This is all mostly in jest! Trying to drum up support for my favorite race!
Race Details:
Location: Lake Waccamaw, NC
Date: September 4th, 2017
Order of Events: Swim, Bike, Kayak, Run
Time: 6:30am
This event was started a long time ago with a swim across Lake Waccamaw. The route is from Dale's Seafood(the only restaurant) to the dam. If you swim straight it is a 4 mile swim. Lake Waccamaw is a bay lake. One of a few natural lakes in SE NC. At it's deepest it is 10ft deep but most of the lake is only 8ft deep. Within 300 yards of shore is is walkable. In the early 2000's Columbus County gathered around this event and expanded it to include a walk/run, bike, and a kayak. The goal was to encircle the lake with each event. However, passage over the dam has not been consisent so equal distances have been established. On Labor Day weekend the fitness challenges start with a run on Saturday. Then the kayak and bike take place on Sunday and the traditional Labor Day Swim on Monday. A few years after that started a group of guys go together and took part in all four in one day and thus the Xtreme was born. This race has traditionally taken place on the Saturday before Labor Day weekend. This year it was moved to Labor Day to make better use of the volunteers on the lake.
About the Race
Swim: 4 (3.87)miles straight across the lake:
Bike 15 Miles
Kayak 14 Miles
No Photo here. Follow the edge of the lake all the way around
Run 15 Miles
This is a very grassroots race. There is nothing special going on. There aren't a lot of people here doing it. It is you against the lake and the stopwatch. The swim course is marked from one side of the lake to the other. Each bouy is a kids hoppity-ball. There are no timing mats, no timing chips, and no hoopla.
For the swim there are rescue boats in the water but the hardest part of this whole race is getting a good friend to kayak with you across the lake while you swim along. It's a lot like asking someone to help you move. It is a test of a friendship. I'm lucky enough to have had the same kayaker for 3 years.
Race Re-Cap
We* (important detail) start the race at exactly 6:32. No horn, no buzzer, just alright guys, "Go." We head off towards the first bouy. I make it quite a way still walking in the waist deep water before I start to swim. The plan for this day was to swim 20 min and take a short break and keep that up until we reach the other side. But, that plan went side ways fairly quickly. I had alerts set on my watch for time and distance and I couldn't keep which one was which so I just took a short break at every bouy. It worked out quite well. One key piece of equipment was the pool noodle. Every time I took a break instead of hanging on to the kayak I just grabbed the noodle and floated. This was also important because if he were to have to rescue me we'd need something as well. I started in on my nutrition fairly early. As it was easy since he could just carry it along with me. Sadly I am a slow swimmer. I can muster 1:45's in the pool but in the open water I slow down considerably. I finished the swim at 4.29 miles in 2:51 for a pace around 2:17 Still a much better showing than years past.
Well here's another kick in the pants in this race. Transition is at Dale's Seafood. I've just swam to the other side. We've got to get back to Dale's luckly I've also hoodwinked my brother into coming down and he's waiting for us in the truck. We load up the kayak in the truck and head back to Dale's to get ready for the bike. My brother knows it's a race. He's killing it in the truck as we ride on the tailgate.
Bike:
In term of triathlon and bikes this is an easy bike. No elevation change and only 15 miles. I'd like to say that I crushed it. But my first year I over biked it and suffered the rest of the day because of it. So, I took it as easy as I could. The course takes and out and back 2x. I finished the bike in 45min. Not crushing it but not little old lady either.
Kayak
This is where this race is won or lost. The kayak is fairly brutal. I am now into the hottest part of the day in SE NC. There was not a cloud in the sky this day and it was a great day to be on the water. I was moving along fairly good for the first 7 or so miles of this trip. I was clocking most of my miles in at 11:25 or so. Making sure to drink something every mile. We had put our boat on the water first thing that morning. So now my support crew was on the boat looking for me. They found me about mile 6. They replenished my water and nutrition and sent me on my way. They met me again about mile 10 and gave me some more encouragement before they set back off towards transition to get some seafood at Dale's. The kayak is a pretty lonely place in this race. There are other boats out there but no one to talk to and nothing really to see. I was starting to fade the last three miles and saw my times consistently drop over the last very miles. My back was starting to tighten up and I was ready to be out of the kayak.
Run
If there was one thing that I wanted to improve this year it was my run. I'm about as good of a runner as I am a swimmer. Slow but steady. In years past I've tried to get my support crew to meet me every 2 miles to get me more food/water. But, it hasn't really worked out all that well. So this year I brought a beach cruiser and put a rack on the back. On this rack was cold drinks, snacks, a few things I thought I might like. I started the run very strong(but slow) I was cruising along at about a 10:30 pace with a HR right around 120. Which is right were I needed it to be to finish this race. I would take a quick 30/45 second walk break at the end of every mile to get something to drink. The best part was I always had someone right there with me to talk to and water to drink. I changed bike riders three times over the course of the run and they did eventually follow me in the truck for a while. Towards the end of the run I was fading and not wanting to run any more but I was in good spirits and my HR was staying below my 142 threshold. I wound up finishing the run in 2:58.
My overall time was 10:19 beating my 10:52 time from the year previous.
I had a great time and couldn't have done it with out my support crew. They really made the best of it all day.
Now on to the sad part of this story.
I was the only one that did it. In years past we've had 12-15 people sign up and it was a lot more fun. It was pretty hard to push the pace knowing I was the only one 'racing'. The swimmer from that morning dropped right after the swim.
I would like to grow this race some. It doesn't have the sexiness of an Ironman. It is a really grassroots race. The kayak throws a wrinkle in there that really makes it fun.
