mph and pushing a big gear, so it felt good to be in control and fast.\u00a0 On the second to last climb, the road surface was again horrible and I remember laughing at how I was once again in an obstacle course with all the swerves to avoid potholes, spacers, etc.\u00a0 On the final climb a few guys rode up to me and went very hard up the hill.\u00a0 It was a bit of a long climb, 0.6 miles with a steeper gradiant as you ascend, so I held back and let them go.\u00a0 Once it got steeper, I worked harder.\u00a0 Once it became difficult to be efficient, I got out of the saddle and cranked up the gears, and that effort helped me pass three people.\u00a0 Once the climb was over, I got back to hammering and finished the segment feeling righteous, if not fatigued.<\/p>\n

I got through T2 quite fast as well (in the end, I was 6th fastest in T2, and 1st iin T1 and T2 combined), but the bike fatigue affected me instantly on the run.\u00a0 My stride length was short, and my hips felt tight.\u00a0 I knew that the hips would open up and that I’d get back to my usual rhythm, and indeed, it did happen… but not until I had already run 1.5 miles.\u00a0 As expected, the run course wasn’t properly measured and wound up being a bit short; by my estimation, it was a 2.3 mile run, not a 2.6 mile run.\u00a0 I managed to feel good in the final portions of the run and found a rhythm and pace that I could have conceivably held to for another set of miles, so I feel good about that.\u00a0 And, I had my beautiful Roya there to cheer me through the finish line.\u00a0 Few things feel better than knowing that I have her there with me.\u00a0 She’s always with me mentally, but physically is just a tad better!<\/p>\n

I wound up finishing 31st out of 190 or so people, and 4th in my age group.\u00a0 If I was 45, I would have been second in my age group.\u00a0 I’m in no rush to age, but if I keep this up, I might get more plaques (hardware as we put it).<\/p>\n

So, that’s two races in two days.\u00a0 Next up is a biggie:\u00a0 The Eagleman half-Ironman event on June 10th in Maryland.\u00a0 I am a little concerned about the race in terms of my run condition off the bike, but it seems as if I do find a good run rhythm… eventually.\u00a0 The trick will be to be patient until that “eventual” moment arrives.\u00a0 More to come on that in later posts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Raced two races this past weekend:\u00a0 The Spring Couples Relay and the Harriman Triathlon. The Spring Couples Relay is an old favorite where male\/female teams race against one another, and where one party runs 2.2 miles, the other party cycles 12.2 miles (two loops of Central Park), and both parties get into a row boat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=763"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":766,"href":"https:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763\/revisions\/766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}