Group Benefits

There are some very obvious benefits to having a group of people to train with each year.

First, there is the friendships that inevitably develop. How can you not consider yourself friends with someone who has swam, biked and ran with you,  encouraging you through your weakest times and cheering you on at your strongest times.  Plus, there are the race planning parties, the end of season rides and all the shindigs in between.

Second, there is the wealth of knowledge that everyone brings to the group.  The person who offers swim clinics and gives you personal tips on bilateral breathing.  The person who offers weekly run clinics, expounding on the benefits of hill repeats and speed workouts.  The person who has transitions down to a science and is willing to share his secrets.  Only by getting out and working out with people who live this lifestyle, can you avail yourself to this wealth of knowledge.

And sometimes, there are activities and opportunities that come your way only because you are part of the group.  Think professional clinics by world champion triathletes.  Or bike clinics by professional bike mechanics.  If I were training on my own, these opportunities would not come my way.  Earlier this month, our group had one such opportunity.  A photographer approached one of our members and asked if he could photograph our group.  He explained that he has a website that he is looking to update and wanted to do a special section on motion and had some ideas for shots using bicycles.  She put out the call to the group.  Four of us were excited to take part.

We had no idea what to expect.  He wanted it to be at sunset with open fields and rolling hills in the background.  We chose Dresser Hill.  He had us ride by him in a line with particular spacing in between each of us.  We probably rode the same section back and forth about 10 times before he was satisfied.  The traffic on the road was pretty heavy, so we went around the corner to a side street that met his same criteria.  He wanted us to come down a hill, around the bend in a tight formation and ride by him as he was laying in the road.  He wanted us to ride super close together as we passed really close to him.  It was sketchy.  We had to do that about 20 times and each time he would say "I have a vision" and then would give us more detailed instructions.  It was a little weird, but really fun to have someone photographing you so close as you rode your bike.

As a thank you, he gave us two of the shots.  I think they came out pretty cool.  What do you think?

Buzzards Bay Race Report

I did it!  I made my goal!  It wasn't pretty, but I did it.
 

The Swim:

There is just nothing like the feeling of looking out at those buoys and knowing that you have to swim that entire distance.  Man, it looks far.  And there was a serious headwind.  There was no surf to speak of, but there was a lot of chop. All I could think was that if you had to stop for any reason, you were just going to get blown back to the start line.  They told us the water temperature was 67 degrees.  I was very happy to have a full body wetsuit!

So this was an in-water start.  Because of the sandbars, you had to wade all the way out in waist deep water and wait for the start signal.  On your mark, get set, go. There were probably 100-125 people in my wave.  We all start swimming and inevitably, you get kicked and elbowed and you do your own share of kicking and elbowing just to get yourself some room to swim.  It wasn't bad.  But every time I came up for a breath, I'd get a mouthful of salt water.  And I was quickly realizing that despite swimming hard, I was making very little progress.  That damn wind.  So I dove down and swam underwater as far as I could.  I realized that this tactic was very hard in a full wetsuit, but very fruitful.  I easily passed a bunch of people doing the freestyle.  So I did it again.  Passed more people.  I did a combination of swimming underwater and the freestyle all the way to the next buoy.  And then I realized I could stand up because of another sandbar.  So then I abandoned the underwater swimming and starting mixing in some water running with freestyle swimming.  Made it to the next buoy.  And then I swam as hard as I could (freestyle) to the last buoy.  At that point, I stood up in knee deep water and ran all the way to shore.


Swim goal:  13 minutes
Actual swim time:  13:59

If you look closely, you can see 2 (out of 4) orange buoys that we had to swim along before heading in to shore.

T1:
For those who don't follow triathlons, you may be surprised to know that they time your transition from one event to the next.  It counts towards your final time.  People practice them like they are their own events.  Some people are superfast.  Not me.  I'm dizzy from the swim.  I need to get all my stuff together to start bike riding.  Grabbed a bite of a Luna bar, put on my socks, bike shoes, gloves, helmet and bike.

T1 time:  3:47

The Bike:
I've said it before and I'll say it again:  this was a beautiful bike course.  We were told at the race meeting that Triathlon Magazine named this course one of the most scenic courses.  I saw my parents, Rob and Harry as I left the transition area.  It was the boost I needed to get going.  I went up the hill and out of the park.  Once out, I drank some Gatorade to try and get some calories and shake off the dizziness from the swim.  Nobody wants to ride a bike while dizzy.  About a mile in, I started to feel good and went to switch into my big ring to start hammering out this course and discovered I was already in the big ring.  I had no bike computer and had no idea how fast or how far I was but sooner than I thought, I passed the 5 mile mark and saw that I was at 18 minutes.  I was right on track to beat my 1 hour goal.  I passed by Cummings Lane, which was where I spent most of my childhood, and was pleasantly surprised to see some of my neighbors out there to cheer on me and my sister.  They even executed the wave in a show of support.  It was super sweet!

