Frederick Triathlon Club in Frederick, Maryland

York YWCA Ladies Triathlon

June 29, 2008

Format: 500m serpentine swim/15mile/5K

Sunday am, bright and early, the whole family drove to York, PA for this event held at York College. After my last race didn’t go as well as I had hoped, this was my rebound race.

Swim: I hadn’t pre-reg’d for the event. They had decided to bump up the cut off date and I missed it. That meant when I reg’d day-of, I was tacked on to the end of all pre-reg’d/pre-seeded swim times. I was feeling pretty good when it was my turn to start. Waiting in that long line made my nervousness disappear. I was able to pass many swimmers. Though for as a many as I passed, I got held up at the turns by others congregating there. It all worked itself out and I got out of the pool feeling great that I did not revisit my previous panic. I have to mention also that it was the most beautiful pool I ever swam in. For those of you who grew up on swim team, you may not be impressed. However, for me, it was a real treat.

Bike: We arrived early enough that I could drive the bike course. I’m glad I did. For only 15 miles, it was going to be challenging – rolling with a few small hills, lots of turns and one long sweeping descent. There were also 2 places where the bikes were going to criss cross – I’m never a fan of that. Once I was able to settle in on the bike, I was surprised at how quickly the mile markers were coming. It was a good day for my bike legs. The course ran around Lake Redman, allowing us to ride over one spillway and one dam. I wish I had more time to take in the view. On my return to transition, the one criss cross intersection proved messy for me. It was particularly hairy as it involved a blind turn, a one lane underpass and a Y in the road. I was being signaled by the marshal to proceed straight through the one lane underpass. At the same time, the marshal on the other side of the underpass was signaling a bus to continue straight through. I jammed on my brakes and fortunately so did the bus, who allowed me to take the road. Phew. Crisis averted.

Run: The run was flat, flat, flat – Thank You race director. It meandered out over a foot bridge, ran through town a bit, onto the Heritage Rail Trail, and finished on the York College track. I felt pretty good. However, I had even less to drink (didn’t take in any water on the swim, barely drank on the bike) and my stomach still was sloshing and crampy. I have to narrow it down to my morning coffee or the gel. I can do without the gel. I would have a hard time tying my shoes without the coffee.

The race was just what I needed – a confidence booster. I won the event and got some pretty nice schwag. You can see the results here. I think the lesson I learned for my next OWS event is that I shouldn’t pressure myself to start or compete with better swimmers than myself. A true triathlete would say all the legs are equally important. My perception of triathlon is that the swim is arguably the least important leg (though maybe I think that because I am not a swimmer). I will never do well if I psyche myself out over losing a few minutes in the swim, when there’s still a lot of racing to be done on the bike & run. I will proudly start in the back in order to stay relaxed and focus on swimming my good swim.

Hey Tribe,

Eva Rosvold, manager of Fundamental Fitness (one of our sponsors), is hosting Sunday morning group training runs.  The flyer explains all:

Sunday Training Runs Who:  You What:  3, 5 or 10 Mile Runs When:  Sunday 7am Where:  Fundamental Fitness 1205 N. East St., Frederick, MD   21701   NEW 3 MILE RUN/WALK OPTION!   All paces and abilitiy levels welcome.  Even if you are new to running….we’d love to have you join us.   Questions – Call or email 301-788-0083 info@fundamentalfitness.biz         Fundamental Fitness 1205 N. East St. Frederick, Maryland 21701 301-788-0083

Hey Tribe!

Dan said it would be okay if I posted this so here it is:

 First race of the season finally arrived. I competed in the Columbia Triathlon on Sunday. What an exciting day this turned out to be on all levels. Personal record on the swim, awesome bike course, and the run course lived up to all expectations! Here are a few highlights:

The swim couldn’t have been better. The water temp was quite cold, so thank goodness for the wetsuit. I started out in front and sprinted for the first 50-100 yards and eventually was caught by a pack. Got elbowed and banged around a bit, but once I made the turn I felt like I really began to concentrate of my form, drafted a bit, and felt really strong. I ended up swimming a personal best of 22:44, which put me at a pace of 1:23/100yds. I couldn’t have been more pleased!!!

T1: No issues. I actually had the 10th best transition in my age group (2:08).

Bike course was so fun. It sure did have nice hills and long gradual inclines, but the technical parts of the course and some of the the rolling parts were quite fun. I actually posted a better MPH average here than I did at Annapolis last year which was mostly flat. Once again though, it was tough to see all those people on tri bikes get past me on the hills and the flats, hopefully next year I can achieve my goal and purchase a nice tri bike.

On a side note, I just received Hank’s email about some bike accidents, but I don’t know any specifics so I can’t comment on that. Though, I would like to hear if anyone has any information on that.

T2: Once again, no issues (1:28).

