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Racing alone
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Decided to skip the race I am signed up for and race at home, by myself, instead. I would be spending a ton of money for travel and hotel for a full distance race with less than 200 people. With numbers like that I figured I would spend most of the day completely alone in the middle of nowhere. Here at home I see lots of people out training all day long - there are always group swims at the lake in the a.m., cyclists everywhere I ride all afternoon, local runners training for the upcoming marathon in the evenings. I will have more company here all day than I would at the actual race. I read a thread recently about race swag and there was a bit of a discussion about why we really do triathlons anyway. Someone mentioned a no frills race where you just pay your entry fee and race. So that's kind of what I am doing. And I was just wondering, has anyone else ever done this (trained for an ironman distance race and just done it on your own)? And, what's the smallest race you've ever done?
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Re: Racing alone [ridinggiants] [ In reply to ]
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You would be surprised how many people you might see depending on the layout of the course. In April I was at the HITS Marble Falls event. On the Saturday morning I think there were 150 people doing the Half and 20 of us doing the full (yes only 20 - which is probably why that event is not on the calendar for 2016). The layout was HIM - 1 loop swim, 1 loop bike, 2 out-backs run. For the Full - 2 loop swim, 2 loop bike, 4 out-backs run. Anyway - I was never completely alone during any portion of the event, perhaps lucky that a group of six of us all finished within I think 30 minutes of each other so never a big separation. That was my first full so those conditions were actually good - if you are a multiple time finisher the I could see that you want more of the big event feel. Even a big block of training all day is not going to be the same as even a low key race - unless you can rope in some friends that maybe want to join in on certain sections that will give you some company and motivation to push it.
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Re: Racing alone [ridinggiants] [ In reply to ]
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Can you call it "racing" if it's just you, at home by yourself? That sounds pretty similar to what I do pretty much every day...train by myself or maybe with a friend or two. There are certain things that you experience during a race that you just can't replicate in training no matter how hard you try. I don't think I'd put myself through all of that with no competition. That said, I can understand not wanting to do a full with 200 people and incur the additional expenses. There are plenty of local races that get around that number of people here. They happen almost every other weekend in upstate NY.

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Re: Racing alone [ridinggiants] [ In reply to ]
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a group of people just organized an "unorganized" tri in Oregon; check the August Fish thread for pics

I remember a female poster here who routinely did HIM distance days on her own. I don't remember her name.

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
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Re: Racing alone [ridinggiants] [ In reply to ]
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I think you've missed the point of racing.
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Re: Racing alone [ridinggiants] [ In reply to ]
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I live in a place in Oregon where there are a large number of endurance races including tri's. People travel here for the races. Many of the races use the same roads and courses and many of these courses are able to be used outside of a race environment.

There is a large number of outdoor athletes here and a large number of available courses at any time. There isn't much point in me to pay for races when we make up our own unorganized races and events all the time. It leaves a lot more flexibility to races (adding in kayaking, climbing, orienteering).

I don't see any need in spending $1000 on travel and a race that is in a place that is less beautiful or less enjoyable. I can do free races in jawdropping scenery.
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Re: Racing alone [ridinggiants] [ In reply to ]
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You're guaranteed to win this.

Of course racing is expensive. It's triathlon.

'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'
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Re: Racing alone [ridinggiants] [ In reply to ]
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Personally, I hate small races.. thats why I do the IMs and 70.3s... you know you get a good showing.. except for the superfrog which only has a few hundred lol.. I almost registered for that one but I checked the list and its pitifully low.
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Re: Racing alone [cougie] [ In reply to ]
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cougie wrote:
I think you've missed the point of racing.

You might be right. I've done a few IM's and half distance races and lots of Oly's and sprints - I thought this race was going to bring the same kind of excitement. I've loved all the training but right from sign up it felt like the air was slowly leaking out of this particular race and for me, right now, it's completely flat. Guess a more competitive person would still want to get out there.

On a "meh" note - I will make the podium in the race I do but I would also have been guaranteed a podium spot in the race I am not doing.
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Re: Racing alone [HoustonTri(er)] [ In reply to ]
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HoustonTri(er) wrote:
You would be surprised how many people you might see depending on the layout of the course. In April I was at the HITS Marble Falls event. On the Saturday morning I think there were 150 people doing the Half and 20 of us doing the full (yes only 20 - which is probably why that event is not on the calendar for 2016). The layout was HIM - 1 loop swim, 1 loop bike, 2 out-backs run. For the Full - 2 loop swim, 2 loop bike, 4 out-backs run. Anyway - I was never completely alone during any portion of the event, perhaps lucky that a group of six of us all finished within I think 30 minutes of each other so never a big separation. That was my first full so those conditions were actually good - if you are a multiple time finisher the I could see that you want more of the big event feel. Even a big block of training all day is not going to be the same as even a low key race - unless you can rope in some friends that maybe want to join in on certain sections that will give you some company and motivation to push it.

