LBRR – Patriot's 50-mile "half-lite" triathlon

So I've followed up last week's first-century-of-the-season with my first triathlon of the season.

Again, pretty late in the season; at this time last year I'd already done the Devilman half and Anthracite. And then proceeded to not do any more triathlons until yesterday.

The race yesterday was somewhere between an Oly and a half-iron. Total of 50 miles; 1300 meter swim, 41 mile bike, 7.6 mile run. I wasn't to hyped for it – I've been running a lot and biking a fair amount. And swimming once a week or so, but really not much. But I'd been wanting to do at least one tri, and some fellow wanderers – Chris, Polly, Matt – were doing this one, which I figured (correctly) would make racing more interesting than doing one where either I went on my own and didn't know anyone or where Helen came with me and we didn't know anyone else. This was especially good yesterday as Helen ran 20 miles (!) on Saturday, limiting how much she could run during the race itself.

Anyway, some notes.

First, some notes on the race itself, borrowing Helen's G/B/U format:

The Good
This was a nice venue and a nice distance. I've noticed a lot that RDs try too hard to get their races to fit a specific distance – Oly, HIM, IM – when the local terrain really fits better with a different distance. (Anthracite is a case in point – the 24 mile bike consists of a 20 mile loop and a 2 mile out-and-back. It would be a better race, in my opinion, if it was just a 20 mile bike ride. But then it wouldn't be an Oly, so they put in the out and back). Overall a well-organized race. And the roads out there on the bike were nice and scenic; the run was less scenic but shaded, and that was a trade-off I'd take any day.

The Bad
The bike route consisted of three loops. Not my thing. Again, I know my vision of a point-to-point IM isn't going to happen, but I still would have liked to see more than I did. Yes, there are advantages – going around the same turn 3 times you get to know what line to take and how much to slow down – but it would be nicer to get to see more.

I'm also not a fan of combining longer and sprint tris on the same route at the same time, as this race does. I like how the Philly Tri does it – sprint on Saturday, Oly on Sunday. Devilman was the worst, knowing that you've got 13 miles to run and seeing the sprint racers driving away. This wasn't as bad, but it still adds to the confusion.

The Ugly
There were just over 100 people who did the 50-miler. I don't understand why the swim start didn't include waves. It was all of us heading out at the same time. Most cramped swim I've ever done. Yes, I know that IMs are like that, but that's supposed to be part of the experience. And those are usually in huge lakes. This was a pretty small pond. Most I've ever been hit during the swim. Early on I even turned and yelled at someone who, from what I can tell, was trying to drag my legs down. I think that the general rule of thumb, if you're going to swim over someone, is that you need to actually be swimming faster than them!

It also seemed like they didn't have that many kayaks out there, which surprised me considering how many people have died in tri swims recently.

Make this a wave start swim, and it's instantly a much better race.

*******

Ok, now some notes on my race.

It'd be easy to reuse the G/B/U format here, which would be reversed to U/B/G. Out of 105 finishers I had the 46^th fastest swim, 37^th fastest bike, and – wait for it – 5^th fastest run.

But that doesn't really fit with how I feel about my race. First off, while I thought that the swim itself was ugly, I was pleased with my performance. I barely swam all winter and spring, and still managed to mendoza the swim (actually went 1:51/100 yards, although I suspect that the swim was short). And given my goals of the swim – don't drown, don't get kicked in the face – the time was just icing on the cake. For the bike, though – I should be doing better. I guess that's what I get for just bike riding and not training.

I’m surprised that my run was the 5^th highest split, which seems to me to say something about the field. But I'm still really pleased with it. It's the fastest I've gone on a tri run, faster than last year's (shorter) anthracite run. I was hoping to go sub-7, and did! (Yes, 6:59 counts!) And I kept my streak of not getting passed on the run.

Overall, the race reflects the training I've done. They say that the way to get faster at triathlons is to swim with swimmers, bike with cyclists, and run with runners. I run with runners; I bike on my own; and I hardly swim.

