Presque Isle Triathlon 2014

Race: Sprint Triathlon

Date: August 23, 2014

Location: Erie, Pa.

Time: 1:19:21.45

Overall Rank: 69 out of 355

Age Group Rank: 9 out of 24
Results: http:

This was my third triathlon of the season and it was a good one. This was also the third time in as many years that I did this particular race, and I have improved each year. In 2012 I finished in 1:24:47.10; in 2013, I finished in 1:24:13.45; and this year I finished almost 5 minutes faster in 1:19:21.45.

SWIM segment, 616 yards

Time: 10:44.15

Age Group Rank: 5 out of 24

Overall Rank: 45 out of 355

Compared to last year, I improved my time by 21%, finishing 2:50 faster. Water conditions were different this year, so maybe some of this apparent improvement had more to do with external circumstances. Indeed, when I look at my rank compared to other swimmers, I was in the top 13% this year, but last year I was in the top 11%. These data suggest that, on average, most swimmers enjoyed a faster swim this year, and my improvement was not as great as that of the average. I did not feel the water conditions were too bad. Nevertheless, the race director decided to change the swim direction on the route (from counter-clockwise to clockwise around three buoys) because of “water currents” that made swimming in the opposite direction more hazardous (somehow). Water temperature was 71 degrees.

The swim segment was an in-water wave start, meaning groups of about 50 swimmers started in the water all at once. The entry into the water was disorganized and I was too far back in the line to get near the front of the group. As my friend Dan and I treaded water and waited for the starting signal, I had some opportunity to find my way to the front of the group but decided not to take it. The wind and water currents were pushing the whole group of would-be swimmers away from shore and the front half of men treading water were already past the starting buoy. If I had made my way to the front of the group I would have felt like a cheater. I’m sure the men who started ahead of the starting buoy were not intending to cheat, but if I had made any purposeful forward progress in the water past that buoy before the official start time, I would have received an advantage I didn’t feel I deserved. I stayed in the middle of the group and consequently had to navigate through a human mass of flailing arms and legs after the starting signal.

Almost immediately, I started to see lifeguards in the water with their red flotation devices and 1-2 swimmers hanging onto each. There was a rescue kayak to swim around, and numerous swimmers who had stopped in the middle of the course just to get their bearings in choppy water. Somebody was doing the backstroke. I assume this person started out doing freestyle and lost their nerve. It is more comfortable to swim backstroke in a bay because you can breathe more easily and you don’t have your face in cold, dark, and murky water. But you also can’t navigate, and you run into people. In sum, there was chaos in the water all around me and I just kept my calm and swam through it as fast as I could. By the time I got to the first turn, I had very few competitors nearby and I was able to concentrate on my race strategy: long, strong arm strokes.  

T1 TRANSITION

My transition time between swim and bike was 2:00.2, which was 20 seconds faster than last year, and ranked me 9 out of 24 in my age group. The time savings is probably due to my triathlon suit, worn beneath my wetsuit. I did not have a triathlon suit last year; instead, I had to put a biking shirt on over wet skin, and that is hard to do quickly. Today I was worried about shedding my wetsuit because I had a deep cut on my shin from a bike incident a few days before. It hurt a lot as I put the wetsuit on before the race, but it didn’t hurt taking it off.

BIKE segment, 13 miles

Time: 38:06.75

Age Group Rank: 9 out of 24

I improved my time over last year by a little more than 2 minutes, or 6%. My average speed was 21.8 mph on this very flat course around the peninsula. Part of me is pleased with this improvement, but another part of me is surprised it wasn’t a greater improvement. I expected more improvement because in 2013, my brake pad was rubbing on my wheel during the race, and in 2014, I have been doing more bike training. I also invested in a set of aerobars and I stayed in aero position for the entire race today. However, my bike training has concentrated on longer distance rides with more hill climbing. I never maintain a 21.8 mph pace during training. In fact, I was not pedaling in my biggest gear during this race. I shift gears based on pedal cadence, and I was staying within the most efficient range of cadences (80-100 rpm) without being in my largest gear. I have the potential to go much faster if I can strengthen my leg muscles to pedal in my largest gear while still maintaining a fast cadence.

There was a lot of wind on the course (as usual), especially on the bay side of the peninsula. I watched my average speed drop from 22 mph to 18 mph during the last couple miles of the ride as wind blasted me from the right side. Using aerobars will provide no improvement in speed when the wind is blowing perpendicular to the direction of travel.

