GroundForce IT PowerSprint Triathlon Results

When my alarm goes off at 4:30 AM, it can only mean one thing-Race Day! On Sunday, both Melissa and I got up before the roosters so we could have our breakfast, get our gear together, and head out to the venue for the GroundForce IT Powersprint Triathlon. Unfortunately for me, I had another night of bad sleep. When I was actually sleeping, it was good. But for one reason or another, I only got about 3.5 hours of sleep. Not to worry. Many athletes face the same issues and as long as one has good sleep the 2 days before race day and plenty of rest leading up to a race, good performances are possible.

We left the house a little before 5:30AM and made our way out to the Shady Grove YMCA which is the race venue for this particular RichmondMultisports.com race. The race was sold out and there were at least 500 participants setting up in the transition area. We wheeled our bikes and gear into the transition zone, found our assigned racks, racked our bikes, laid out our gear, got our body markings and our timing chip, and then headed for the porta johns for bathroom stop number 1.

You may remember that for my last triathlon, I decided to get up at 2AM and make a smoothie, drink it, and then go back to bed. This time around I decided to try something a little different. Even though the race started at 7AM, my swim seed was 352 which meant I would not be starting until about 8:30. I had plenty of time to digest my breakfast before the race. So this time, I made my smoothies the night before (1 for me and 1 for Melissa) and then put them in the fridge overnight. I think this worked out pretty well. As long as I have plenty of time before the gun goes off and I actually get moving, this is the way I will likely do it in the future. Although for my next race, it is an open water swim where we will all start at the same time so who knows how I will do that.

After we were all racked and ready to go, we want to the back of the Y for pre-race meeting and the national anthem. The first swimmer dropped in the pull precisely at 7. I had lots of time before it would be my turn to start the swim. Melissa and I chatted with a friend who was also doing the race, took additional trips to the bathroom, and otherwise relaxed.

Melissa did not have as much time as me because her number was 287. We estimated that she would be starting about 18 minutes before me. Melissa is slightly faster than I am in the pool but I am slightly faster then her on the bike and a little faster on the run as well. Before getting our race numbers, I knew she would start in front of me and I thought she could be my rabbit. I would push hard to catch her just for fun. But after we got our race numbers and figured out that she would be a good deal in front of me from the very start, I was unsure that I would be able to catch her. In fact, I was able to watch her exit the pool and start her run back to the transition area before it was my time to queue up for my turn dropping into the pool.

After I cheered for Melissa, I headed back to the pool entrance line and took my place in front of number 353. Number 353 happened to be an 11 year old boy. Lots of people were chatting him up. He thought the bike would be the hardest. I guess 12 miles does seem like a long way for an eleven year old. As our line approached the entrance to the pool, a lady slipped in in front of me. She was number 350. Number 351 was nowhere in site. Just as we were getting ready drop in to the pool, she turns and says to me, "so we swim up and down the same lane?" I replied with a yes. I would have thought that she would have paid attention to the race meeting, briefings, emails, maps, etc that explained how it all worked. She might have just been a little nervous. Before she jumped in, she told me that if I needed to pass to just tap her foot. As it turned out, she was a speed demon when compared to me so she just took off when it was her turn to swim.

When it was my turn, I dropped into the pool and looked at the timer. He told me I would be going on the 00 on the clock. At the 00, I pushed off the wall to start my 300 meter swim. My experience for this swim as compared to my first tri earlier this year was completely different. During the race in April, I could feel my heart pounding through my ears, I felt very out of breath, and questioned my sanity. This time around it was pretty smooth sailing. I just concentrated on my stroke and kept it moving. I even passed a few people in the pool.

Upon exiting the pool, I made my way outside onto the carpeted path leading back to T1. I took off my goggles and swim cap immediately and held them while I ran. In retrospect, I probably used a little more energy than was necessary to remove the goggles and cap. I need to practice that more so I can do it in a more relaxed fashion. Here are a few pictures of me exiting the pool.







The run back to T1 was about 400 feet and then maybe another 50 feet to get to my bike. I quickly attached my IT Band strap to my leg, put on my cycling glasses and helmet, put on my cycling shoes (no socks), and ran out of T1 with my bike. After crossing the mount line, I got on the bike and headed out. After making the first turn, I could see another biker in front of me. He was standing up on his bike pushing his climb up a slight hill. I could tell right away that he was on a mountain bike and I knew that I would be passing him very soon. That gave me more energy-I love passing people.