So, I've posted this to drum up some interest in this race. So ask me anything about Take the Lake Extreme
Race Details:
Location: Lake Waccamaw, NC
Date: September 4th, 2017
Order of Events: Swim, Bike, Kayak, Run
Time: 6:30am
This event was started a long time ago with a swim across Lake Waccamaw. The route is from Dale's Seafood(the only restaurant) to the dam. If you swim straight it is a 4 mile swim. Lake Waccamaw is a bay lake. One of a few natural lakes in SE NC. At it's deepest it is 10ft deep but most of the lake is only 8ft deep. Within 300 yards of shore is is walkable. In the early 2000's Columbus County gathered around this event and expanded it to include a walk/run, bike, and a kayak. The goal was to encircle the lake with each event. However, passage over the dam has not been consisent so equal distances have been established. On Labor Day weekend the fitness challenges start with a run on Saturday. Then the kayak and bike take place on Sunday and the traditional Labor Day Swim on Monday. A few years after that started a group of guys go together and took part in all four in one day and thus the Xtreme was born. This race has traditionally taken place on the Saturday before Labor Day weekend. This year it was moved to Labor Day to make better use of the volunteers on the lake.
About the Race
Swim: 4 (3.87)miles straight across the lake:
Bike 15 Miles
Kayak 14 Miles
No Photo here. Follow the edge of the lake all the way around
Run 15 Miles
This is a very grassroots race. There is nothing special going on. There aren't a lot of people here doing it. It is you against the lake and the stopwatch. The swim course is marked from one side of the lake to the other. Each bouy is a kids hoppity-ball. There are no timing mats, no timing chips, and no hoopla.
For the swim there are rescue boats in the water but the hardest part of this whole race is getting a good friend to kayak with you across the lake while you swim along. It's a lot like asking someone to help you move. It is a test of a friendship. I'm lucky enough to have had the same kayaker for 3 years.
Race Re-Cap
We* (important detail) start the race at exactly 6:32. No horn, no buzzer, just alright guys, "Go." We head off towards the first bouy. I make it quite a way still walking in the waist deep water before I start to swim. The plan for this day was to swim 20 min and take a short break and keep that up until we reach the other side. But, that plan went side ways fairly quickly. I had alerts set on my watch for time and distance and I couldn't keep which one was which so I just took a short break at every bouy. It worked out quite well. One key piece of equipment was the pool noodle. Every time I took a break instead of hanging on to the kayak I just grabbed the noodle and floated. This was also important because if he were to have to rescue me we'd need something as well. I started in on my nutrition fairly early. As it was easy since he could just carry it along with me. Sadly I am a slow swimmer. I can muster 1:45's in the pool but in the open water I slow down considerably. I finished the swim at 4.29 miles in 2:51 for a pace around 2:17 Still a much better showing than years past.
Well here's another kick in the pants in this race. Transition is at Dale's Seafood. I've just swam to the other side. We've got to get back to Dale's luckly I've also hoodwinked my brother into coming down and he's waiting for us in the truck. We load up the kayak in the truck and head back to Dale's to get ready for the bike. My brother knows it's a race. He's killing it in the truck as we ride on the tailgate.
Bike:
In term of triathlon and bikes this is an easy bike. No elevation change and only 15 miles. I'd like to say that I crushed it. But my first year I over biked it and suffered the rest of the day because of it. So, I took it as easy as I could. The course takes and out and back 2x. I finished the bike in 45min. Not crushing it but not little old lady either.
Kayak
This is where this race is won or lost. The kayak is fairly brutal. I am now into the hottest part of the day in SE NC. There was not a cloud in the sky this day and it was a great day to be on the water. I was moving along fairly good for the first 7 or so miles of this trip. I was clocking most of my miles in at 11:25 or so. Making sure to drink something every mile. We had put our boat on the water first thing that morning. So now my support crew was on the boat looking for me. They found me about mile 6. They replenished my water and nutrition and sent me on my way. They met me again about mile 10 and gave me some more encouragement before they set back off towards transition to get some seafood at Dale's. The kayak is a pretty lonely place in this race. There are other boats out there but no one to talk to and nothing really to see. I was starting to fade the last three miles and saw my times consistently drop over the last very miles. My back was starting to tighten up and I was ready to be out of the kayak.
Run
If there was one thing that I wanted to improve this year it was my run. I'm about as good of a runner as I am a swimmer. Slow but steady. In years past I've tried to get my support crew to meet me every 2 miles to get me more food/water. But, it hasn't really worked out all that well. So this year I brought a beach cruiser and put a rack on the back. On this rack was cold drinks, snacks, a few things I thought I might like. I started the run very strong(but slow) I was cruising along at about a 10:30 pace with a HR right around 120. Which is right were I needed it to be to finish this race. I would take a quick 30/45 second walk break at the end of every mile to get something to drink. The best part was I always had someone right there with me to talk to and water to drink. I changed bike riders three times over the course of the run and they did eventually follow me in the truck for a while. Towards the end of the run I was fading and not wanting to run any more but I was in good spirits and my HR was staying below my 142 threshold. I wound up finishing the run in 2:58.
My overall time was 10:19 beating my 10:52 time from the year previous.
I had a great time and couldn't have done it with out my support crew. They really made the best of it all day.
Now on to the sad part of this story.
I was the only one that did it. In years past we've had 12-15 people sign up and it was a lot more fun. It was pretty hard to push the pace knowing I was the only one 'racing'. The swimmer from that morning dropped right after the swim.
I would like to grow this race some. It doesn't have the sexiness of an Ironman. It is a really grassroots race. The kayak throws a wrinkle in there that really makes it fun.
So, I've posted this to drum up some interest in this race. So ask me anything about Take the Lake Extreme