But in case you’ve continued on…
I posted this over on http://www.endurancenation.us/forums/ (which is the love-child website of Rich Strauss of CF.com and Pat McCrann of PTS), but I figgered I’d throw it up here too, and burn some of Slowman’s bandwidth as well.
GREAT as always to see and meet ST’ers at the races, and Timberman was no exception.
Crossed paths with the following folks (and probably more I’m forgetting, so aplogies in advance):
mcoughlin, kus, kdw, Colossal Quads, hammerheadny and the Mrs (aka JeanneRoth), a nice lady from Fla (sorry, forget yer handle), and a lurker (Chris) who somehow picked me out after the race.
Pleasure as always!!!
Figgered I aughta jot something down to share my experiences w/ the group, so here goes…
Here’s a link to some pics from the fine folks at ASI:
http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_e…=15294&BIB=880
Spent the week prior to the race up in N. Conway (technically Intervale) NH.
Awesome area, lots to see and do. Also very nice for a tapering tri-dork, as there is a great place naerby to swim and do easy trail runs (Echo Lake SP, which sits in the shadow of White Horse and Cathedral Ledge, 2 world-class climbing crags, which alas I didn’t get to sample), and some great roads to ride on as well. Plus am temps were in the 50’s, so it was very comfy.
Only downside was, in addition to my am workouts, we did something almost every day that had me on my feet - 2 kiddie theme parks (Story Land and Santa’s Village, our 4yr old Emma had a blast at both), nice hiking, touristy stuff, etc. Even an easy hike while carrying 40lbs of kid can take a toll…
And that I ate 
and drank 
like it was the week after my A-race, rather than the week before, probably didn’t help matters either.
Arrive at Ellacoya the day before the race, it looks like a Great Lake during a gale. 
I really really hope it won’t be like this tomorrow.
Pick up packet, drop off bike, pre-drive a bit o’ the run and bike courses, then head for the “Tilton Hilton” (The Super 8) and go to Uno for dinner.
**Race am **- wake at 3:50, down 3 Ensures, start packing up, get outta Dodge and drive to the race.
Arrive on aptly named Scenic Drive as the sunrise was in full glory, it was AMAZING.
(I hope to download and add pics here, but they don’t do it justice)
And the lake is quite calm - good mojo.
Park and walk over, get bodymarked, go set up TA, etc.
Then the pre-race ritual of waiting my turn at the porta potties.
Back to TA, get dressed, wettie on, head down for swim warmup, and I have time to kill, my wave is not for a while, and they are running about 20 mins behind anyway.
Goal for the day was 4:30, which I knew was a stretch given the course, but a man’s gotta dream big. Biggest stretch goal was for 1st in my AG, but of course I can’t control who else shows up or how they race.
**Swim - 39:37 705/1492 **. OK, so I’m not a fishie. 
Disappointing, as I had delusions of maybe going 36, 37-38 at worst. And I felt very good during the warmup.
It wasn’t “long”, but in spite of a large start wave, I never really got any good feet for more than a short while, before folks would zigzag all over creation, and I was on my own again.
(I did get one monster pull for about 50m before the 2nd turn bouy, as a fast AG’er from the next wave motored thru. That was fantastic, but sadly I lost his feet at the turn. 
)
So much for 4:30 today… let’s at least break 4:35.
T1 - 1:57. Uneventful. Goal was <2 mins.
Bike - 2:27:20. 23/1492. But I can ride a bike ok. 
Had hoped for 2:25-ish, but it was a bit blustery going both ways, so I think everybody was a tad slower than expected. Overall a decent ride, watts were a good 10w lower than I had targeted, so I figgered I’d be that much more fresh for the run.
Fuel was 1 bottle of Infinit, 600 cals, and aero bottle of water. No aid.
OK - 4:35 is semi-doable, but I can’t dawdle anywhere.
Here’s the PT info for the wattage geeks:
Entire workout (229 watts):
Duration: 2:26:40
Work: 2011 kJ
TSS: 161.3 (intensity factor 0.812)
Norm Power: 240
VI: 1.05
Distance: 56.087 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 562 229 watts
Speed: 6.8 50 23.0 mph
T2 - 1:16. Pretty solid. Pros were only like :05-:10 faster.
