aka

“The agony of defeat (and de legs), but the thrill of victory”

by

“Race Report” Dave

Greetings once again triathlon racing fans to the most thrilling (and longest) race report than I have ever penned! Well, okay, typed on my computer… Still, be warned that parts of this may make your heart pound and your face cringe in uncomfortable ways. If you dare, read on….

First though let me tell you that this isn’t just about the race but the preparation and pre-race experience as well. It’s not always about the destination but the journey along the way to get there. And if you ever decide to do this race, you’ll know what I put into it training-wise as well as what I experienced beforehand in addition to what took place on race day.

Information about the races. The Savageman Triathlon Festival is part of the Tri-to-Win events hosted by the JoAnna M. Nicolay Melanoma Foundation (http://www.melanomaresource.org/) and consists of two events held out of Deep Creek Lake State Park, McHenry, MD. They both serve as fund raising vehicles for the Foundation with each athlete receiving a customizable fundraising page plus a club challenge area as well. While triathletes aren’t required to raise funds, there are incentives should triathletes raise certain amounts. As to the events themselves, they’re held usually held in mid-September just as the first hints of Fall enter the Western Maryland area. The 30.0 event (consisting of a 0.9 mile swim, 22.9 mile bike, and a 6.2 mile run) is held on Saturday and the 70.0 event (1.2 mile swim, 55.7 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run) is held on Sunday during the same weekend. In addition, triathletes can sign up for both events completing what’s know as the Savageman 100.0. A few reasons why these are called Savageman: 1) They take place in the Savage River area with the 70.0 bike course on Big Savage Mountain and 2) The courses are tough, with the 70.0 arguably THE toughest road triathlon out there!

So why would one want to do this course? Obviously, the challenge of enduring over such a course is definitely there and in many cases, that’s why we’re attracted to the sport of triathlon. But, unlike some courses where you’re in aerobars for what seems like forever (yawn) or just flat out running (b-o-ring), the bike and run courses have several technical parts meaning you have to be alert for the changing conditions or suffer the consequences. I mean look at what’s in store for competitors who are more used to rolling or flat courses:

- On the 55.7 mile bike course, there are eight climbs with four significant ones (max >20% grades, one at 31%, the Westernport “Wall”)

- The 31% grade part of the one climb is on a cracked cement road that is closed to traffic.

- Three winding and potentially dangerous descents also on the bike course.

- After the tough bike course, a double loop run course awaits with two significant hills (so one has to do each twice) with a 1/4+ mile rocky trail climb and descent at the midpoint of each loop.

Now, there are rewards here for those are able to meet the course challenges:

- For successfully scaling the “Wall” and finishing the race, the person will have his/her name engraved in a brick and inlaid with others’ bricks who successfully scaled the “Wall”. Hence, you’re just “Another brick in the Wall” ;0)

- One is timed from the start of the “Wall” to the top of the Big Savage Mountain climb that begins after the “Wall”. Fastest time up receives a reward.

- There are also others for individual discipline efforts.

- For finishing the course, one gets a Finisher T-shirt. No shirt for not finishing.

In addition, all of this is for a good cause as well as funds raised through team and individual efforts all go towards fighting Melanoma. As the event website says “A Savage Race to Fight a Savage Cancer!”

That’s basically info on the race in a nutshell. I encourage you to check out the races at the event website – www.savagemantri.org. Onward to the rest of this report!

Now know that I would not normally enter this type of event. I’m not an overly good climber and I wouldn’t be able to use my tri bike on this type of a course either. I personally enjoy a rolling to flat course which for me provides enough of a hill challenge while still being able to use my tri bike. For me, it’s about about speed! So, why did I do this race you might ask? Well, back in April, Greg Safko, President of the JoAnna M. Nicolay Melanoma Foundation, gave a talk to the Frederick Triathlon Club at the monthly meeting. In exchange for allowing him to talk, he raffled off an entry to any of the Tri-to-Win events. And surprisingly, I won the raffle! Despite the technical nature of the course, I immediately picked Savageman 70.0 because it was a 1/2 IM distance which I enjoy and because I didn’t have anything to lose here in an attempt to meet the course challenges. In addition, I had dropped my idea of training for Beach 2 Battleship Full distance tri due to the fact that I would be unable to get in my swim training with the area indoor pools closed during the summer. So this would fit in pretty well near the end of my triathlon season.

Many of you know that at Eagleman 2011 in June, I had the best Half Ironman race ever and set Personal Records (PRs) for the distance, the bike course, and the 1/2 marathon. So, I was flying pretty high after that race. As many also know, the Eagleman courses are FLAT! And that’s mostly what I had been training on since I won the raffle in April – FLAT to lightly rolling! So, after Eagleman, I had to come back down to earth and COMPLETELY switch my training tactics for the most part. Now it was nearly all about HILLS! Did I mention I wasn’t a good climber? Egads, what have I gotten myself into? So, the Felt S32 tri bike goes in the basement on the trainer just in case I have to be inside and out comes my Trek Madone 5.2 road bike. It has a triple chainring up front and I can put on a 12-27 cassette in the back which should give me enough low and high gears to use during training and also for this type of course.

Anyone familiar with the Middletown, MD area where I live knows that there are some pretty significant rolling hills there. So, I started to seek these out initially just to get used to climbing once again. As July wore on, I had to seek out bigger challenges. For that, I went north into the Wolfsville, Gambrill State Park, Thurmont, and Cascade areas. First challenge I sought was Harp Hill. This is now fairly tame to present day cycling road races with better equipment and better training. However, in the day, this 15% grade hill was a King of the Mountain (KOM) competition part of the Tour du Pont and Tour de Trump road races. Previously, the first time I tackled this hill I had to stop part way up to catch my breath. And so, training goes on like this with even bigger challenges such as Coxey Brown (10% average grade, ~20% max though I swear there are a few parts that rival the “Wall”), Route 550, Hell’s Delight, Hamburg, and Park Central Road. If you ever do Savageman 70.0, I’ll tell you that my 50-65+ mile training rides that included these pretty much simulated what to expect on the course, though several on the course are a bit tougher. In addition, my brick training included running after these for up to about 8 miles with hills as well. I actually got to the point on my last training ride up Harp Hill that I didn’t think it was that bad. That shows you how far I came in my training compared to what I thought of Harp Hill previously. Training also included long, slow, distance (LSD) runs up to 20 miles a few times. This was more to get and keep my weight down, but also to prepare for the endurance needed for the race itself. I cut back on the LSD runs a few weeks prior to the race, tapering the distance down to 10 miles the weekend before.

In addition to local training, I also trained on the Savageman 70.0 bike course itself. And on that day, I had a slightly higher low gear than I would for race day and made the Westernport Wall! Plus all the other climbs as well. Took me nearly 4 1/2 hours to do so with an average speed of 12.8 mph, but I did it all. This was a real confidence booster at the time and also knowing I did it in a slightly higher gear than I would have available come race day. Little did I know just what effect my race day mindset and the atmosphere around me at the “Wall” would have.

So training is done and fast forward to the week prior to the race. For much of the summer, it has been quite warm to downright hot! But, the forecast for the race weekend is looking COLD! What?? Here I’ve been training in 80-90 degree weather and the forecast is calling for only 50 degrees during the bike??? I had to think for a bit…what should I wear so I don’t freeze after the swim and what about transition? I mean I’ve gotten used to no socks on the bike, no gloves, and wearing my tri top on the swim just to have it dry quickly on the bike. Well, a strong cold front goes through a few days before the race, dropping temperatures to the low 50s and allowed me to test my clothing choices: full-fingered gloves, arm warmers, tri top, bike jersey, socks, and soft calf compression sleeves. Geez that’s a LOT of stuff for T1! Still, it took away most of the chill during the bike ride. After talking to local Elite Lucas McCollum about his choices, I decided these items would be what I’d go with. I would take my wind vest and leg warmers just in case. And looking at the forecast closer to race day, it looked like I could just take off my bike jersey and gloves for the run as it was supposed to be around 60 degrees then. Perfect running weather! At least it wasn’t supposed to rain…yeah, um, okay ;0)

One final thing to note before I continue. Your bike has to be in good working condition for this course due to all the technical parts. So, an annoying “click”, “click”, “click” developed when I pedaled under pressure during one of my later training rides. Initial checkout at Bike Doctor didn’t indicate anything, i.e. not a back deraileur problem. New cleats..nah. Different shoes… nope. Well, the day before I was to go to the race site, took the bike in again. Guys at Bike Doctor lubed and tightened places that might cause the clicking and viola! Clicking was gone! (sigh of relief) Thanks Bike Doctor mechanics!

Race site is 2 1/2 hours away and as I’m starting out to the race site on Saturday, guess what? It starts to rain! Not forecasted either. I had given some thought to the possibility earlier in the week because I recognized the pattern, but put it aside since I was too into getting ready. Dang! Hope this would clear as I went west. And it did! Yea! We had to get our bikes inspected prior to entering transition and I decided to do this in Cumberland so I could avoid any lines. Turns out this was a bit unnecessary as the lines weren’t really long at transition. But at least if anything really was still wrong, there was a full bike shop for repairs. Bike passed the inspection and onward to the race site.

At the race site, picked up my packet, timing chip, and arm band indicating I was racing in the 70.0 event. Mandatory bike racking the day prior to the event and so I head over to transition. The awards ceremony for the 30.0 race was going on and by coincidence, I’m in time to hear that FTC member Kevin Clark took 1st place in M45-49 AG! I was going to try to congratulate Kevin, but we somehow didn’t see each other. The transition area is actually on two levels of the parking lot area for the Deep Creek Lake SP beach. This is good because many transition areas are in the soft grass and that would mean my socks that I’d have to wear wouldn’t get mud or dirt on them after the bike and for the run. My number’s on the lower lot and what’s this? My rack is right next to the Bike In/Out! Wow! I’m usually somewhere off to the side, in the middle where there’s not really much of an advantage. But, I consider this a good place. A bit longer for T1 but I have found that running through transition during T2 helps warm up my legs prior to the start of the run.

After my bike is racked, I basically kill some time by taking some pictures of the race site before one of the mandatory race meetings is to take place. I’ll tell ya…it was downright COLD standing around in the wind near the lake! And somewhere along the way, I had heard from volunteers that the weather for the 30.0 today was not the most hospitable – windy, cloudy, and somewhat raw. It didn’t sound like overly good conditions for the swim nor really that great for the bike either. Hopefully, things calmed down on Sunday (they were supposed to). Not too long before the race meeting, I spoke with Greg Safko a bit and let him know I was ready to race the next day. Obviously, he was very busy and I didn’t speak with him too long. Also before the meeting, saw and then talked to member Geoff Irwin. He was one of the race volunteers for the 30.0 and would also be racing in the 70.0 the next day. He seemed a bit concerned about his performance in the 70.0 as he had just come from racing in the 70.3 National Championships the week prior. But, he was still ready to go and also to attempt to conquer the Wall.

