Race: Kinzua Country Tango- August 5th, Warren, PA
Executive Summary: Run, bike, swim, orienteer, trail run, paddle. 7:12, 1st solo racer
Super long, boring version
One reason for typing this up is to offer some race info for anybody that might consider it. The website has minimal and contradictory info, but it was a fun day and a something totally different. It would be awesome to see more races like this!
Training: I’ve wanted to do this race for a few years, but needed two things: improved swimming, and a kayak. I finally got around to both this year, and was excited to go for it. Training went OK, but I only got two long brick sessions in, a 4 hr. and 6 hr., both of which confirmed some unique challenges.
Taper: Not an ideal rest week. I was in Utah for work until Wednesday night, travelled back at 2 AM on Thursday, loaded my gear and drove 3 hours to the race on Friday. The race details are minimal, and I didn’t really know the complete logistics for the race, so Friday night was pretty restless. The whole race is unsupported, so figuring out nutrition was a different puzzle than usual!
Run: This thing starts at the local YMCA, and runs 13.1 miles through town, along a river, and then up and over the Kinzua Dam. A pretty cool course! The start was interesting: somebody basically came running out of the Y at 6:59, and then yelled “Go†from the parking lot. I was happy my HR and pace seemed to settle where I expected, but thought that lack of sleep might not affect me till a few hours in. I had a handheld with my maltodextrin mix and kept sipping calories. By mile 10, something was up with my left IT band. Haven’t had any issues with it, but decided to play it safe and slowed down a bit for the last three miles. Time, 1:30
T1: since this was a point to point run, I had sent my “crew†with all my gear to the transition area. I knew that my girlfriend would get everything set, but still didn’t have any idea on the logistics of transition. This first one was pretty straightforward: get the bike and go.
Bike: 20 miles of road, dirt, and gravel roads! Another thing that interested me was the bike, which was listed as “mountain bike, but some people use a cross bike.†I knew that it started on pavement based on Google, but didn’t have a chance to check out the rest of the course. It was an out and back, started with 3-4 miles of climbing, then changed to rolling hills of dirt and gravel. It was a great course and cool to be on the cross bike! A fun ride, aside from getting peppered with a few rocks by passing log trucks. Crammed some more water and malto, kept HR in check, and tried to spin my legs out in the last mile, since I knew my first major issue could occur in the swim! Time, 1:14.
T2: If you’ve never attempted to put on a wetsuit while sweaty and dirty, you should! Definitely a comical few minutes in transition! I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself while taking a short jog, maybe 200 yards, down to the water.
Swim: 4000 yards in the Allegheny River (full disclosure, I had 3950 yards on Mr. Garmin). Out and back, and unfortunately we had the small current on the way OUT. Each swimmer is required to have a safety kayak (or SUP) alongside, and my girlfriend paddled next to me. There certainly isn’t much traffic in this race, so no drafting!! For me, I knew this could be the hardest leg. I had some slight stomach and cramping (calves) issues at this point in my brick workouts. Sure enough, within ten minutes, my right calf was knotting up. Stopped and floated a few times to work it out, experimented with various kick, no kick, easy kick patterns, and tried to keep moving. Then the left calf, same story. I’m thinking, “WTF, not sure what to do.†So, I just kept trying to go forward, and actually rolled over a couple times to backstroke. Surprisingly, by the turnaround, I felt like I could swim with a light kick, and tried to keep it steady on the way back. The current was minimal, but enough to slow a shitty swimmer like me down a bit! The worst (and unexpected!) part happened with 600-700 yards to go. Within two strokes, my right hamstring was in a knot: not tight, but like full blown “FML†knot. I knew I couldn’t massage it out, so I took a 90 degree turn and flopped my way to shore. The weight of standing on it helped, and after a few minutes I begrudgingly dove back in. I thought I had things licked when the same thing happened with about 200 yards to go, and again, back to shore. It just wasn’t something I could “tough out.†Finally made it to shore (the final one!), and clicked the Garmin at 1:05:XX. Add a couple minutes for the run up and down the bank to transition. In hindsight, I am most happy with this leg: it was the WORST, but I just had to improvise and keep moving.
T3: removing wetsuit was easier! Grabbed a Camelback and bar, compass, and mistakenly donned road shoes with QuickLaces, rather than trail shoes with a rock plate in the sole. They hand you a map at the end of transition, which had 5 control points to find. The lady also suggested that you start “this way.†I took a minute to orient everything (including myself), and since I didn’t have a chance to scope the terrain pre-race, opted for a longer, but definite route, to the first point.
Orienteer: listed as a 7-8 mile leg, I knew this might take anywhere from an hour to two, pending the terrain and control points. I chose to run about three miles on pavement before entering the woods and working my way downhill through the checkpoints. I think every other team did as instructed, and worked their way UP through the forest. If you do this race, don’t expect an “orienteering†map, this thing was a basic topographic map, with notes like “trail overgrown here, clearing not shown here, watch for RATTLESNAKES here.†I struggled through the IT band issues on the pavement, walked a couple times, but things actually loosened up in the woods. I kept moving, passed several oncoming teams, and found the checkpoints. The kicker was slopping through undergrowth and brush with a tri suit and ankle socks; that nice, burning feeling of sweat flowing into tens of small cuts and scratches felt GREAT! I ended up with 7.4 miles in 1:25.
T4: drop the stuff and head out for a trail run. Decided to put my actual trail shoes on to handle the rocks a little better.
Run: 1.25 miles up, turn around and come down. This leg seemed almost needless to me.
T5: grab paddle and PFD, run back down the water.
Kayak (for solo racers) or Canoe (for teams): Finally, “I get to sit down!!†The other side of my brain was saying, “do you have any idea how cramped your legs will be in an hour?!! Dumb ass.†I was really excited to be on the final leg, and just enjoying being in the middle of the river with beautiful hills around. I only had 2 months of paddling experience, but knew when I was hitting 7-8 MPH on the way out, the trip back was going to SUCK. I stopped paddling every 10-15 minutes for a gulp of Coke, and saw the handful of teams in front on their way back. Sure enough, after the turnaround, it got hard. It felt like every stroke I was trying to push the off hand through a bucket of sand. I tried to stay very close to shore for a little more shelter, no clue if that helped or not! Toward the end I finally caught up to a team that I’d been chasing since the turnaround, but immediately after sprinting past them, my quad cramped and I had to stop paddling. They snipped me at the end! It was nice to have people to chase at the end- definitely helped!
End: thank god the finish was IN THE WATER, and I didn’t have to sprint up the bank to the parking lot. When I finally got out of the kayak, stuff didn’t work so great. I was certainly happy to be done, and had a great time racing something completely different. I wish there were more events like this. My big goal for the year was improved swimming, and despite some issues today, I’ve certainly made some gains. I hope some people in the northeast might consider the race, and hopefully I can offer insight if you do!