After I passed him and made another turn, I found myself on a beautiful bike course. It was still relatively early in the morning and here I was soaking wet on the bike, putting in a hard effort on a very scenic bike course in ideal weather. It felt great to be alive and I smiled and felt blessed to be able to do what I was doing. Here is a picture of me on the bike out of T1.



We had ridden the bike course once before so we sort of knew what to expect. It was mostly flat and not too much traffic. While out on the early part of the course, I passed a few more racers. In the middle of the course, I passed more racers. I was feeling great and really enjoying myself. Similar to my first race, I got a thrill out of blowing through traffic lights. It makes me feel like a real athlete to have the local police stopping traffic for me.

During the last third of the course, I did get passed by a few bikers. Most of the ones who passed me were on triathlon bikes. One in particular looked very sweet. It was a Cervelo and by the looks of it, it was very expensive. I tried to pay attention to the guys who were passing me on the bike so I could perhaps chase them down during the run. Since they were passing me in the last 1 or 2 mile of the finish, there was a chance I could catch them. I pushed hard so they would not put too much ground between them and me. On the last part of the ride, I saw Melissa on the run course. I did not know how far I was exactly from the finish and was not sure I would be able to catch her.

As I approached the transition area, I slipped out of my shoes while riding the bike and pedaled the last few strokes with my feet on top of my shoes. I then dismounted and ran my bike into the transition area, found my rack, racked the bike, took off my helmet and glasses and put on my running shoes (no socks). Here I am approaching the finish on the bike.



I almost made a huge mistake on the run. I took about 20 steps from my rack when I realized I did not have my race number. So I turned around and got my race belt and then headed out on the run. The run was fun because I got to pass a lot of people. I am pretty sure I caught most of the people who had passed me on the bike. I could tell I was running slightly slower than I did for my first Tri but it was a bit hotter and the course had two way traffic on a sidewalk which required extra care and subsequently slowed me just a tad I think.

The run course was a simple out and back. While running out, I saw Melissa running the other way on her way back to the finish. I am not sure how far in front of me she was but I started to think about my blog and how I would be writing about not catching her. After I rounded the cone and headed back however, I did catch up to her. I told her I was on her tail and we had a pleasant exchange of encouraging words as I ran past her. I was not too far from the finish when I caught her. After that, I kicked it up a notch and as I turned the corner and saw the finish line, I really kicked it up and had a strong sprint to the finish. The finish line announcer called me the blue streak which was kind of funny and made me feel good. Here are a few pictures of me finishing the run.





After I crossed the finish line, I got some water and then watched Melissa finish. She had a very strong finish and was just a minute or two behind me. I am very proud of her. She has really taken her fitness to a new level in the last year. I could see her doing a half-ironman someday.

The race ended up being great fun. It was neat to do a race with Melissa. We shared our stories about the race and how we felt. We talked about different people we saw out on the course and the things we did to stay focused. I am looking forward the next race we are doing together in Vermont in July.

Here are my stats for the race.

144

352

James

Rosen

M

43

Richmond

VA

0:06:32

0:02:26

0:38:39

0:01:35

0:22:55

1:12:05

I was 144th overall. My swim time was 6:32 for the 300 meter pool swim. My T1 time was 2:26. My bike time was 38:39 for the 12 mile bike (18.62 miles per hour average). My T2 time was 1:35 and my run time was 22:55 for the 5K (7.22 min per mile pace). I managed to shave off approximately 7 minutes off the April triathlon. All in all, a good race. However, I still have lots of room for improvement. I know I can get faster on the bike. After all, a 78 year old man had slightly fast bike split than me. I know what I need to do in my training to get faster and plan to work on it.

Next up is Xterra on June 12th. That will be a hard race and there will be some amazing athletes competing. The pros will finish about an hour ahead of me I think. My goal is to have the best possible performance I can and try to beat 3 hours.