Then during the race meeting, Greg goes first to discuss the race and event in general. After him, Kyle Yost, the architect of the race, provides more details. One paraphrased quote from Kyle when discussing the conditions of the “Wall” and folks attempts to get up it – “It’s going to be pure carnage”. And turns out his prediction was pretty accurate. One significant change that Kyle went over that was requested was to move the first bottle exchange on the bike from the bottom of the Wall to the top. While this sounded like a good idea to me the first time I heard it, little did I know just how much I really would appreciate this change. Kyle also emphasized that the 3 significant long descents on the bike were also technical with curves, narrowed lanes, and possible local traffic. Hmph, those possible issues were no match for some of the folks in the crowd I found out later. Once Kyle had finished and Greg wished us well, talked to Geoff a bit more and then found Chris Miller, a local Frederick triathlete as well who really is on Geoff’s level of competing. Super guy to talk to and discuss the course with. His parents were there along with his wife to cheer him on during the event. We spoke at length about a lot of different triathlon topics and the course in general. Discussed clothing options for the weather as well. Once Chris had racked his bike, said goodbyes and would see him in the morning. Headed over to my hotel and then off to dinner. Now, those of you who might remember my Eagleman report will recall that before our respective great finishing times at that race, George Corbi and I had pancakes for dinner. So, in hopes of extending my performance from Eagleman to this race, pancakes it was! Yum!

Unfortunately the night prior to the race, sleep did not come well with too many thoughts of the Wall and the demands of the race. My alarm seemed to go off not too much after I had finally gotten to sleep. But, with enough coffee and a light breakfast, made preparations. With the larger dinner, I usually eat a light breakfast as I don’t want to still feel like I’m digesting during the swim and possibly get sick. One thing that the race organizers tried to prepare for concerned the timing chip band. They recommended safety-pinning the strap so it couldn’t be ripped off during the swim. Thought this was a good idea and followed their instructions. Just didn’t take the time to consider other possible issues with the strap. Well, everything’s packed up and time to head over to the transition area.

It’s quite chilly and a bit windy but at least there’s no fog. Yeah, just to note, during the inaugural Savageman, there was fog on the lake and no one could see any of the buoys. Had to delay the race. The buoys now have strobe lights on them should fog appear during the race. Parking goes smoothly and I grab my gear to head into transition. Still dark but everything is well lit either by cars or big flood lights. Get body-marked by the volunteers and move to my spot right by the Bike In/Out area. BTW, for those that remember my mistake of taking off my gear bag the night before at Eagleman and not having it with me on the bike course, I made sure I DID NOT repeat that AGAIN! So, unpacking my transition bag and laying stuff out I’m thinking, “Geez! This is a LOT of stuff!” At least the area of run stuff I only have my race number belt, shoes, hat, and a couple of gels. But, there’s a TON of stuff for T1. I’m really just not used to this and had to ensure that I had all of what I meant to put on. With gear in place, pump tires and stow water bottles. Think I’m all set. While here, started to meet a few others in my AG. The first guy was Dave Murray from Richmond. He’s just looking to get through the course himself. And beside me I think was Michael Malone as well but didn’t get the chance to talk much. Also a couple of guys from Ottawa Canada who did quite well in the end. Think I heard one guy saying he was from Florida and this course plus the weather was going to be VERY different than what he’s used to (for SURE!). I also spotted a guy in what I recognized was a Warrior Dash hat that looks to me like the water buffalo hat that Fred and Barney wear from the Flintstones…too funny. Took a pic of him which I’ll share somewhere else. Now, local Frederick triathlete Martha Herman is up at the other part of transition and I believe we spoke a little while earlier (maybe the day previous), but she reminds me as I’m passing to ensure my gear is low enough to get up this slight hill going out of the park. I recheck and yes, I’m good to go. Relay to others. I also got to speak with Tanya Reading from Frederick and she also does tris as well as rides in some of local rides. It was good to see a number of familiar faces here.

Some words on hydration and nutrition on this course. With it being rather chilly and no aerobars, I wasn’t exactly sure how to prepare for this. I usually have my aerobottle with electrolyte mix and then a water bottle. With no aerobottle, I opted for two bottles and then would just move the empty back to my Aquarack holder behind my seat. However, I did consider just doing one bottle and just using the bottle exchanges. Looking back, perhaps this might’ve been a bit better as it would save a bit of weight and also spare one of my bottles from what happened later. As usual, I use Clif blocks for something solid at least once every 30 min to hour on the bike. I decided to carry a gel in my back pocket just in case. Turns out this was unnecessary in more ways than one. For the run, I decided not to use my Fuel Belt with bottles and would just use water and Heed on the course. Plus carry 2 gels with me on the run and use others if I needed that were provided.

While going back to my car to get in my wetsuit, I passed a woman who was listening to music via an iPod holding her glove with her teeth. Well, I just had to laugh – she was only holding the middle glove finger with her teeth!! I commented this to her and she got a kick out it as well.

Of note also here is that there were plenty of porta johns for the participants. Hey, this is important stuff to know too! Seriously though, unlike other races, there were no long lines here and they also positioned a couple of rows leaving each transition zone just before the timing mats.

Took a few more pictures here. Signs down by the swim start say “The Few, The Proud, The Savage” And back up at transition, I hear “Hi Dave” from my left. There’s Elite Triathlete Lucas McCollum readying himself with his bike. Dang, he looked fast just standing there! Took a pic of him and his bike which I’ll post somewhere else. I saw Chris in transition and think Geoff briefly as well. Wished them both good luck and a great race when I saw them. At last, it’s time to get into my wetsuit and then make my way down to the swim start area. No worries about wetsuit legal here – water temp is 65. I also decided to use earplugs just in case as I get a bit of vertigo coming up out of the water if I’ve had cold water in them. I’m in wave 2 and the first wave is in the water ready to go. While most of me isn’t bothered just standing there, my feet and hands are feeling the chilly conditions as it’s fairly cloudy with a bit of a breeze too. At the swim start, there’s a sign that reads “I see Crazy People” with swim, bike, run figures underneath the words, taking the line from “The Sixth Sense”. The 1st wave takes off and we start to get into the water shortly after. It’s really not that bad and we’re able to wade there, though as we go a bit farther there are rocks that we’re stepping on and they’re quite uneven in footing. Then a guy near me recognizes me and says “Hey Dave!” He’s a friend of Mike Matney and we’ve apparently been at a few races now. We chat just for a bit and then realize we’re up near the front here, where neither of us apparently wants to be for fear of getting run over! So, we move back to lower middle of the pack. Greg Safko rallies a cheer from us a we’re nearing our start time. Greg yells “A minute and a half”…I start my watch here so I don’t waste time at the start doing so. Greg gets to 30 seconds….I yell out to wish everyone a great race and good luck….10 seconds….annnnddd…WE’RE OFF!! Yup, we’re off and swimming in what will be the easiest portion of this triathlon!

Remember when I thought moving back a bit would keep me away from bodies and thrashing more? Well, this DIDN’T HAPPEN! Gosh, there are bodies hitting and bumping me all over the place initially!! Now the nice thing about Deep Creek Lake is that it’s pretty clear, so many times throughout the swim I’m able to draft off of someone else for a bit because I was able to keep their feet in sight more this time than in other races where the water’s not as clear. As I’m typing this, I now wonder if this helped my swim time overall more than I realized. But hold that thought for a little while. The swim course is a long, out and back mostly line- or thin rectangularly-shaped. We first follow the yellow buoys keeping them on our right going out, turn around at the Thomas , the turnaound Turtle float, follow the orange buoys back (also on our right), turn around again at the Swan boat, and swim a short distance beyond a rocky jetty, making a dogleg left turn to the Swim Finish arch on shore. Now in the mix of all of these buoys were boating speed buoys. And I saw one guy not too long from when we start run SMACK into one! Ow. I’ve actually done this myself and they are rather hard. Anyway, I’m moving along to Thomas in the distance and doing okay relatively speaking. Sighting is going okay too and I’m at Thomas before I know it making this long back section now. Problem is they really needed a few more orange sighting buoys here. I could not initially see where the first one was at. I finally did and plugged along, sometimes catching some feet here and there. Y’know, so far, this swim seems to be one of the best I’ve had in a while from the perspective of sighting and just not seemingly getting all that tired. I remember passing the place where we were to turn to shore for the Swim Finish and that put me in good spirits as that meant that I should be sighting on the Swan Boat not too long from now. Also, I see some caps from the previous wave as well. About here a boat wake hits me! Yeah, I’m rocking back and forth along here for like 30 seconds or so, but it subsides and I press on. At last, I’m at the Swan Boat and still thinking I’m doing okay. But…wait…what’s going on around my one ankle?? Hey, my timing chip band has worked its way out from under my wetsuit leg and is slipping to my ankle! The safety pin is still there…it’s just that I didn’t pull the strap tight enough apparently! Not good! I try to ignore this but then think that if I somehow lose this, I’ll be disqualified. So, as I pass the Swan Boat, I turn over to try and fix this. The Swan Boat guy asks if I need help as that’s what you’re supposed to do if you’re in trouble, but I tell him I’m okay and just fixing this band. I can’t easily get this though so I bob in the water a bit and reach down to push it under my wetsuit leg. While I’m doing this, someone bumps into me. I look up and he looks up, says sorry and “I thought you were a buoy” (chuckle) I say sorry too but I’m just trying to fix this and continue. Finally, with precious time ticking away, I get the band snug under my wetsuit again. I continue on. A few fast swimmers pass me, maybe from the next wave and I latch on briefly. And here I actually have a bit in me to push to the end of the swim. Make the dogleg left to the Swim Finish area, see the bottom, and stand up to jog out of the water. Savageman swim portion is complete!

Swim time 36:20 16/23 AG 239/366 Overall

I did the lap count on my watch and stared at it a bit in disbelief. It said 37 something and I’m thinking “well, it must’ve stopped” and hit it again. Next lap shows up and it is indeed running. I really couldn’t believe the time as that’s means 3 1/2 min faster than my best HIM swim time. Note that due to pool closings in the summer, my swimming has been very inconsistent. Turns out that everyone’s swim seemed to be fast, but perhaps the drafting helped me a bit more this time too, maybe we had a bit of a current, or something. Well, I can’t stop to think about that now and press on. Transition is a bit of a ways here and I do have to run through the entire length of the area. Still, I’m doing okay getting it off plus my cap and goggles. Remember to take out my earplugs as I’ve actually left them on during other races. I thought about balancing to take the suit off, but thought “what the heck” and sat down to peel the rest off. Quickly dried off with my towel and attempted to get my tri top on…but…its stuck!!! This is a significant wardrobe malfunction in the making! I really just can’t get it on!! Seriously now??? So, I remove it and try again, this time finally manage to get into it. It’s not that it’s too small but it’s form fitting and I’m still a bit wet from the swim. So, this was not the best decision in the world and I would’ve really kicked myself had it cost a podium place later. Next calf sleeves, socks, arm warmers, bike jersey, gloves, headband, (pause to take breath)…helmet, annnnddd riding glasses… “Am I FINALLY READY?” I ask myself. Looks that way at last and I head out to mount my bike and get on the course.

T1 8:25 (what a joke! Maybe I should’ve had a cup of coffee while I was at it….Geez!)