And I was right about a race being more fun when there are other friends there. Nice hanging out before and after with Chris, Polly and Matt. I think it made things a lot more interesting for Helen, too.

September: Half Iron or Not Half Iron, part I: which one?

At the beginning of the year I was thinking that, come September, I'd either do a half-iron or even do Chesapeake Man, which is the full iron distance tri. Going the full distance was never 'likely' – I think I put it at around 10% chance. I'm now sure I’m not going to do it. Partly because I'm way too busy. Well, mostly because I'm way too busy. But the Chesapeake Man run course doesn't help things.

For me, doing an ironman means doing Chesapeake Man. (Partly because I can't stand the way ironman is becoming a brand, which Chesapeake isn't a part of, but that's another topic). Mostly, because it's the only one near here, and it's relatively small. I'm never going to do one of the 'official' ones that have 2000 people and where I'd have to fly there. But they've changed the run course this year, so that it's 3 out-and-backs. Just doesn't do it for me.

But that seems to be what's happening these days. There's a half-iron in "Philadelphia" – I think it's actually in Quakertown – in September. Timing is good, location is good. The course isn't - a 2-loop swim, 3-loop bike, and 2 out-and-back run.

There's two extremes for a triathlon. I'd love to someday do a point-to-point ironman. Finish the race 140 miles from where I started. That's tough, logistically, which is why everything is usually done in loops. But it's what I think would be coolest.

At the other extreme is the indoor stationary tri: an endless pool, a stationary bike (or trainer, rollers, spin-bike, etc), and the treadmill. I plan to never do anything remotely like that.

I can see doing 2 loops on the bike. That's what my first tri was like (in Vermont). Devilman had a 2 loop bike, and maybe a 3 loop swim. Philly had a 2-loop bike. So, a 2-loop bike is a strike-against, but not a deal breaker. Similarly, an out-and-back run isn't as good as a loop, but not a deal breaker. Anthracite is an out and back. I'm ok with that, although I'd prefer a loop.

But when you start getting into triple loops, double out-and-backs, etc., that's too much.

So, no quakertown tri. No Pine Barrens half-iron tri, not just because of the 2-loop bike, but because there is no Pine Barrens half-iron, as I discovered last year. (46 mile bike + 11 mile run + dishonest RD ≠ half-iron tri!).

The most tempting venue is the savageman half-iron. It's a super hilly bike course, looks beautiful. But it's around 4-5 hours away. Same with the one by Williamsburg (which I could have sworn was closer, but it isn't). That's just too much driving.

This leaves the following two possibilities:

-Delaware Diamondman. Probably the best option. It's September 9, and relatively close to Philly. It was the one I was signed up for in 05, but didn’t do because I blew out my knee. It seems like a good course, although flat and with a ¼ mile run from the swim to T1. The bike is an out-and-back, though, which is a definite strike against.

I'd also miss the first Eagles game of the season (1pm, at Green Bay). Not happy about that, but last year I arranged things so that I could see the Eagles play and they wound up having a horrendous game.

-The Bassman half-iron. October 7, in New Jersey.

This seems crazy. Outdoor swim in October? In Jersey? But it's relatively nearby. It's during the Eagles' bye week. They say the swim is nice.

So far, I've had mixed results racing in Jersey. The two tris I did there – Devilman and Pine Barrens – I won't do again. The marathon went great, though.

So, really, it seems like there are 2 options.

Delaware or Jersey.

Now, I just need to decide if I want to do another one. That'll be part two.

Swimming the Mendoza Line

In my last post, I mentioned the Mendoza Line for swimming in a triathlon.

I figured I should take a moment to explain it, seeing as I'm the one who coined the phrase, and it hasn't caught on as quickly as I'd hoped.

It comes from baseball, where the Mendoza Line refers to a .200 batting average. There's a wikipedia description of it here, although that seems to have been edited since I first saw it. People who follow baseball know that batting .200 really isn't very good – but anything below .200 is not only bad, it's eye-catchingly bad. I also think that the roundness of the number - .200, which baseball folks invariably refer to as "two hundred" and not "point two" – has a lot to do with it. When you see someone's stats and you see the "1" in the first digit, you know they're going to the minor leagues soon.