I could have pushed myself harder during the bike segment, but there is always a little voice inside me that tells me I have to save some of my effort for the run. I know this is not often the best strategy, but it worked fairly well today.

T2 TRANSITION

My transition time between bike and run was 59.65, about 27 seconds faster than last year. I am not sure what caused me to be faster.

RUN segment, 3.5 miles

Time: 29:47.25   

Age Group Rank: 14 out of 24

I ran this segment 69 seconds faster this year compared to last, but only 17 seconds faster than in 2012. I really need to work on this next year. My running pace was 8:31 min/mile; in just a simple 5K running race, I can go below 8:00. Today, my calf muscles felt tight for the first mile but they didn’t cramp up. I ate some “energy beans” and felt better. I also avoided most of the water stations. In my last race two weeks ago, I was feeling nauseated during the run, and I think maybe I was over-hydrating then. My stomach felt better today until the last 0.4 miles when the course goes into a grove of trees and I quickened my pace. I knew I was close to finishing and could afford to push more. Just before doing so, I had been running just a few steps in front of a man who was breathing hard. He would clear his throat every 12 breaths. Yes, I began to count and look for a pattern. Breathe-breathe-breathe…a-hem! Breathe-breathe-breathe…a-hem! It was remarkable how regular he was doing this and I wondered if he was aware of this habit. My question was answered at the end of the race when he found me in the crowd and apologized for all his noise. He simply had some phlegm and he couldn’t dislodge it. He wanted me to know that he doesn’t have an odd habit at all! How funny that he would be so self-conscious to apologize to me. On the other hand, it makes me feel good to know that I had a running companion that must have been studying the back of my head as I considered what was coming out the front of his own! He was one of several bikers and runners with whom I shared passing moments, both literally and figuratively. We are all in the same struggles of life together, even if we go at our own pace. 

Cayuga Lake Triathlon

Race: Cayuga Lake Olympic-length Triathlon
Date: August 3, 2014
Location: Ithaca, NY
Time: 2:53:57
Overall Rank: 108 out of 248
Age Group Rank: 13 out of 18
Results: https://results.score-this.com/SearchresultsPageMS5split.html?raceid=20140803CAYG&yr=2014

My second triathlon of the year has come and gone. I miss it already, even though I have two more lined up over the next 7 weeks. I miss the excitement and anticipation that builds up in the days before the race, and the sense of accomplishment that comes on rac

I pose with my family before the triathlon

e day.  I am sincerely grateful to my parents and to my sister and nephew for showing up super early in the morning on Sunday to cheer for me. They all wore personalized T-shirts, and cheered, and took pictures and video, and they even made a “Go Jim” sign for me. Fantastic! I will never forget it.

SWIM 1500m (0.9 miles) in 29:27—

I ranked 5^th out of 18 (top 28%) in my age group. The course was an out-and-back route. Buoys were placed in a straight line every 50 meters, and there was a rope that ran between each one with floats in between. This rope was a center line and acted to separate the swimmers going out and the swimmers coming back. The placement of this rope will have some significance later in my report.

The 8:05am heat consisted of all men aged 25-44 years old; there were 66 swimmers in this group. I made sure to get near the front of the group before the starting signal, and I was also positioned fairly close to the center line. This was part of my strategy, as I had looked up last year’s race results to see how competitive I would be (assuming the field of competitors is about the same each year). I saw that compared to last year’s swimmers in my age group, I would be around the top 33% of finishers, so at the starting line I wanted to place myself about a third of the way from the front of the group. I felt really confident with the swim today, so I actually moved to a position just behind the leaders. At the start of the swim I was able to stay close to the lead for a period of time, thus avoiding a lot of the turbulence and person-to-person contact that occurs in the larger “peloton” of swimmers.

I soon got into a sustainable rhythm. The water was quite smooth and flat and I didn’t notice any current or waves until after the turn-around point when swimmers going the opposite direction on the other side of the dividing rope started making waves. The water temperature was 69 degrees, and my wetsuit handled that easily. I felt comfortable and tried to keep my mind occupied with positive thoughts about the upcoming bike and run segments. I never veered too far off course because the buoys were easy to see during my breath cycle. However, there was a time after the turn-around point that I got too close to the center line. My right hand and arm got tangled in the rope for a moment and then two strokes later I struck one of the bigger buoys while my right arm was out of the water. I feel kind of dumb for doing that, but I was trying to thread the needle between a slower swimmer on my left and the buoy on my right and I guess I got too far to the right. It was during one of these collisions with rope and/or buoy that I sprained my right thumb. It must have bent a little too far in a direction it wasn’t mean to go. I did not realize I was injured until I started my bike ride about 10 minutes later.