20/23 AG 336/366 Overall (well, at least I wasn’t last)

Just after transition as I started out on the bike course, I heard “Go Wheelbase! Yeah Wheelbase” referring to the bike jersey I had on which showcased the Wheelbase bike shop in Frederick. Found out later that it was Tanya’s friend Stephanie who by coincidence I met manning the water stops with my at the YMCA’s Women’s Tri the next weekend. Interestingly, it was also the bike jersey I was wearing when I had my bike crash in 2005. Hmm, perhaps, I should’ve picked something else today . Well, since I’m well-rested after that Looonnnggg transition, I’m moving my way up and out of the park pretty well along with others around me. Our first little climb is Toothpick Road. This short 1/4 mile climb has a 9% average grade with a max of 16%. I don’t think I even bothered standing on this one and was at the top of it in no time. I don’t think a few others around me were doing as well and I briefly wondered what they’d be like later. After this, we encounter one of the nice downhill sections on the course (there were a few) and one of the only ones where I would’ve used aerobars had I had them. As we head up a short roller, a guy next to me yells out about my bike and blue walled tires. I look over and he has a Trek as well with blue-walled tires! We’re both like “Hey!” We chatted for a bit but he left me shortly thereafter. Turns out I’d see him again later. At about 7 miles out, we now get into the first technical and potential dangerous descent on the course that you have really have to pay attention to. Fortunately, there’s no road traffic here as its closed, though locals could still be going out. That doesn’t happen today. And I’m pretty much flying down here along with a good number of other folks. Ever since I had a bike crash back in 2005, I’ve been a bit leary about breakneck speeds on winding roads. So I feather my brakes here and there. However, several fearless riders zoom past me in some cases like I’m standing still even though I’m pretty sure I’m near or above 30 mph here much of the time. Now, though I had that wardrobe malfunction, I’m glad for the extra dry layer as my top and part of my fingers are getting chilled as I’m rushing through this 50 degree air! BRRR….And even with the riding glasses, my eyes are tearing up a bit too! More riders pass me and I also do some passing of my own here and there. The road twists and turns as well making one unsure just what lies ahead too. At least it seems pretty dry and they have repaved parts of it here and there from when I last rode it. After a short while, we reach the bottom of this section and start a more gradual and rolling descent for the next 5 miles or so. There are still some sharp descents to be reckoned with but not like the 4 mile one we all just went through. At this part, I remember the 15 mile marker coming up and I’m here in less than an hour. Hmm, that means we’re going to be at the Wall in short order as we’re still mostly descending and moving along rather quickly. BTW, if one could stop or slow along here, you could take in the magnificent scenery along the Savage River and I imagine during the Fall with the colors it would be spectacular! But, no time for that here unfortunately. At last, we emerge from the narrow road onto a two lane road as we head into Luke MD. From my training ride and the map, Westernport is just after this. Gliding down on the road, round a curve, and there’s the left onto route 36 in Westernport. Guy nearby basically says, “oh boy, we’re here”. Make the left turn and the immediate right to climb the short hill to the start of Rock St and the 4 blocks of road that make up the Wall. Let the carnage begin!

There are a few other folks here with me and we go over the timing mats which would record our start as we make our way up to Big Savage mountain. One turn to the left and the monster looms in front of me…the Westernport Wall (cue “Jaws” music). This whole part is 1.2 miles long, avg grade of 12% and max of 31%! I can hear music playing, cowbells and cheers from the crowd as I make my way along the first block. There are words of encouragement in chalk all along the street too. The first 3 blocks are also going up but nothing really to speak of compared to what lies ahead. Now, along with local towns people, your friends/family/supporters could be bused here after transition closed to cheer you on as you make your attempt. Alas, no one here for me in that capacity but you really didn’t need it with the Tour de France atmosphere of people standing in thick lines on either side of the Wall. This year, they put up an a flag rope “barrier” to keep people back and off the street so as not to hinder the riders.

Well, enough description…I’m here at the bottom starting to make my run…I see a sign with the words upside down and says, “If you can read this, flip over” Okay, I’m going up briefly on the right side as I had done in practice. Some folks earlier had said just to stay here and attempt to ride straight up. The road was also better too and though it too had cracks it it, there were what looked like craters in different parts of the middle! Anyway, I’ve gradually gotten on the left side going straight and looking down at the road as I’m climbing, really concentrating here on where I’m going. Everything else is blocked out and the crowd doesn’t really exist for me. A bit more along and I see what looks like a big crack to my right and I decide to try and avoid this by moving to the right before it. However, this turned out to be too soon to turn! My front tire hits the uneven surface of the path I’ve chosen and turns more to the right than I intended to go! I look up and see I’m heading straight to the right side of the street! Not good! I attempt to correct and turn back to the left but it’s too late…I’m not going to make it. So, as I near the curb I’m thinking of just falling on the side in the grass as I saw others do in videos of Wall attempts in the past and my right hand reaches out to find a soft landing spot….but I’m not over far enough to the side and feel myself tipping over to the right! ARRGHHH!! DOWN…I…GO! My right side hits something HARD enough to make me wince and cry out “OWW!” The next thing I know, I’m lying on my left side on the street. Knowing that I hit hard, I decided to just not move for a bit and assess whether I’m seriously hurt. My right side is not feeling very well at all, but I seem to be okay otherwise. There’s a volunteer at my side pretty much right after I came to rest there and asks if I’m okay. I either said “no” or “I’m not sure”. He said “take your time getting up”. “No problem” I said. Being mindful that I’m injured, I make my way up very slowly with the help of two volunteers. Someone took my bike to the top and they tell me to take my time moving along up on the grassy part here. I’m badly shaken here and in a bit of shock probably, holding my right side as I slowly go up the side. And of all the folks to see here, there’s Mark Neubauer in the crowd, a fellow triathlete who I met at my 2nd tri ever and have maintained contact with through local race event organizer and FTC member Ken Racine. As he’s helping me up the hill, he finally recognizes me and says “Hey Dave!” I say weakly back, “Hi Mark”, but continue to walk up the hill. Once up, I see mechanics working on my bike. Geez! I hope it’s okay for me to continue. And I ask those questions – “Is my bike okay?”, “Am I good to go?”. They quickly finish checking it over (after all, the carnage below continues and more will follow me) and give me the “thumbs up” that I can continue the race. As small sigh of relief. I take my bike over to the side, out of the way, and slump over the top tube and handlebars. The shock of the fall has taken its toll on me and I pause like this in order to recompose myself. I honestly am having trouble understanding what just happened and why I couldn’t make it up like I did during training. Disappointment and some sadness cross my mind for a little bit. My hurting right side reminding me of this failure isn’t helping. Well, I pull myself together and attempt to get going again. But, because I’m probably still in a state of shock, I’m unable to clip in on my left side. Because I’m starting to go uphill, I’m losing speed, and as I don’t really want to fall again, I unclip completely. I think once was enough for today, thank you very much. Walk my bike back down, pause briefly, and start back up again. This time I successfully clip in and proceed onward and upward thankfully leaving the “Wall” behind.

Now, during my fall, I’ve somehow lost my front drink bottle. But, thanks to the great suggestion of moving the bottle replacement aid station to the top of the “Wall”, there’s a bottle of Heed waiting for me ahead with the super volunteers providing support today at the aid station. I grab one and start to tackle this next hill… yes, you heard me… hill. Adding insult to injury, there’s a pretty good climb right after the “Wall” too. My right side isn’t liking this too much, but it’s not very bad. Still, it’s going to be a bother for the remainder of the bike course. There’s also a clothing drop here too on the left side just past the aid station, but I didn’t need it. Get to the top and the scenery overlooking the valley to the left is pretty nice as I recall. I think the 20 mile marker comes up and I comment that we only have 35.7 miles to go! Yippee! Next, we actually get to a relatively casual rolling section here ending with with another nice downhill (perfect for aerobars) not too far from this point.

Next is Big Savage Mountain. It is 2.4 miles long, avg grade 6% with a max of 21%. So this is the second longest climb of the day, but fortunately, the first sections start out rather easily. It really doesn’t start getting hard until closer to the end. There are signs along the way to help us prepare for the upcoming sections along the way by telling us what the average grade is ahead and how long before we reach it. At last, the steepest part of this climb looms ahead and I can see all the riders bunched up, some weaving from side to side in order to make it up. While I’m actually sitting for a good bit, I’ll also have to stand here as well, but I’m getting the job done with the 30-27 gearing combination and actually passing people as I make my way up. This is quite a change from other races where I’m the one usually being passed as I go up the rollers. And probably because of my gearing configuration, it’s a bit easier than when I did the course a month ago. It’s here that I pass Dave Murray who I met in transition and is in my AG. Chat briefly about what happened at the “Wall”. Dave was unable to make it as well but sounded like in less painful manner than myself though I think he got scraped a bit. I press on ahead. And next there’s a person in a Sasquatch suit giving folks “five” as we make the climb and pass the timing mats which will later let us know how long it took to get from the bottom of Westernport to the top of Big Savage Mountain. 3rd climb done, 5 more to go.

Big Savage Mountain climb time – 49:54, 8.5 avg mph 203/329 Male triathletes

Not too long after this, I believe there’s a downhill and then a bit of an uphill before we reach the second dangerous descent for 3 miles. The problem with this one is that there are two S-curve/switchbacks which you really should slow down for. Except for these and just a couple of other parts, I held off feathering my brakes for the most part as the road surface and sighting ahead is pretty good here. But, when the race sign indicated to slow, I did so for those sections. Not much of a problem navigating though and I was able to zoom pretty well through here. The final point of this downhill brings you to the start of the Savage River State Forest climb.

Now after the last two significant climbs, I’m not sure this one really qualifies per se. The average grade is 4% and max is 7%. However, at 2.8 miles in length, it’s the longest climb of the day and just seems to go on. I’m pretty much over the shock of the “Wall” and I remember from my training ride that this next part is very scenic and take my surroundings in for a bit. Several riders are around me and I see up ahead the Trek guy with the blue-walled tires is too. Just before I motor up to him a short bit later, I reach back to where I had stashed my gel and end up with stickiness all over my glove…ugh! Yeah, rolled on top of it during the fall and smushed it in my pocket. Fortunately, I’m not going to need it but it’s a bit annoying to have this sticky stuff on my glove. I don’t have water to wash it off either. Well, just wipe it off and deal with it. Just could do without it as well as sticky handlebars. It’s right here too that I notice my left arm is stinging a bit. Look at my elbow area and yup…a few blotches of blood are showing through the arm warmer. Just some scrapes to deal with too then. Some additional war wounds to display So I motor up beside Trek guy and he brightens a bit when I say hi to him. I introduce myself and he’s a Dave too! Geez we’re all over the place today He’s still very upbeat from when I talked to him earlier though I had seen he just lost a water bottle before I caught up and didn’t stop for it. Says he should be okay until the next bottle exchange at Killer Miller. And we stay pretty much together for this part though I’m climbing a bit better than he is as his gearing isn’t as low (like I said, this is real strange for me). I actually mentioned that to him and his upbeat attitude took a bit of a hit on that. I did say he was passing going down, but it was very true that I was a bit better going up. He also makes a comment that this part just seems to go on. BTW, to give you an idea on how relatively easy this part was, I didn’t have to use my smallest chainring on it  Finally we reach a downhill portion which tells us we’re done here and come down to start the next climb.

Hill five is McAndrews Hill, 0.6 mile long, avg 9%, max 19%. The interesting thing about this hill is that it has a hairpin S curve in it. And it is SLOW going now for a good number of folks around me, especially Trek guy Dave as he’s having to weave on this climb and tries to stay out of other folks’ way. I think except for the short hairpin S curve, I actually stay seated most of the way here though I am in my lowest gear for this hill. It’s here where I left Trek guy Dave behind and I didn’t see him again on the bike. Reach the top of McAndrews in relatively short order and zoom down into the middle of New Germany State Park.

