For a week or so after this year's Silverman, I figured I was finished with long course triathlons. I can't do anything at this distance other than just finish the race. Forget about a "fast" time, finishing on the podium, or even trying to catch someone ahead of me in the race. Throw in the six-hour rides and two-hour runs for training, and I was having a hard time seeing how I was having any fun.
Then I watched the "trailer" for the Silverman video.
http://www.silvermannv.com/press_room/silverman-trailer.php
So once more, I'm heading out to Henderson. Who needs to go fast! This race is so much fun, I'll have a great time just being there.
Time to start training!
muffinman
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Silverman
Last Sunday, Nov 9th, 2008, I finished the Silverman triathlon. I didn't "race" the Silverman. I'm not strong enough to race that course. No one signs up for the Silverman thinking, "Gee, that's an easy race. I'll go do it so that I can pencil in another long course triathlon on my resume." People do the Silverman partly because it is a tough race, partly because it is so well run, partly because of the spectacular setting, and mostly because it is a lot of fun! If you go to the Silverman web page, there is an excellent race report under the link titled "SURVIVING THE RACE". It has a lot of information about the course, and some really good pictures showing what it would look like on a sunny day.
http://www.silvermannv.com/
Last Sunday was not a sunny day. There are several threads on the Slowtwitch forums discussing the race last Sunday. If you go there and do a search for "Silverman", you can see what other folks have to say. (Sorry, I can't get the "insert link" to work, but you can copy and paste the following link. Check out "2nd Crack at Silverman". Same guy wrote up his experience this year, with more photos of this year's cloudy weather.)
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/
I arrived in Henderson on Friday for packet pickup and the pre-race dinner. The weather was beautiful. Saturday I hit the pancake breakfast then went out to Lake Mead to drop off my bike. While I was there, I went for a short run. Again, beautiful weather. The weather forecast for Sunday was calling for slightly cooler temperatures and party cloudy skies with a 30% chance of rain. Sounded good for a long course race. I went to the pre-race meeting and there were a few comments about the weather, but still, it didn't sound too bad. I went back to my room, finished grading some chemistry lab reports, and was asleep by ten o'clock.
Sunday morning, up at 3:30, on the shuttle bus at 4:00, arrived at the race start early, stretched out on the carpet in the changing tent, and just relaxed. Once it started to get light outside, I took a peek at the weather. "Hey, this doesn't look too bad! Not too cold, a few clouds (so we won't have to deal with the sun on the last leg of the swim), and almost no wind. Heck, this is going to be great! I was happy that I'd decided to go with my sleeveless wetsuit since the water was almost 70 degrees. It looked like I wouldn't need any "cold weather gear" for the bike either, so I took my gloves, arm warmers, and turtle neck shirt out of my swim-to-bike bag and put them in my dry clothes bag so they wouldn't get wet. The gun went off for the swim right on time at 6:30 and we were off!
The first part of the swim was a piece of cake. The water in Lake Mead is so much cleaner than what we have here in Eastern NM/West TX. You can actually see the other swimmers around you, so I was able to draft off a couple of other swimmers. There was a little chop, but less than what you get at Buffalo Springs most years. I was thinking, "Gosh, I'll probably have a really fast swim time. Maybe I can actually try to "race" today."
And then the cold front arrived.
All that I knew from my position in the water was that suddenly we were swimming through some really big waves. I found out later that a 40 mph gust of wind hit the beach and blew a bunch of stuff over. The temperature dropped about 10 degrees. In the water, we were swimming into three foot waves and blowing spray kicked up by the 20 mph headwind with gusts to 40 mph. I couldn't see the next buoy, so I just started swimming in the general direction of the boat ramp. Eventually another swimmer came up beside me. It looked like she knew where she was going, so I started drafting off her. (And because it was a woman and not a man, I knew she'd stop and ask for directions if we got lost!) Eventually, we got close enough to the boat ramp to see and hear the people standing there, so I knew that I was going to make it. The last half-mile of the swim took 30 minutes. I didn't think I was working that hard, it's just that I was going so slowly. The funny thing was once my feet hit the sandy beach, my legs were absolutely rubber. I couldn't stand up for about 20 seconds. I had never had this happen before, and it was more funny than alarming.
Fellow Outlaw Paul was in the changing tent. We congratulated each other on surviving the swim. At this point, I was really questioning my decision to get rid of my cold weather gear. Was a sleeveless Outlaw jersey and trishorts going to be enough? But I figured I'd warm up once I got going on the bike. As soon as you leave T-1, you have a pretty good one-mile climb from the boat ramp to the main highway. Paul and I rode together for a while, and I did start to feel comfortably warm. I said goodbye to Paul and settled in for what I figured to be a seven-hour ride.
And then it started to rain. And sleet. And the wind kept blowing, and gusting. It's one thing to stay warm without adequate clothing if it's cold. It's impossible when you're wet and you're dealing with wind. I was really getting cold. The bike course at Silverman has (so I've read) 11,000 feet of climbing. But you get to go downhill quite a bit too. Not that this makes up for the time lost climbing, but at least it's something. However, given the slick roads and gusting crosswinds, it was all most of us could do to go downhill at 10-15 mph without going off into the ditch. Some riders did go off the road, and apparently one rider crashed hard enough that he had to be medevaced off the course. I started thinking about how much time I had until the bike cutoff, and pretty much gave up on having any kind of fast time.
After an hour or so, the worst of the storm front had passed. It was still cold, it would occasionally rain, and it was mostly cloudy. However, I was no longer shivering uncontrollably and I could think about things other than how cold I was. I was grabbing a gel at each of the aid stations, but one time I couldn't get it open because my hands were so cold. About 10 miles before the bike turn around, Andy Cope (from Mesa, AZ) caught up to me. He had been in the water for two hours, and he was happy to be out on the bike. We saw Paul and then George Ferland (from Artesia, NM) heading back in on the bike. They had almost a 20-mile lead on us. Andy took off, but the thought of getting to the turn around picked up my spirits. The turn around comes at 51 miles, and then at 60 miles you hit the longest climb of the day. Three miles long and about 1000 feet of climbing, it takes a lot out of you. After that, it was 30 miles of more climbing and headwinds before you hit the "Three Sisters". These are three short but steep (18%) hills on a bike path. Everyone at Silverman talks about them, most people with some degree of trepidation. I'm not a very strong climber, but these hills don't bother me too much. Sure, they're steep, and the fact that you've already done a pretty tough 93-mile ride makes them even tougher, but I can climb them slowly out of the saddle in a 39x25 gear without blowing up. Some folks do walk up them, though. After I'd made it up the last "Sister", I looked over my shoulder to see how much I'd climbed. I saw a really neat rainbow (we still had occasional rain showers) and I thought that maybe this was a sign that the rest of the day would go well. Not so fast. I settled back onto my saddle and started pedalling and then suddenly I started to cramp in my left quad. I started to favor the left quad and my right hammy started to cramp. Whoa, OK, ease up on the right side, and then my left glute started to cramp. Back and forth, back and forth, for the next couple minutes I was just fighting off cramps. Guess the Three Sisters had gotten a piece of me after all. Once the cramping went away, I figured I could pretty much coast into T-2, but then I started to get some tendinitis in my right knee. Wow, I've still got to run 26.2 miles. This could get ugly.