Thanks for the info on the HITS MF event. I'll be doing the HITS Ocala as my first 140.6. I would've preferred the IMFL, but by the time I started thinking about a full distance, obviously the IMFL had sold out. Having to register a year in advance kind of sucks if you want to do a WTC full. I'm compulsive enough that I don't want to wait a year and a half once I made up my mind to do this. So, I opted for the HITS. Hopefully I won't spend too much time out there alone, but I'll be in the 70-74 AG, surely 16 hours or more, so during the run I might get lonely. No problem, I don't really need competition to have fun. The event itself should keep my adrenaline level sufficiently high throughout the race.
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Re: Racing alone [ridinggiants] [ In reply to ]
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For me, 200 is a nice number. I hate big crowds and lines.

Is doing it yourself a race? I'd say no, but depending on your reason for "racing" it may be even more rewarding. I recall an article about "Solo-Man" years ago where a guy did the Ironman Hawaii course by himself on a non-race day and wrote about the experience.
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Re: Racing alone [ridinggiants] [ In reply to ]
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Well, my solo race is in the books. Usually a lot of swimmers at the lake in the a.m. but it was raining lightly and there was a mist over the lake. Only one other swimmer out there at 6:30. Got out of the lake with a PB. Discovered someone had gone through my bag and my post-swim banana was missing. Other swimmer was gone. All that was left where his tri bike had been was a banana peel. ???

Rained a little on the bike but was mostly just windy. I had a PB for the long distance with that too. On one hand, the course was much less challenging than the race course I was originally going to do. On the other hand, I had to contend with traffic lights and no support and even had to go into a store at one point.

Run was a little hilly. No rain but cold by the ocean. It was a slow marathon but better than my usual Ironman marathon. I walked the last km and have to say that I missed the encouragement that you get from others in an organized race. Might have kept me running.

I was very happy to have PB's in every sport. My overall time was actually pretty slow with transitions included. I usually spend about 8 minutes going from swim to run. This time it took me 18 minutes! Transitions are tricky without help.

Proud of myself for sticking with it and it was definitely a mental test. Not sure I need to ever do it again!
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Re: Racing alone [ridinggiants] [ In reply to ]
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50.50.50*
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Re: Racing alone [ridinggiants] [ In reply to ]
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ridinggiants wrote:
Well, my solo race is in the books. Usually a lot of swimmers at the lake in the a.m. but it was raining lightly and there was a mist over the lake. Only one other swimmer out there at 6:30. Got out of the lake with a PB. Discovered someone had gone through my bag and my post-swim banana was missing. Other swimmer was gone. All that was left where his tri bike had been was a banana peel. ???

Rained a little on the bike but was mostly just windy. I had a PB for the long distance with that too. On one hand, the course was much less challenging than the race course I was originally going to do. On the other hand, I had to contend with traffic lights and no support and even had to go into a store at one point.

Run was a little hilly. No rain but cold by the ocean. It was a slow marathon but better than my usual Ironman marathon. I walked the last km and have to say that I missed the encouragement that you get from others in an organized race. Might have kept me running.

I was very happy to have PB's in every sport. My overall time was actually pretty slow with transitions included. I usually spend about 8 minutes going from swim to run. This time it took me 18 minutes! Transitions are tricky without help.

Proud of myself for sticking with it and it was definitely a mental test. Not sure I need to ever do it again!

Did you get pulled into drug testing?

"Good genes are not a requirement, just the obsession to beat ones brains out daily"...the Griz
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Re: Racing alone [stringcheese] [ In reply to ]
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I am the only one I know in my area (jacksonville) that races - I am not that quick - the run kills me - but I do small sprint local races all the time by myself.
I usually do the one in Key West in December, some in other parts of Florida. I show up alone, I race alone, I finish alone, then drive back to wherever I came from.


looking at this - it sounds very very lonely and horrible haha but I just like racing - whether I know anyone or not.
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Re: Racing alone [ridinggiants] [ In reply to ]
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Please post pics of your finish line pose, finisher's medal, and race t-shirt.






Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/
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Re: Racing alone [125mph] [ In reply to ]
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125mph wrote:
Personally, I hate small races.. thats why I do the IMs and 70.3s... you know you get a good showing.. except for the superfrog which only has a few hundred lol.. I almost registered for that one but I checked the list and its pitifully low.

And I only like small races. Have done events with anywhere from 20 to 40k people (obviously not tri, biggest tri was Chicago with 4k-ish). My enjoyment has been pretty reverse correlated with the size of the event.

That said, I still like having an actual event to shoot for. Training all alone can get lonely. Getting to test yourself in front of a few 100 people is awesome. Just because I get top 10 in a 100 man race, does it mean I am any good? No not really, would need to do the same at a bigger race.. but I still have a load of fun in the 100 mans.

Costing less is just a side bonus. I think of WTC ran Olympics with 5k people, and local places ran a little Olympic with 500 people for the same cost, I would pick the local place.
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Re: Racing alone [copperman] [ In reply to ]
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copperman wrote:
125mph wrote:
Personally, I hate small races.. thats why I do the IMs and 70.3s... you know you get a good showing.. except for the superfrog which only has a few hundred lol.. I almost registered for that one but I checked the list and its pitifully low.


And I only like small races. Have done events with anywhere from 20 to 40k people (obviously not tri, biggest tri was Chicago with 4k-ish). My enjoyment has been pretty reverse correlated with the size of the event.

That said, I still like having an actual event to shoot for. Training all alone can get lonely. Getting to test yourself in front of a few 100 people is awesome. Just because I get top 10 in a 100 man race, does it mean I am any good? No not really, would need to do the same at a bigger race.. but I still have a load of fun in the 100 mans.

Costing less is just a side bonus. I think of WTC ran Olympics with 5k people, and local places ran a little Olympic with 500 people for the same cost, I would pick the local place.

I agree with this - plus the smaller races (to me) are more fun because there are some new people and the general attitude is friendlier. Some of the bigger races have people with their head really far up their butt.
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Re: Racing alone [ridinggiants] [ In reply to ]
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ridinggiants wrote:
Well, my solo race is in the books. Usually a lot of swimmers at the lake in the a.m. but it was raining lightly and there was a mist over the lake. Only one other swimmer out there at 6:30. Got out of the lake with a PB. Discovered someone had gone through my bag and my post-swim banana was missing. Other swimmer was gone. All that was left where his tri bike had been was a banana peel. ???

Rained a little on the bike but was mostly just windy. I had a PB for the long distance with that too. On one hand, the course was much less challenging than the race course I was originally going to do. On the other hand, I had to contend with traffic lights and no support and even had to go into a store at one point.

Run was a little hilly. No rain but cold by the ocean. It was a slow marathon but better than my usual Ironman marathon. I walked the last km and have to say that I missed the encouragement that you get from others in an organized race. Might have kept me running.

I was very happy to have PB's in every sport. My overall time was actually pretty slow with transitions included. I usually spend about 8 minutes going from swim to run. This time it took me 18 minutes! Transitions are tricky without help.

Proud of myself for sticking with it and it was definitely a mental test. Not sure I need to ever do it again!

Thanks for the banana. Next time, have a little peanut butter in your bag, too. I don't think that's too much to ask.

Congrats on the finish. Way to push through the distance and the elements.
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Re: Racing alone [ridinggiants] [ In reply to ]
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I agree. I would only race in a big race. Otherwise, I can just do it myself for free.
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Re: Racing alone [ridinggiants] [ In reply to ]
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Smallest race I have done was the full Pineman in 2003. I was just looking at the results thinking about the cheating thread because that was the closest I have ever come to cutting a course.

There were 50 - 55 people, only timing mat on the run was at the start of each lap, 4 laps, the bulk of the run went along a country road lined with corn. There would have been no problem ducking into the corn, waiting two minutes then come out going the other direction.

And then looking at the results, a woman I trained with apparently did just that. I've looked at those results at various times for 12 years and never noticed before today that her run time was very unlikely. I remember during the race that I was very surprised how much she was gaining on me each lap. Well, today I actually looked closer. After riding 7:29:00, she ran a 3:46 for the third fastest run of the day, behind only the two top men. She ran the New York marathon 2 months later in 4:06, and she was very happy with her time.

I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.
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Re: Racing alone [Tri-Banter] [ In reply to ]
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Tri-Banter wrote:
Please post pics of your finish line pose, finisher's medal, and race t-shirt.

No medal or t-shirt but I did arrive at the finish to a gigantic banner - actually a green plastic tablecloth with the mdot logo and "Ironman 2015 Finish" on it. I posed for pix in front of that sign. Too funny.
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