Passing through New Germany, we take a left onto New Germany Road and enjoy a nice long downhill where one could get into aerobars if available. And I zoom down here as well as the road and sighting are good. Up ahead, though, is a right turn onto Otto Lane. This is the 6th climb and is 0.6 miles long, avg grade 8%, max 17%. No sitting here initially and I stand to get myself going upward. Lots of folks around me again too. And again, I’m able to pass a few folks here and there and even able to sit back down as I get nearer to the top.

Shortly thereafter, we turn onto the 3rd technical and potentially dangerous descent of the course. During training, this road was pretty badly chewed up and sighting ahead is a problem here and there. However, the county did a good job of putting down some asphalt and smoothing the rougher spots, though it wasn’t a smooth ride overall. Still, I did fairly well with this downhill and didn’t have to feather my brakes quite as much as during training. Coming near the end of this section there’s a sign that says “Don’t Look Left”. But of course, I do and there’s Killer Miller, our 7th climb of the day. Gotta get down this hill first, though, and return my concentration to that task. At the end here, you really have to slow down as it’s a hairpin/very sharp left onto Miller Road and the beginning of Killer Miller.

Killer Miller is the second toughest climb of the day. It is 1.3 mi long with an average grade of 8% and a max of 22%. As if this wasn’t enough of a challenge, the other difficulty with Killer Miller is that it comes at mile 38.1 into the ride and one has already been through 6 other climbs. So, my legs aren’t nearly as fresh when I faced this hill during training. The first part of this climb isn’t too bad though I’m definitely standing, but making steady progress. Some great signs along the way too here -> “Westernport? Whatever…”, “Outta Gears?” followed by “Outta Luck!”, and “Need SAG? Call 1800SUKITUP!” (though this last one may have been elsewhere). We get a bit of a respite reaching a place with some tall pine trees (nice scenery!), but after coming out of this, the real teeth of Killer Miller are bared ahead! And this is TOUGH! Like the Wall, I’m just looking down at the road and maintaining concentration to keep pushing/pulling on my pedals to get up this second monster climb of the day! There’s a bit of a crowd here to cheer folks on and give encouragement which is VERY welcomed. Folks call out my number and say “you got this 288…only a bit more to the top, 288…way to go 288!” Man, now heart rate has jumped significantly and the sweat is dripping as I slowly creep along to make my way up. Others are not doing quite as well and I saw one guy just had to stop. My legs are also NOT very happy and I have to give quite an effort to keep them going. Push/pull, push/pull, push/pull….thank goodness for one-legged drills on the trainer! At LONG last, I reach a slight leveling off area of this climb and am able to sit to catch my breath though I’m still climbing. It was either here or just before this that I see a photographer and give a big smile for the camera. And shortly thereafter, I reach the top! I actually feel elated and give a “whoop, whoop, whoop!” while waving my arm around. Bottle exchange comes up ahead and I discard my Heed bottle for a fresh one. As I’m moving along the summit, another guy is slowly passing me and we start commiserating about the climbs for a bit. We both pass a gal up ahead, she overhears us, and says “Quit your bitchin‘, boys”…and we both get a laugh out of this! I yell back “Okay, and next time, I’ll bring cheese with that whine”, which gets a bit of a laugh out of her.

We’re treated to some grand views at the top here and a nice downhill once again before coming to the last highlighted climb of the day, Maynardier Ridge. It is only 0.25 mi long but has an average grade of 12% with the second highest maximum grade of 23% of all the climbs. It’s also at mile 43.8. Sooooo despite its short length, its going to take a good amount of effort here to get up it. Yeah, umm, legs are DEFINITELY not happy as I’m standing and puffing here. There are some supporters again along side the road who clapping for all of us out here today. Hah, sign here says to save something for the run. Too late now…And there’s another that says “Slow”! Really? No kidding, huh? Well, I’m over the top in fairly short order and now it really is pretty much downhill from here!

Despite my legs not being happy, I’m motoring along this last part fairly well and actually passing a few folks here and there. Still a few rollers to deal with during the last 11.9 miles but nothing that’s very tough after what I’ve been through. I remember looking at my riding time thus far and was pleased that it looked like I’d be able to come in under 4 hours with perhaps around a 15 mph average, which would be better than my training run. And after mile marker 50 comes up, my spirits really brighten as I know that’s only about 20 some minutes or less to finishing the bike course if I’m doing better than 15 mph at this point. Come down a nice downhill which I recognize leads to the left turn into Deep Creek Lake SP and I’m motivated now to finish this very tough bike course, but still need to be careful as the road is a bit winding. Make the left turn into the park and it’s only a couple of miles left. Have to be a bit careful as there are folks on the run course merging with the folks still on the bike here. The 55 mile sign come up during a bit of a hill and the turn to the upper boat launch is just after this. Come down a hill into the parking area, moving along a coned off corridor for the bikes, and drop down to the road leading to the turn to transition. At this point, I start getting out of my shoes. My legs try to cramp up but I’m able to convince them that I need to do this and am able to pedal on top of my shoes as I make the right turn leading down the hill to the transition area. Just before the dismount, swing my legs over and very nicely balance on my one pedal gliding to the dismount area. Stop the bike right there and quickly stepped off the pedal for the short jog to my rack area. The transition volunteers at the dismount area comment as I step off – “Perfect!”. I wish I had a picture because I really have gotten quite good at doing this now. And at last, I have for the most part successfully completed the Savageman 70.0 bike course!

Bike time: 3:52:14 (14.4 mph avg), 14/23 AG, 199/366 Overall

After the dismount, I’m right there at my rack spot and getting rid of several riding articles and pieces of clothing. Helmet off, bike jersey with the sticky goo OFF, headband off, riding glasses off, running shoes on, grab my race belt, my hat, the two gels, and I’m outta there! Unfortunately….I REALLY have to go! So, have to stop at the porta johns, eating up some time, but there was no way I could go out on the run course like this.

T2: 3:12, 10/23 AG, 195/366 Overall

Wish I hadn’t needed to stop and use up more time, but I had somewhere around 2 hours to deal with on the 13.1 mile run course and didn’t need other distractions. Interestingly enough, my right side is not complaining and I didn’t really notice it at all during the entire run. Perhaps endorphins kicked in and just blocked the pain. Whatever, I like the fact I’m not being affected by my earlier injury. Now unlike the first part of the bike, the sun had come out and though it was still around 60 degrees (perfect for the run), we were still in the shade through much of the run. So arm warmers were still on for a few miles. The first part of the run course is pretty level parralleling the lake shore. We make a turn up to the road, transversing the only muddy patch of the course here before that. Don’t want to slip here and bound over that. Emerge from the woods a short time later and get onto the road. Just after a bit of a gradual incline I see Chris Miller on the other side. I ask if he’s on his first or second and he’s on his second as I expected. Then a nice downhill greets me to a turn around point. I bound down this hill a little but my quads are starting to tell me they’re not happy and start to cramp up on me. Fortunately, I’m able to fend them off of completely freezing and am able to keep going. I thank the supportive volunteer at the turn around and let her know I’ll see her again on the second loop. Now back up this hill I just came down and mile 1 marker shows up. I’m at a 8:30 pace or so as I recall and again wondering if I’m going out too fast for this type of a course. But, other than my quads, I seem to be doing okay and just decide to keep going at this pace. Shortly before making the right turn which leads up the steep hill in the campground area, Geoff Irwin is on the other side and we wish each other a good run. More about Geoff later. There’s a water stop ahead and I gulp down some Heed. No water belt as I decided I didn’t want extra weight for this courrse. But, as I run while drinking, I do splash water/Heed on the front of me quite often. So now the first time up into the campground area is ahead and this IS a climb! Quads attempt to cramp again here but I’m able to relax them and push upward. I quicken my steps but shorten my stride and lean into the hill to let gravity help get me up. Folks in the campground are along the way to help provide support to the racers and I again appreciate this. Finally make it up and now it’s a challenge to maintain footing going fast down. Many folks slow up on such downhills and I do so during training too. But during a race, I charge down them which really helps my overall pace. So much so that I’m able to pass a guy who passed me just a bit ago. He comments that I’m doing well and I say the same and that he’ll probably catch me here after the downhill ends. Take in more Heed at the aid station. Gotta balance a bit with water too or else I’ll start going into GI distress I think. I’m taking the Heed more for electrolytes and to prevent cramping vs the carbs, though those are probably helping with the latter too. Now we’re along the park road and it’s mostly rollers here with a couple of good downhills. Arm warmers come off as I no longer need their warmth since the pace I’m setting plus the warmer air of the afternoon is doing that just fine. Just beyond mile 3, I decided to take a gel more for the caffeine it had than anything else. I could use the stimulant right now and I wouldn’t take another gel until around mile 9 or so. At 4.38 miles, we have to go up on Thayerville Fire Tower Road which isn’t really a road, but a 1/4+ mile rocky trail full of loose rocks and crevices due to water wearing down parts of the path. Many folks are walking this but I’m doing a greatly shortened stride run, leaning up this and using gravity again to assist as I did up the campground hill. After the tough bike, this climb is equally tough and I think to myself that I’m going to have the “pleasure” of doing this again during the second loop. Reach the top, grab a bit of water to wash down the gel previously, and then bound down the hill! As I’m a decent trail runner, I’m able to navigate the steep rocky trail down pretty well, jumping here and there and moving side to side when necessary while picking a route to go down. Emerge off the trail and back out onto the road. Thank the police and park folks here as they tell me it’s okay to cross. Still bikes on the course at the merge point. Come up a couple of short hills and kinda of suddenly, this one guy blows by me. Look at his calf and he’s got an “R” meaning Relay. So, this is his only part and no wonder he moved past me like that. I comment about this to him and he says “Yeah and I got to sleep in this morning too” (groan and chuckle). Next turn right going down to a flat part of the course that will take me back to start the second loop. Pass a few folks here who are also on their first loop and they’re not having very much fun with this run course either it sounded like. There’s a short wooded area with some roots we had to be careful on and also a ditch to jump over as we get back onto a road which goes through the boat launch area, along a gravel road path, passing the Finish area, and back to along the transition area to start my second loop. Heard someone yell something like “Yea Dave! Go Dave!”, which was Stephanie and perhaps Tanya again.