In the changing tent I commiserated with another competitor. We were both in "survival mode" by then, but just finishing this race is not so bad. I headed out on the run, knowing from doing the Half Silverman that the first mile is downhill and that I wouldn't be able to keep the same pace for the rest of the run. Still, it gives you hope that you'll have a good run when you go through the first mile in eight minutes. Then you hit a two-mile climb, and reality sets in. I wasn't worried about finishing before the cutoff at midnight, but I knew I was going to be slow. The run course doubles back on itself on a few legs and you run two laps, so you get to see a lot of people. I saw Paul, George, and Andy a couple of times. Paul and George were having pretty good races, and Andy was having a good run. Me? I was sampling whatever they had to eat and drink at each of the aid stations. Every now and then I'd feel the tendinitis and I knew even if I felt like running faster I couldn't. By the time I started the second lap it was dark. And then it really got cold. I wasn't moving fast enough to stay warm. A lot of folks were "running" with Mylar "space blankets" draped over their shoulders. I thought that looked pretty silly, but at the 18-mile point I asked for a blanket. It helped, especially on the lonely and dark leg down to the turn-around at the 20-mile point. By the time I made it to the 23-mile point I'd warmed up enough that I figured I could finish without the blanket. (I also didn't want to look too stupid running with a blanket through the Green Valley Ranch Station outdoor shopping district with a space blanket. Of course, I looked pretty stupid running in a sleeveless jersey and shorts anyway.) I crossed the line in 15:30:09. Slow, but I was a "Silverman Finisher".
This is a way cool race and I can't recommend it highly enough. The race director really has his stuff together. There are tons of volunteers, and they do an outstanding job. The schwag bag is the best you'll ever get. Dave Scott and Chris McCormack have been there the past two years signing autographs, telling funny stories, and racing the Half Silverman (although Dave didn't race this year). The course, from the swim in Lake Mead to the spectacular bike to the hilly run is challenging but lots of fun. You won't set a PR here (except for folks like Paul and George who did this as their first ever long course triathlon), but you'll enjoy it more than any other race you do.
muffinman
http://www.silvermannv.com/
Last Sunday was not a sunny day. There are several threads on the Slowtwitch forums discussing the race last Sunday. If you go there and do a search for "Silverman", you can see what other folks have to say. (Sorry, I can't get the "insert link" to work, but you can copy and paste the following link. Check out "2nd Crack at Silverman". Same guy wrote up his experience this year, with more photos of this year's cloudy weather.)
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/
I arrived in Henderson on Friday for packet pickup and the pre-race dinner. The weather was beautiful. Saturday I hit the pancake breakfast then went out to Lake Mead to drop off my bike. While I was there, I went for a short run. Again, beautiful weather. The weather forecast for Sunday was calling for slightly cooler temperatures and party cloudy skies with a 30% chance of rain. Sounded good for a long course race. I went to the pre-race meeting and there were a few comments about the weather, but still, it didn't sound too bad. I went back to my room, finished grading some chemistry lab reports, and was asleep by ten o'clock.
Sunday morning, up at 3:30, on the shuttle bus at 4:00, arrived at the race start early, stretched out on the carpet in the changing tent, and just relaxed. Once it started to get light outside, I took a peek at the weather. "Hey, this doesn't look too bad! Not too cold, a few clouds (so we won't have to deal with the sun on the last leg of the swim), and almost no wind. Heck, this is going to be great! I was happy that I'd decided to go with my sleeveless wetsuit since the water was almost 70 degrees. It looked like I wouldn't need any "cold weather gear" for the bike either, so I took my gloves, arm warmers, and turtle neck shirt out of my swim-to-bike bag and put them in my dry clothes bag so they wouldn't get wet. The gun went off for the swim right on time at 6:30 and we were off!
The first part of the swim was a piece of cake. The water in Lake Mead is so much cleaner than what we have here in Eastern NM/West TX. You can actually see the other swimmers around you, so I was able to draft off a couple of other swimmers. There was a little chop, but less than what you get at Buffalo Springs most years. I was thinking, "Gosh, I'll probably have a really fast swim time. Maybe I can actually try to "race" today."
And then the cold front arrived.
All that I knew from my position in the water was that suddenly we were swimming through some really big waves. I found out later that a 40 mph gust of wind hit the beach and blew a bunch of stuff over. The temperature dropped about 10 degrees. In the water, we were swimming into three foot waves and blowing spray kicked up by the 20 mph headwind with gusts to 40 mph. I couldn't see the next buoy, so I just started swimming in the general direction of the boat ramp. Eventually another swimmer came up beside me. It looked like she knew where she was going, so I started drafting off her. (And because it was a woman and not a man, I knew she'd stop and ask for directions if we got lost!) Eventually, we got close enough to the boat ramp to see and hear the people standing there, so I knew that I was going to make it. The last half-mile of the swim took 30 minutes. I didn't think I was working that hard, it's just that I was going so slowly. The funny thing was once my feet hit the sandy beach, my legs were absolutely rubber. I couldn't stand up for about 20 seconds. I had never had this happen before, and it was more funny than alarming.
Fellow Outlaw Paul was in the changing tent. We congratulated each other on surviving the swim. At this point, I was really questioning my decision to get rid of my cold weather gear. Was a sleeveless Outlaw jersey and trishorts going to be enough? But I figured I'd warm up once I got going on the bike. As soon as you leave T-1, you have a pretty good one-mile climb from the boat ramp to the main highway. Paul and I rode together for a while, and I did start to feel comfortably warm. I said goodbye to Paul and settled in for what I figured to be a seven-hour ride.