Bike Goal:  1 Hour
Actual bike time:  57:01 for an average 15.47 MPH

Biking with a smile!

T2:
This transition is a little easier.  Take off the helmet, gloves and bike shoes.  Slide on the sneakers.  Go.

T2 time:  2:43

The Run:
As I was starting to run out, I saw my sister running towards the finish line.  That was awesome.  I ran as much of the hill out as I could, but I admit that I had to walk some of it.  There were these awesome cheerleaders at the top of the hill who made you feel like you could do anything.  I ran so that they would cheer for me too. I found a group of people who had a pace that I could keep with for the first mile.  I walked through the water station while hydrating.  I ran to the two mile mark and then walked while I got out some gum.  And then I started to fall apart.  My timing chip was starting to rub against my ankle and I could tell that it was bleeding.  I contemplated loosening it but didn't really want to mess with it for fear of losing my times.  And then my right hip started to ache.  I was starting to do the old "run to the next telephone pole" trick when I saw those awesome cheerleaders again.  They started screaming for me and I started running for them.  And then took the turn into the park.  Almost there!  Rob was on the sidelines taking pictures.  Harry and my sister started running me towards the finish chute.  My parents were at the finish.  I picked it up and finished with whatever I had left.

Goal time:  34 minutes
Actual run time:  33:02 for a 10:39 pace

Both my feet are off the ground!  I must be running fast!!

Overall goal:  1:55
Official finish time: 1:50.29

So that's it, my one and only race of the season (thanks to Hurricane Irene).  Sorry about the lack of pictures.  Our camera died the day before the race and we only had cell phones to document my race!  These were taken on my parents iPhones, but soon enough, I'll figure out how to post the pictures Rob took on his phone.  But for now, we are back to bike riding!

Pedal, pedal, pedal!
~Cori

Buzzards Bay Triathlon Goals

Many of you know that I am racing in the Buzzards Bay Triathlon this weekend.  What you may not know is that it is a sort of homecoming for me.  The bike course goes right by two of the streets that we grew up on!  My sister is also racing it.  My parents will be joining Rob and Harry to be our official cheering crew.  It will be great to race with such support!

Our bikes resting on Hix Bridge overlooking the Westport River.

Truth be told, I've been looking forward to this race for a long time.  I grew up swimming in the ocean, and as intimidating as it may seem, I love it.  I miss it.  I want to race in it.  And the bike course is awesome.  It's relatively flat with beautiful rolling farmland on country roads with ocean views.  It is promising to be a gorgeous day and this course is the perfect way to spend the day!  And the 5K in the park?  It won't be my hardest run ever.  With all my cheerleaders out there, I'm sure to enjoy myself.

So what kind of goals do I have?  

My "A" goal is to soak it all in and have a great time.  I do this because it is fun.  Training with friends and racing with family...what could be better?  I hope to leave my nerves at home and just enjoy the experience.  I have always thought that the hardest part of doing a triathlon is getting yourself to the start line.  Once you're there, you just have to swim, bike, run.  And then celebrate the accomplishment.

Time Goals:

Swim:  this is a 1/3 of a mile ocean swim.  It is wetsuit legal and starts in the water (as opposed to running from the beach).  The wetsuit, the ocean swim and the type of start are all new to me.  I don't really know what to expect time-wise.  At Iron Girl in 2010, I swam the 1/3 mile course in 12:22.  I did the 1/4 mile swim at the Douglas TDD Triathlon a month later in 9:49.  I've also been swimming long distances in preparation for the Cranberry Olympic Triathlon, in which I was supposed to swim .9 miles.  That race was canceled due to Hurricane Irene, so I didn't end up racing the distance.  But I do think that all that training will benefit me in this race.  So my goal for this race is 13 minutes.  I think I'm in better shape then I was at Iron Girl last year.  I think it's do-able.

Ready to swim in Douglas.

Bike:  it's 15 miles.  At Iron Girl, I averaged 17.8 MPH on a flat course.  At the Douglas TDD, I averaged 14.02 MPH on a very hilly course.  I averaged about the same on the bike portion of the Danskin Triathlon in 2009.  So I'm hoping to beat it back in 1 hour.  That would give me a 15 MPH average on a course that has a couple of rollers but no major hills.  **Fingers crossed for no flat tires.  I still don't know how to change a flat and that would blow everything for me.

