Laek Geneva 1/2IM Race Report -- Ist Race

Triathlon Forum
1

The night before, The swim, and T1 …

Night Before: Went to the pre-race check in … got marked … got goody bag. Came back to the cottage we were renting in Williams Bay and showed my family my #31. My son thought it was awesome and “had to have one”. We took a sharpie, and gave him a “31” on the arm … then the leg. Then, my wife wanted one, then “Little Girl” (18mo). This is one of those moments when you realise that you have a goofy, but close-knit, family … and you love it.

Didn’t get much sleep. Fell asleep around 12:30, woke at 4:15. Dad got up with me and we had PBJ & Toast and scrambled eggs with a cup of coffee. Got the race in plenty of time, eased into the day. But man, it seemed to go from “pitch black” to “morning” in about 25 seconds.

The Swim – I’ll start off and say with the exception of drowning or quitting, I had about as bad of a swim as I could have. The day before I went looking around and asking for places I could “swim”. Everyone kept telling me the lakefront weas closed until Sat and Sun. TUrns out at the site of the race start you could swim. Had I known that many of my problems would likely have been eliminated.

Night Before: Went to the pre-race check in … got marked … got goody bag. Came back to the cottage we were renting in Williams Bay and showed my family my #31. My son thought it was awesome and “had to have one”. We took a sharpie, and gave him a “31” on the arm … then the leg. Then, my wife wanted one, then “Little Girl” (18mo). This is one of those moments when you realize that you have a goofy, but close-knit, family … and you love it.

Didn’t get much sleep. Fell asleep around 12:30, woke at 4:15. Dad got up with me and we had PBJ & Toast and scrambled eggs with a cup of coffee. Got the race in plenty of time, eased into the day. But man, it seemed to go from “pitch black” to “morning” in about 25 seconds.

The Swim – I’ll start off and say with the exception of drowning or quitting, I had about as bad of a swim as I could have. The day before I went looking around and asking for places I could “swim”. Everyone kept telling me the lakefront was closed until Sat and Sun. Turns out at the site of the race start you could swim. Had I known that many of my problems would likely have been eliminated.

Anyway … Took a brief warm up swim … not too bad. Clear water, kinda cool. Race starts, I take off alright … seal masks is leaking and filling up like the titanic (otherwise known as “contact wearer’s nightmare” … so I take 5-7 strokes, empty goggles, repeat. I’m having trouble exhaling under water. I don’t know if I am over-excited, anxious, panicking or a combination of all 3. Breast stroke for a while because stopping and emptying my mask is getting tiresome and old at this point. I get to the kayak, grab hold, and tighten my goggle4s … the damn things still leak. I keep thinking, "this would have been an excellent thing to find out yesterday (had I been able to practice), as I had 2 backup pairs of goggles. Anyway, I continue, turn around too soon. I probably could have gotten away with it, but I turned back around swam to the last buoy and turned around for the swim back to the beach. Amazing how close the “last buoy” looks from the beach, and how far away the beach looks from the last buoy.

On the way back, I’m doing mostly breast, and struggling a bit. Even mix in a bit of backstroke here and there, which honestly is incredibly embarrassing. When I do swim freestyle it goes really well … nice speed, comfortable, but then interrupted to empty the goggles. I can’t even begin to calculate how many cuss words and insulting names I called myself during the swim. I am nowhere near happy with how I am doing.

The only thing I knew for certain is that I was making it to the beach. Blah, blah, blah, more of the same … and then I see the most beautiful thing I had seen up to the point … weeds on the lake floor. I stand up, run out, and head towards T1.

Swim time: 44:13 … yeah, it’s way short. That would be the time I would have swum had I swam my regular freestyle pace (for 1.2 miles). Average HR 170. I started my race with a 44 minute Zone 4 swim. Isn’t that what the experts advise? =)

On the bike (naturally) I thought of what I “should have done” to make the swim much easier than I did. Close eyes. Count to “200” as I swim freestyle, roll on back, empty goggles, repeat. I should have done this. Throw the damn mask in the water and leave it to die a slow death. Swim as usual, ruin contacts, put in new ones at T1 (I forgot my extra pair of contacts that I set out to bring, I actually thought that far ahead, and then dropped the ball).