And then it started to rain. And sleet. And the wind kept blowing, and gusting. It's one thing to stay warm without adequate clothing if it's cold. It's impossible when you're wet and you're dealing with wind. I was really getting cold. The bike course at Silverman has (so I've read) 11,000 feet of climbing. But you get to go downhill quite a bit too. Not that this makes up for the time lost climbing, but at least it's something. However, given the slick roads and gusting crosswinds, it was all most of us could do to go downhill at 10-15 mph without going off into the ditch. Some riders did go off the road, and apparently one rider crashed hard enough that he had to be medevaced off the course. I started thinking about how much time I had until the bike cutoff, and pretty much gave up on having any kind of fast time.
After an hour or so, the worst of the storm front had passed. It was still cold, it would occasionally rain, and it was mostly cloudy. However, I was no longer shivering uncontrollably and I could think about things other than how cold I was. I was grabbing a gel at each of the aid stations, but one time I couldn't get it open because my hands were so cold. About 10 miles before the bike turn around, Andy Cope (from Mesa, AZ) caught up to me. He had been in the water for two hours, and he was happy to be out on the bike. We saw Paul and then George Ferland (from Artesia, NM) heading back in on the bike. They had almost a 20-mile lead on us. Andy took off, but the thought of getting to the turn around picked up my spirits. The turn around comes at 51 miles, and then at 60 miles you hit the longest climb of the day. Three miles long and about 1000 feet of climbing, it takes a lot out of you. After that, it was 30 miles of more climbing and headwinds before you hit the "Three Sisters". These are three short but steep (18%) hills on a bike path. Everyone at Silverman talks about them, most people with some degree of trepidation. I'm not a very strong climber, but these hills don't bother me too much. Sure, they're steep, and the fact that you've already done a pretty tough 93-mile ride makes them even tougher, but I can climb them slowly out of the saddle in a 39x25 gear without blowing up. Some folks do walk up them, though. After I'd made it up the last "Sister", I looked over my shoulder to see how much I'd climbed. I saw a really neat rainbow (we still had occasional rain showers) and I thought that maybe this was a sign that the rest of the day would go well. Not so fast. I settled back onto my saddle and started pedalling and then suddenly I started to cramp in my left quad. I started to favor the left quad and my right hammy started to cramp. Whoa, OK, ease up on the right side, and then my left glute started to cramp. Back and forth, back and forth, for the next couple minutes I was just fighting off cramps. Guess the Three Sisters had gotten a piece of me after all. Once the cramping went away, I figured I could pretty much coast into T-2, but then I started to get some tendinitis in my right knee. Wow, I've still got to run 26.2 miles. This could get ugly.
In the changing tent I commiserated with another competitor. We were both in "survival mode" by then, but just finishing this race is not so bad. I headed out on the run, knowing from doing the Half Silverman that the first mile is downhill and that I wouldn't be able to keep the same pace for the rest of the run. Still, it gives you hope that you'll have a good run when you go through the first mile in eight minutes. Then you hit a two-mile climb, and reality sets in. I wasn't worried about finishing before the cutoff at midnight, but I knew I was going to be slow. The run course doubles back on itself on a few legs and you run two laps, so you get to see a lot of people. I saw Paul, George, and Andy a couple of times. Paul and George were having pretty good races, and Andy was having a good run. Me? I was sampling whatever they had to eat and drink at each of the aid stations. Every now and then I'd feel the tendinitis and I knew even if I felt like running faster I couldn't. By the time I started the second lap it was dark. And then it really got cold. I wasn't moving fast enough to stay warm. A lot of folks were "running" with Mylar "space blankets" draped over their shoulders. I thought that looked pretty silly, but at the 18-mile point I asked for a blanket. It helped, especially on the lonely and dark leg down to the turn-around at the 20-mile point. By the time I made it to the 23-mile point I'd warmed up enough that I figured I could finish without the blanket. (I also didn't want to look too stupid running with a blanket through the Green Valley Ranch Station outdoor shopping district with a space blanket. Of course, I looked pretty stupid running in a sleeveless jersey and shorts anyway.) I crossed the line in 15:30:09. Slow, but I was a "Silverman Finisher".
This is a way cool race and I can't recommend it highly enough. The race director really has his stuff together. There are tons of volunteers, and they do an outstanding job. The schwag bag is the best you'll ever get. Dave Scott and Chris McCormack have been there the past two years signing autographs, telling funny stories, and racing the Half Silverman (although Dave didn't race this year). The course, from the swim in Lake Mead to the spectacular bike to the hilly run is challenging but lots of fun. You won't set a PR here (except for folks like Paul and George who did this as their first ever long course triathlon), but you'll enjoy it more than any other race you do.
muffinman
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Long, Slow Run
Wow, I missed posting anything last month. I did two triathlons, the Cotton Country Sprint in Levelland, TX, and the Elephant Man in Elephant Butte, NM. The Cotton Country Sprint is a small race that I have done every year since it first started in 2002. The first few years they only had about 50 people show up. The numbers have steadily climbed since 2005, and this year they had 101 individuals and five relay teams. I had my fastest time ever this year, and that was good enough for third place in my age group. This was just the second year for the Elephant Man. It is my favorite race in the SWCS. Intermediate distance, spectacular scenery, open water swimming, tough bike course, and tough run, what's not to like! My swim and bike times were just average this year, but I had a really good bike. The hills make it tough, especially for a feeble climber like me, but I averaged 22 mph. I passed four guys in my age group during the bike, and none of them caught me on the run, so I managed to win my age group.
My big event recently was yesterday's 50 K trail run in Palo Duro Canyon, TX. I had never done a 50 K run before, and I had never done a trail run. Heck, we don't even have "trails" here in Clovis, unless you count the caliche clay roads. But Myles Pilgrim suggested that it would be good training for IMAZ/Silverman next month, and I figured I need a long run once a week anyway, so why not go and do the race!
Never having done one of these, I didn't really know what I was up against. I figured that my "open" marathon time of four hours should allow me to easily coast around a 50 K in less than six hours. Things didn't work out that way from the very start. In the first place, they started the race about 45 minutes prior to sunrise. I think this was partly to avoid having the 50 mile participants (the real gluttons for punishment) finish in the dark, and it allowed all of us a chance to complete at least part of our runs before the heat of the day. However, it was dark when we started. Throw in about 200 runners on a single track trail, and I ended up walking in the single-file train that everyone ended up in for the first two miles. Eventually, the 50 mile runners split off from the 50 K runners about the same time it got light enough to run without a flashlight. After that, I was never held up by anyone else.