More generally, the term can be used outside of baseball to refer to "any level or acceptable mediocrity" or else the level that separates mediocre from straight-up poor.

In triathlon swimming, that level seems to be at around 2:00/100 yards.

I should note that for real swimmers, that would never work. I’m guessing that 1:30/100 meters would probably be more like it, but even that might be too slow. But triathlon swimming isn't normal swimming, it's much slower. And 2:00/100 yards is a nice round number.

Of course, 2:00/100 meters is an equally round number. And in many cases better, as an olympic distance swim is 1500 meters. So, there are two competing Mendoza Lines.

According to the metric one, I just missed it yesterday – I was under 31:00, and the metric Mendoza is 30 minutes for 1500 meters. According to the standard one, though, I was under – at 2:00/100 yards, 1500 meters takes 32:48. That left me with almost two minutes to spare!

I think the fastest swim split was around 21 minutes.

Anthracite LBRR

I did the Anthracite triathlon last year on something of a whim.

After September 05, when I had my ACL replaced, I'd been working towards the Philadelphia Triathlon. It was a rehab goal – and, as it turned out, a very achievable one. But the swim was cancelled that day because of all the debris floating in the Schuylkill, (and because it was brown and gross, too) – so I just didn't feel like I'd done a triathlon. Something felt missing. So Helen and I looked around for another race, and found Anthracite. Not super far – it's in Jim Thorpe, PA, around 90 minutes away. And, as Helen noted in her last post, it plays to my strenghts – a hilly bike ride and a run on trails. They're not techincal trails, but they're a softer surface.

I had a great time last year, so I was pretty set on heading back this year. It's a small race, nice crowd, a ton of volunteers, beautiful setting, challenging bike course. And it's a nice area too – lots of hiking and stuff in the region, and a little city center that's kind of neat.

I was also looking at this as a race to really prepare for and do my best at. But I didn't really get to do the whole peaking/tapering thing as much as I'd hoped. And I'd barely been on my bike in the last two weeks. On the other hand, I had run a lot lately and even done some open water swimming. I also have a wetsuit now, something I didn't have last year.

My race strategy was to go out hard and just try to hang on. I was hoping to get under the "Mendoza line" on the swim. Ideally, this meant under 30 minutes, although the maximum Mendoza time is 32:48. (It's a metric/standard thing). I was also planning on using most of my effort on the start of the bike, as that's when the hardest climbs are (or so I thought), and then run as fast as I could. That was the strategy.

I started off the swim calmly, though. At first, I really just didn't want to get kicked in the face. Just tried to swim my swim, and draft when I could. I was actually able to draft for maybe a quarter or a third of the swim. It was good when it was happening, but it was just that little bit too slow, so eventually I just headed out on my own. Worked harder in the swim than I usually do. Finished in just under 31. Not what I'd been hoping for, but around 5 minutes faster than last year's time.

Tried to rush through T1 (it's hard getting that wetsuit off!) and headed out. A few people passed me on the bike, which isn't usual but it does happen. I probably passed 15-20 people or so. Maybe less, but I'd be really surprised if it was less than 10. Overall, I was ok with my ride. I didn't do great, didn't feel great, but kept working. There was never a hill I felt like I couldn't do. This included the one at mile 16 which I'd forgotten about, but is quite a lactic-acid producing switchback. I averaged a bit faster than last year, but not much (waiting for the splits to go on-line for the exact time). No mechanical issues, which was nice. I was worried, as my tires have 1,000 miles on them and my chain far more. But they held together today. At one point my chain did shift off the outside of the big ring but I got it back on just by pedaling through (i.e. without getting off the bike).

T2 was pretty unremarkable. I was worried, though – I'd never been that spent heading out onto the run. Helen met me there and headed out with me on the run. This made it a lot easier for me. It may also have been illegal –

From the USAT rule book: No participant shall accept from any person (other than a race official) physical assistance in any form, including food, drink, equipment, support, pacing, a replacement bicycle or bicycle parts, unless an express exception has been granted and approved, in writing, by USA Triathlon. …. Any violation of this Section shall result in a variable time penalty.