Richmond Riverrock Race Report - Part 2

After the mountain bike race, I rode my bike up the street to the parking garage and back to my car so I could change clothes and get ready for the Scramble. Once I got back to my car, I started refueling. I had a few servings of Hammer Gel with water and an ice cold coconut water that I retrieved from my cooler in the car. The cold coconut water was so refreshing and really perked me up.

While I was getting my gear sorted out, Tim came back up to head back to Charlottesville. We chatted some more before he and his children took off for home. After he left, I put the finishing touches on my race prep and headed back down to the race venue. My first order of business would be to use the bathroom of course. As soon as that was taken care of, I ran into Melissa. Melissa had gotten a ride downtown with a coworker of mine so we did not have two cars at the race and could drive home together afterwards.

We had about 20 minutes to chill out and discuss my race. After a while, we were both kind of surprised that they had not started to gather the runners into the starting gate. There were at least 500 people scattered about near the starting line. Finally about 5 minutes before the race was to start, the race director got on the microphone and hit us with the bad news. There was a severe thunderstorm warning and they were going to have to postpone the race until the following day. Apparently a big storm was coming through with dangerous lightning. They announced that we had about 10 minutes to get back to our cars before the storm hit.

So we headed back home, slightly disappointed but also glad we did not start the race only to be stuck in a bad thunderstorm. We headed home, got changed and went out for Thai food. It was not exactly in our plans but it all worked out ok.

The next morning we got up around 7:30 to eat and prep before the 9:00AM race start. We made our way down to the Island and got free street parking. The start of the race had been moved to Brown's Island since there would not be as many people on the island. The rest of the festivities were over so the population of festival goers had gone way down.

The Scramble has several waves to help spread out runners so there is no congestion on the trails. I was in the 3rd wave. After the gun went off, I found myself about 3 quarters of the way back in my wave. I started off trying to take it easy and having a crowded start helped me rein it in a bit. I did start passing people and it was not long before I was at the front of my wave running at about a 7-minute-per-mile pace. I maintained that pace for a while until we hit the first set of stairs. Running the scramble is neat because you get some great views of the river and downtown Richmond from on top of the flood wall.

I felt pretty darn good and my stomach was not bothering me like it had the previous day on the mountain bike. I slowly continued to pass people before making my way up another long flight of steep stairs. These stairs really get the heart rate up and when I got to the top, I had to walk for about 10 or 15 paces before I was ready to run again. But then I was back although my pace had slowed a bit.

After going up the big stairs and running a little more road, the course dropped into the woods for some fun single track running with roots, rocks, twists, turns, up and downs, etc. I always enjoy running on the trails and since I know them so well, I was able to attack some of the course and pass more people in the woods. It was great fun!

The conditions on the course were pretty muddy. Before even getting to the trail, my shoes were already pretty wet from running through some fairly deep puddles. And after running the first section of trails, we ran through a big culvert that had a fair amount of water in it so my shoes got even more wet. After the culvert, we ran along the river on a very muddy trail with some extremely rooty sections. There was lots of standing water surrounded by lots of mud. At first I was trying to go as close to the side of the trail like everyone else. But after a while, I just started running right through the middle of the puddles. Avoiding them was not really working so I decided it would be safer to just run right through them.

After running this messy section, it was time to cross the river on something they call "the dry wall." Unfortunately for the group of runners I was with, we got off the trail and onto some very slick rocks. We were only off the official trail for about 30 paces or so. I took a hard fall and landed on my left hip on the rocks. People around me immediately yelled, "are you ok." I said, "I will be alright." It was a pretty painful fall. As I pulled myself up, I thought, "now that is going to leave a mark." I kept running though. I only had about 2 miles to go and there was really no point in stopping. If I kept running, the pain would subside. Sometimes it is good to just "walk it off" as some coaches say. In this case, I ran it off. The fall did take some of the steam out of my engine and I ended up running a little slower. The fall also bothered my left knee a bit which, up until then, had not been bothering me at all. It really was not that bad, just a minor annoyance.

After hopping over the rocks and getting over to Belle Island, the hardest part of the race was over. I still had about a mile and a half of trails, footbridge, and road to complete but the rest of the course was pretty easy compared to the previous two sections. As I approached the Brown's Island finish, I picked up the pace and had a decent, strong finish. I felt like if I had not fallen, I could have finished a little stronger but I was happy with my sub 60-minute finish.