However, running on the Palo Duro Canyon trails wasn't easy. I thought "trail running" would involve some wide pathways through a forest with pine needles cushioning your stride. But the Palo Duro trails were mostly single track, hard as concrete dirt/rock (with a few patches of sticky mud that you had to run off to the side of the trail/jump over to avoid), with pot holes and boulders thrown in along with some short stretches of steep climbs/descents. I'm sure the "trail runners" didn't give it a second thought, but for a "road runner" like me, it was pretty tough. I downloaded my Garmin, and I didn't run a single 10-minute mile! My fastest mile was a 10:02, and my average pace was 12:18. My total time was 6:19 on my Garmin, but that doesn't include the time that I spent standing around at the aid stations/porta potty. I didn't look at the clock when I finished, but it must have been about 6:30.
I thought it was a lot harder than running a "road" marathon. You really need some leg strength to do one of these. There is a lot of "starting/stopping" as you go up/down/left/right on the trails, and you don't have much chance to get into a mindless straight ahead run. But it was a lot of fun. Everyone running the race (at least from my MOP position) seemed pretty low key, and the organization and volunteers were great. And they had some gooey "date bars" at all of the aid stations that beat the heck out of energy bars/gels.
Wait 'till next year!
muffinman
My big event recently was yesterday's 50 K trail run in Palo Duro Canyon, TX. I had never done a 50 K run before, and I had never done a trail run. Heck, we don't even have "trails" here in Clovis, unless you count the caliche clay roads. But Myles Pilgrim suggested that it would be good training for IMAZ/Silverman next month, and I figured I need a long run once a week anyway, so why not go and do the race!
Never having done one of these, I didn't really know what I was up against. I figured that my "open" marathon time of four hours should allow me to easily coast around a 50 K in less than six hours. Things didn't work out that way from the very start. In the first place, they started the race about 45 minutes prior to sunrise. I think this was partly to avoid having the 50 mile participants (the real gluttons for punishment) finish in the dark, and it allowed all of us a chance to complete at least part of our runs before the heat of the day. However, it was dark when we started. Throw in about 200 runners on a single track trail, and I ended up walking in the single-file train that everyone ended up in for the first two miles. Eventually, the 50 mile runners split off from the 50 K runners about the same time it got light enough to run without a flashlight. After that, I was never held up by anyone else.
However, running on the Palo Duro Canyon trails wasn't easy. I thought "trail running" would involve some wide pathways through a forest with pine needles cushioning your stride. But the Palo Duro trails were mostly single track, hard as concrete dirt/rock (with a few patches of sticky mud that you had to run off to the side of the trail/jump over to avoid), with pot holes and boulders thrown in along with some short stretches of steep climbs/descents. I'm sure the "trail runners" didn't give it a second thought, but for a "road runner" like me, it was pretty tough. I downloaded my Garmin, and I didn't run a single 10-minute mile! My fastest mile was a 10:02, and my average pace was 12:18. My total time was 6:19 on my Garmin, but that doesn't include the time that I spent standing around at the aid stations/porta potty. I didn't look at the clock when I finished, but it must have been about 6:30.
I thought it was a lot harder than running a "road" marathon. You really need some leg strength to do one of these. There is a lot of "starting/stopping" as you go up/down/left/right on the trails, and you don't have much chance to get into a mindless straight ahead run. But it was a lot of fun. Everyone running the race (at least from my MOP position) seemed pretty low key, and the organization and volunteers were great. And they had some gooey "date bars" at all of the aid stations that beat the heck out of energy bars/gels.
Wait 'till next year!
muffinman
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Outlaw Month
August was a good month for the NM Outlaws.
http://www.outlawstriathlon.com/
The NM Club Championship was held on August 9th at the Socorro Chile Harvest Triathlon. We were back trying for a three-peat. I wouldn't say that any of us are what you would consider "elite triathletes". However, for the Club Championship it's important to have a lot of people there. If you can get enough podium spots in enough age groups, you'll do OK.
The Outlaws had 27 members show up for the race. I'm pretty sure none of the other clubs matched this. Although our best overall male, Paul Gutierrez, only finished "13th overall male" and our best overall female, Maria Ladd, only finished "4th overall female", we had a lot of folks finish on the podium in their age groups. The three-peat was in the bag.
Maria, Miguel Sanchez, John Leroy, Karen Williams, and I all won our respective groups. Neil Galvez, Jamie Prochno, Mark McKenzie, Hartley Wess, Carole Cook, and Misty Pilgrim all came in second. Paul Zetocha picked up a third place finish. And the rest of the Outlaws, Jon Pilgrim, Courtney Benefiel, Michael Loiselle, Nick Pena, Paul Gutierrez, Michael Montoya, Tim Chavez, Brian Pilgrim, Roger Senn, Orlando Dow, Debby Casson, Guido Kemp, Greg Southard, Naomi Finson, and Debi Wess all finished the race. I'm not sure how the scoring system works, but it does make a difference whether you finish the race or not. And it's always pretty neat to see how much support the Outlaws give each other, whether it's a training ride, a sprint triathlon, or an Ironman.
Last Saturday, Aug 23rd, ten Outlaws showed up at Bottomless State park for the F-1 Triathlon. This is a really neat race. It's the only "draft legal" triathlon that I ever do. I hate it when I see people drafting in a race where drafting isn't allowed. But it's cool to get into a paceline at a race where it's perfectly legal.
(I guess it's a little like driving a car. I hate to see people driving 50 mph in a residential area, but I don't have any problems driving 75 mph on an interstate highway as long as the speed limit is posted at 75 mph.) At this race, drafting is not always a big deal for most of the participants. You do two 400 meter swims to start the race. Then, after you jump on your bike, you have a pretty good hill to climb to get on top of the mesa. And the field at this race is usually pretty small. They normally have less than 50 people there, and this year there were only 34 participants. This is a shame because the race director puts on such a good event and it's one of the better venues for triathlon in the West Texas/Eastern NM area. Anyway, between the swim, the first hill, and the small field, a lot of people end up riding the bike legs by themselves. This year, I managed to catch up to Mark McKenzie on the first bike loop. He and I managed to do some work together, along with a couple of random guys who really didn't take many pulls. It probably saved us a little time, but not much.