I have decided to get revenge on this race next year, and after I am done. I am walking to the end of the dock next to the swim start, “whip it out” Ted Nugent style and piss all over the lake … and mean it. I owe it one. A big one.

T1 – Humor attempt #1 – I can’t find my bike. I ask some guy “Hey Man, have you seen my bike?” (Obviously, he has no idea what my bike looks like. He actually starts to swiveling his head around like he’s looking. I tell him I’m just kiddin’ and wish him well. I am on the other side of the T1 path. Find my bike and everything goes pretty well.

T1 time = 10:29, Overall = 54:42. No one is more thanful than I, that the swim was a shorter distance. If I they would have DQ’d or “Cut-off’d” me, I wouldn’t have been able to argue … I would have deserved it. I guess they figured the best punishment would be to make me finsih the race.

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The BIke and T2 …

The Bike …

I started out in hell and went to “heaven” rather quickly. Come out of T1 and detour on the 1/2IM course. Right off, there’s a mammoth hill. My best decision of the day … walk the bike up that hill (my HR is still pretty high). After that I get into the 1st 5K, and then settle into a nice comfortable pace. I start thinking about how if I could do anything I wanted all by myself that day, I was doing exactly what I would choose to do. I start thinking that I’ve got the dumpiest bike there, my second bottle cage is held on my black duct tape (electrical tape, actually), my torn aero pad is held together by athletic tape (covered by wrist bands), no cycling shoes … and I am having an absolute blast. I’m a tiger in tall grass. I am a fortunate man.

Anyway, I make it through the 1st 45K (~28mi) in 1: 53:01, including a ~7min stop to help a guy with a flat tire. The second part goes about the same with the last 15 miles or so involving a lot of hills and a decent headwind, which didn’t shock me … that’s how my training rides usually end.

Humor attempt #2 … riding along I spot a very large hill off in the distance. I start getting mentally prepared to handle it and as I approach, I notice that the “flaggers” are waving me left. Could it be? A left turn? Yes. I quickly shake the flagger’s hand and say “thank you”. “Thank you?”. “Yes … for placing this turn BEFORE that hill and not AFTER it … you just made my day”. She has a good laugh, and I move on.

I come into T2 feeling great. Really, I have 2:16 to run the ½ Mary in order to make my time goal of 7h (or under). I’ve ran an easy pace close to that in training, and as good as I am feeling, I am prepared to do it.

Bike time: ~3:50:00 (unofficial, I may have hit the “lap button” mid-transition). Avr HR 144. A tad high but nothing major … Zone 2 cutoff for me is 145.

I had my bottle of 7 scoops perpetuem w/ 6 endurolytes, one bottle of water, and 3 large gatorades on the ride … and 5 Hammer gels. Why they even bother having different flavors, I don’t know … they all taste exactly the same … except Raspberry. Toward the end of the race, I convinced myself that God made Raspberry Hammer Gel with His own hands. =)

T2 goes real well and the same goofy folks that cheered my on during the way are cheering me on during the way out.

Bike computer said avr speed was 16.1mph … decent for me.

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The run, my mom, and final thought …

The Run – I start off feeling awesome. Short steps, high turnover, easy breathing … I am feeling really good. Of course, I walk up the hills (could there be any more of them?) And run down. At the 1 mile marker, I get double quad cramps. I run for about 1/4 mile, stretch out the cramp, repeat. It’s not a big deal, on some of my bricks I’ve had them, and after stretching/walking through them they disappeared and I was able to have good runs. I figured that would be the case.

By mile 4, it’s obvious the cramps aren’t going away. It’s incredibly frustrating because mentally and cardiovascularly, I am ready to run a steady, good pace (for me) … but my legs are sabotaging me in hopes of getting the rest of the day off. Not happening. The cramps are basically always present. I run until I get “snake bit” (sharp cramp pain you did not see coming), and then walk through it. Stretching isn’t working anymore, so I don’t bother. I’m waiting for the endurolyte capsules to work their advertised magic, but I’m thinking the job is too big.