But no one said anything and I didn't win anything.

My upper-level goal was to run at a 7:15 pace. Last year I ran at a bit over 8, but I've done a lot of running since then and lost around 10 pounds, so I was optimistic when planning the race. But I was hurting out of T2 – legs were heavy, side stich, the works. When we passed the first mile marker at 7:46 I was pretty surprised, it had felt slow. As we kept running, though, I managed to hit stride for a while. Then you have to go up a big hill, which we did ok on, then back down. Had a final gel. Kept going – Helen was having trouble keeping up, having already run 6 miles or so that day! – so I asked her if we could just run with me through mile 5. But after that marker it started to go uphill, I was cramping up again, and just felt beat. So I got Helen to run with me some more. And things got better. I wound up finishing strong, with more of a finishing kick than I'd expected. I finished the run in 45:36 – again, 5 minutes faster than last year. Faster than my time in Philly last year, too, which is an easier course.

I'd had grand dreams of breaking 2:30, or of placing in my age group. But that wasn't going to happen. I'm way off of that. The age group is brutal – 7 of the top 10 finishers, I think. My final time was 2:41. Under 2:45, which was my bottom-line good time. I'd never gone out that hard, but more on that later – it made my time faster, but it's not how I've normally raced in the past.

Tomorrow is Noah's Anthracite Triathlon

Just 5 miles easy today. Wissahickon is not stinky anymore. I'm trying to save legs for tomorrow's double 10K, but they still feel pretty sore due to two frisbee games this week. Tomorrow, Noah is racing in the Anthracite Triathlon, and I am tagging along and getting my run in in beautiful Jim Thorpe. The plan for me is to run the run course while Noah is on the bike leg, and then try to run the run course with him while he's on the run leg. Hence, the double 10K. The plan for Noah is the Olympic distance 1.5K swim- 40K bike- 10K run at race intensity.

Even though I don't feel like waking up at 4:30 am to drive up there, I'm looking forward to the race. The runner in me just like watching races in general, and it's especially fun to see Noah race. We were up there for the same race last year and had a good time. Jim Thorpe is a cute town in the Poconos, with a very outdoorsy vibe. The race has a community feel to it, with maybe a few hundred competitors. The Mauch Chunk lake where the swim is held is mild and clean. The bike course is hilly, which plays to Noah's strengths. The run is mostly shaded and on a trail. Last year, after the race, we went swimming and then hiking. Maybe we can do the same this year and make it an annual tradition.

The Weather Forecast for Tomorrow's Triathlon: Not Good

Will I ever complete a half-iron triathlon?

This summer will be my third season of racing in triathlons. I've generally had a good time doing them, and have completed 5 races, I think (one of them had the swim cancelled due to conditions).

Starting my first season, I decided that the best distance for me is a 'half iron' triathlon, which is a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. So I signed up for one in September 05, in Delaware.

Then I blew out my knee that August. Bye-bye half-iron for a while.

One of my rehab goals was to compete in a half-iron in 06. I weighed my different options, and chose the New Jersey Pine-Barrens half-iron in September 06. I trained hard for it, and was ready when it came time to race it. And I did race it, and was generally happy with my performance. Except, it wasn't a half iron. It was a 1.2 mile swim (probably), a 46 mile bike (so, 10 miles short) and an 11.5 mile run (if that). They'd lied in the advertising to get people to sign up.

But that was the end of the season, it was getting colder, so I put any plans for a half-iron off until 07.

And here I am, 5 days out from the New Jersey Devilman half-iron race. I'm generally in shape for it, in terms of finishing. It's not my 'A' race, and most of my winter training was for the marathon in March. But I'm confident I can finish it, if my back stops hurting.

And that's the big question. I don't know what's going on with my lower back, but it's bugging me. I'm taking today off, except for riding around doing some errands. That felt ok. I'm optimistic about the swim and the bike, but wary about running the half marathon.

Best case scenario, this is an imposed taper.