Coming out of the water was a great feeling. There was a huge crowd of spectators that were cheering. Looking at the results for all age groups and heats, I was actually the 23^rd person to emerge from the water.  Since the 645 race participants did not all start at the same time, this does not mean I was the 23^rd fastest swimmer (actually, I was in the top 19%), but it sure gave me a boost of adrenaline to see only 22 competitors were in front of me!

T1 in 2:47—

I ran to the transition zone, stripped off the wetsuit, and mounted my bike. At this point, with me being so far ahead of everyone else, nearly all the bikes were still racked and I didn’t have to weave around my competitors.  For what it’s worth, the time I spent in transition ranked 13 out of 18 in my age group. I am always a bit slow in transition, but I felt so out of breath that I didn’t want to go faster, even if I could. I was still really out of breath for the first mile on the bike.

BIKE 39 km (24.3 miles) in 1:20:17, averaging 18.2 mph—

The bike route started uphill almost immediately. The MapMyRide website indicates this climb is 1.6 miles at a grade of 2.9%, which classifies it as a Category 5. It was on this climb that I realized my thumb was injured because it hurt to put my hand on the “hoods” of the handlebars (there are three hand positions on a road bike, and the hoods are where I place my hands during climbs). I compensated by using the “drops” handlebar position, but I am less practiced in shifting gears when in the drops so at mile 4—now descending after the climbing the first big hill—I didn’t push the shift level completely and my chain dropped off the front crank.  I could have coasted down the hill to the bottom and fixed the chain there, but I decided to stop on the hill so that once it was fixed I could recoup my lost time by powering down the hill. I think this was wise. It took only 10 seconds to fix the problem and during that time only two cyclists zoomed past. They likely would have passed me anyway.

There were very few cyclists ahead of me at this point. I was alone on the route much of the time. Once in a while someone would pass me, but I never felt bad about this because they were really speeding by. I was not in their league!

At mile 9 the route took a 90-degree turn into the Sheldrake community and then there is a steep descent followed by another 90-degree turn at the bottom of the hill. I have good handling skills and took the second turn at 29 mph with no fear. A motorcyclist with a photographer hanging off the back was taking my picture. I was overcome with emotion then; at this point I was literally having the best race of my life and I was nearly halfway through the race.

Such feelings would not last. At mile 12 I started to notice more cyclists pass me by as we started up another hill.  And between miles 14 and 18 there was a steady but shallow climb that looked flat to me but I just couldn’t get any speed. My lower back started to hurt from being in a bent-over position for so long. I was using the drops and aerobars far more today than I ever had on my training rides. At home, I can’t find a road flat and straight enough to be in this position for very long before needing to brake or shift. My back hurt and now my legs would not generate the pedaling power I was accustomed to. In fact, I was starting to feel leg cramps develop, so I ingested a packet of gel to supply some nutrition. More people were passing me. At mile 23 I started the steep descent to the transition zone. I had to decide whether to coast at about 26 mph down the hill, or pedal down the hill to get my speed into the mid 30s. If I continued to pedal, I would not be resting my legs in preparation for the run segment. But part of me wanted to stay competitive and keep my speed up. Being the indecisive person that I am, I did a little bit of pedaling and coasting. The race has turned a little sour with my back pain and weak legs, but speeding down this hill was still a lot of fun.

T2 in 1:33—

It was time to shed my helmet and change my shoes. My transition time was not too bad; I ranked 9 out of 18 in my age group. I could have saved a few seconds by starting to run immediately, but I took a few walking strides to test out my muscles. All seemed well enough so I started to run.

RUN 10 km (6.2 miles) in 59:53 at a 9:40 min/mile pace—

I just wasn't having a good time at this point.