Anyway, at mile 3, I run past a guy and in an attempt at humor say “Only 10 miles left!”, and he “maybe 10K”, which I don’t5 get. Turns out he’s on loop 2. I did know this was a double loop course. I"m thinking “I gotta do those fargin hills twice?”.

Anyway, long story short (really). The run till sharp cramps, walk until it’s just pain instead of involuntary contraction occurs for the rest of the race. With 0.5 mile to go, I get double quad cramps, and double calf cramps. My legs flat out lock up. I seriously start to think that I may not physically be able to finish. My second thought is “despite all this, I’d still rather be doing this than almost anything else”. This crap is pretty cool.

Humor Attempt #3 – I approach a guy that’s getting his mail from his mailbox. He asks, “How’s it going?”. In my best attempt at a serious voice I say, “Man, it’s not going so well. I’ve got cramps in both legs and in my left calf.” There’s a pause. “Do you have any cold beer?” He gets a big smile, “a fridge full of it”. I say, “Great! I’ll see ya in an hour.”. We laugh and move on.

I come running down to the finish, as I turn the corner, my 4yo son spots me and runs to me (very few spectators after the 7 hour mark), and gets a face full of sweaty tri-shorts as he applies a big hug. I say “you wanna race, punk”, and we both take off for the finish. I was seriously trying to catch him … and couldn’t. He finishes first, I give him my medal, and he wears it home. He’s King Poop on Turd Island.

My mom … what can I say about my mom? I guess when you are a son, you’re always a son. Those that have heard me talk about my dad and sports know that he is, uhh, over-zealous to put it nicely. As a result, growing up, my mom did not come to see my games. She never saw the big games I pitched in Little League, High School, or College. She thinks that finishing this race is the single greatest accomplishment a person could ever do. She was downright giddy. I could have won the overall race, and she couldn’t have been more upbeat and proud. She had no comprehension as to why I was not as “happy”, she thought it was great. She rocks. The rest of my family joins in, and we go home.

Looking back on the race, I am not proud or embarrassed. It is what is. It reveals what it reveals. I am a firm believer that people almost always get what they deserve (whether they like or not). My training has been far from optimal, and it showed. There’s a lot about this sport I do not know. I do know that it is “for me”, and I am making the commitments to take it seriously.

Thanks for listening. Ryan Bemont, Racer #31. Overall time … something like 7:43:42. I won’t be getting THAT tattood anywhere. =)

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Thanks for a great race report. Good job on sticking it out. King Poop on Turd Island – I love that.

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Triple Threat:

Thanks for taking the time to report. In its own way it was quite inspiring. I have never had that many problems in one race and hope I can persevere as you did if it ever happens to me.

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Great stuff Ryan! I have my first HIM in 4 days. I’ll be sure to check MY goggles before race day, but I have only 1 PAIR! ARRGGG!

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Thanks Amy, Cat, and Jay …

I’m amazed that anybody was interested enough to read through all that ramble.

In its own way it was quite inspiring.

Inspiring? That’s not one of the first words I would call it … but thanks, I appreciate it.

Great stuff Ryan!

I’m glad my sufferin’ could provide you some entertainment. =)

Get a backup pair of goggles … and I hope you do very well at your 1/2IM … unless you finish faster than me … in which case, I hate you.

King Poop on Turd Island – I love that.

On of those expressions I picked up from other coaches. One game a guy broke up a no hitter in the 6th inning (of a 7 inning game) against us. We were winning 7-0, and the kid was acting like he just won the world series. Our coach says, "what the f—, this MF’er’s actin’ like he’s King S— on Turd Island. I modified it, but it’s definately a keeper.

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Jeez, Triple, I can relate. I had cramped in a marathon at mile 18 in which I was having a PR and the whole thing went down the toilet. It absolutley stinks when it happens, but I would rather be cramping during a race than anywhere else! Loved your report…hope it goes better next time.

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Great report loved it. After my experience I can relate to your woes. Glad you pulled through though.

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King Poop on Turd Island – I love that.
It’s a keeper alright!