Sunday, September 10, 2017

The end of 2017 triathlon season

I just closed out my triathlon racing for 2017.

Yesterday was an Olympic distance race (Lake Stevens) and today was a sprint (Tri Turtle Tri).

For me it was a personal challenge to race the ITU Worlds Long Course two weeks ago and follow that up with 2 successive weekends of short course racing and to race well across them all. Now that I’ve passed the 70-year age mark, the number of my age group competitors is very, very thin. This means that to compete I need to focus on younger men, my overall finish position, personal improvement in specific legs, etc., etc.

My swimming has greatly improved this year so that was one of my goals: swim well. It’s always hard to  judge because who knows how accurately a swim course is set. In all my races this year, I felt relaxed and strong for the swim portion; that’s good. Getting to the bike rack with bikes left is also good.

Transitions are another story; they all seem to be pretty slow. I must be too laid back! Plus, I now have these personal idiosyncrasies that take longer: hydration pack for long course, waist water bottle pack for the run. Thinking about it, I realize this is part of my learning how to hydrate. If I hydrate, I race well. If I don’t then I fall apart. Thus a little more time in transition pays HUGE dividends in the racing legs.

Cycling continues to be my strong suit: I can ride strong and position myself to lose spots on the run. Since this is generally far and away the longest leg, I’m able to put more time on the field. My rides this year bear out this strategy.

Then there’s (ouch) my running. These old legs just don’t have the snap they used to and I lose many positions to faster runners. The numbers also show this.

What does this mean for 2018?


Do some off-season run-specific training, working toward some more speed. Ah, where is self-discipline when it’s needed? I intend to enjoy the hills the next few months by off-road running and continue testing out MTB riding (something new for me!). Then, of course, there’s road time in southern California in early 2018. This should get me refreshed and ready to hit the Ironman trail in the spring to prepare to race at Challenge Roth next year.

Saturday, September 2, 2017

Bonney Lake Olympic Triathlon, 2017

Last year I raced the sprint version of this race but decided to step up to the Olympic distance this year. My spring Oly race went so well, I figured it would be no problem and I'd be racing off my long distance fitness.

Bonney Lake is pretty small so our course was 2 750m laps. We swam straight into the rising sun for leg 1 (and leg 3) and the buoy was really hard to see. Luckily there were some very distinctive trees on the shore for sighting. Twice around and I felt good. The distance must have been a bit short, based on my time, but I'll take it!

We had quite a run from the water exit across the road and through the sprint race transition area to our area. Most of the bikes were still on my rack when I got there, always a good sign.

Out of T1 we had a short hill almost immediately. This turned out to be an apt description for the bike course: short hills, flat areas, easy downhills. The Oly bike course had a 2 loop section in the middle to give us more distance. At about mile 10 we continued on to go around once more while the sprint course athletes returned to transition. By the time I got to loop 2 there were a lot of sprint races on the course, making it a lot more interesting. Great views, bright sun, decent roads. All good stuff.

After the second mid-course lap I made the left turn to return to transition and the run. Some nice downhill and gentle spinning back to transition helped get my legs ready to run.

Once again we were routed through the sprint transition area. Lots of activity as all kinds of athletes were coming in and going out.

After a decent transition I headed out on the run which turned out to be pretty challenging. Darren had warned me that it was up hill from transition, but how could there be so much up hill when we never seemed to get very high above the lake? I guess it was the rolling terrain. Anyway, it was hard.

We ran along the lake shore then off into the neighborhoods past the 5K turnaround to our turnaround. It seemed that there was more downhill on the way back so I opened up my pace a bit and passed a few people (probably sprint racers). I felt good the last mile and ran in hard.

The numbers:
My goal finish time was 2:45 and I managed to break 2:30 (by more than 4 minutes!), so that was very good. Swim: goal 28 minutes, actual 24:28 (See why I think it was short.) Ride: goal 1:10, actual 1:03 (I rocked!). Run: goal 1 hour, actual 54:17 (sub 9 minutes/mile! Incredible for me). For more details, click here.

There was actually another competitor in my age group; we'll call him Mr. Montana. He's 71 and his shirtless torso was the color of a well-used saddle from many, many shirtless hours spent in the sun. And he looked young. On the podium he told me he missed a turn on the bike course and rode some extra distance. Lucky me! So, I wasn't the oldest person in the race today.

My body was my main competitor today. Last Wednesday I made the mistake of swimming in Lake Washington without my nose clips and I've had a raging sinus infection ever since. It's unbelievable how much mucous can come out of the human head. Just hope I didn't nail any of my fellow athletes when I emptied out on the race course. Of course, breathing was a bit of a challenge. Thank heavens we have a mouth in addition to 2 teeny little nostrils.
x

Monday, August 28, 2017

Penticton ITU Multisport World Championships (2017)

It’s done and I managed a hot day, something new for me. All my concerns about my TeamUSA uniform proved to be uneventful. It worked flawlessly and really helped me keep cool. At every run aid station I doused myself from head to toe in cold water and the evaporation kept me cool to the next aid station. I’ve never had such a good experience at keeping cool. The only downside was that my shoes got wet after a while causing my feet to squish around.