After the first bike loop, you go through transition and head out on a 4 km run. I always try to save something during this run, because you have another bike loop and another 4 km run to go. I actually managed a reasonably fast run this year. Then it's back on the bike for the second bike loop. This time, Mark and I got together pretty quickly. We worked pretty well together and managed to catch fellow Outlaw Miguel. Off in the distance in front of us, we could see yet another Outlaw, the uber biker Mark Trejtnar. It took a fair amount of work, but we managed to catch Mark. We were really flying the last few miles on the bike. I wouldn't say it was a textbook example of a team time trial, but we worked pretty well together. I'm sure it saved me at least a minute on the second bike leg, and all of us gained at least some time.
The final run leg is always a real slog for me. I'm always pretty toasted by then, and it's hard to go fast at all. I had a pretty good run this year, and overall it was my fastest ever race at this event. I was 6th overall, right behind Mark T, and just ahead of Mark M and Miguel. Outlaw Naomi Finson was the overall female winner. Paul Zetocha finished in the top 10, Michael Giudicissi and Greg Southard were in the top 20, and Hartley Wess and Orlando Dow rounded out the field for the Outlaws. As much fun as the race was the post-race lunch at Farley's. It was great to hang out with everyone over a burger and brew.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that on the same day we were doing the F-1 Tri, the fearless leader of the Outlaws, Brian Pilgrim did a 100 mile run at the Lean Horse Race up in South Dakota. (And it actually takes more than one day to do this run.) This is an event/distance that I can positively say I will never attempt. A 100 mile month is a big deal for me. Kudos to Brian for finishing this race!
Tomorrow I'm off to the Turtle Marathon in Roswell. I get in a "long run" every week as part of my Silverman training, and I figure at this race I won't have to carry my own water and food. Then I get to do two more fun races, the Cotton Country Sprint tri and the Elephant Man tri at the end of September.
Wow, is this a fun life or what!
muffinman
http://www.outlawstriathlon.com/
The NM Club Championship was held on August 9th at the Socorro Chile Harvest Triathlon. We were back trying for a three-peat. I wouldn't say that any of us are what you would consider "elite triathletes". However, for the Club Championship it's important to have a lot of people there. If you can get enough podium spots in enough age groups, you'll do OK.
The Outlaws had 27 members show up for the race. I'm pretty sure none of the other clubs matched this. Although our best overall male, Paul Gutierrez, only finished "13th overall male" and our best overall female, Maria Ladd, only finished "4th overall female", we had a lot of folks finish on the podium in their age groups. The three-peat was in the bag.
Maria, Miguel Sanchez, John Leroy, Karen Williams, and I all won our respective groups. Neil Galvez, Jamie Prochno, Mark McKenzie, Hartley Wess, Carole Cook, and Misty Pilgrim all came in second. Paul Zetocha picked up a third place finish. And the rest of the Outlaws, Jon Pilgrim, Courtney Benefiel, Michael Loiselle, Nick Pena, Paul Gutierrez, Michael Montoya, Tim Chavez, Brian Pilgrim, Roger Senn, Orlando Dow, Debby Casson, Guido Kemp, Greg Southard, Naomi Finson, and Debi Wess all finished the race. I'm not sure how the scoring system works, but it does make a difference whether you finish the race or not. And it's always pretty neat to see how much support the Outlaws give each other, whether it's a training ride, a sprint triathlon, or an Ironman.
Last Saturday, Aug 23rd, ten Outlaws showed up at Bottomless State park for the F-1 Triathlon. This is a really neat race. It's the only "draft legal" triathlon that I ever do. I hate it when I see people drafting in a race where drafting isn't allowed. But it's cool to get into a paceline at a race where it's perfectly legal.
(I guess it's a little like driving a car. I hate to see people driving 50 mph in a residential area, but I don't have any problems driving 75 mph on an interstate highway as long as the speed limit is posted at 75 mph.) At this race, drafting is not always a big deal for most of the participants. You do two 400 meter swims to start the race. Then, after you jump on your bike, you have a pretty good hill to climb to get on top of the mesa. And the field at this race is usually pretty small. They normally have less than 50 people there, and this year there were only 34 participants. This is a shame because the race director puts on such a good event and it's one of the better venues for triathlon in the West Texas/Eastern NM area. Anyway, between the swim, the first hill, and the small field, a lot of people end up riding the bike legs by themselves. This year, I managed to catch up to Mark McKenzie on the first bike loop. He and I managed to do some work together, along with a couple of random guys who really didn't take many pulls. It probably saved us a little time, but not much.
After the first bike loop, you go through transition and head out on a 4 km run. I always try to save something during this run, because you have another bike loop and another 4 km run to go. I actually managed a reasonably fast run this year. Then it's back on the bike for the second bike loop. This time, Mark and I got together pretty quickly. We worked pretty well together and managed to catch fellow Outlaw Miguel. Off in the distance in front of us, we could see yet another Outlaw, the uber biker Mark Trejtnar. It took a fair amount of work, but we managed to catch Mark. We were really flying the last few miles on the bike. I wouldn't say it was a textbook example of a team time trial, but we worked pretty well together. I'm sure it saved me at least a minute on the second bike leg, and all of us gained at least some time.
The final run leg is always a real slog for me. I'm always pretty toasted by then, and it's hard to go fast at all. I had a pretty good run this year, and overall it was my fastest ever race at this event. I was 6th overall, right behind Mark T, and just ahead of Mark M and Miguel. Outlaw Naomi Finson was the overall female winner. Paul Zetocha finished in the top 10, Michael Giudicissi and Greg Southard were in the top 20, and Hartley Wess and Orlando Dow rounded out the field for the Outlaws. As much fun as the race was the post-race lunch at Farley's. It was great to hang out with everyone over a burger and brew.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that on the same day we were doing the F-1 Tri, the fearless leader of the Outlaws, Brian Pilgrim did a 100 mile run at the Lean Horse Race up in South Dakota. (And it actually takes more than one day to do this run.) This is an event/distance that I can positively say I will never attempt. A 100 mile month is a big deal for me. Kudos to Brian for finishing this race!
Tomorrow I'm off to the Turtle Marathon in Roswell. I get in a "long run" every week as part of my Silverman training, and I figure at this race I won't have to carry my own water and food. Then I get to do two more fun races, the Cotton Country Sprint tri and the Elephant Man tri at the end of September.
