Started off the tri season this past weekend with a Sprint Distance Tri down in Columbia, Mo. Reed, Jason, and I headed from my place on Saturday evening at about 5:30. The ride down was full of good conversation, laughs, jokes, and good ol' guy time. Everytime I am with Jason I come to find out he is funnier and funnier the more I get to know him. Reed, is funny-be careful with him though don't tick him off as he may curse you to drink from the "River of a Thousand Camels"-seriously he said that after an unfortunate gaseous situation in the hotel room Saturday night.
After the 4+ hour drive down to Columbia, we decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to pre-drive the course, despite the fact that it was getting late. The course was pretty much on the open roads of Columbia, and had a ton of right and left turns. There really weren't a lot of straight aways that allowed you to totally drop the hammer. The other thing we found about the course was the it was really pretty hilly. There were was one long pull on the front side of the course that wasn't overly steep just a longer grade...much like one of the hills into Waukee. However; there was one hill on the backside of the two-loop course that required one to climb a 16% grade hill(no I'm not kidding)-more on this later.
Once we are done with driving the course we decide to head over to the hotel. Reed and I quickly decided that in future travels we will make the hotel reservations and leave Jason to leading us with his true skill: navigation(Jason has an uncanny nack for directions and addresses so much so that I called him TomTom several times this weekend.)
Once in the rooms we get our bags organized(which takes all of 5 minutes, compared to all the planning required for IronMan)and got ready for bed. We decide on a 5:15 wakeup call and fell asleep after several, as previously mentioned, unfortunate gaseous situations. I woke up at 4:45 really nervous about the race-which isn't common for me because I normally sleep well pre-race...not so much this race. I think the fact that I haven't raced since IM AZ 06, I was nervous and wanted to put out a good effort.
We left for the race and got our spots in transition. This really is a well run event and looks to be a fun start of the season going forward(hint, hint, Carmen). The swim was in the UoM Aquatic Center(which is where Michael Phelps set a world record last year). The start is a self-seeded stagger start that has each swimmer leaving every 11 seconds. By the start of the second 50 meters I had passed the gal in front of me as we went under the lane lines. I closed to 3 seconds of the gal in front of her but never was able to close the gap. Got out of the water and my HR was pegged at 146-which is pretty high as far as swimming goes. Ran to T1 and grabbed the helmet, shoes, sunglasses, and headed for the road.
The ride was really fun! It was great to be in the game! The long hill and the 16% sucked but what is racing without a little pain! Heck I should probably be honest and say a lot of pain-especially on the 16%'er(Average HR during the bike was in 150's and sneaked into the 160's on the big hill). Thanked every volunteer on the course because without them the sport just wouldn't be possible. As we headed back in, I started getting ready for the run...more mentally than physically. Running challenges me everytime I start the process. Found a really nice gal from Quincy, IL to run with. We stuck together the entire run right up until the last hill coming back into the campus area. Arrrrgh-she dropped me and was pulling away until I used the DQ(my former coach)method of mental gymnastics which helped me trick myself into pulling back even then finishing a bit stronger than her to cross about 20 seconds before she did. Also helping with that push was the guy closing from behind and the unbearable thought of having Reed and Jason at the finish line watching me not finish strong.
Finish time was 1:25:42
Swim 6:49(which includes part of the transition)=1:33/100(2nd fastest in Division)
T1 3:00(2nd fastest in division)
Bike 47:55(4th fastest in Division)
T2 -data not provided
Run 27:56=9:19/mile(8th fastest in division)
After the race did a cool down run, drill, stretch regime and clapped for the folks still heading out on the bike. That's right there were folks still swimming long after I finished. Finally ran into Jason and Reed-we decided to stick around as the awards ceremony was going to be kind to the DM boys. Jason 2nd overall, Reed 4th overall(1st age group), me 5th in div and top 25% overall. Since there was a good bit of time until the awards ceremony we decided to pack up the bikes and head for a shower over at the pool. I realized I only had my transition towel which isn't much bigger than a wash cloth to dry off with. I made a comment about "towel isn't any freakin' bigger than a wash cloth".
Get to the locker room and I pull out my "towel" instantly my buddies start in with the comments. Reed asks me if I would like a Kleenex. Jason comments "hey nice loin cloth"-now they are just encouraging each other. We walk over to the shower stalls I hang up my "towel", and Reed asks "hey Bratz, can I borrow your wash cloth"-everyone in the shower area snickers. I leave the shower first, closely followed by Jason(not REALLY closely, that's just icky) I am desperatley trying to dry off with a cloth that is about the same size as a big stamp and Jason says "hey Bratz how about a cotton ball to dry off with." Reed fires "how about a Qtip for your crack"...ahhh friends. I get my revenge and offer Jason my "loin cloth" when he realizes that he forgot his boxers.
Last bit about the trip to RFS(which is run by one heck of a guy named Mark Livesay)comes in the form of a irritation kind of like a hang nail. As soon as we got to the race the announcer was chattering non-stop. This is typical at races, for whatever reason race promoteres think triathletes intellect is that of a retarded catepillar, they repeat the days rules and reminders non-stop. This wouldn't be so bad but the dude on the mic today has a "transient Kiwi-accent". Meaning he would be talking like a native of Missouri on moment...the next second he was dropping words like mate, bloak, and other choice phrases. This really bugged Jason and I...Reed was much more patient. However, it certainly was a great launching point for laughs all day as this guy tried way toooooooo hard to sounds like a lad from down under.