After the race, I waited to cheer on Melissa. It was not long before she came across the finish line. She really had a great race. It was her first Scramble and only her second time running the trails. We actually did not pre-run part of the course so they were completely new to her. I am really proud of her strong finish. She had a great race!

Here are a few pictures from the race (see below). Most are at the start and finish but there are two from out on the course. As you can see, this is not your typical 10K.

Next up is the GroundForceIT PowerSprint Triathlon this Sunday. Melissa and I will both be competing. She will likely finish the swim about a minute or two before me. I will try to catch her on the bike if I can and if not on the bike, maybe on the run. Thanks for reading. Looks like my next post will be another race report.

Richmond Riverrock Race Report - Part 1

On Saturday I participated in the Richmond Riverrock Outdoor Festival. More specifically, I competed in the Thule Urban Assault Mountain Bike Race. They call it the Urban Assault because the course is on rugged, technical trails right in the heart of downtown Richmond, Virginia along the James River. The course requires skill and stamina and can be dangerous if one is not careful. There have been several bad accidents along the course leading to spinal injuries and even death. That said, it is still probably safer than trying to ride my bike to work down Laburnum Avenue.

The race started at 2:30 PM with the 40+ Expert Men. There were several other divisions as well but I chose to do the 40+ Expert Men so I could start as soon as possible so I could be sure to finish in time to run the Scramble which was scheduled for 6PM that same day. I knew that I would be outclassed but frankly, I did not really care. I was not 'in it to win it' as that would be like me trying to beat Ryan Hall in the marathon. It is not going to happen in this life time. As an aside, Ryan Hall set the American course record when he ran the Boston Marathon recently. He ran each of the 26.2 miles of the race under 5 minutes. If I trained real hard I could probably run 1 six minute mile but that would be the end of it. I can't imagine how these guys do it. Anyway, I had no illusions of being able to keep up with the experts in the mountain bike race.

With a 2:30 start time, I found it hard to decide what to eat and when. I had my normal lunch at Whole Foods and some fruit and smoothie. In retrospect, my nutrition plan for this race was probably not very good and I paid for it on the course. More of that later.

Before I tell you more about the race, I have to mention something else that happened before the race. As I was getting my stuff together at my vehicle parked in the parking garage, a car pulled into the space next to me. When I saw the driver of the car, I thought to myself. "Gosh that looks just like Tim from high school." Tim and I wrestled, played soccer, and goofed around outside in the neighborhood. He was always a really nice guy and everyone seemed to like him- from all walks of life. As it turns out, it was him. He had driven in from Charlottesville, Virginia to see a friend race the very same race I was about to start. We chatted and caught up a little and walked down to the venue with his two small children. He looked the same and was still the nice guy I remembered. Seeing him and talking to him was a big highlight of the whole Riverrock weekend. I am hoping he keeps in touch so we can ride together. Charlottesville is only about 50 minutes away so it is not out of the question that we could get together to ride sometime.

Now back to the race. The beginning of a mountain bike race can be a little sketchy. Everyone gets squeezed into the starting chute and when the gun goes off, there can be some mayhem. In fact, the race started and I pedaled about 4 strokes before I was run off the road by some jerk. I came out of my pedals and was forced to stop. The rest of the field pulled away from me like I was standing still. Well of course, I was standing still for a few seconds before I got going again. I was able to catch up to and pass one guy. But that was it. I never caught up to anyone else in my wave.

The Expert women started one minute behind my wave. It did not take long for them to catch up to me and start passing me. The first lady approached me from behind and yelled, "race leader coming through." I am always very polite and actually one of my best skills as a mountain biker is picking the exact right time and place to squeeze over so someone can pass me. I am not sure if I mentioned it in the past but I am pretty slow compared to most accomplished mountain bikers. In this case, all she had to say is, "can I get by?" But mountain biking is an extreme sport so people tend to be pretty dramatic about things. So I found some room where she could pass and told her to pass me on the left. As a side note, there is no appropriate side to pass when racing single track through the woods. Right side, left side, straight up the middle. It is all fair game.