Wow, is this a fun life or what!
muffinman
Monday, July 14, 2008
Bottomless
Saturday (7/12/08) was the 25th edition of the Bottomless Tri. The race is held at Bottomless State Park just outside Roswell, NM. It's a short sprint tri (400 m swim/13 km bike/4 km run). Even though it's short, it's a real workout. Everyone is going all out and you do have a short steep climb coming out of T-1. It's one of the few races that I can finish in less than one hour, and the overall winner will finish in less than 50 minutes.
I car pooled down to Roswell with fellow Outlaw Willy Wonka and a couple of other Clovis triathletes. One of the things I like about this race is they don't start the race until 8:30 in the morning. It's only a two hour drive from Clovis, so we don't need to leave here until 5:00. Sure beats having to drive 5-6 hours to get to some of the races, and you can almost get a complete night's sleep.
It was sunny, fairly warm, and humid. Not Atlanta humid, but pretty sticky for New Mexico. People often feel they aren't sweating because any sweat in New Mexico normally evaporates as fast as it appears. But I was sweating on Saturday.
The swim went off in three waves. Women, young guys, then old guys. I was in the old guy wave. Bottomless Lake is fairly brackish, but it's about as clear as you get in Eastern New Mexico/West Texas unless you are swimming in a pool. I had a pretty fast swim, but I forgot to hit the lap timer on my watch until I got to my bike in T-1. I didn't have a very fast T-1. I cannot run without socks unless I want to get blisters. Although I can bike in bare feet, it's either put socks on during T-1 or put them on in T-2. So I just put them on in T-1. This time, it took forever to get my right sock on. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just clumsy, I guess.
I came out of the water just behind fellow Outlaw Bones and just ahead of Stitch. By the time I left T-1, Bones was well up the road, and Stitch was a few seconds in front of me. I had a fast bike ride and I caught up to Stitch after 2-3 miles. Then I passed Miguel, yet another Outlaw, with about 3 miles to go on the bike. I didn't quite catch Bones on the bike, and he beat me out of T-2.
I was going OK on the run, but not fast enough to hold off Stitch who caught and passed me just after the turn-around. I couldn't keep up with Stitch, and I was never going to catch Bones. It looked to me like I was all alone with about a quarter mile to go. One of my fellow Clovites was just getting started on the run and he gave me a shout out, followed by a shout out for Mark Balsiger just a few seconds later. Wow, how did Mark manage to catch up to me? First of all, Mark is four years older than me, and he's a lot faster on the bike and run. However, if there is a swim, I can sometimes build enough of a lead there to hold him off. Secondly, Mark (along with Flip Lyle) is a key player in organizing and keeping the SWCS going. He's a swell guy, and I certainly don't hold any animosity towards him. But hey, this was a race! I tried to pick up my pace, and I was soon at my redline. Just as I turned the corner with 50 meters or so to go to the finish, I thought I was going to get sick to my stomach. I managed to hold on (and I think Mark was letting up) to finish just ahead of Mark, and then I walked over to the bushes and got sick.
It wasn't my fastest race there, but I was within one minute of my fastest race in 2004. And in 2004 my swim was about one minute faster than Saturday. The swim turn around buoy placement is fairly arbitrary at Bottomless, which makes year-to-year comparisons difficult, but it makes no difference to the outcome of a given race.
Post race, a bunch of the Outlaws met up at Farleys for lunch. I'm not sure Lance Armstrong would approve of our post race appetizer of Rabbit Droppings. Think deep fried cheese balls with Jalepeno peppers. Anyway, lunch was a great time to meet some new Outlaws and to chat with everyone there.
The same folks who put on the Bottomless Tri put on the "F-1 Tri" at the same location on Aug 23rd. This is a "draft legal" race. Although it really burns me up to see people drafting in races where it isn't legal, it's a lot of fun to do this race once a year. The past two years, we have had a couple of good "Team Time Trial" pacelines going with several Outlaws. This year at the Bottomless Tri, we could have had four or five Outlaws in a paceline on the bike. We didn't do this on Saturday, but wait until August!
muffinman
I car pooled down to Roswell with fellow Outlaw Willy Wonka and a couple of other Clovis triathletes. One of the things I like about this race is they don't start the race until 8:30 in the morning. It's only a two hour drive from Clovis, so we don't need to leave here until 5:00. Sure beats having to drive 5-6 hours to get to some of the races, and you can almost get a complete night's sleep.
It was sunny, fairly warm, and humid. Not Atlanta humid, but pretty sticky for New Mexico. People often feel they aren't sweating because any sweat in New Mexico normally evaporates as fast as it appears. But I was sweating on Saturday.
The swim went off in three waves. Women, young guys, then old guys. I was in the old guy wave. Bottomless Lake is fairly brackish, but it's about as clear as you get in Eastern New Mexico/West Texas unless you are swimming in a pool. I had a pretty fast swim, but I forgot to hit the lap timer on my watch until I got to my bike in T-1. I didn't have a very fast T-1. I cannot run without socks unless I want to get blisters. Although I can bike in bare feet, it's either put socks on during T-1 or put them on in T-2. So I just put them on in T-1. This time, it took forever to get my right sock on. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just clumsy, I guess.
I came out of the water just behind fellow Outlaw Bones and just ahead of Stitch. By the time I left T-1, Bones was well up the road, and Stitch was a few seconds in front of me. I had a fast bike ride and I caught up to Stitch after 2-3 miles. Then I passed Miguel, yet another Outlaw, with about 3 miles to go on the bike. I didn't quite catch Bones on the bike, and he beat me out of T-2.
I was going OK on the run, but not fast enough to hold off Stitch who caught and passed me just after the turn-around. I couldn't keep up with Stitch, and I was never going to catch Bones. It looked to me like I was all alone with about a quarter mile to go. One of my fellow Clovites was just getting started on the run and he gave me a shout out, followed by a shout out for Mark Balsiger just a few seconds later. Wow, how did Mark manage to catch up to me? First of all, Mark is four years older than me, and he's a lot faster on the bike and run. However, if there is a swim, I can sometimes build enough of a lead there to hold him off. Secondly, Mark (along with Flip Lyle) is a key player in organizing and keeping the SWCS going. He's a swell guy, and I certainly don't hold any animosity towards him. But hey, this was a race! I tried to pick up my pace, and I was soon at my redline. Just as I turned the corner with 50 meters or so to go to the finish, I thought I was going to get sick to my stomach. I managed to hold on (and I think Mark was letting up) to finish just ahead of Mark, and then I walked over to the bushes and got sick.