I usually get cramps in my calf muscles at the very start of the run segment after biking, but not this time. I started with a burst of renewed energy and felt ok for the first mile. But I got discouraged at the mile 2 marker because I felt I had been running longer than I had. My pace was still reasonable. Using my watch, I figured I was doing an 8:30 min/mile pace for the first two miles. But I got slower and slower. All kinds of people were passing me on the dirt trail: tall ones, old ones, young ones, people in knee braces, people jumping in potato sacks. [That last one’s just a joke]. One of the volunteers commented on my “relaxed pace” and while she meant it as a compliment, I felt discouraged. I tried to go faster multiple times between miles 3 and 6 but I began to feel nauseated each time. Mile 3 out of 6 is too soon to feel that way, so I backed off. I sprinted for the last 0.2 miles, though, just to shave off a few seconds from a race time that was getting longer and longer.

My overall running pace (9:40 min/mile) placed me 15 out of 18 men in my age group. This pace is about what I was running in 2011 when I started doing triathlons. I am embarrassed at how slow I went. I’m not sure what the problem was, but there are two things that probably contributed: (1) pain makes me tired, and back pain on the bike might have taken away energy I needed to have a good run; (2) I did not start the race with fully rested and recovered legs. The day before my race I biked 14 miles. I did not take it hard or fast, but perhaps I went too far. Two days before the race I ran 9 miles. I think this is why my legs didn’t feel strong on the bike or run segments.

My finish was 2:53:57, which ranked me 13 out of 18 in my age group and 108 out of 248 overall. I wanted to finish in under 3 hours and I did. This race was really fun to do. The lake swim was great, the bike route was hazard-free and scenic. The running route was beautiful because of the waterfall and stream. The race organizers did a good job and the volunteers were abundant and very cheerful and supportive.  My family cheering section was the best.

Turtle Trot 5K

Race: Turtle Trot 5K
Date: July 26, 2014
Location: Turtle Creek, PA
Time: 24:40
Overall Rank: 67 out of 197
Age Group Rank: 5 out of 10
Results: http://www.runhigh.com/2014RESULTS/R072614BC.html

This was my fastest 5K ever. But not by much! I had a 24:44 at the Boston Trail 5K in April of this year, so I beat myself by 4 seconds this time. The two routes were different, but both were straight and flat so they seem comparable. Improving by 4 seconds over the entire summer isn't impressive, but at least I know the sub-8:00 min/mile pace is here to stay and was not a fluke the first time. Great to run with Shannan and her dad!

MS 150 Bike Ride

Event: MS150 Charity Ride
Date: June 7-8, 2014
Location: western Pennsylvania

MS 150 (Day#1)

This was a charity ride for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  I received sponsorship from 9 people totaling $390. When this is added to my rides in 2012 and 2013, my total fundraising for charity is $1,360. Of course, I didn’t do this ride by myself. My friend Dan and I were with more than a thousand other riders when we left Zelienople, Pa. and traveled to Meadville, Pa. on the first day (86 miles). We stayed overnight on the Allegheny College campus and then traveled to Conneaut, Ohio to complete the trip on the second day (another 64 miles). Total distance was 150 miles in 9.4 hours of riding over two days.

There seemed to be fewer riders this year compared to last, so it seemed quieter on the road. There were actually a couple times when the riders in front of us disappeared and Dan and I felt like we were the only ones on the road. With fewer riders, we also had fewer people to observe and remark about. For instance, in previous years there have been people who adorned their bikes or cycling clothes with unusual objects that were fun to joke about or at least watch out for. But other than a couple guys with red Mohawks (and these were covered by cycling helmets, so we never saw them on the road), a couple men with very long beards, one person on a hand-crank bike (I assume his legs were disabled), and a scattering of couples on tandem bikes, there were not many cyclists that stood out from the crowd. Except, maybe us!

We maintained a good pace this year. Rest stops were placed on the route about every 14 or 15 miles. It seems like we would pass a lot of people on the route and then stop for a longer-than-average period of time at the rest stops, so we would end up passing the same people over and over again. Our average pace was similar to last year:

2012: 14.4 mph on Day#1 and 15.5 mph on Day#2

2013: 15.3 mph on Day#1 and 16.8mph on Day#2

2014: 15.4 mph on Day#1 and 16.7mph on Day#2

Why the differences from Day#1 to Day#2? Well, it all has to do with the hills! On Day #1 the ride had a total ascent of 4,758 feet with three hills steep enough to be given a “Cat 4” or “Cat 5” rating by MapYourRide.com (see http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/380078413). To put things in context, these hills were not terribly steep or long, since “Cat 1” grades are more challenging than what we had to do. Nevertheless, they slowed us down. On Day#2 there was a total ascent of 1,1880 feet with only two Cat 5 hills to climb (see http://www.mapmyride.com/us/conneaut-lakeshore-pa/2014-escape-to-the-lake-day-2-route-179324514).