Soon after she passed me, some of the other expert women were approaching. They were not going quite as fast and I was able to see and hear them coming as I traversed the switchbacks. I recognized some of these women. There were several Luna Chix racing that day. Luna Chix are women mountain bikers sponsored by Luna Bar. I used to eat lots of Luna Bars but have switched to the all natural Lara Bars. The Luna Chix were very polite and asked to pass once I had a chance to move over. I respond well to politeness and said, "ok get ready to pass-now on my left!" It was almost like a NASCAR shake and bake maneuver.

After about 10 minutes of riding, my stomach started cramping. I usually do not have stomach problems but for some reason I my gut was hurting. This undoubtedly lead to a slower race for me as the gut pain really did not go away until the very end of the race. I kept going as hard as I could but I was going at much slower pace than I usually go when I am riding the trail with friends.

I did get horizontal a few times. If I had a cape, you might have thought I was superman the way I flew off the bike this one time. But I am a good crasher and had some soft landings. Since the trails were wet and muddy, the rocky climbs were difficult as was this one climb up a man made ramp. It is very steep and it was extremely slippery. When I was climbing in on the first loop my back tire started to spin and I jumped off the bike. My shoes with their bike cleats don't have the best traction and I started sliding down the ramp. I had to carefully walk sideways to the edge of the ramp and walk up on the dirt. As I started walking up, I was holding my bike with one hand. The bike decided that it would rather be facing down the ramp and it rolled around so it was facing the wrong way. There was a couple sitting nearby watching. One thing about an urban race is there are always people waiting to see what is going to happen at the more difficult obstacles. People really seem to enjoy watching people crash. Anyway, as my bike spun around to face the wrong way, I shouted to the couple watching, "you can start the Benny Hill music now." I am not sure they got the reference as they were on the younger side. They did laugh though. The second time around, I opted to carry my bike up the stairs next to the ramp as that was much safer.

When I got to the Forest Hill Park section of the course, I rode through the culvert and through the creek to enter Forest Hill Park. As I entered the park, the experts had already made it through the 3 miles and were exiting the park through another culvert. I knew they were going to pull way out in front of me but now I knew that they would definitely be lapping me at some point.

As I was finishing my first lap, I did get passed by some experts on the Lee Bridge. When I finished my first lap, I was glad that I was not doing just one lap as I would have been disappointed that the race was already over. My legs felt fine as this point. My gut was still bothering me and I had less than optimal energy but it was a another day in the park and I was getting good training in and having fun.

The second lap was similar to the first. I had trouble with the rocky parts of the course and found myself all over the course. I kept on moving though and ended up finishing second to last in my category. It took me two and a half hours to do the course. When I came across the finish line, I did not stop. I just kept going on into the street and up to the parking garage to my car. After all, I had a race to get ready for.

The pictures below are courtesy of our friend who was there to support me and other friends. You can check out more of her pictures and her wonderful blog at http://dirtdivadynamo.blogspot.com. Not only does she have more pictures from the race but she also has other very interesting things on her blog. She rides too. But also she is very creative and makes the most beautiful cards, bags, and other great items. I invite you to check out her blog!



Culvert leading to Forest Hill Park

Here I come up a difficult section.


I have only made it up this section once and that was during a race. I did not make it this time.


Coming down the switchbacks in Forest Hill Park

Race Weekend - Riverrock

This week is the 3rd Annual Dominion Riverrock Festival here in Richmond. (http://www.dominionriverrock.com/) The festival features several events including a 5K mud run, a 10K trail run, a 20 mile mountain bike race, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, extreme kayak jumping, air dog competition, free style bike jumping, bouldering, food, and live music. There is something for everyone and the whole event is adrenalin filled and super fun.

I will be racing in the mountain bike race at 2:30PM and then at 6PM, I will be running the Scramble which is a 10K trail race. I doubt there will be too many people doing both races but I am looking forward to the challenge. It will be good training for the upcoming Xterra on June 12 which uses the same bike and run course although the Riverrock bike course goes in a different direction than the Xterra bike course.

I am all geared up and ready to race. It looks like it might be a pretty wet and muddy weekend but that will make it more challenging. I plan to give race reports so tune back in soon. And if you are going to be in Richmond this weekend, come on down to Brown's Island and check it out!