Official photo from Iron Girl

Run:  the dreaded run.  A 5K that goes uphill on the access road out of the park and then downhill back into the park to the finish line.  I've been hovering right around a 10 minute mile on all my training runs this season.  I haven't done many races, but I tend to run better in a triathlon then I do in a stand alone running race.  I think it's because my heart rate and breathing are all in control by the time I start the run during a triathlon vs. just starting off in a running race.  So what's my history here:  Iron Girl was done in 31.34.  Douglas TDD was done in 36.29.  I anticipate being somewhere in the middle of those times.  I'll shoot for a 34:00.

So factoring in some time for transitions, I'm hoping to beat 1:55.  With a smile.

Wish me luck!

Landmine Classic Race Review

Did my first go round at the Landmine Classic this past Sunday in Hingham, MA.  It was an experience and a half!

Just before the race I brought my Hi-Fi over to Ben Stone at Bicycle Concepts in Putnam.  The rear brake was rubbing just a little recently and letting off a super high-pitched squeal.  Ben took care of it on the spot despite a hectic pre-Cross season ramping up and having hacked off the top of his index finger with a machete while clearing trail after being stung over 20 times by a hive of angry, aggressive bees only days before.  Thanks Ben!

I had done a cursory cleaning before bringing the bike to Ben, so was giving it a good once over before packing it onto my Element on Saturday.  I was spending the night with my friends, the Hansens, in their home in Hanson in order to cut down on Sunday morning pre-race driving.  But before blasting of to the Hansens in Hanson, I was paying a visit to the Bike Barn in Whitman to pick up a free t-shirt for having pre-registered.

Well, as I was cleaning my bike with my front wheel off, I squeezed the brake lever and, as always happens with the Avid Juicy 3 that came stock on the bike, the pistons that push in the brake pads locked up.  Ben was already off to a wedding for the afternoon, so I knew bringing it to Bicycle Concepts was out.  I decided I'd have Bike Barn  look at it if they could.

Having left the better two-thirds of the Patons back in Thompson, I made it up to Bike Barn for about 4 pm, about an hour before they were closing up.  Bike Barn is the sponsor shop for the Landmine Classic and was busy with all sorts of pre-race hoopla.  It was a big shop with five or six bike stands lining the service area in the back.  They were willing to work on my bike and Billy Bergen gave it a go first.  Nothing doing.  The job was escalated to Mark Gerard who spent a lot of time trying to get the pistons working again.  It looked like he had it, but long story short, it didn't take.  I wound up having to buy a new brake.  They didn't have anything hydraulic, so they put on an Avid BB7 mechanical brake.  Switching from hydraulic to mechanical required swapping out the brake lever as well.  Anyhow, brake lever fixed, free t-shirt procured (although it didn't feel free any more) and the owner, Kevin, even hooked me up with a Guinness while I waited.

Off to the Hansens in Hanson.  They offered me a meal fit for a king and a bed fit for a princess.

Turned in early after some catching up with old friends and probably three too many beers, but up and at 'em bright and early the next morning.  Handy dandy GPS had me at the park for 8:15, an hour and fifteen minutes before my race went off.  I was doing the 50 mile Cat 2/3 race, my longest race/ride of the season.  On my way in I dropped off coolers at the two feed zones with pre-made water bottles with Hammer Fizz (thanks again Karen Potter) in them just to make sure I didn't run dry.

After driving for what seemed forever through the park, I found the start/finish area all set up and plenty of people already there getting psyched up for the race.  I grabbed my number (and free Bike Barn water bottle!) and got my stuff ready for the race.

I ran into Karen Potter, Brandon O'Neal and Steve Segenchuk while I was waiting for the start.  At 9:10 I saw a sweaty Brandon saying he'd gotten warmed up.  I expressed my concern with me warming up.  Basically 50 miles is a REALLY long way for me (and most other non-super-humans).  I just wasn't sure I had a warm up in me plus the race.  Brandon convinced me otherwise saying it was important to have broken a sweat before the race starts.  So I did a quick 1.3 miles on the road and got back just in time to start queuing up for the start.  They didn't do age groups in the marathon (50 mile) class.  Instead they had all the pros/experts go off and then had the Cat 2/3 men go off.  After us was the Single Speed open (much to Brandon's chagrin, as he's faster than everyone in that Cat 2/3 line up).  I assume the Cat 2/3 women went off right after them.