I can see why this run course is one of the toughest 10K’s in Triathlon. Hill after hill after hill. I ended up posting a very disappointing 8:11 pace per mile, which is far above what I’ve been training at. But after some more thought, I can’t be overly upset because this run course is truly one of a kind.

My stats were as follows:

Overall: 328/1722

Age Group: 44/143

Swim: 22:44 – 1:23/100 yds.

Bike: 1:18:23 – 19.4 MPH

Run: 50:47 – 8:11/mi.

That was the race in itself. Now comes the good stuff. This race was filled with the best pro field they’ve ever assembled there. Chris Lieto, Chris “Macca” McCormack, Desiree Ficker, Amanda Lovato, Richie Cunningham, and the man who just might be the next best thing in Triathlon at Olympic distance races, young 19-year old professional Andrew Yoder. He finished 2nd beating Macca and many others. It was such a great honor to just watch all of them prepare in the transition beforehand and then see them kick off the race in the water. Even better, after the race was over, I was fortunate enough to get a picture with several of them, including Andrew Yoder, Desiree Ficker, and the great Chris McCormack. They all were very generous and are truly great role models for the sport!  I have attached a pic of me and Macca!!

Whether or not these pros attend next year, I still definitely look forward to doing this race again and bettering my time in 2009!!!

Congrats to all those who raced this weekend!!

Dan Pfeil

YWCA of York, PA is promoting this women’s only event.  Anyone else interested in going?  Sunday, June 29th.  8am.  We would probably have to meet by 5am and leave by 5:30.  Approx. 1hour 20min drive.  I could potentially take 2 others with me to carpool.

I put a call in just to inquire about the swim – serpentine or heats.  I’ll swim either, but if it’s heats, there could be a lot of standing around time.  I’d just like to know.

Pre-Reg ends June 26.  I may wait until the last minute to pre-reg so I can keep an eye on the weather.  LMK if you are interested.

Michele

Jackie Kallal Sprint Tri – June 14, 2008

Format: 1/2mile/9.5/3.5

The weather couldn’t have been better – a slightly cool & grey start turning to a beautifully sunny day in the 70s. Yellow Creek State Park, outside of Indiana Pa, is a great venue – the park is well maintained and the water is pleasant. I chose this race initially because it’s near where my husband went to college and the grandparents are close by to help out with our kids. A friend from the DC Tri Club also made the trip north. It’s nice to have a buddy with you.

I’ve been waiting for this race on 2 fronts. 1) It’s a repeat of the first tri I ever did. I was anxious to see what improvements I made in a year’s time. 2) Despite all my hard work, this is the race where it all falls apart.

If you think you have enough time to read about all the things that went wrong in the swim, continue on. I rode my bike recklessly in a desperate attempt to salvage my poor swim. I nearly quit the run, but couldn’t bear a DNF for a non-mechanical or injury related stoppage.

I showed up hoping to place overall. I lost any chance before my feet even got wet. This event was my first OWS this year, with only 2 others total on my resume. This was also my first wetsuit swim. I practiced with my suit in the pool and no problems. I should have heeded the warning bells when I stood on the beach tugging at the neck and reopening the zipper for any last chance at normal breathing. The horn blew and it seemed to start okay. At some point, my panic alarm sounded & I could not find the off button. No stroke would do, couldn’t put my face in the water, sound & fury all around, and worse yet, I could see my color caps had passed the turn around and were headed in. I wrestled with the water to the turn around buoy. I managed to get some freestyle in, albeit one sided breathing. However, every time I sighted, I was swimming off to the left. I finally made it to land, exhausted, nauseated, & hyperventilating. The only thing I remember about transition was that I was fully prepared to chew my wetsuit off if I couldn’t get my feet out soon. Fortunately, I didn’t have to resort to that.

The bike was just bad, the saving grace was that it was only 10miles. It had one real climb on it and my quads were screaming things I never heard them say before. My upper body was still shaking and I was at a loss. I made it to the turn around, which was a hairpin on a narrow country road – quite technical for lesser skilled bike handlers (and today that was me). I was seriously contemplating cutting my loss at T2. I started to feel like myself just when it was time to get off my bike.

The run turned out to be rubbing salt in the wound. I stopped for a moment to weigh my options, but decided to at least finish & call it a workout. A half mile into it the nausea was back and on came the stomach sloshing. I hydrated well the day before and tried to limit my morning intake. Despite that, I had to run to the beat of blip, bloop, blump in my tummy. After crossing the finish line, I continued my run straight to the ladies room. I did win my age group, but I was so disappointed in my mental preparation, that I struggled to feel gracious.

Oversimplifying my issues, I need help with OWS panic management and hydration for lead-up & race day. It occurred to me later that I may in fact had a true panic attack (I could say yes to all). I still had trouble breathing deeply well into that evening. I plan to get out to Cunningham Falls for some lake swim practice, but I’d love some advice. I have the Pittsburgh Tri in 5 weeks and now I’m extremely concerned about a swim with a current.