By the Miles:

Mile 2: It is cold again. Last year it was 60 degrees and I was not dressed for it. This year it is 54 degrees at the 7am start and I am wearing an UnderArmour shirt underneath my jersey. This kept me sufficiently warm.

Mile 16: Rest stop at Moraine State Park. This brought back recent memories because I just completed a triathlon on some of these same roads a few weeks ago. Time to apply sunscreen! 

Mile 17: While ascending a steep hill, I intend to shift down to a lower gear but the front derailleur fails to move the chain to the smaller chainring. I have to stop and walk the bike up the hill because it is too difficult to pedal in the higher gear. I am angry because just a day ago I had gotten my bike back from the repair shop where I asked them to service the front derailleur. [Fortunately, I did not have any more trouble with the derailleur on the rest of my trip]

Mile 33: Rest stop at Beloved Disciple Church.

Mile 44: Lunch time at the town square in Mercer, Pa. Our route last year did not include this location. I liked how the food tent, bike repair tents, first aid station, volunteer station, and port-a-johns were spread out around the perimeter of the courthouse. It seemed more festive, somehow. Dan and I got food (including grilled chicken sandwiches) and sat on the courthouse steps in the shade. It was not the most comfortable of sitting spots, but we had few other options in the shade.

Mile 45: The course leaving the town square began to descend a slight hill and we picked up some speed. But then we had to stop. A woman had fallen off her bike after hitting a pothole. I am sighing heavily even as I write this, because this weekend was supposed to be a fun outing for everyone, and here was someone who’s happy experience was taken away. The woman was sitting in the middle of the road, crying out in despair. She was bleeding significantly from her face, and Dan said later he had seen blood on the pavement about 20 feet ahead of where the woman was now sitting; she must have had some momentum when she fell. About 6 fellow cyclists surrounded her and were attempting to help her to her feet to move her out of the road. One person was on his phone, having called 911, and was asking people what street we were on. Dan and I were in a group of 9 others who stopped and watched for a minute, not knowing what to do. There were enough people already helping the woman, but it didn’t seem appropriate to just ignore the situation and ride on past. But eventually we did carry on. But all the cyclists were quiet and riding a little slower for a mile or two, as seems to happen to me when I am in my car and pass a bad crash on the highway.

Mile 59: Rest stop at Goddard State Park marina. Again, this was a new venue for a rest stop. It was a great spot with a big reservoir and boats. My upper back is starting to get really stiff. I spend many minutes at this rest stop moving my neck up and down and from side to side to loosen things up. Dan and I enjoyed watching a male and female Tree Swallow perch on a nest box very close by. We even saw them copulate on a tree branch just over our heads. I am currently supervising a student research project on Tree Swallows back home, so I was particularly interested in this.

Mile 61: More hill climbing. Dan said he is tired. He lags behind me as we climb but I keep him in my sights. It’s not fun to be left behind, but I can tell he doesn’t want me to slow down on his account.

Mile 73: Rest stop at Cochranton Park. Everyone is always talking about “heart attack hill” coming up, but Dan and I have never found this hill to be too much of a challenge in the past. No problem this time, either. Dan is hanging in there. I text Shannan, saying “Only 11 more miles to go. We will be ready to stop then.” My mileage estimate was off, but what I was saying was I was now getting tired, too.

Mile 77: Rest stop at St. Peter and Paul Chapel.  The hill slowed us down, but we probably didn’t need to stop. We did anyway.

Mile 86: Finish at Allegheny College.

After this first day of riding, we got our dorm room key, dropped off our bike in the gym, picked up our luggage, took a shower, and changed clothes. This whole process took a little longer this year because we were in a more distant dorm. Our room was on the third floor (was there even an elevator?), and the shower only had three stalls so we had to wait. We headed to dinner around 5:30pm. Around 7:00pm we went back to the dorm room and got our swimming gear. We walked around some booths set up near the “beer garden” where a band was supposed to be playing (but they weren’t). One of the booths was promoting electric-assisted bicycles and I rode one. It was delightful! With each pedal stroke, the bike pushed ahead effortlessly. Not having $3,000 to buy one, Dan and I then went to the campus pool and put in a reluctant 650 yards. I think this was good for loosening muscles and getting refreshed. In fact, I was less tired after the swim than before. Nevertheless, we walked back to the dorm room and dozed from 8:00 to 9:00 when we started getting ready for sleep. And we slept like logs.

