Keuka Lake Triathlon Race Report

I drove down to Geneva for a meeting with my Musselman Arts Triathlon co-directors on Saturday afternoon following Luca's baseball game. Adam came down to meet me at four o'clock before taking off to Keuka to go and pick up my race packet. Once on campus of the college, I started getting butterflies. This always happens, especially for the first race of the season. I start looking around at all the tricked out tri bikes, athletes. I always start sizing up my competition, speculating which guys look strong. You can never really tell though. After picking up my packet and purchasing an overpriced stick of glide (which has now been added to my triathlon shower list,) Adam and I drove the coure to check it out. I had never been on the course before, which is kind of ridiculous, considering I do not live very far from any of the Finger Lakes. The swim course was fine, but upon exiting the water, you have to climb up two flights of wooden stairs before you are allowed to take off your wetsuit.

After driving the course and getting a sense of it, I told Adam I wanted to get a couple of nice pictures of the bluff and the area all around because it was so beautiful. Having lived in the area during his childhood, Adam knew all these places that most people would have completely overlooked. He took me to a place called Garrett Chapel. It is nestled on the side of the hill overlooking Keuka Lake. If you did not know it was there, you might not ever find it, as it is hidden completely from the road and there is  a gravel and dirt turn off from the bottom of the hill to get there. What am I doing in this picture? Let's just say that Adam decided to "liven" up the car with some of his odor. This is no normal flatulence mind you—Adam has been known to take lead paint off of walls.

Did I mention, he's single ladies!

Walking up to the chapel

Flying buttresses!

Adam thought the scenery was lovely. Here he is watering the flowers.

Did I mention, he's single ladies!

Adam was just a bit jealous that he was not racing the next morning and made sure I knew. 

Did I mention, he's single ladies!

I was a mess the day before the race. I had to leave the house in a hurry to get to make a meeting with some colleagues Saturday afternoon an hour away, and I was running around the house with my wife trying to find all my race gear. Luca had his one and only Saturday baseball game that morning (of course!) As soon as I got him home from the game, I had to be out the door again. Before you pass judgment and think I am whining—know this: my wife had a concert this past weekend with dress rehearsals almost every night of the week leading up to the concert. I was at home solo all week getting the kiddies in bed. I had zero time to prepare, wash clothes, think. I have been concentrating on getting the dishes done, working on professional obligations and getting to bed early so I don't feel terrible the next morning while training. Okay... I'm whining a bit. I'm done. As the age old adage goes, it is what it is.

I was in bed by 9:30 the Saturday evening. I was pretty comfortable in a strange bed, although I woke up freezing. In the morning I could hear rain coming down incredibly hard outside. Adam had to borrow a couple of sweatshirts from his father on the way out, or we would have been icicles waiting for the day to warm up.

This was the lovely view from the car on the way to the triathlon.

Part of the reason I love the sport of triathlon is the camaraderie that you share with your fellow athletes. One of the first people I saw in transition is my friend and blogger buddy Alexa (who coincidentally, sold me my first pair of triathlon shorts ever three years ago.)

Alexa placed second in her age group, 12th overall. Awesome job Alexa!

Race Day:

Terrible.

The end.

Have a nice day.

I certainly did NOT put together my best race today. Okay, working out the kinks is  not so terrible, and I had several "kinks." First of all, my swim time was dreaded. I spoke at lengths about this in a past post. I got out to the first two buoys decent, but after that I was incredibly wide of the buoys. A conservative estimate is that I swam at least an extra 300 yards. I was fairly fast when I started out, but when I looked up I was a good 50 yards off course from the rest of the second pack and I could see the dreaded triathlon breaststroker gaining on me. I felt completely demoralized in the water!

Okay, out of the water in 33:25. Embarrassing, right? My transition time: not any prettier. I forgot to count the rows where I placed my bike. If it were not for Adam walking up to the transition area, I might still be there trying to find it. T1: 2:47. The bike was okay—not terrific. I pushed the climb way too late and still had plenty in me when I got to the turn around. Bike: 1:19:23 (18.9 m.p.h. average)

Guess what happened at T2? Yup, forgot where my spot was. T2 time: 2:21

Hey! I found my shoes! Finally!

The only "bright" side was my run. I thought I was running fairly slow the whole time, but managed to run 8:19's, despite the fact that I had a woman fall down right in front of me on the run—the run! She was saying hello to one of her teammates running to the turnaround, and she twisted her ankle where the road meets the shoulder and fell to the floor hard. I immediately stopped to assess the damage. She gashed open her wrists pretty good, and she had road burns and blood on her ankle, and chin. I yelled for someone to get the medic, made sure she was alright with two other racers who stopped. I helped her to her feet. Conservatively, that was another two minutes that I "lost." If it were a dude, I might have ran right on top of him on the way to the finish line. Kidding. No race is that important to leave a fellow athlete on the ground.

Here I am with Marit, the young damsel I "rescued" in distress. Holy abs batman!

She could not have had a better attitude. She got herself up and just continued as if nothing had happened to her. Way to finish Marit!

Okay, the first one is out of the way, but I am definitely going to need a "prove-it-to-yourself" triathlon here in the next couple of weeks to fare way better. The good news is I was not sore at all the next day (which is proof I did not work hard enough?)

Ah, the finish line. Despite having a poor race, I had a smile on my face and I had a wicked great time!

Here I am with Chris L. Chris is running Placid in a few weeks. I will be volunteering. Good luck hombre!

Okay, not my best race—by far—but I did have an awesome time, so a lot of great people, made some new friends, and I am super motivated to go out there and kick some serious butt next time around.

A big shout out to my friend Kelly over at trimommylife for an AMAZING first place Athena division finish at Rev3 Quassay!!!   Awesome job Kelly!

Okay, I was back at it this morning with mile repeats. I am not going to let one bad race get me down. Here I go again!

Train Smart!

Back By Popular Demand: Race Report #1

As the race season is now upon us for us northerners, it is time to reflect on all the talk of gear that we have been engaged in during this off season. So, back by popular demand, I bring you race report #1. Nothing quite puts things into perspective like someone pointing out that no gear in the world will substitute for training your proverbial ass off and getting it done. Just another reminder that it is not the bike—but the engine, not the shoes—but the runner, and  not the suit—but the swimmer. Happy Training!