The details: (numbers here, for them what’s interested)

Race morning we had a light breeze (which kept up all day, helping with the cooling). I was so glad to have had all those days in Lake Washington with light wind and waves. It made this swim totally manageable.

My wave (men 40+) had about 300 starters. With the dinky little 10 meter ‘line in the sand’ start it was crowded. Luckily everyone wasn’t required to cross the official start line, so people spread out on the beach. The swim was a clockwise 3KM loop starting at Rotary Park (near the Peach) and ending at Okanagan Park (east of the Coast Hotel). It was pretty busy out to the second turn and return-to-the-beach leg. By that time I started to see some purple swim caps (younger women’s wave) around me. Someone must have thought I was a good swimmer because I had fingers on my feet for most of the swim (weird person!).

The swim felt just like a long training swim, except for the other people crowded around. Luckily we were all going in the same direction.

I was shooting for a 55 minute swim, but ended up with 58 and first out of the water for my AG!

The ride is an out and back north along Lake Okanagan to Summerland and back, followed by 2 loops around Skaha Lake. Both loops include McLean Ranch Road and Highway 97 out of OK Falls. Plenty of up but also some good down. Those of you who’ve raced in Penticton will remember most of these roads.

There was a slight south wind so the leg to Summerland was wind assisted and the return leg wind hindered. I still managed to crank comfortably along in my aero bars almost all the time. Then along the spectator lined Lakeshore Drive and out of town on Government Drive. Once out by Cherry Lane we were back on the road to OK Falls along Skaha Lake; all very familiar ground. Up McLean Ranch Road and down the manky descent to OK Falls (with a dead or sleeping cat on one of the corners!). A few turns through OK Falls, part of it the end of the old IMC marathon course, then up the Highway 97 hill out of town. Even though I’ve ridden this before I still don’t have the false summit section down. After the steeper low section, there’s a long, gradual climb that’s deceptively steep. I kept thinking “Why is this so hard?”.

Each loop brought us back into town and through the crowd.

I had an altered bike hydration plan (thanks to Gary and Ed) and followed it. A little less drinking early on and a bit more towards the end. I started the ride with full 2 liters in my hydration pack and added 1.5 liters, which turned out to be about .75 liters too much, at the McClean Ranch Road aid station.

I crushed the 120KM ride with a sub 4-hour time and was EXTREMELY pleased. My legs were good off the bike and, after a porta-potty visit, I was through the change tent and out onto the run.

The run course for this race was basically a set of 3 out and back loops: one along Main Street, a second along Martin Street over almost to the Convention Center, and the third along the lake shore, past the Sicamous, and up to a turnaround near Highway 97. Each loop was 10K and we repeated it 3 times. Very tedious, very hot with temperatures around 30°C. I was very pleased with the functioning of my TeamUSA uniform: no arm chafing (which I’d feared) and excellent cooling when doused with water.

I followed my hydration plan with a short drinking walk every half mile and consumed fluids on my known schedule (1/2 liter each 3 miles). My only problem was the spacing of the aid stations. The aid stations on both Main St. and Martin St. were placed too close to the turnaround point so they were unevenly spaced around the course It took me about half the run to figure out how to get my water bottle refilled when I needed it.

Other than that, it was just jog along, getting passed by faster runners, and keep moving forward.

My run was not as fast as I’d hoped, but still adequate. The first 2 laps were pretty even pace, but by lap 3 I really slowed down and had to pay attention to keep moving. By then, a lot of people were walking so I was able to pass others. It was only on the third lap that I saw a competitor with a race number near to me and I passed him while he was walking. Turned out he wasn’t on lap 3, but farther back.

All day long I’d been looking at race numbers to see if an age group competitor was near me, passing or being passed, and saw no one. So, I was scared the whole time about where I was in the field (wanting to finish well!). So, it was with great pleasure that I heard Steve King announce that his “… good friend Mike Nelson wins the gold in the 70-74 age category” as I crossed the finish line. What a relief.

After finishing I did has some blood pressure issues and faint headed-ness which a stop in the Medical Tent for fluids and a chair resolved. Then food, some rest, and the evening awards ceremony.


The awards ceremony had a number of cool features: an Olympic style podium for the bronze, silver, and gold medalists; representatives from the various national triathlon organizations handing out national flags so you could proudly display your nation’s colors; men and women presented at the same time (cut down on the awards time); old people first which meant I got to go out first with my fellow 70-74 winners, followed by all the young uns.