Your Truly,

Michele

Our next meeting will be at 7PM on June 11 in Baker Park near the band shell.

We will be having a running clinic led by Eva Rosvold, a competitive ultra distance runner.

6/5/08 – THIS WEEKEND IS EAGLEMAN WEEKEND!!!

And it’s unfortunately going to be a HOT ONE!  Temps forecasted for the run in the 90s – YUK!  Well, we’ll al have to hydrate and take it easy. 

Tribe members who I know have signed up:

Julien Coiner

Lucas McCollum

Mike Orsini

Mike Matney

Tamara Bruce

Bernie Sellers

Geoff Irwin

Vicki Bate

Herb Spicer

And yours truly, “Race Report” Dave

If I missed anyone, let me know and I’ll amend the list.  We should have some “war” stories to tell and I hope to take some good pics of the Expo area and maybe some of the pros on Saturday. 

Belated Race Report – Morrison’s Cove Community Triathlon

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Martinsburg, PA

I think, quite possibly, I did the teeniest triathlon going this season last Saturday. The Garver YMCA & Morrison’s Cove Memorial Park in beautiful Central PA put on this event. Since it wasn’t too far out of the way on our trek to Pittsburgh for the holiday weekend, I decided to make a go of it. I mean what’s more fun than waking your 3 kids up at 5am, putting them in the car for 2hours, and making them have fun at a triathlon just so mommy can race? Did I mention that it was only $20?

The format was 200m/9mile/5K. Even though it was a mini-sprint, it was definitely a better workout than I would’ve done at home.

The swim was set up in heats, which I liked so much better than the serpentine style. The pool was outdoors and they said it was heated, but I dunno. It felt awfully chilly. There were no warm-ups which is just a killer for me. I need a good 500m to feel ready to go. It was only 4 laps so you muster through.

The bike was a good rolling course. My legs didn’t feel as great as I would have liked. I didn’t cut back my training plan when I penciled this in my calendar. Maybe I should have and my legs would have been fresher. The 9 miles ended soon enough.

The run was also rolling and proved to be pretty taxing for me. I just kept telling myself that this is all I have to do today. Before you knew it, it was all over. That’s why I love sprint distance tri’s.

I did manage to win the women’s race. You can look at the results here.

A few observations:

1) There was a pretty nasty crash (not nearly as bad as this one) in the transition area that sent one to the hospital. They were using the same entrance for leaving and returning on the bike and run. While not uncommon, there where no chicanes or anything to separate them. Also, they didn’t have all the intersections marshaled. When you do these smaller events you really need to keep you head on for safety and not race blindly.

2) Transition Etiquette – As I waited for my swim heat, I watched some people in transition, and always looking to see what people do/don’t do. I watched one guy come in and rack his bike, but knocking over the next guy’s set up. After his own bike was racked, he went over and tried to collect, as best he could, the other guy’s stuff and re-rack. A few moments later, another guy came in, dragging his bike to trans (that just kills me), tossed it on the rack by one brake lever, and knocking over another guy’s stuff. Not a care in the world, he just left. I really felt compelled to yell out to him for being such a creep, but I didn’t know what the protocol is here. I ended up finding out whose stuff got knocked off and he had time to set up, again. I guess my complaint is that, this is a small time community race. I’m all for wanting to PR, but there is no prize money in this. If I knocked over someone’s stuff, I’m gonna pick it up. But should you shout out to your fellow competitors or officials if someone wrecks another’s trans area?

On Memorial Day, I raced a 10K a stone’s throw from my father-in-law’s house. I’ve done the 5K here the last few years. It’s really a pleasant race – festive mood, great crowd, tons of raffles, and Giant Eagle donates lots of goodies. This was my 2^nd 10K, prepping for my 1^st Olympic Dist in Pittsburgh this July. The course is in burbs with these short but sickly steep hills. At one point in the race I ran behind a woman wearing those Newton shoes and promptly harassed her post race. I won my age group, but I also did come in 3^rd woman overall. I finished 30 seconds behind the first two young ladies who just had way more kick than me. I won’t tell you how many cupcakes I had…

So, I hope you all are enjoying your season so far. Next on the calendar for me is the Jackie Kallal Sprint in Indiana, PA. This one will be hard for me – it’s swim and run heavy. Who knows of a tri that is 500m/35mile/2.5mile – that would be perfect.

Any good war stories out there from last week’s race at Cascade Lake?  I heard from one that it was really well organized, but the promoters couldn’t do anything about the dead stanky fish smellin’ water.  Best wishes to those doing Eagle(wo)man.  It’s this coming weekend, right?

Don’t forget – Go Pens!!!