Second loop, same as the first, a little bit more tired, and perhaps just a little bit worse(?) Well not really. I’m doing okay though I know I’m slowing a bit. I definitely saw that I had made the first loop in like 56 something minutes which gave me a real mental boost! So, now the goal was to come in under 2 hours for the run course. That would make me very pleased if I could accomplish that after such a tough bike and a fairly tough run. Come to the place with the mud and there’s a photographer I give a Savage pose for. She laughs just a bit as I pass and says she got it. Emerge from the woods and tell the Park official thanks but I don’t plan on seeing him any more today. Back up and then down to the supportive turnaround volunteer. I give her the same words of thanks and same apologies that I won’t be returning a third time which gets a laugh out of her. Grab more heed as I turn again to start tackling the campground climb. Oh gosh, this has just gotten tougher than before and I’m starting to pant up this hill just a bit. But, make it without stopping or walking again and bound downwards to the bottom so I can even out my average pace. Now I saw this guy earlier and pass him on this downhill but imagine the Geico caveman from the commercials and that’s EXACTLY what this guy looked like! I commented as such when I pass him and he tells me he grows his hair and beard like this just for this race. Too funny! Well, water at the aid station this time, bound down another short hill to the park road, and back on the rollers for a bit. Mile 9 marker appears soon thereafter and I take my second gel. I’ve not had this flavor before which is supposed to be Espresso with a good amount of caffeine. A lesson here is to test your nutrition cuz this was VERY thick gel and I really needed to wash it down with some water, which I didn’t have just yet as I was between aid stations. Gag! I took as much as I dared but I had to discard part of it or else I would probably get a bit sick if I took it all. Thank goodness the next aid station came up a bit later and I took a couple of waters to wash this down to settle my insides. And on the other side of the road, there’s Relay guy and I say this to him which brings a bit of a smile to his face. Mile 10 comes up and I look at my watch. I’m at 1:27 or something like that and think if I can maintain a 9 pace or better here, I’ll make my under 2 hour goal. Barring anything significant happening, I was confident that I could achieve this now. Shortly thereafter, the the turn for the fire road climb comes into view. And I…AM…REALLY…BREATHING…HARD…NOW!! I’m sure my heart rate is redlining and folks who are walking here turn around at the sound I’m making coming up this hill! Yes, I am breathing that loud! Short quick steps going up….just a bit more….and…at the top and turnaround! Yes, thanks for that water! Gulp down, recompose, and again bound down as much as I can along this rocky trail to the road. Coming down pretty quickly and had to tell one gal ahead that I was going to bound down on her left so as not to startled or impede her progress. And now back down on the road…Yes! It’s now a mile and a half to go to the Finish! Up the two hills ahead and mile 12 marker comes up. I think my watch read 1:45 and I’m thinking, “Yup, just under 2 here!” Turn right and now I’m on the mostly flat stretch that’ll take me to the finish. After navigating the short wooded area and leaping over the ditch, I come up to the boat launch area again. Get onto the gravel road and I can now see the yellow Finish flags in the distance. And I start a final push with whatever I have left! Come up a short crest and now I can hear the Finish area crowds cheering and the loudspeaker calling out names. Continue to pick up my pace, so much so I’m catching someone up ahead. I almost catch this person but he is only on his first lap and I make the slight turn into the Finish area. I’m now kicking it and really making a big final effort to finish strong…see the timing mats ahead….hear my name being called (“David Miller of Middletown Maryland!”)…crowds cheering…arms, legs pumping to the Finish arch ahead….volunteers put a finishing ribbon in front of me as I raise my arms in triumph with a big smile as I cross under the arch!!! DONE!

I-AM-A-SAVAGEMAN!!!

Run time: 1:55:12 3/23 AG, 99/366 Overall

Final time: 6:35:21 7/23 AG, 160/366 Overall

I pause for a bit after I finished. As the timing chip is safety-pinned, the volunteer had difficulty getting it off and I had to help. Other nice volunteers hand me water and I also take a banana. Then one asked I just finished and I said yes. Hands me my coveted Finishers T-shirt! Yea!! They also handed me a thermal wrap to help keep me warm but I found in a bit I didn’t need it as the sun came out. Interestingly, there’s no one here beyond the initial finish making sure the finishers are okay. Understandably, I’m moving rather slowly as I make my way around. Sign up for the complementary massage and then decide I should take care of my arm plus get some ibuprofen or Advil for my right side and head into the med tent. The EMT asks how many ibuprofen I’d like and I laughibly think maybe six would do But, I just ask for 2 at the moment and will get more if I need it back at my car. I also ask if he can clean the scrapes on my arm which he does so. Unlike many hot races, there’s not much activity here thank goodness. The EMT gets me cleaned up, takes some info about me and my injuries, and I’m good to go. Time for some chow! Each racer received basically a box lunch with a welcomed hot pulled pork sandwich plus some other food and a drink. As I was afraid I wouldn’t get back up if I actually sat on the ground, I found a rock ledge to sit on to dangle my legs from instead. Chatted with a few other folks and then got some ice cream which was for the racers as well. Kept checking the massage list which as you might expect was quite long. It was then that I heard the name of someone I knew who was finishing – Beginner Triathlete Matt Olsen! So I went over to the Finish and there was Matt who I hadn’t met before but saw his number and yelled out his name. Said who I was and my BT userid, sbrdave. Matt was feeling like I was a bit ago and I helped him along to get some food and sit where I just sat a moment ago. Matt did make it up the Wall, but he unfortunately had to pause at Maynardier Ridge and kinda fell there I think I remember him saying. Matt was pretty well spent by the time he reached the run, but he did finish and got the T-shirt as well. We chatted for a while on the whole experience and parted company after Matt finished his post race food. I then was finally called to get my massage and it was heaven! Vic really took care of me. Moved about the crowd and thought I should start to pack up. Found Geoff Irwin who gave me a nice complement that I was having a good run and that he couldn’t catch me on his second loop. Geoff is a great triathlete and I always feel good when such folks compliment me that way. Geoff took 1st in his AG BTW and 18th overall. Somewhere along the way I also saw Chris Miller too. He took 2nd in his AG and 20th overall. I didn’t see Lucas but he finished 4th overall after the 3 pros ahead of him and was the top amateur! So a good day for folks from Frederick for the most part. I had thought of sticking around for the awards and heard some of them, but it was time to pack up, take a shower, and go home after this long, savage, but satisfying day.

To be sure, the Savageman 70.0 event takes adequate training in order to prepare for the challenges that one is faced with on different parts of the course. Despite not climbing the “Wall”, I still got a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction out of conquering not only the other hills on the bike, but then also coming back to have a great run and conquer the hills there as well. Savageman is well-run with plenty of volunteers and amenities for the racers. Crowd support is just super too, especially at nearly all the significant climbs. Plus, the whole festival takes place in an exceptionally scenic area. And the event is one for a good cause too. If you think you’d like to challenge yourself in ways that you’ve not experienced in other triathlons, then consider signing up for Savageman some year. Though I don’t know when/if I’ll be back, I’m glad I was able to participate and finish at least once.

So, race fans, this brings my triathlon season to a close. However, I’ll have at least one more report as I go on to tackle Fire on the Mountain 50K trail run on Sunday, Oct 30. Until then, this has been “Race Report” Dave.

P.S. here’s a link to a YouTube video which gives you an idea of the carnage at the Wall and also my spectacular fall. Words that I used just don’t really convey what happened quite as well. Look for me starting my run up the steep part about 1:17 into the video, gold jersey, blue arm warmers, white helmet. I’m at the bottom, making my way up the left side and then come across to the right. Don’t cringe too much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtZ-tMjbqDo

Bike Course-10 miles

Start in the parking lot at Middletown High School

Take Schoolhouse Drive to East Green Street

Turn Right on East Green Street and follow to Route 17

Turn Right on 17 and follow to Harmony Road

Turn Right on Harmony Road and follow to Route 40

Turn Right on Route 40 and follow to Hollow Road

Turn Right on Hollow Road and follow to Alternate 40

Turn Right on Alternate 40 and follow to Conebranch Drive

Turn Right on Conebranch Drive

Take first left off of Conebranch Drive onto East Green Street to Schoolhouse Drive

Turn Right onto Schoolhouse Drive and follow back to Middletown High parking lot

Run Course-3.1 miles

(Run course would mainly utilize the Middletown Park with just a small portion of the run taking place on the road)

Start in Middletown High parking lot

Exit parking lot and follow to the entrance of Middletown Park adjacent to school grounds

Loop through the park and exit park at Coblentz Road

Make a left on Coblentz Road and follow road up to turn around point

Turn around and follow Coblentz Road back to entrance of the park

Loop back through park and end at Middletown High School

Greetings Triathlon and Multisport Race Fans! And here it is, another exciting race narrative for the 2011 season from “Race Report” Dave! I’ll start off again by saying for those new to the club, I had started to write these soon after the club started so folks could perhaps learn from my triathlon/multisport race experiences and also have a better idea about races they may want to do for the next season. Since others in the club liked my reports, I continued to do them and in a style where one might experience the race. Hence I got the moniker of “Race Report” Dave before I became club president.

This report covers Eagleman, a Half Ironman distance event in the Ironman 70.3 series. The race is a qualifier for the Ironman World Championships and also the Ironman 70.3 Championships. So it draws some top professionals as well as fast age groupers hoping to win a place to those two big shows. This race takes place on the Maryland Eastern Shore out of the city of Cambridge with the swim taking place on the Choptank River. The event has a pretty long history and eventually got its name from the fact that Bald Eagles nest in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, through which much of the bike course goes through. While the course promises to be fast because the bike and run course are flat, it can be grueling due to weather conditions (wind and heat), the constant pedaling on the bike, and very little shade on the run. In the last four years, the temperature on the bike and run have been in the 90s to near/at 100 with heat indexes reaching in the 100s on the run in 2008 and 2010. This year’s female winner, Mirinda Carfrae, remarked just how tough the course really is using some of the same words above.

Now despite these challenges, I like the course. I don’t do well with hills and flat bike and run courses agree with me just fine. I can also run in the heat if prepared for it and it isn’t overly hot. It’s also a close Half Ironman distance event being only 2 1/2 hours away. This would be my fourth Half Ironman event and third time doing Eagleman. The first time I did this course, it was my first Half Ironman event and I just wanted to finish. Plus it was hot that day back in 2008 with temperatures at 95 degrees when I started the run. But I did finish fairly well, considering, coming in at 6:01. Not bad for the hot conditions and first Half Iron. So, when I came back in 2009, I was more experienced and looking for a much better race as it wasn’t nearly has hot then. And I was on my way to a good race just before the run. But, it all fell apart at the start of the run and I had to walk or slowly jog on one of the most painful 13.1 miles I’ve ever done. Combination of inadequate training, dehydration, and probably low electrolytes did my legs in completely. So, when I signed up for the race for this year, I did so needing to wipe that disaster clean from the slate and prove to myself that I could have a good Half Ironman distance event. Even for the event which I had my best time for a HIM distance, I didn’t have what I would consider a good run as I was either cramping or aware that my legs might cramp at any moment. This time I vowed would be different.

During the months leading up to the event, I had first concentrated on swimming as that’s my weak area. And I did seem to be slowly getting better, though I know I still need a lot of work here. I don’t do badly on the swim, but I’m relatively slow seeing how I really learned to swim correctly when I started triathlon back in 2006. And I did have a decent swim at an early season sprint tri too. Unfortunately, as many of you know, the indoor pools in the Frederick area closed down for the summer for renovations at the end of April or beginning of May. So, I believe I lost some swim training “fitness” during the month and a half prior to the event. I still was able to swim here and there, but not consistently (and this is the primary reason I decided not to do a full Ironman distance triathlon this year). On top of this, the Spring had been fairly wet and I wasn’t as able to get out as often to train on the bike as I would’ve liked initially. But, the weather eventually changed and fortunately, it did get quite warm during the weekends in May. So, unlike Eagleman 2008, I was able to acclimate properly to the very warm and humid weather conditions that we might get again this year.