Brandon's advice seemed sound.   The whistle went off and we took off around the edge of the parking lot/field.  I was in second place getting into the woods!!!  At about a mile in the guy in first lost his chain.  I was in F-I-R-S-T!  With one mile down and only 49 to go.  Just the little matter of hanging onto the lead for the other 98% of the race.  At mile 4.5 I overtook the Cat 1/Pro female bringing up the rear of that category.  I also hear someone coming behind.  The question is whether it's a SS or Cat 2/3.  After a few minutes he catches me and I realize it is a Cat 2/3.  I hang onto him tight for a few miles.  Then as we pop out of the woods, he's nowhere to be seen.  I'm following the arrow on the road pointing left.  I think he's missed the turn and went straight across the road and back into the woods.  Alone in first again.  Around mile seven I've got riders coming up behind.  One guy passes me, then another.  Both running gears.  The second one to pass is the one who made the wrong turn.  I hang on to them past the first feed zone.  Still early and plenty of liquid.  No need to stop.

The guy in front takes a turn too wide and me and the other guy in front of me get by him.  Then the guy in front of me misses a turn (catching himself instantly) and I'm back in first.  

I hang on to the lead through the second feed zone and am still in first at mile 10.  That's where I blow a F-L-A-T!!!  Ugh.  I watch about 15 - 20 people blow past me while I take roughly 10 minutes to change my flat tire.  I need to work on doing that faster or go tubeless.  Honestly though, it might not have been the worst thing for me.  I was pushing myself too hard for those first ten miles and there was a good chance I was going to blow up if I kept trying to go at that rate.

Brandon was in the first group that passed me as I flatted.  That means he had made up the two minute (?) gap between our starts and gotten by all the slower Cat 2/3 by the time we hit mile 10.   Red headed single speed cycling monster.

I eventually have it back together and am now chasing people.  Slowly regaining places and trying to see whether they're geared or SS.  It's slow going and I grow disheartened.  Plus I took a wrong turn (stupidly) and have to back track a quarter mile on a disused paved road.  I think the guy who followed me was not happy with my poor decision making abilities.  But I plod on and slowly I pass folks.  Toward the end of the first 25 mile lap the trail veers left around a tree and drops off hard on the right side.  I hug the tree, going hard into the turn.  And crash right into the smaller tree hidden behind the large tree I'm hugging.  Head versus tree.  Tree wins.  Stopped dead, dazed with my visor knocked off.  I take off my helmet and get my visor back on and start up again, having to re-pass the last two guys I had just passed.

I get to the start/finish and my quads are just cramping up nicely with one lap left.  I stop by my cooler and replace my water bottle.  My Camelbak still feels okay, so I don't fill it.  I grab a banana, peel it open and start pedaling, swallowing as quickly as I can to have it gone before I get out of the field.  Still picking people off, but not sure at all where I stand.  My legs REALLY start cramping now.  Inside thighs above the knees.  I try drinking as much of the Hammer electrolyte drink as I can and down some Power Bar Energy Blasts as well (mmm... delicious Energy Blasts that taste like gummy candy).

I crashed once more coming over a rooty downhill, but no one there.  By the time I roll into what I know to be the last leg of the race, I think I've passed around a dozen people, but some of them were probably racing the shorter races.  The last four miles and my legs don't hurt at all any more.  I can smell the end.  It kind of smells like hamburgers.  It is hamburgers!!

I cross the finish in five hours and five minutes.  In the end I come to find out that coming through the first lap I was in 14th out of about 27 or so.  I finished in 11th, having only regained three spots since lap one.  I'm still awaiting the final results to be posted, but I'm pretty sure if I hadn't lost those ten minutes changing the tire I would have been closer to 5th or 6th.  But, as I said in my last race report, who knows if those guys in front of me had mechanicals also.

Dog tired, but feeling accomplished.  I grab a burger from the local scout troop (only to hear them go one sale 1/2 price literally while I'm eating my full price burger).  Brandon won the SS race.  Potter won the women's Pro/Cat 1.  Steve grabbed 11th in the Cat 1/Pro men (quite an accomplishment since he's used to just racing against the Cat 1 guys).  I heard Pete Dunn was there, too, but I think he did the 25 mile, so showed up after me and was probably gone before I finished.

All in all, great race.  Great organization.  Great vibe.  470+ racers across all categories. And you should definitely ride Wompatuck.  Trails are fantastic and well worth the trip.

 
Next "bike" race is the Pinnacle Challenge on 10/2.  5.0 mile road run, 5.4 mile mountain bike ride, 13.75 mile road ride and a 3.65 mile trail run.

Thanks for reading!

