My whole weekened was a comedy of errors. Friday night friends call us from the campsite and tell us that they are serious this year…nobody gets into the park on Saturday between 8:30 am and 3:30 pm…checked the website and there it was in big red bold letters.
Nothing to do but pack the car, grab a few hours sleep, and leave at 3;30am. The wife wasn’t happy. We get there and set up camp next to a 5 foot long rattlesnake and a wild pig. Try to sleep, but couldn’t.
We were both doing the short course and decided after registration to set up the lawn furniture and watch the long course run by the campsite. I was in the John when the lead guy came by, but the dude in 2nd was hauling and I guess that was Lessing. The lead woman had a huge lead and wasn’t going to be caught. I was surprised that most of the Pros were running the tangents and cutting the corners but some of them ran on the right of the course on the yellow arrows which must have added a couple of hundred yards over the 13 miles…I told a couple of guys going by to cut because everyone else was,
Went to bed at 7:30pm with the earplugs in and slept a good 10 hours…except for a brief peek out the tent door at 8:00pm to see the streakers go by…we dozed off listening to the incessant roars coming from the TNT camp over the hill.
Got up early and cooked pancakes and set off for the transition. By 8am it was getting warm so we knew we weren;t going to get the nice Saturday conditions. I set my crap up and went off for a warmup run…when I got back some idiot had spilled gatorade allover by stuff…sticky shoes, gloves, socks…the works.
The swim went OK…lined up at the back of my wave since I’m a lousy swimmer…it tok me quite a while to get any rhythm. My HR was through the roof for the first 10 minutes and I was breathing every stroke, but after that I settled down. I did get my goggles kicked or pulled (I dunno which) off my face making the first turn which scared the crap out of me.
Made my first rookie mistake by not surveying the shore before getting in and picking targets to swim to. All I could see was boiling water, arms legs and foam. I hit the buoys pretty well on the way out but was all over the place on the way back…I think I swam about 1.25 miles. Got out in about 29 minutes which was a little slower than I’d hoped for.
Got to T1 and put on socks and shoes and mounted bike…something wasn’t right…hmmmmm…running shoes…got off bike and changed shoes. My bike was racked right by the swim exit so I had to run about 100 yards in cycling shoes…perhaps I should have kept the running shoes on. My first transition time was nearly 4 minutes I think which wasn’t in the plans…already 5 minutes behind schedule.
I hammered up Lynch and passed about 100 people…Just after the top 2 big freakin deer shot across the road right in front of me and another guy…he had to slam on the brakes to miss them. We ended up riding most of the course within eyeshot of eachother…bronze Felt guy???..I found myself passing gobs of people on the climbs and having them all coast by my in the bars on the downhills and flats while I pedalled furiously not to lose too much ground on my very unaero roadbike position. I had one more mishap on the bike going for a little off road excursion a few miles in while making that turn by the long course aid station after the big meadow…I was having a cleat issue and while looking down at my feet the corner kinda snook up on my and I went cross country for a little bit but no harm no foul.
Bike split was a little faster than I had planned on given I run more miles a week than I ride. Again T2 involved a long run in bike shoes before getting out on the run. I guess I should have tried doing at least one brick in the last 9 months just to see what it feels like…I couldn’t get my legs moving at all. I was also feeling a bit sick…bleachy water and very strong mix Gatorade don’t go well together…I upchucked a couple of miles in and began to feel better immediately. After the top of the big climb I began to open the legs a little but alomst as soon as you get motoring you’re at the top of Lynch and the race is pretty much over at that point.
My run split was about 4 minutes off what I’d hoped for but it was 2nd in my agegroup so I guess I wasn’t the only one having problems. I found it a little strange running solo and passing people the whole way…I’m used to running in a pack and racing guys not picking people off.
Oveall I missed my target time by 6 minutes and was about 30th in my AG
…most of the time was lost in transition and my slow run…due to my lack of biking miles I think. If I do another one I think I have to get a lot faster on the swim…you can’t spot people 10 minutes out of the water and hope to catch them on the run…ain’t gonna happen. I also need to get me some aerobars…guys were opening up 50 yard gaps on me just by dropping into the bars and coasting while I pedalled like a maniac…a 50 yard gap on the run takes a helluva lot of work to open up.
The missus had a good race which got me out of the doghouse for making her get out of bed at 3am Satuday for the drive down.
The weekend itself was definitely a lot more muted than the last time I was there as a spectator. Just didn’t have that Woodstock feel this time. The organization was very good…only to be expected for the steep entry fee. But like others have said the Oly bike course was freakin crowded. I had to ride most of the way on the left side of the lane just to pass people and when the P3s and Blades came buzzing by me on the right guys were hitting the road reflectors on the double yellow sometimes at pretty high speeds…didn’t see any wrecks though.
The comedic highlight was definitely the RD’s excellent Gaylord Focker impersonation before the start of the Oly race…“Oh, dear God, thank you, you are such a good god to us. A kind and gentle and accommodating god, and we thank you oh sweet, sweet lord of hosts for the lovely day you have so aptly given us this day, and each day, by day, day by day, by day oh dear lord three things we pray to love thee more dearly, to see thee more clearly, to follow thee more nearly, day, by day, by day. Amen.”
I love WF with or without the drunken kids. The area is beautiful, the course is challenging and hanging out with my friends is just the icing on the cake! Oh and I LIVE IN CALIFORNIA!! 