Run - 1:28:18. 40/1492. Decent, but a minor disappointment, as my goal was 1:25 (or maybe better).
Had been running 6:10-6:13 pace on my 6m T-runs off solid HIM bike rides in training, and was hoping I could represent on the run here, but the mojo just wasn’t there. 
Clicking along at 6:40’s or so for the first loop, again decent, but with a goal pace in the 6:20-6:30 range, I knew I’d hafta pick it up sometime if I was gonna have a shot at that…
But I couldn’t. Actually slowed a bit during mile 8-9 range, but then a 26 calf went by, and I used that for motivation to at least stay with him, as he was running well. So I did. Thanks dude!
Got to enjoy watching the WPro battle on the run, with Des Ficker and Kate Major duking it out back and forth.
Niether of these ladies is very hard on the eyes either… 
10m marker, time to pick it up. But I didn’t, really.
At least the last 2 miles, and especially the last mile, I finally gunned it, and finished very strong. I told myself - “how much would it suck to miss out on a podium spot by a lousy :10 seconds?”
These would be prophetic thoughts…
I passed several M40-44 calves in those last 2m, although I can’t be sure if they were on the first or 2nd lap.
Updated w/ run splits: M40-44 1:28:17
1: 22:03 22:03
2: 21:44 43:46
3: 22:39 1:06:25
4: 21:53 1:28:17
*Finish time - 4:38:27. 40/1492 OA, 2nd M40-44 **
(*disclaimer - the fastest M40-44 got a separate Fastest Masters Award, which took him out of the AG. There was one other faster M40-44 who went Elite, so he also wasn’t included in AG results)
I go and check out the results, I’m down for 3rd in the AG - hey, not too too bad for what wasn’t my best day.
Find out at the awards presentation about the Masters Award for the really fast M40-44 dude, so it turns out I’m actually 2nd in the AG.
Which would be great - except the 1st place dude beat me by :12 seconds. D’OH!!!
You know that’s going to haunt me for a while… here’s the AG results:
MALE AGE GROUP: 40 - 44 (5 WINNERS)
Place O’All Bib# Spec Name G Ag City St Swim Bike Run Penalty Final
===== ===== ===== ==== ====================== = == ========= == ======= ======= ======= ======= =======
1 1047 862 70.3 Thomas Newton M 41 ARLINGTON MA 31:56 2:28:02 1:35:09 4:38:15
2 1048 880 70.3 Michael Bakker M 41 GARRISON NY 39:37 2:27:20 1:28:18 4:38:27
3 1049 1022 70.3 Tod Dillon M 40 DUXBURY MA 32:48 2:38:31 1:24:20 4:38:42
4 1051 47 70.3 Barry Phelps M 40 SHREWSBUR MA 32:33 2:36:04 1:26:50 4:39:03
5 1053 856 70.3 William Capune M 40 NEW YORK NY 31:37 2:34:47 1:31:29 4:41:19
Meanwhile, back at the ranch… my daughter was having a blast all day while I was out and about. Got her face painted, hair braided, and danced along with the Swingset Mamas, who are a fantastic kid-oriented band.
(We bought their CD, there are many catchy tunes on it. 
)
Got a balloon animal, and in general kept busy and reasonably out of my wife’s hair for most of the time I was doing my thing. Thank GOD.
Thanks and props to:
My wife and daughter. You both RULE. 
Keith Jordan and the entire Timberman staff and AWESOME volunteers, this really is as good as a race gets, right up there with an M.dot event.
All the ancillary stuff they had going on to keep family and friends entertained while the athletes did what they had to do, was above and beyond terrfic.
And THANKS Rich Strauss for the killer training plan. 
I’ll try to tack on some pics shortly.
(Any suggestions for the best cheap (or FREE) websites to host 'em?
Keeping in mind that I’m a Luddite.)
Just for giggles, here’s a comparison to my race stat line from Timberman '05:
39 M 997 44:40 37:14 3:08 41 2:31:00 22.3 2:28 273 1:55:21 8:49 5:16:35 38/168 M35-39 191/844 M
I’ve used Rich’s plans for '06 and '07.
Rich gives good training plan. 
Thx for reading!
-M
was fantastic.