After the disastrous run in 2009 off the bike, I’m now firm believer of weekly brick training sessions. For those not familiar with the term “brick”, these are a bike session followed quickly by the run, like in an actual race bike to run transition. Though I’ve seen some training plans that don’t advocate long bricks, I felt I needed to do a few in order to prepare my body for the Half Iron distance demands that I would be putting it through. I know I can do the short ones. But the long ones take a toll on you if you’re not prepared. In 2009, due to injuries, I wasn’t able to do much brick training. I did do long bike rides that year and attempted to compensate for the lack of running. But, whatever I did then wasn’t sufficient for the race. So, I started weekly bricks back in April, slowly building the distances of both disciplines together. My two long bricks consisted of a 52 mile bike followed by a 9 mile run, in the afternoon heat, along route 194 (started at Walkersville). I’ll tell ya, that first one really did me in and I caught myself leaning on the run as you see some athletes do during long events. Not good and hence the reason I was doing this. After my last longish brick consisting of 44 miles bike and 10K run, I felt I was well-prepared for this year’s Half Iron and hoped I could do as well on the run as during training as they were in the sub-9 min/mile range. At the time I was thinking “yeah, if only”.  Little did I know at the time just what I was truly capable of.

Now I didn’t race in Eagleman in 2010, but it was again another really hot one then. And that year was the first year the swim was not wetsuit legal. And this year, the World Triathlon Corporation, owner and organizer of Ironman, deemed that wetsuits could not be worn if the water temperature was above 76.1 degrees if you wanted to be at the podium and if you were hoping for a Kona/70.3 Championship place. If you chose to wear one, you’d be in a special wetsuit wave going last. Yeah, while I’m sure some folks did that, I wouldn’t look forward to the heat on the run later. Now, beyond 83.8 degrees, wetsuits would not be allowed at all. And during the warm/hot weather during the weeks leading to the race, we’re all watching the water temperature gage at the weather buoy on the Choptank slowly rise. It was pretty much maintaining above 76.1 for weeks prior to the race. So we were all preparing for a non wetsuit race. Now I probably should’ve not worn a wetsuit during my last Open Water Swim practice at Fort Ritchie. But, I usually need more practice in it than without it as I can always go the pool to for non wetsuit swims. This turned out to be a slight mistake, though I don’t think it would’ve made much difference overall.

The club usually has a fairly large contingent of folks going since this is a close event and this year would be no exception. Club member George Corbi graciously offered to drive us down as I had reserved a room ahead of time. For those doing this event in the future, get a room close as soon as you sign up (usually opens up in August). The close ones in Easton and Cambridge just sell out too quickly and I had the chance for one in Easton, but waited too long to book it. I got one in Salisbury, but it’s a half hour away from the race site and that just makes for a long drive in the morning. Turns out that former club member “Coach” Mike Matney was able to get a room in Easton for the 3 of us and that was only 15 min away. Thanks to Mike, it was just a more enjoyable start to the day.

As you have to rack your bike the day prior, you do have to get there the day before the event. There’s no race day registration and no bike racking on the race day. This is actually a good thing as it’s just one less item you have to worry about on race day. So, with training done, taper complete for me, George and I head on down to the race site the Saturday before. Oh, one other thing though…I asked George if he had his wetsuit and he said he did. I then said I forgot mine and we went back since we weren’t too far away (though we weren’t like down the street). So, turned around and grabbed my wetsuit. While this turned out to be unnecessary, it would just be my luck that it turned out by some circumstance to be wetsuit legal and I forgot to bring it.

George and I got to registration fairly early and got all situated there. This year’s schwag bag had a nice cap which I decided to wear on the run as the one I brought was kinda falling apart. Also, nice T-shirt and water bottle. I think one year, we got socks which I could really use as well. A few food items and brochures as well. Plus Tri Columbia gave you a reusable bag to hold your stuff in. Not too shabby!

We then had plenty of time to take in the Expo. The one thing we both did was try this Recovery Pump contraption. These were inflatable boots that went around your legs. Then an air pump put air in the boots that compressed your legs for a bit, then deflated, and cycled several more times through the compression/decompression. The folks there said one should really use for 40 min but they were only allowing 20 due to the number of people. That was okay and perhaps this would help a bit of issue I was having with my calf as the Active Release Technique folks weren’t there this year. I gotta tell ya – our legs felt very refreshed after we were done! If it wasn’t for the cost (nearly $1200), I’d consider something like this myself!

Here and there we met other club members (Greg Snellings, Doug Milliken) as well as other folks we knew in the tri community. We also saw Mike Matney at the Fitness Concepts booth as well as head coach Ken Meirke. Chatted with them for a bit. Took in some samples from Hammer and Power Bar (good stuff too). We stuck around for the race meeting though I really didn’t get my questions answered until afterwards. Then headed off to rack our bikes.

Usually, I’m not really in a good rack spot per se but it is what it is. Turns out this year, I was near to the end of my row close to one of the middle main paths leading to transition exits/entrances, which is good and kinda in the middle between both the bike in/out and swim in/run out. So, not too bad. Though the rows had letters, I still took practice runs coming into my row from the swim in and bike in areas and counted the number of rows for both as I usually do. This turned out be unnecessary this year with the easily seen row numbers. Now, one thing I decided to do was to take off my bike gear bag that contained spare tubes, my bike tool, and CO2 cartridges. Despite security, things can still get stolen in the transition area and it was also probably going to rain overnight (which it did). So, I put the bag in my transition bag with the rest of my gear. Now take note here – THIS IS A BEGINNER MISTAKE that I shouldn’t have done. You don’t deviate from your normal routine or problems can occur. More on this later.

Now I did want to go to the pro panel which is usually interesting. Especially since Craig Alexander was going to be there. However, he had gotten sick and was not do the race after all. So we decided to skip the pro panel and just relax for the afternoon after getting some lunch. Interestingly enough, we actually met one of the pro women at lunch! Kristin White, who’s an up and coming pro in her third season. She would take 9th during the race. If you’re interested, her blog is at www.kristin-white.com. For the rest of the day and evening, we hung out at the hotel and discussed tri stuff and the race along with Mike Matney. Layout clothes, put on numbers, fill water bottles…we’re as ready as we can be.

It’s Race Day morning!! Alarms go off at 4 AM and I drag myself out of bed to get some much needed coffee. Transition opens up at 5 AM but we also have to get there early to get parking nearby. Now the race folks provide a shuttle service but I don’t want to depend on a shuttle getting me to the race. After getting stuff to the car, we grab some breakfast provided by the hotel. I will give a plug here for the Holiday Inn Express in Easton – they did a fantastic job for the racers! They provided food/Gatorade bags for everyone and opened up breakfast early so all could grab something before the race. And the guy at breakfast was making sure we had enough of anything too! I might write to them about the excellent service. After breakfast, headed to the race site.

We got what we thought was a good spot, but quickly realized that we parked a bit farther away than we should’ve and had to hoof it to the site a ways. Not really a terrible problem but it was unnecessary. It’s a pleasant morning as we walk over to the transition area and warm too with temps in the 70s as predicted. Sun isn’t up but it’s already looking like fairly sunny skies to start unlike yesterday when it was cloudy until about 10:30. Enter transition, get body marked, and head over to my bike. Get the word that it’s not wetsuit legal as the water temp is 82 degrees. Well, that’s kinda okay as perhaps it will mean a faster T1 time. Then lay out gear, put on hydration bottles, pump up tires, etc. And fortunately, the person next to me didn’t show and I had some extra room as they always put the bikes rather close. What would be helpful is a bag dropoff so we didn’t have to have bags in the area cluttering up the space. Anyway, I believe I’m mostly ready and head over to George to give him is pump. Wish him well as I’m in one of the first waves and he’s in one of the last ones. Thank goodness I’m early as two years ago, I was waiting for what seemed like forever and it was nearly 2 hours after the men’s pro race start. Then I get a bit more water for one of my bottles and then it’s time to get that last “potty” break. Despite a lot of porta johns, the lines are long but move fairly quickly thank goodness. Transition’s about to close at 6:45 and I decide to check out the women’s pro start and the wave before us. Turns out this was a good thing as they then call for my wave to line up! I’m thinking, “huh?” We’re not supposed to start until 7:10, 20 minutes later than the start of the first AG wave. But, guess what…race director decided to start early. So, I’m glad I’m there. I kinda wish he hadn’t for reasons I’ll get into in a bit.

So, it’s now time for my wave to prepare and we move to the start buoys. Turns out close in, we could actually touch bottom and didn’t have to tread water. Water is definitely warm and I’m somewhat glad I don’t have a wetsuit on. Probably overheat. So we’re just kinda hanging around here and finally the race director tells us we’ve got 3 minutes….then 1 1/2 and I start my watch so I don’t waste time starting it at race start….30 seconds…..10….AIR HORN BLAST!!!! And I’m off on the swim portion in my 3rd Eagleman event!!

The swim course is basically a rectangular course starting just outside the park’s boat ramp, heading up river, turning back to shore, and then turning again back to the park. Even though I started somewhat near the back, I’m running into folks who are either slower or just bumping into me. I try to catch feet here and there to draft, but the water is not very clear and I just can’t find folks very well. For this first sight buoy, I’m actually doing quite well I thought and staying mostly with my wave. But bump into other folks and others are on my legs which slows me down. I don’t intentionally kick folks to get off but every now and then in the beginning here, I do tend to hit a few bony spots on someone else. Without the wetsuit, my arms are feeling okay and I believe I’m doing fine at this point and just maintain. Pass the first sighting buoy and onto the next. Now somewhere between the second and third sighting buoy, I start losing my sighting I’ve been doing okay with. I’m going way left it seems for some reason and not sure if there’s some sort of current or what, but it definitely making for a bit longer swim. And I’m STILL bumping into folks, some from the wave previously already. That’s kind why I wish we hadn’t started earlier, so we don’t bump into the previous wave. Finally, the first turn buoy is near and I round it okay. But, then I can’t seem to locate the next sighting buoy and have to breast stroke just for a bit. Locate it and press onward. Somewhere here, two guys from the wave behind have caught us! And I also don’t seem to be with the majority of my wave any longer. This makes me lose a bit of concentration, but I also am aware that I’m still feeling decent and my arms are still okay. The brackish water in my mouth isn’t tasting so good (YUK!), though, and I was thinking that I hope it doesn’t give me much distress later. I’m not going left too much here but I’ve definitely fallen behind a bit due to my navigation. Finally round the next turn buoy and head to the finish. The distance is now taking its toll on me, physically as well as mentally. While my arms aren’t really tired, I’m just getting a bit tired overall after seemingly slogging through the water. I’m also still going left! And now we’re REALLY bumping up against the wave ahead as well as fast swimmers in the wave behind are going by. Here and there I get a bit of draft from them but it’s short lived. Just a couple of buoys to go but that swim finish arch sure seems quite far now! And I realize I’m losing some of my swim balance in the water and I think my legs are drooping too often than I’d like. After the last sighting buoy, I notice some folks standing and walking! I didn’t realize it was that shallow but decided to keep swimming a bit. Then I dolphined a few times before also standing up and trudging to the swim finish arch. FINALLY, jog up on shore through the arch and enter in the transition area for T1!

Swim time: 47:46, 2:15/100 yards, 62/124+ AG (M50-54, don’t know total number yet), 1205 overall at this point. Not a terrible swim considering everyone’s swims were lower without wetsuits but about 7 1/2 min slower than 2 years ago. Interestingly enough, I was still in the middle of my AG. Usually, I’m more towards the back.