MS150 Day #2

This is part 2 of 2 about a charity ride for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  Having already ridden 86 miles on June 7, my friend Dan and I and more than a thousand other riders began the next day at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa., to travel to Conneaut, Ohio.  We arrived at the starting line at 7:19am and were released soon thereafter. I had slept really well and felt good. Dan said he felt good, too. So let’s see how we fared over the next 64 miles…

Mile 2: Given that this was supposed to be a warmer day, I did not wear anything under my jersey. I am regretting that now. It is 62 degrees. The irony is that I easily could have worn more clothes. I had extra capacity in my jersey pockets to stash them after I warmed up.

Mile 3: Word has gotten around about the woman who hit a pothole yesterday. As we ride in a large peloton through Meadville, there are numerous potholes and riders are pointing them out to one another. On the one hand, I appreciate their care and caution. On the other hand, this behavior seems hypocritical (or at least inconsistent); there have been potholes throughout the course that no one has felt the need to point out. As I expect, the hyper vigilance about potholes disappears after a few miles.

Mile 14: Rest stop at Summit Volunteer Ambulance Service. I’m feeling good. I probably didn’t need to stop, but it’s always good to stretch the neck, which by the way, isn’t bothering me one bit today.

Mile 20: There is a dead fox in the road. I make Dan and a few others laugh when I recite a few words to the song “What Does the Fox Say?”

Mile 27: rest stop at Lord Mason Park.

Mile 35: A long straightaway with vast fields on either side of the road. We encounter at least three Amish buggies going the other way. Everybody waves. When I lived in Lancaster, I saw Amish kids on bikes. Still, I wonder what they think of us on our $1000+ shiny metal racehorses.

Mile 42: Rest stop at Connie Lance Memorial Park. I remember in previous years there were sandwiches and wraps being served here—more food than a normal rest stop. However, this year there is nothing special. It’s just bananas, oranges, cheetos, chips, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, granola bars, blueberry protein bars, and fruit snacks. That’s plenty of food, but it’s the same food as was available at all the previous stops. Actually, the oranges are unique, I think. With the orange slices and cheetos, I am in need of a napkin. I look around and see none. I ask a worker about it and she finally finds a package after digging through several boxes of supplies. I was perfectly polite about this, but I was impatient inside. This rest stop was not operated by volunteers. Instead, it appeared to be operated by 20-year old kids working for Dick’s Sporting Goods. I am pretty sure they were getting paid. And yet, they didn’t seem to be working as hard as the volunteers at the other stops.  

Mile 43: We keep passing this couple on a tandem bike with a small dog in the front basket. It’s a great photo opportunity so I take my camera from my jersey pocket and loop the strap around my wrist. This takes some concentration to do, so I guess I slowed down enough for this couple to pass me on my left. I then had to speed up to try and pass them again with my camera ready. However, we are coming to an intersection with volunteer flaggers. The flaggers are indicating that we should be making a left turn at the intersection, but I am not paying attention to them. I have the tandem bike in my sights! So when the tandem bike mistakenly goes straight instead of left, I follow them without question. The pavement ends and we are on a dirt road. It is at that point when I realize we made a mistake. The tandem bike turns around, I turn around, I snap their picture, and then, embarrassingly, I take the correct route and try to catch up with Dan.

Mile 49: “I think I just got hit by a raindrop,” says Dan. Yes, it’s true. This will be our first ride in the rain during an MS150. It’s just sprinkles at this point. Dan and I talk about how this will affect our bike riding: we have to be more careful on curves, reduce speed, watch the road surface for slick spots, and stay closer to other cyclists so motorists have a better chance of seeing us.

Mile 52: It is raining harder now. We are soaked through. My cycling glasses are fogging up and huge droplets of water are obscuring my view.  Dan now stays a couple bike-lengths behind me so that water thrown up from my rear tire doesn’t squirt him in the face.