It wasn't my fastest race there, but I was within one minute of my fastest race in 2004. And in 2004 my swim was about one minute faster than Saturday. The swim turn around buoy placement is fairly arbitrary at Bottomless, which makes year-to-year comparisons difficult, but it makes no difference to the outcome of a given race.
Post race, a bunch of the Outlaws met up at Farleys for lunch. I'm not sure Lance Armstrong would approve of our post race appetizer of Rabbit Droppings. Think deep fried cheese balls with Jalepeno peppers. Anyway, lunch was a great time to meet some new Outlaws and to chat with everyone there.
The same folks who put on the Bottomless Tri put on the "F-1 Tri" at the same location on Aug 23rd. This is a "draft legal" race. Although it really burns me up to see people drafting in races where it isn't legal, it's a lot of fun to do this race once a year. The past two years, we have had a couple of good "Team Time Trial" pacelines going with several Outlaws. This year at the Bottomless Tri, we could have had four or five Outlaws in a paceline on the bike. We didn't do this on Saturday, but wait until August!
muffinman
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
BSLT 70.3
Sunday (6/29/08) was the BSLT 70.3, formerly known as the Buffalo Springs Half Ironman. I was the cyclist/runner on a relay team for three races (2002-2004) and then I did the race "solo" twice (2005-2006). Last year I did the Tri-Raider sprint which they run on the same day in the same location. Mike and Marti Greer are the race directors for both of these races plus a few others. They do a super job putting their races together.
http://www.buffalospringslaketriathlon.com/home.php
You can usually count on Lubbock, TX, being hot, dry, and sunny in the last week of June. It certainly has been every other year I was there. The sun and the heat take a lot out of me. Throw in the hills on the bike, and especially the hills on the run, and this is a tough race. They have slots for Kona and Clearwater, so you get some of the heavy hitters from all over the United States showing up. I just look for a reasonable time and hope to finish in the top half of my age group.
This year, it was cool (temperatures in the 60's/low 70's), with gray skies, lightning in the distance, winds gusting to 25 mph, and rain. If I had been the race director, I would have been worried about having 1000 triathletes riding bikes on wet and slippery roads getting blown around by the wind. If Mike and Marti ever considered cancelling the race, I never heard about it. Other than a delay because people were late getting parked and down the hill to the transition area, everything went off without a hitch. Sure beat my experience at the USAT Age Group Championships in Kansas City in 2005 where they cancelled the race because of wet roads.
The swim starts in a small cove. There is no way to have a mass start, so everyone goes off in waves of 100-200 or so swimmers. This year, some of the pro's figured out you could run through the shallow water on the south shore of the cove rather than starting your swim from the middle of the cove. This saved them about 100 meters of swimming. Sure enough, the age groupers saw this so every wave had some "runners" at the start of the swim. I didn't want to step on something in my bare feet, so I started swimming from the middle of the cove. I could watch the "runners" and except for the few "runners" at the front of the group, most of them were bunched up behind the leaders so they were just walking. I don't think it cost me more than 30 seconds, and probably less.
The roads were dry at the start of the bike, but then a bunch of showers started coming through. Along with the wind, it made the bike course extra difficult. Some of the corners were really slick. In particular, you come down two hills with some fairly sharp curves after the second and third turn-arounds, and everyone that I saw was sitting up riding the brakes coming down these two hills. I saw one guy who had failed to make one of the 90-degree turns from one road to the next. The EMT's were already working on him, but he had road rash from his knee to his arm pit. I had a fairly slow bike, but I never went down.
The slow bike meant that I had quite a bit left in the tank for the run. It was still pretty cool and the sky was still overcast, so I was able to get in a pretty good run. I had never been able to run a sub-2-hour run on a half IM, but this time I made it in 1:56 and change. That doesn't sound very fast, but given the three hills on the Buffalo Springs run, I was pretty pleased.
I read on Iron "Geekgirl" Misty's blog that races in Texas always start with a prayer and end with beer.
http://athenadiaries.blogspot.com/
Now that I think about it, in my experience that has been a true statement. Sure enough, this race started not only with a Christian prayer, we also had a Native American prayer (although it might have been a plea for rain). At the finish, the local Miller beer distributor was passing out free beer.
Great race, gutsy race directors, and free beer. What a day!
muffinman
http://www.buffalospringslaketriathlon.com/home.php
You can usually count on Lubbock, TX, being hot, dry, and sunny in the last week of June. It certainly has been every other year I was there. The sun and the heat take a lot out of me. Throw in the hills on the bike, and especially the hills on the run, and this is a tough race. They have slots for Kona and Clearwater, so you get some of the heavy hitters from all over the United States showing up. I just look for a reasonable time and hope to finish in the top half of my age group.
This year, it was cool (temperatures in the 60's/low 70's), with gray skies, lightning in the distance, winds gusting to 25 mph, and rain. If I had been the race director, I would have been worried about having 1000 triathletes riding bikes on wet and slippery roads getting blown around by the wind. If Mike and Marti ever considered cancelling the race, I never heard about it. Other than a delay because people were late getting parked and down the hill to the transition area, everything went off without a hitch. Sure beat my experience at the USAT Age Group Championships in Kansas City in 2005 where they cancelled the race because of wet roads.
The swim starts in a small cove. There is no way to have a mass start, so everyone goes off in waves of 100-200 or so swimmers. This year, some of the pro's figured out you could run through the shallow water on the south shore of the cove rather than starting your swim from the middle of the cove. This saved them about 100 meters of swimming. Sure enough, the age groupers saw this so every wave had some "runners" at the start of the swim. I didn't want to step on something in my bare feet, so I started swimming from the middle of the cove. I could watch the "runners" and except for the few "runners" at the front of the group, most of them were bunched up behind the leaders so they were just walking. I don't think it cost me more than 30 seconds, and probably less.
The roads were dry at the start of the bike, but then a bunch of showers started coming through. Along with the wind, it made the bike course extra difficult. Some of the corners were really slick. In particular, you come down two hills with some fairly sharp curves after the second and third turn-arounds, and everyone that I saw was sitting up riding the brakes coming down these two hills. I saw one guy who had failed to make one of the 90-degree turns from one road to the next. The EMT's were already working on him, but he had road rash from his knee to his arm pit. I had a fairly slow bike, but I never went down.
The slow bike meant that I had quite a bit left in the tank for the run. It was still pretty cool and the sky was still overcast, so I was able to get in a pretty good run. I had never been able to run a sub-2-hour run on a half IM, but this time I made it in 1:56 and change. That doesn't sound very fast, but given the three hills on the Buffalo Springs run, I was pretty pleased.