Jogging into T1 and feeling decent after the swim. Look at my watch and see my approximate swim time – 48 min…Egads! Well, that’s NOT going to help get me to a Personal Record (PR) today! But, no time to really think about that and get to my spot as quickly as possible. Decided on no socks for the bike as I do okay like that and they also won’t get dirty when I get out my shoes for T2. Race number belt on (you had to wear it this year on the bike), shoes on, headband, sunglasses, and helmet. Grab my bike and head to the bike out and mount area. Mount the bike okay and I’m off on the 56 mile Eagleman course!!

T1 time: 2:20. Decent for me and probably due to no wetsuit. I thought there would be a good trade off between no wetsuit and transition time, but I only gained 14 secs in T1 over 2009 whereas I lost 7 1/2 min in swim time. Well, at least I started to gain somewhere

On the bike course now. The bike course is basically one big loop out about 30 miles and back 26. The first part of the bike winds you through the Cambridge neighborhoods near the park. Decent roads and wide streets for the most part. The run takes place on some of these as well. It is sunny now as I begin the course. Start my countdown timer on my watch that beeps every 20 min to remind me to drink and/or take in nutrition/electrolytes. It is real easy to forget when you’re concentrating on a race and this is a nice reminder to keep at least rehydrating as I move along. I practiced this during the first Half Ironman and it works quite well for me. Now just after mile 2, I realize that I FORGOT TO PUT MY BIKE GEAR BAG ON this morning!!!!! A wave of sheer PANIC washes over me for just a moment! You have to understand that during ALL of my bricks on 194, I flatted. Once was legitimate with a long staple in the tire and tube. The others were a mystery. I had the wheel looked at and Brian at Bike Doctor replaced the rim tape as it appears to have been offset. Nothing else looked out of place. Seemed to have worked as on my last longish brick, I was okay. Still, here I was, about to go out about 30 miles from the race site with NO replacement tubes!! After the initial shock, I quickly calmed down and told myself there’s nothing that can be done now. Just race the race as best you can and if it happens, so be it. Still, I was going to be a bit extra careful to avoid items that might cause a pinch flat to occur. Once out of the neighborhoods, we get out into more open road with long stretches of flat and in some cases straight roads. I’m passing a few folks here and there, mostly the earlier swim wave and perhaps a few from my AG. Warned one guy to stay right more or else the refs will cite him for blocking. And he was too on a few folks. I didn’t see much of that today but then again, I was starting early in the race and the majority of folks weren’t yet on the course. The winds are relatively light this year, thank goodness, and I’m grateful that it doesn’t seem like I’ll run into the long stretch of headwinds I ran into and wore me down in 2009. We get on a main road and I stay near the white line as there are rumble strips and slower riders to the right. I also don’t want to tempt fate and be in the shoulder road debris zone. As I pass the 10 mile marker I notice that I’m near 30 min and this is about 20 mph. A goal of mine on this course is to go over 20 mph for the bike course which I haven’t been able to do in years past. But, I do remind myself that I won’t do that at the expense of my run as I had done in 2009. Now either faster folks from my AG or else the younger AGs are now starting to zip by me here and there. This gets to me a bit mentally but I am not racing them today and stick to my race and race plan. Pass the first bottle exchange but I’m not taking anything at this first one. As we make a left turn onto a more rural road, I remember that this used to be quite bumpy. But not this year as the road’s been repaved! Wow! What nice smooth road and it helps that it seems like I have just a bit of a tailwind and press smartly ahead. Now pass the 20 mile mark and I’m still on my pace for a nice ride time here. Oh and around this time, I’m seeing a few folks changing flats and just cringe. Don’t look, don’t look, turn away, don’t think about it….;-) And of course through a small town in this area, I see reflections of what look like little pieces of glass on the shoulder…Yikes! Just after this, I’m now progressing through the Wildlife Refuge and it’s nice scenery but there’s not much around. With more wide open space, any bit of wind is going to have a bit of an effect and so I go from having a head to cross during this time, slowing me down a bit. Unlike 2009, I remind myself to spin more here and not mash the gears. Caught myself a few times dropping cadence below 80, which I quickly corrected when needed. Now I’m slowly catching up to a rider ahead of me here and all of a sudden, something big flies up from the left and goes right in front of this cyclist! It was a wild turkey and I swear it was low enough to nearly hit this guy! I mean can you imagine telling someone that you crashed because you got hit by a turkey?? Amazing what you might just see on a course! Finally I make a left turn on the course which starts to head us back to the end of the bike course. Just after this turn is another bottle exchange and I decide to grab some water. I have some in my back water bottle cage, but there too much danger of being dehydrated on the bike. So, I guzzle down as much water as I can before discarding the bottle altogether. Tasted good too! Now at 30 miles into the course, more than halfway and no issues on the bike. My time is still looking okay but still a bit lower than I’d like. Believe it or not, a tune from “My Fair Lady” is going through my head and I hear “…get me to the church on time!”. Sun getting to me? Nah, just making light of the fact that I’m on the way back and hoping to get back with no issues and in a good time. Helps to lighten up a bit mentally out there sometimes Now, there’s a good line of folks here ahead of me, but I’m still passing every now and then. Because of the fast guys coming up behind, I looked back more often than I usually do before passing.. Sometimes, someone would just catch me at the same time, unfortunately. I really don’t like getting in someone else’s way and apologize if I think I’ve stayed over too long. But, it’s not usually a problem. Every now and then, a moto ref would come up along side the line of folks I’m with to check drafting. Y’know, sometimes, it’s really just inadvertent. I mean you come up on someone slowly and you’re going to pass but someone else charges up behind and you have to fall back for a moment, perhaps falling into the draft area. I’m mindful of the drafting rule and don’t like to see folks doing it out on the course on purpose.  But I do sometimes catch a passing person’s draft every now and then about 1 or 2 bike lengths back as they pass.  And because they’re moving ahead so quickly, it just doesn’t make sense to slow a lot and fall back as the rules state since the person’s gone ahead and I’m out of their draft zone real quick.  Somewhere along here, I see a Team Intelesys jersey pass me and think it’s George, so I yell out “Go George!” Rider doesn’t seem to hear me but that’s kinda normal when you’re racing. Now we’re coming up to the 40 mile mark and there’s a car ahead not passing the slower person in front of me! And I’m catching…so what to do? Fortunately, the car goes right at the intersection while we’re all going left. BTW, no problems with traffic and the police/volunteers did a great job at all the intersections except for one on the run, which I’ll get to. Now at around mile 46 is the last bottle exchange and I slow to get some Gatorade. I guzzle down a couple of big swigs and pour the rest into my aero drink bottle. Good to go for the next 10 miles or so. About here, I hear “ON YOUR LEFT” really loud behind all of us and two guys wiz on by! Then another rider passes me just a little later and a bit slower and jokingly says “These young guys…”.  (chuckle)  He moves ahead of me in slow pursuit. This is a real rural and open piece of road we’ve been on and we finally make the left turn which leads us onto the roads we came out on. My spirits brighten here as we’re getting closer and my time is looking pretty decent here on the bike. We do have a headwind on this stretch, but I know it will be short-lived as we’ll make another turn out of it soon. At mile 50, my spirits brighten even more as with only 6 miles left 1) I could actually jog back into town with my bike if I got a flat and perhaps still finish and 2) my bike time is looking close to my goal here. Very soon after this, I’m back in town going back through the neighborhoods. One final left turn and I can start to see the bike dismount area way in the distance. Get over a slight crest and now it is definitely in sight. Start getting out of my shoes here. My right leg cramps just a bit as I do this but this doesn’t last and I’m pedaling on top of my shoes to the dismount area. I swung my leg over a bit soon, but have enough momentum going to get me to the dismount while balancing smartly on the one pedal. Off the bike and running into T2 at last!! Hear someone say “Yea Frederick!” as I pass by since I have my club jersey on. Smile at that as I run to my rack spot

Bike time: 2:47:05 – 20.11 mph average! 54 out of AG and moved up to 864 in overall place. YES! Met my goal here. This is 5 min faster than my best time here. Lack of significant winds helped and I was VERY grateful that Lady Luck decided to smile on me and allow me to complete the bike course without any mechanical issues or flats. It would’ve been a long walk back from the Wildlife Refuge

Now moving through T2. I use socks for the half marathon distance and wipe my feet of debris best I can, get my socks on and then shoes. Helmet and sweatband off, put my hat on, and grab anything else I’m taking. In this case, I’m taking my 4 bottle hydration belt which I’ve used in the past. I’m also taking a wetted towel (courtesy of Racine Multisports) that I use when the heat’s on. I put this on my neck to cool the blood going to my head and also to occasionally wipe the sweat from my face and arms so my body can cool better. As I exit transition, I grab some water and Gatorade this year which hopefully will continue to help avert any cramping.

T2 time: 2:20, 26 seconds better than Eagleman 2009. Pleased with this time!