Mile 54: Rest stop at Thorton Industries. Fortunately, there are fewer cyclists at this rest stop than some of the others. We gather under the tent and get offered “butt cream” by one of the volunteers. If we weren’t cold, wet, and tired, I am sure I would have joked around more with her. I’m not entirely sure what butt cream is for, but that’s ok. What I do know is that I don’t want any. Dan checks the radar picture from his phone. A large band of heavy rain is just to our west. We had a decision to make. With just 10 miles to go, should we try to beat this storm or wait it out here? I want to go on. It seems inevitable that we will be riding in rain, even if we wait for the heaviest of the showers to pass on. I said, “let’s go now and take advantage of the light rain for as long as we can before the heavy rain starts.” Dan agrees and we go. And then it thunders overhead.

Mile 56: No thunder in a while, it is still raining but the sky is brightening. Dan and I seem to be alone on the road, and we are going fast. What happened to all the other cyclists? My feet are squishing around in wet cycling shoes. I can feel cold drops of water spraying my back from the rear tire. Cars pass us by on a somewhat busy road. I wonder what they must be thinking of us. Crazy, maybe. But in my mind, I am calling myself “bold.”

Mile 64: Finish at Conneaut Township Park, Ohio!

Dan and I ride straight to the truck that will take our bikes back to Zelienople. It is still raining, but the oranges and reds on the radar picture that we thought we would encounter must have passed on to our north. It has cooled to 62 degrees and I am shivering to the point where I have to breathe hard to fuel the muscle movements. We get our suitcases, find the men’s changing tent, and get into dry clothes as soon as we can. Then we head down the hill to the food tents and enjoy pizza, pulled pork, fried chicken, and ice cream. I almost forgot to get my finisher’s medal. It’s importance was fairly low compared to getting warm, dry, and fed.

We eventually get on the bus with our luggage and head back to Zelienople. When we get there, we see the woman who fell of her bike yesterday. She has two black and swollen eyes and her arm is in a sling. But at least she is going to be ok.

Mighty Moraine Man Sprint Triathlon

Race: Mighty Moraine Man Sprint Triathlon
Date: 18 May 2014
Location: Moraine State Park, Pa.
Time: 1:30:00
Overall Rank: 38 out of 97
Age Group Rank: 7 out of 13
Results: http://www.runhigh.com/2014RESULTS/R051814BB.html

I finished this 0.25 mile swim + 13.7 mile bike + 3.1 mile race in about 1:30. I was ranked 7 out of 13 men in my age group. This ranking is fairly typical of my previous triathlons; however, given this was a smaller race, I was hoping to do a bit better relative to my peers. No big deal. In fact, I am very happy about this race because it was unusually challenging in several ways.

First, I had been mildly alarmed about this triathlon for a couple months due to the expected water temperature of Lake Arthur. It turns out I was right that the lake would be colder than anything I have ever swam in, but I was wrong to be alarmed. The water temperature reported by the race director was 60 degrees. My wetsuit handled that without any difficulty; I am so relieved that I was not thrown into hypothermia during or after the swim! Also, note to self—the neoprene booties I brought to wear during my swim were not necessary to keep my feet warm and they would have slowed my swim given how much water they absorbed; I am glad I left them on the beach before the start.

Second, the air temperature at the 9:30 start time was in the mid 40s. This had the potential to complicate and delay my transition times because I would need to wear extra layers. I imagined getting out of a cold lake and immediately starting to shiver violently as the water evaporated from me during the bike ride. This did not happen at all. I chose my wardrobe perfectly. I wore the full length wetsuit, and this kept me warm even out of the water as I made my way to T1. There, I peeled off the wetsuit to expose my singlet triathlon suit. The triathlon suit has no sleeves and it is made of very thin fabric, so I had earlier put on a long-sleeved UnderArmour shirt (mostly nylon and elastin) under the tri suit so the cold air during my bike ride would have less of a bite.  This worked perfectly. I was not cold on the bike segment. In fact, I left my cycling jacket and long-fingered cycling gloves in T1 because I was not feeling cold.

Third, the bike segment featured numerous steep climbs. My bike training so far this spring has been below average compared to other years, so I am happy that I could still pass a lot of people on the hills. I really pushed. I pushed so much, in fact, that at mile 4.5 (out of 13.7) I looked at my odometer to see how far I had gone. Answer: not very far at all!

