Triathlon Mid-Season Report

The race season is well underway, and Scott and Martin are parting ways to
specialize: Scott will do intermediate tris and road and crit races, while
Martin is focusing on 5 to 12 hour races to train for the Louisville
Ironman.

The Half Classic, (1.2
mile swim, 56 mile bike, 1/2 Marathon run) in Effingham started out
inauspiciously: the race was delayed by rain, and Martin’s ribs were still
sore.  A few ibuprofen and an hour and a half later, things finally got
moving.  Martin started at the back of the swim, got into a good rhythm
immediately by avoiding the battle of the limbs, and eventually passed a lot
of people for a new swim PR over the 1/2 iron distance.  The bike ride was
rolling along nicely at 22-23 mph - until a freight train put a 2 minute
dent into the lead cyclists, piling us up at the crossing!  Ah well, the
forces of nature (and man) at work.  Martin continued at an easy 22-23 pace,
knowing a 1/2 Marathon at 80F and high humidity was coming up.  Part of the
Marathon was on a hilly gravel road, but propelled by a dose of HEED and a
cup of water poured over his back at every mile, Martin accelerated
throughout the run to finish in 1:42, with an overall new PR of 4:52 for the
Half Iron Distance.  The race leader, Charley Massey, a 30 year-old racer
from Michigan, finished in 4:24
([url=http://cuttingedgeevents.net/results/2011%20HALF%20CLASSIC%20OVERALL%2
0RESULTS.HTM]results[/url]).

Scott raced the
Quartermax (1000m
swim, 28 mile bike, 6 mile run) about 55 miles west of St. Louis at
Innsbrook Resort as his last
“training race” of the season. His first intermediate-distance tri of the
year, it was certainly an endurance challenge by his definition. Scott also
set a swim PR, but his experience was otherwise worlds apart from Martin’s.
After arrival under overcast skies, Scott completed a short bike warm-up and
headed to Lake Aspen beach, hoping to log a 15-minute swim warm-up. Much to
his disappointment, the lake was closed to warm-ups about 40 minutes prior
to his scheduled start wave - a huge negative in an otherwise first-class
event. There was a usable section of beach outside the course, but it was
unpatrolled and officially off-limits. Undeterred, Scott hit the water hard
and swam 1000m in 16:11, but the effect of the missed warm-up was felt
immediately on the shore. It was a harbinger of things to come. The private
roads through Innsbrook Resort encircle and connect a series of several
small man-made lakes. Many do not follow valleys or ridges, but are cut
willy-nilly over hills and across earthen dams. The first 6 and last 3 miles
of the bike course are inside the gated resort and present the rider with a
sequence of short, but steep climbs and fast, winding descents. This is the
only triathlon Scott has ever raced with hay bales on the bike course. The
opening 6-mile salvo put Scott under a lot of pressure and he could have
easily quit then, but there was still almost 2 hours of racing remaining.
Exiting the resort, the bike course gave way to flat-to-rolling terrain and
Scott dialed it back to recover. About 10 miles later, he finally started to
feel good and a strong finish seemed a hopeful possibility. A furious
descent capped the 23rd mile, but the final 3 miles presented more short,
but punishing climbs. So much for feeling good and recovering. Scott began
the run at a gentle 8-minute/mile pace and thought he could hold on or maybe
speed up during the second half. However, gravel roads and hills proved too
much for legs that were already softened by
[url=http://connect.garmin.com/activity/95153192]1100 feet of climbing in
the saddle[/url]. Scott walked up the second of several ascents that totaled
500 vertical feet,
then alternated running with recovery until the final 3/4 mile. He finished
in 2:28:45, 50th of 299 amateurs overall and 5th of 34 in his age group. His
swim, bike, and run splits ranked 35th, 14th, and 151st, respectively
([url=http://www.onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php?race_id=19755]resu
lts[/url]). The race was tough, but yielded few surprises while serving
Scott his homework for the next 3 weeks - endurance is the key. Fortunately,
his next race will not require so much climbing!

Reported by Scott and Martin