Now onto the run. The run course is an out 6.55 miles and back, covering some of the same parts as the bike course in the beginning. It’s around 10:40 AM when I start the run and there’s full sun plus it’s gotten quite warm now. Probably in the low 80s. And the ghost of the disastrous 2009 run is haunting me a bit as I head out onto the course. I mean this is where it just went all wrong two years ago. My quads are only slightly complaining and my left calf is a bit too, but nothing is cramping here and I press forward being somewhat cautiously optimistic. Now remember I have my hydration belt on? Well, as I haven’t used it this year, I realize unexpectedly that because I’m a bit thinner this year, that it’s not fitting quite as well as before (chuckle). But, I’m able to get it to a place where it’ll work after a bit. Now, it’s taking my legs a bit of time to get running as usual but I can tell the long brick training is paying off. I’ll tell ya though, other folks are not so lucky. I saw one guy who looked like me in 2009 in the very beginning already stopping and walking. And even early on here there are folks moving slowly, some stopping and stretching. But, unlike them, I’m moving well this year and the legs are feeling pretty good relatively speaking. Can I keep this up for the rest of the run? I think here is where club member Greg Snellings passes me and I shout out to him. He looks back and I say hi just for a moment and then wish him a good run as he’s moving a bit better than I am at present. I round a corner shortly after this and see the first photographer, give a double thumbs up for the pic, and smile. I mean I really am feeling pretty good here. In 2009, my head was down, and I was barely walking for the photo. I mean I really didn’t even want it taken that’s how bad I was doing then. The first mile marker comes up shortly after this and I look at my watch. Unbelievably, I’m running at an 8 pace! I’m a bit in disbelief here and wonder if I’m going out too fast. But, I don’t seem to be in distress and the legs aren’t complaining. So, I press with the pace I’m at. At this point, I reach into the small pouch where I put all my electrolyte tabs and two gels in. But, I reach into emptiness. Yup…all have fallen out as I grabbed the belt because the pouch was open (zipper is stuck). So, I decide that I grab whatever gels are on the course at the aid stations and also use Gatorade on the course more than usual during the latter part of the run as I’ll probably be out of my own Powerade I brought (more true than I realized later). Okay, we’re moving through the neighborhoods again and a few of them have water hoses out for the runners. One person is hosing folks down and I get this as well. Anything to help keep me cool. On the one street, there’s a party getting going and I really like going past this crowd on the way back! I think they had a sign out about this being the Energy Lab, referring to the point on the IM World Championships that’s around the 20 something mile point into the run. We’ll see them on the way back then as well. Shame I can’t stop on the way back for a quick beer or better yet a margarita for the salt As we move out of the neighborhoods, we run onto Cambridge West By-pass. While most of the run course doesn’t have much shade, this part is especially grueling when it’s sunny and hot as there is NO SHADE anywhere and it’s all asphalt. In 2008, this was new asphalt and we were in the near 100 degree heat. Pass mile 3 and I’m incredibly still on an 8 min/mile pace! Round the corner taking a right onto Hudson Road and see all the folks still on the bike course coming back. Take in whatever I need at the next aid station but I’m running through it. I think it’s here where this one guy with a long stride passes me. I don’t really take note of this too much until later and I’ll get to that. Now as we’re out of the neighborhoods, this is a LONG stretch of road and you can see the long line of runners ahead. I miss the mile 4 marker and so don’t know what my pace is through this stretch. Come up to the next aid station and continue to run through it as I yell out for supplies. Grab a gel here, water to sip, pour over my head and towel, gulp down some Gatorade. Now remember the guy with the long stride? He comes up behind me and passes again. It seems like with a lot of folks today, he’s walking through the aid stations. So, I gain on him by running through them and he gains it back shortly thereafter. We do this until I think after mile 8. I don’t remember if he just paused too long and I left him or whether he was able to just continue ahead. During this stretch, I see and pass a few folks that had passed me early on. They are now walking and trying to stretch. Or they’re walking through the aid stations as I had done in 2008 due to the heat. But, as I come up to mile 5 marker, I’m at a sub 8 pace!! Yeah, I pass it in 39+ minutes. Whoa! And everything is still feeling okay. Granted it’s quite warm to hot now. But, taking water and sometimes Gatorade plus using my wet towel, are definitely doing their job to help keep me going here. Past mile 5, my timer goes off again. I take my second Powerade bottle only to see that about half of it has leaked. So I drink the rest and reach for another. This has only water. Reach for the other. This too only has water. Why did I do that? I meant to fill 3 with Powerade and the other with water. One of the main reasons I take the belt is so I can run while drinking. I really can’t do that too well with the aid station cups. Oh well. I decide then to reduce my overall weight and also reduce any jiggling by the belt by just splashing the one water over my head and towel. Save the other a bit later. So out of Powerade now and will rely on the course Gatorade instead. Around here I think I see someone familiar who I seem to be gaining on. It’s Greg again. I catch up and ask what’s happening? Apparently, the conditions are just wearing on him here. He’s still moving though which is better than others. Well, I wish him well for the rest of the run and press onward at the pace I’ve set. Coming up to mile 6 now and incredibly 3 deer dart across the course in succession!! So what is it with having animal life on the course today? Fortunately, it wasn’t on the bike course. At mile 6 I’m at 47+ minutes and still slightly under 8 min/mile. Incredible! Still doing good too! The turn around is just up ahead too!  While rounding the traffic cones at the turn around, a guy passes me with some encouragement saying it’s all downhill. I smile at that thought. Mike Matney lets me know later, as he was following, that my pace to the turn around was right at 8 min/mile (52:30). On the way back now and things are still holding together. I may be slowing slightly but I still seem to be keeping pace pretty well. Just after the turn around are the snow cones! This is quite welcome! I take one and chomp down on the ice. Put some down my shirt and under my hat. What cooling relief! I’m now seeing a lot of runners coming back on the course from the later AG waves. This is so much better than in 2009 when there were starting to be very few numbers still on the run course in that latter parts. I almost missed George and he calls out my name. I think I yelled back and later wondered how I looked. George said I was looking good. I meant to say something back to him on the run that I was feeling good too, but didn’t for some reason. Still passing slower folks as we are coming back to that stretch of no shade road. I’m still doing good and look at my watch…I’m here under 5 hours! Mental math tells me if I maintain pace, I should reach the finish before 5h 30m. Oh wow! So hold it together here for the next half hour. As we’re halfway on the no shade road, I thought my shadow had returned, but it’s I a guy I haven’t seen before who has the same longish stride the previous guy had. I almost made a comment like “oh, you’re back” before I saw it wasn’t the same guy. After we complete this part, it’s a little under 3 miles to the Finish! Running back through the neighborhoods once again. I’m getting psyched to finish! I see another Intelesys jersey ahead of me then and wonder who that is and if it really is an Intelesys team member as several jerseys look like it today. Found out later it was club member Jason Senuta who had great finishing time! I think Jason paused at the next aid station ahead as I lost track of him somewhere during this stretch. Pass the “Energy Lab” again and yell out if there’s beers waiting at the finish? They yell that there are some here and wave to come over. Well, thanks, but not right now Now the volunteer is holding traffic at the next crossing and telling us to crossover. So I start to cross, but then the car I’m about to cross in front of starts going! React to this by quickly going behind the car as there are none behind him. Couldn’t believe he went through! Round the next turn after the aid station and down to 2 miles to go. About halfway down this stretch, I decide to pick up my pace slightly. BTW, I pass the guy here who passed me just a bit earlier on the no shade road. That helps a bit mentally to do that. At the end of this stretch, I see the Choptank and the water breeze feels real nice as I turn another corner. Last aid station coming up and mile 12 marker appears shortly after. Round another corner and the guy with the hose is still there watering down folks. I ask to hit me front and back please – AAAAHHH! Pass the outgoing mile 1 marker, round the corner, and now see the race tents at the park. I now really start to pick up my pace! Others are going somewhat slow here, but I’m moving and moving well. Now starting to push as I complete this last longish stretch, round a corner, round the next, and the next is the corner to the Finish! A few guys are here in front and unfortunately, one almost goes down due to cramps. I basically blast by these guys and drive to the Finish! Arms are now pumping, loudspeaker is calling out names, and folks are cheering me on! Coming to the Finish arch just after the guy ahead me, over the timing mats, and raise my arms in triumph at the Finish!! Eagleman 2011 is done!

Run time: 1:45:59, 8:05 min/mile pace, 30 in AG, 473 overall.

Course time: 5:25:41! Absolutely amazing for me! This blew my best time on the Eagleman course right out of the water by 36 min and set a PR for my HIM time by 18 minutes. WOW!

After finishing, the nice volunteers handed me water, gave me my finishing medal, took my timing chip (took my chip band too, but I have others), and I walked over to the Gatorade area. While I was moving slow, I felt decent considering. Moving slowly but legs weren’t really sore much. My back was having a slight issue when I bent over a bit. I decided I should continue to walk around and go grab a soda plus all the great food that was available. Thanked all the volunteers at the food and drink areas. Congratulated other club members as they came in with many having a great time while others just glad they were done. Found out later that all members finished their respective courses which I was glad to hear. George did so well that he was in line for possibly a 70.3 Championship slot but missed it by 2 folks. Well, perhaps another year. Hung around for a while talking to folks. Met back up with Kristin White (amazingly she recognized me in my race outfit while I was at the Pepsi trailer) and chatted with her for a while about her performance. Met members Kelly Cummings and Nicole Prorock who were cheering on their friend Ryan who was doing the race. Kelly said they heard my name (which I didn’t) at the finish and rushed over to see but I was pushing so much, they missed me finish. I still thanked them for their support and congratulating me afterwards. Decided to again get a massage on my legs though I had to wait a while for that and out in the sun. They really needed to have shade for the folks who were waiting and this year, as the massage tent was out on a park road, folks had to stand or sit on that while they waited. Still, I was VERY appreciative of the massage that the nice woman gave on my legs. Shame I couldn’t also spend some time in that Recovery Pump   I then went over and saw Margaret Northam who had volunteered to be one of the Finish Line folks, told her how I did, and then thanked her for the great job she was doing.  She introduced me to the father of John Blais, a triathlete who was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehreg’s disease) at 33 and died at 35.  Their foundation, Blazeman Foundation, is battling this horrible disease.  And of course, the Blazeman award at Eagleman came about from this as well.  Didn’t stick around there too long as she was understandibly very busy helping the present group of finishers.

Packed up my stuff and headed back to George’s car to get on home. Treated myself to a large burger with fries for dinner on the way home! Yum!

For those who have not done Eagleman yet and are moving to the Half Ironman distance, this course is for you if you like flat and a close Half Iron event. It promises to be fast but looks can be deceiving as flat means constantly pedaling with no break. And no shade on the run plus hot conditions can mean long and grueling 13.1 miles on the run. The event is very well organized with plenty of volunteers and amenities for the competitors. Plus it’s always a treat to meet with some of the pros.

This year, despite some of my mistakes, I thoroughly enjoyed the event! Will I do it again? Yes, but probably not next year. Now that I’ve put the ghost of the 2009 disastrous run to rest plus really crushing the course this year, I’ll turn my attention to possibly doing a full Ironman distance triathlon in 2012.

First though, Savageman in September!

Until then race fans, this has been “Race Report” Dave.

Website for Rocky Gap: http://home.comcast.net/~rockygaptri.2009/site/?/home/

You can find details at these links:

http://www.melanomaresource.org/index.php/site/content/frederick_kids_tri/

http://www.thebicycleescape.com/frederickkidstriathlon.html

To volunteer, contact Stephanie Grace at stephygrace@yahoo.com

But the Tri here in California did not go quite as expected but I’m OK about it….here’s what happened:

slept aweful the night before in anticipation (no – Fear) of the cold water.  Got up and got ready set up transition (a free for all starting at 5 am) and then to the 3/4 mile walk to the start of the swim along the beach.  Foggy, 55 degree air temp and 58 degree water temp - BRRRRR….surf was heavy (later talking with some people they said it was the worst they had seen and swam in). 

After a 45 minute wait I made my run into the water and about died.  The water was SOOOO cold…it took my breath away – hard to get thru the big crashing waves.  I had on a full wetsuit so my body was fun but feet and face felt like needles poking all over.   I made it out about 25 yards – I just couldn’t keep my face in the water – it was painful. Heart rate was thru the roof - panic!   I only did about 3 strokes and knew I could not doggy paddle the whole way so out I came. I knew I could not endure this type of pain for 20 – 30 minutes (I’m not a very fast swimmer – I would have looked like the weak seal pup at the end)

I was never so happy to get out of the water…..so I walked back the 3/4 mile along the beach, ran up the steepest hill I have ever seen into transition, took off my timing chip (no need to abandon the whole race – I did pay to rent a bike) and hopped on my bike. Well, I tried to get quickly thru transition but my feet were so COLD or should I say frozen trying to put on my bike shoes.  

The bike was an easy and FAST 12 mile (2 loops of 6 miles) on the Pacific Coast Highway which I would say would have been beautiful it you could see anything – still very foggy.  There really weren’t any hills to speak of – just 2 slightly uphill rolling sections but nothing like we experience in Frederick Co.  An easy, fast ride. 

Off to the run which was lovely along the coast but the last mile of the 3 was along the beach which was tough to run on but it was just beautiful.  I felt very strong during the bike and run which is not surprising since my legs were fresh.  I have absolutely no regrets about my decision – I had a great bike and run and will still wear my tshirt (disappointed with the cotton shirt – and no medal – not that I would have taken it but you think you’d get a nice shirt and medal for $125) and offer an explaination when I wear it.

So I have officially retired myself from Tri’s – duathlon races – here I come!!!

Any one want to buy a wetsuit used only twice??? 

Bike time avg = 16 mpg

Running pace = 8:38min/mi.

http://www.great-race.com/

According to website, this race consists of relay teams who paddle a canoe or kayak, bike, and then run.  Looks like fun!