Some other observations from the race:

1.  The bike corrals were too crowded. I am fortunate that I staked out an end on the rack, which gave me extra space to set out my gear during transitions.
2. The race started half an hour late because the required ambulance crew had not arrived. The race director was overheard giving someone directions on her cell phone. I assumed it was them, and I wondered why an ambulance would need directions. I am glad it was not a real emergency. [It is possible she was giving directions to the pizza delivery guy; see below]
3.  As my wave of swimmers entered the water, prior to the starting horn, the man in front of me turned around and looked me up and down and said “You look like a swimmer.”  I confidently told him he was correct. He got out of my way so I could get out in front. I appreciated that a lot, and it encouraged me to rocket ahead of most of the group as the race started. But alas, I went out too fast, so I got tired halfway through the swim. Then I swallowed a mouthful of water and I simply had to stop for 20 seconds to cough it up while treading water and watching forlornly as a dozen swimmers swam past me. Note to self: You don’t have to prove anything to other people—just yourself. There is no need to swim at an unsustainable pace.
4.  I was tired and glum getting out of the water so I did not run to T1. Plus, the wetsuit always takes a lot of time to take off. My T1 time was probably super-long.
5. The bike ride was tough but went well. There was a racer behind me for a couple miles. He was trying to pass me, but he just couldn’t do it for a while. I pushed a little harder to keep him trailing me, but ultimately, that cost me. I must have slowed down a bit and he passed me.
6.  I felt pretty good at T2 but as soon as I started to run, my lower back and hamstrings felt stiff and painful. During the first half mile (or more), my calves were seizing. This happens on nearly every triathlon, so I must do more ‘brick’ training (bike + run). As always, the first half of the run seemed to take forever, and then the second half seemed faster. At mile 3.0 I tried to run faster (aka sprint to the finish), but I really couldn’t.
7.  Dan was there to greet me and I am honored that he would spend a few hours of his weekend to drive up and watch me and Shannan do this race.



Wetsuits were definitely required for the 60-degree water.

8. The food provided to the racers was the best I have ever had in 3 years of doing triathlons. There was hot pizza, homemade pasta, chips, homemade cookies, watermelon, grapes, apples, goldfish crackers, and cinnamon bread. In fact, the race director’s husband’s family owns a bakery so they gave us all a loaf of cinnamon swirl bread to take home.

Pittsburgh Half-Marathon 2014

Race: Pittsburgh Half-Marathon
Date: 04 May 2014
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.
Time: 1:54:59
Overall Rank: 2743 out of 14665
Age Group Rank: 265 out of 822
Results: http://results.xacte.com/?mid=79

Congrats to all the runners today at the Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon! This was the second year I did the half-marathon (13.1 miles). Last year I finished in 2:02:17 at a pace of 9:20 min/mile. This year, I finished in 1:54:59 at a pace of 8:46 min/mile. I felt pretty good the whole way. Dan and I kept up a good pace through mile 10 and then I started drifting behind him some. I was still feeling good but I may not have been covering as much distance with each step. I was actually super pleased that it was mile 10 and I had gotten that far without any discomfort or negative feelings. The finishline was 3 miles away and I knew I could make it. However, miles 11-12 seemed to take for ever. Stupid hill. Dan had left me by then (good job!) and so I was trying to pick out people ahead of me to catch up to. I know I'm not very competitive, so I was trying to gather that spirit within me. But I couldn't keep up with my targets and I lost interest (or vice versa). I found it easier to pick up the pace in the last mile as we went down hill, and by the time I passed the mile 13 marker, I was totally sprinting. I will be sore from that. Ok, now a nap is in order.

Boston Trail 5K

Race: Boston Trail 5K
Date: 19 April 2014
Location: Boston, Pa.
Time: 24:44
Overall Rank: 40 out of 295
Age Group Rank: 5 out of 10
Results: http://www.runhigh.com/2014RESULTS/R041914BC.html

This was my fastest 5K ever. There are two reasons for this. (1) it was a flat course, (2) I follwed Geoff for 1.5 miles and this pushed me to go a little faster than normal. I was in a great mood and felt like pushing. During the last half I was breathing quite hard and my heart rate was in the 175-180 range. I sustained that level of effort for a long time but eventually slowed down after my hands started to get tingly. Shannan had said "look for the bridge and then you will know to sprint to the finish." Well, the first time I saw the bridge it was way in the distance so I knew that wasn't the sprinting point. But then much later the whole bridge came into view off to the right, and that is when I knew to speed up. And I did. I also saw a sign that said "photograph point," and so I smiled. It was easy to smile because I knew I had done well. I am also so happy to have run this race with my nephew. This was Ryan's first-ever 5k race. He so enjoyed it that he plans to do another soon. I was so happy to run with Shannan and Kendra, too.

Running a 5k: family affair.