One lesson learned-veggie dogs are not the best food to consume prior to traveling in a car for hours follows.
Have a great week!
Jeff
After the 4+ hour drive down to Columbia, we decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to pre-drive the course, despite the fact that it was getting late. The course was pretty much on the open roads of Columbia, and had a ton of right and left turns. There really weren't a lot of straight aways that allowed you to totally drop the hammer. The other thing we found about the course was the it was really pretty hilly. There were was one long pull on the front side of the course that wasn't overly steep just a longer grade...much like one of the hills into Waukee. However; there was one hill on the backside of the two-loop course that required one to climb a 16% grade hill(no I'm not kidding)-more on this later.
Once we are done with driving the course we decide to head over to the hotel. Reed and I quickly decided that in future travels we will make the hotel reservations and leave Jason to leading us with his true skill: navigation(Jason has an uncanny nack for directions and addresses so much so that I called him TomTom several times this weekend.)
Once in the rooms we get our bags organized(which takes all of 5 minutes, compared to all the planning required for IronMan)and got ready for bed. We decide on a 5:15 wakeup call and fell asleep after several, as previously mentioned, unfortunate gaseous situations. I woke up at 4:45 really nervous about the race-which isn't common for me because I normally sleep well pre-race...not so much this race. I think the fact that I haven't raced since IM AZ 06, I was nervous and wanted to put out a good effort.
We left for the race and got our spots in transition. This really is a well run event and looks to be a fun start of the season going forward(hint, hint, Carmen). The swim was in the UoM Aquatic Center(which is where Michael Phelps set a world record last year). The start is a self-seeded stagger start that has each swimmer leaving every 11 seconds. By the start of the second 50 meters I had passed the gal in front of me as we went under the lane lines. I closed to 3 seconds of the gal in front of her but never was able to close the gap. Got out of the water and my HR was pegged at 146-which is pretty high as far as swimming goes. Ran to T1 and grabbed the helmet, shoes, sunglasses, and headed for the road.
The ride was really fun! It was great to be in the game! The long hill and the 16% sucked but what is racing without a little pain! Heck I should probably be honest and say a lot of pain-especially on the 16%'er(Average HR during the bike was in 150's and sneaked into the 160's on the big hill). Thanked every volunteer on the course because without them the sport just wouldn't be possible. As we headed back in, I started getting ready for the run...more mentally than physically. Running challenges me everytime I start the process. Found a really nice gal from Quincy, IL to run with. We stuck together the entire run right up until the last hill coming back into the campus area. Arrrrgh-she dropped me and was pulling away until I used the DQ(my former coach)method of mental gymnastics which helped me trick myself into pulling back even then finishing a bit stronger than her to cross about 20 seconds before she did. Also helping with that push was the guy closing from behind and the unbearable thought of having Reed and Jason at the finish line watching me not finish strong.
Finish time was 1:25:42
Swim 6:49(which includes part of the transition)=1:33/100(2nd fastest in Division)
T1 3:00(2nd fastest in division)
Bike 47:55(4th fastest in Division)
T2 -data not provided
Run 27:56=9:19/mile(8th fastest in division)
After the race did a cool down run, drill, stretch regime and clapped for the folks still heading out on the bike. That's right there were folks still swimming long after I finished. Finally ran into Jason and Reed-we decided to stick around as the awards ceremony was going to be kind to the DM boys. Jason 2nd overall, Reed 4th overall(1st age group), me 5th in div and top 25% overall. Since there was a good bit of time until the awards ceremony we decided to pack up the bikes and head for a shower over at the pool. I realized I only had my transition towel which isn't much bigger than a wash cloth to dry off with. I made a comment about "towel isn't any freakin' bigger than a wash cloth".
Get to the locker room and I pull out my "towel" instantly my buddies start in with the comments. Reed asks me if I would like a Kleenex. Jason comments "hey nice loin cloth"-now they are just encouraging each other. We walk over to the shower stalls I hang up my "towel", and Reed asks "hey Bratz, can I borrow your wash cloth"-everyone in the shower area snickers. I leave the shower first, closely followed by Jason(not REALLY closely, that's just icky) I am desperatley trying to dry off with a cloth that is about the same size as a big stamp and Jason says "hey Bratz how about a cotton ball to dry off with." Reed fires "how about a Qtip for your crack"...ahhh friends. I get my revenge and offer Jason my "loin cloth" when he realizes that he forgot his boxers.
Last bit about the trip to RFS(which is run by one heck of a guy named Mark Livesay)comes in the form of a irritation kind of like a hang nail. As soon as we got to the race the announcer was chattering non-stop. This is typical at races, for whatever reason race promoteres think triathletes intellect is that of a retarded catepillar, they repeat the days rules and reminders non-stop. This wouldn't be so bad but the dude on the mic today has a "transient Kiwi-accent". Meaning he would be talking like a native of Missouri on moment...the next second he was dropping words like mate, bloak, and other choice phrases. This really bugged Jason and I...Reed was much more patient. However, it certainly was a great launching point for laughs all day as this guy tried way toooooooo hard to sounds like a lad from down under.
One lesson learned-veggie dogs are not the best food to consume prior to traveling in a car for hours follows.
Have a great week!
Jeff