I read on Iron "Geekgirl" Misty's blog that races in Texas always start with a prayer and end with beer.
http://athenadiaries.blogspot.com/
Now that I think about it, in my experience that has been a true statement. Sure enough, this race started not only with a Christian prayer, we also had a Native American prayer (although it might have been a plea for rain). At the finish, the local Miller beer distributor was passing out free beer.
Great race, gutsy race directors, and free beer. What a day!
muffinman
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Support Your Local Race
I'll swing by the slowtwitch.com site now and then to see what people are saying on its forum page. I came across a discussion today under the title "Triathlon Seems To suck right Now". (Sorry, I can't figure out how to copy the entire link.)
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/
We all want to rant about different things at some point. There are several ideas coming out of this slowtwitch forum thread. The way I read it, many people are not happy with their experience at some of the "big" races. The entry fees are high, it's no fun having to travel to get to the race, and then there is the problem of people drafting on the bike during the race.
Most of us have dealt with these and other issues at some of the "big" races. I think $500 is a lot of money to pay for an "M-dot" IM and now it's about $250 for an "M-dot" 70.3 race. Some of the big races that aren't under the "M-dot" banner (Escape From Alcatraz, Boulder Peak, etc.) are pretty spendy these days. I don't see the price of gasoline coming down, and good luck dealing with the commercial airlines these days. As far a drafting is concerned, if you put 1000 plus people on the same course at places like Clearwater or SOMA, you are setting the stage for a draft fest.
I have some thoughts on these issues. Among other things, the folks at WTC and NAS are well within their rights to charge $500 for races that fill up within hours of the time that registration opens. If plenty of people are willing to pay that much money, WTC and NAS would be foolish to charge less. Same thing for races like Escape From Alcatraz.
If you are willing to pay $500 for a race, then $4.00 (and even more) for a gallon of gasoline might not seem too bad. Similarly, $15 per bag and $100 for a bike box (one way) on an airline flight (that already costs twice as much as it did a couple of years ago) is another cost that you are willing to suck up.
Drafting (and anyone who blatantly drafts) is cheating and you might think that everyone in a race would be ashamed to draft. However, I'm afraid you will never eliminate it on crowded courses, especially the flat crowded courses. Look at your average citizen. Is he/she upset about baseball players on steroids? What do they think about football coaches who illegally video tape an opposing team? How many cycling fans are willing to support their favorite cyclist who failed a drug test? We live in a country where our government argues that water boarding isn't torture. Is it any wonder that some people feel that drafting in a triathlon is not a big deal?
Is there a solution? Some of the posters on the slowtwitch forum made comments to the effect that they're done with the "big" races. From now on, they're just going to enjoy a few of their local races. I'm not completely put off by the "big" races, at least not yet. I'm looking forward to the BSLT 70.3 in two weeks, but it's just a two hour car drive from my house. However, I did sign up for the Silverman this year, as opposed to IMAZ. Quite a few of the NM Outlaws are going to IMAZ, and they'll have a good time at that race. But I've done IMAZ (and the Half-Silverman) before, and while the Silverman only has about one-tenth as many people, I enjoyed it a lot more. What I appreciate even more are the small "local" races. There are at least eight races within a two hour drive from my house (which is pretty amazing given the sparse population density in West Texas/Eastern NM). They cost $40-$50 to enter, you can drive there in the morning, race, and be home by mid-afternoon. They only attract 100-200 people, they don't put on an expo, and there are no Kona slots at stake, but they're a lot of fun. Thank goodness for these races and for the directors who put them on.
See you at the races!
muffinman
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/
We all want to rant about different things at some point. There are several ideas coming out of this slowtwitch forum thread. The way I read it, many people are not happy with their experience at some of the "big" races. The entry fees are high, it's no fun having to travel to get to the race, and then there is the problem of people drafting on the bike during the race.
Most of us have dealt with these and other issues at some of the "big" races. I think $500 is a lot of money to pay for an "M-dot" IM and now it's about $250 for an "M-dot" 70.3 race. Some of the big races that aren't under the "M-dot" banner (Escape From Alcatraz, Boulder Peak, etc.) are pretty spendy these days. I don't see the price of gasoline coming down, and good luck dealing with the commercial airlines these days. As far a drafting is concerned, if you put 1000 plus people on the same course at places like Clearwater or SOMA, you are setting the stage for a draft fest.
I have some thoughts on these issues. Among other things, the folks at WTC and NAS are well within their rights to charge $500 for races that fill up within hours of the time that registration opens. If plenty of people are willing to pay that much money, WTC and NAS would be foolish to charge less. Same thing for races like Escape From Alcatraz.
If you are willing to pay $500 for a race, then $4.00 (and even more) for a gallon of gasoline might not seem too bad. Similarly, $15 per bag and $100 for a bike box (one way) on an airline flight (that already costs twice as much as it did a couple of years ago) is another cost that you are willing to suck up.
Drafting (and anyone who blatantly drafts) is cheating and you might think that everyone in a race would be ashamed to draft. However, I'm afraid you will never eliminate it on crowded courses, especially the flat crowded courses. Look at your average citizen. Is he/she upset about baseball players on steroids? What do they think about football coaches who illegally video tape an opposing team? How many cycling fans are willing to support their favorite cyclist who failed a drug test? We live in a country where our government argues that water boarding isn't torture. Is it any wonder that some people feel that drafting in a triathlon is not a big deal?
Is there a solution? Some of the posters on the slowtwitch forum made comments to the effect that they're done with the "big" races. From now on, they're just going to enjoy a few of their local races. I'm not completely put off by the "big" races, at least not yet. I'm looking forward to the BSLT 70.3 in two weeks, but it's just a two hour car drive from my house. However, I did sign up for the Silverman this year, as opposed to IMAZ. Quite a few of the NM Outlaws are going to IMAZ, and they'll have a good time at that race. But I've done IMAZ (and the Half-Silverman) before, and while the Silverman only has about one-tenth as many people, I enjoyed it a lot more. What I appreciate even more are the small "local" races. There are at least eight races within a two hour drive from my house (which is pretty amazing given the sparse population density in West Texas/Eastern NM). They cost $40-$50 to enter, you can drive there in the morning, race, and be home by mid-afternoon. They only attract 100-200 people, they don't put on an expo, and there are no Kona slots at stake, but they're a lot of fun. Thank goodness for these races and for the directors who put them on.
See you at the races!
muffinman
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