Post-Irene Clean Up

So first off let me say that we were relatively lucky with damage inflicted by Irene on 8/28/11.  I look around at folks in Western MA and in VT and see how bad it could have been and am just really thankful.  Yes, we were without electricity for five and a half days.  Yes, that sucks.  But I still have a house and my basement is dry and the limbs that came down in the yard didn't hit anything.

Three days post-Irene, our Wednesday night ride group went out to Douglas State Forest to ride, do reconnaissance on the damage and clear what we were able with tools we could carry while riding.  We met at the Wallis Street dirt lot for our usual 5:15 start.  It was a good turn out.  Me, Jess Bly, Dave Violette, Bryan Quach, new Chris, Ron Erickson, Jon Modig, Brandon O'Neal and Rob Laprel.  Yes, you heard right, Rob Laprel.  It was absolutely great to see him out again.

As we headed down the Ridge Trail out of the lot we were riding through a minefield of small twigs across the trail.  They were too numerous and too small to bother with.  We agreed we'd be stopping for anything significant.  As we closed on Route 16, we started coming across the first real blow downs.  There were several huge oaks in a row that blocked the way.  We cleared the first one, rode around the second (too big) and cut the limbs off the third to make it possible to ride up and over it.

Jess brought a really cool tool that is kind of like a chain saw blade that is one long piece between two handles.  It worked great.  Certainly better than the folding pruning saw I was packing.

We never crossed to the south side of Route 16. We stayed on the north side and went through the rock garden into pine needles, clearing a couple of trees and building some log pyramids over another.  In retrospect, that pyramid was a little large.  I think someone (Jess?) took a digger going over it on the way back to the cars later.  Here's some footage of Jess making it through the rock garden.  And proof that Laprel was actually at the ride!

It was pretty clear pretty quickly that there was no way we were going to  get any significant riding in.  Douglas looked like it had been hit hard.  But as they say, the darkest hour is the one right before daybreak.  Just as we were starting down the Midstate toward the two little wooden bridges, things started to clear up. There were a couple of good trees down and then nothing.  Just clear sailing.

We made it past the waterfall and out to the rope swing where our youngest rider, Jon, took a quick swim, shrieking like a banshee as he let go of the rope.

We finished up by climbing Double Hills (I made the first hill for the first time in a long while!!!) and winding our way back to the Wallis Street lot without hitting anymore blow downs.  All in all, a good ride.  Not so much in how far (6.9 miles) or how fast we rode (not very), but in accomplishing some quality trail clearing and still managing to get a ride in at the same time.

Since that Douglas ride we have also met at Uxbridge and cleared the West Hill side of the park.  Jess has worked really hard along with some other folks to get the rest of Uxbridge cleaned up.  Looks like its all cleared now and much of it in better shape than before Irene.  I've also spent a couple of lunches walking Douglas with a chainsaw and clearing the blow downs I've encountered.  The NEMBA group has been working in Douglas as well.  Still a lot of work to do in there, but pecking away at it.

If anyone is looking to see where they can clear through Douglas, as far as I know, check the Wednesday Night Riders page on FB.  I'm trying to keep my activity up to date there.

Recycling: Our August Stats

What a month.  We spend the majority of it in Vermont and managed a pretty good increase in mileage.  Harry went to his first sleep away camp, but still got in a few decent rides.  I started out the month strong but then tapered off for a race  that did not happen due to the hurricane.  But here are our numbers.

Our Mileage:  262.33

1. Rob rode 170.89 miles in the woods and 24.5 miles on the road.
2. Cori rode 47.20 miles on the road.
3. Harry rode 19.74 miles in the woods.

We are pretty happy with that mileage!!

Random Stats:

# of races done:  1 (Rob and Harry each raced the Vermont 30)
# of states ridden in:  3 (CT, MA and VT)
# of bike commutes:  zero (Rob elected to run home once this month instead.  Weirdo)
# of tires changed:  3 (Cori had one flat.  Rob loaned out his road bike and it had 2 flats!)
# of races postponed due to hurricanes:  1 (Treasure Valley Rally - Rob will keep you posted with the new date!!)


Coming in September:

Cori is racing the Buzzards Bay Triathlon which has a gorgeous 14.7 mile ride.
Rob is racing the Landmine Classic and is considering if he should do the single lap (25 miles) or go for the marathon (50 miles).  Stay tuned for his decision and race report. 
Harry is hoping to get back with his friends to do some more trail riding.

So check back often.  We are going to be making a big effort to post more regularly.  Hurricane Irene has other ideas.  But soon we will have electricity and life will go back to normal.  No power needed to ride your bike.  Pedal, pedal!

Take care,
~Cori