It's been a while since my last entry and a lot has happened since then. I did the middle two of the four part Du-Series. The 1-11-1, and the 1/2-11-2. I did markedly better than in previous years. I'm sure in part to the Cervelo. It IS faster than my Trek. I also did my first Xterra off-road triathlon. This was an excellent event. More on that later. I did a couple of organized group rides; the Red Ribbon Ride, and the Queen City Ride (75 mi.). These organized rides are a great way to get in a long ride. They're well supported and there are always plenty of folks to ride with. I've been lucky enough to have enough friends involved both times. This is great because they are better cyclists than I am and it pushes me to work harder.
Xterra Eureka Springs; This was an A-race for me. It was a long term goal anyway and it seemed like why not go ahead and do it this year. Lots of Springfield folks were doing it, so I decided to give it a go. The swim is open water in Lake Leatherwood. This is a very nice dammed up river that I'm told used to generate power. Now it's a smallish campground fishing and swimming lake. The swim was uneventful if a bit slow for me (I'm slower in open water). I was a little freaked out by the weeds, even though I didn't think I would be. The run to T-1 is not insignificant. It was about 200 yards. One plus side to this is that you can collect your thoughts a bit. The transition area is nicely layed out with sturdy racks. The event is limited to 200 athletes, and everyone is assigned their slot by bib number. I took my time at transition but was ready to go quickly enough. I had more gear than I usually deal with; gloves, Camelback, socks, and glasses. This ride is a b i t c h. The first climb is rideable and I had intended to ride it. When I hit the trail though, it was clogged with racers hiking their bikes, so I did the same as getting around them would have spent too much energy. I wish I had tried to ride it looking back. I got passed by my Cynthia Bradley who has become one of my main (friendly) competitors. I tried to keep her in sight after we got back on and started riding again, but after I wiped out on a switch back she jumped ahead three riders and with her experience showing, jumped past three more. It took me much longer to pass the same riders. I did stop to help some poor athlete who had flatted for a second time and was hiking his flat bike. I gave him a tube and my multi-tool. I considered this paying it forward, as I had been helped at the Branson Sprint last September. After this first main climb, the downhills are really fun if technical. After you pass through transition for the second part of the bike, you hit the real challenges. There is not much choice for the second main climb except to hike the bike up it. It's a very aggressive climb, and rideable if that's all you were planning to do that day. After you get to the top you get the payoff; downhill, switchbacks and ledgerocks, all the MTB fun stuff. Then you cross the dam and hit more fun stuff until the third main climb, and it is a doozy. Aggressive slope and really long. The last .25-.5 miles is very aggressive and I hiked it up. After that, you can haul ass, if you have the courage. I had a great time on the bike, but it took the starch out of me. I rolled into T-2 with pretty tired legs and probably low on electrolytes. The run portion is over much of the same terrain including the second main bike climb. I walked some of the run, but this isn't unusual on a trail run. I started to cramp in my quads and calves, but a little massage helped and curiously enough running did too. I passed Cynthia on the second major climb on the run. I reminded her that she was still at least five minutes ahead of me because the women start after the men. I tried my best to put some more time between us, but she held on to beat me by thirty seconds or so. I had a great time and these folks put on a great event. A special shout out to my good friend Don Buttram who made the trip down by himself to watch, cheer and take pictures. He's a rare breed. This race is on my A-list for next year. I'll have some experience next time and will try to go under three hours. One more thing; we pre-rode this course a couple of weeks before the race, and that was so very helpful. I'll be doing that again as well.
Proper 70.3 training will begin soon. Till then, I've been making it up as I go and laying down a base. These long organized rides are very helpful. Getting the run volume up will be the hard work. The Willard Sprint, Concreteman, and Tiger-Tri are up next. I intend to use these as brick workouts in my training schedule.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Du-Series Xterra and beyond
It's been a while since my last entry and a lot has happened since then. I did the middle two of the four part Du-Series. The 1-11-1, and the 1/2-11-2. I did markedly better than in previous years. I'm sure in part to the Cervelo. It IS faster than my Trek. I also did my first Xterra off-road triathlon. This was an excellent event. More on that later. I did a couple of organized group rides; the Red Ribbon Ride, and the Queen City Ride (75 mi.). These organized rides are a great way to get in a long ride. They're well supported and there are always plenty of folks to ride with. I've been lucky enough to have enough friends involved both times. This is great because they are better cyclists than I am and it pushes me to work harder.
Xterra Eureka Springs; This was an A-race for me. It was a long term goal anyway and it seemed like why not go ahead and do it this year. Lots of Springfield folks were doing it, so I decided to give it a go. The swim is open water in Lake Leatherwood. This is a very nice dammed up river that I'm told used to generate power. Now it's a smallish campground fishing and swimming lake. The swim was uneventful if a bit slow for me (I'm slower in open water). I was a little freaked out by the weeds, even though I didn't think I would be. The run to T-1 is not insignificant. It was about 200 yards. One plus side to this is that you can collect your thoughts a bit. The transition area is nicely layed out with sturdy racks. The event is limited to 200 athletes, and everyone is assigned their slot by bib number. I took my time at transition but was ready to go quickly enough. I had more gear than I usually deal with; gloves, Camelback, socks, and glasses. This ride is a b i t c h. The first climb is rideable and I had intended to ride it. When I hit the trail though, it was clogged with racers hiking their bikes, so I did the same as getting around them would have spent too much energy. I wish I had tried to ride it looking back. I got passed by my Cynthia Bradley who has become one of my main (friendly) competitors. I tried to keep her in sight after we got back on and started riding again, but after I wiped out on a switch back she jumped ahead three riders and with her experience showing, jumped past three more. It took me much longer to pass the same riders. I did stop to help some poor athlete who had flatted for a second time and was hiking his flat bike. I gave him a tube and my multi-tool. I considered this paying it forward, as I had been helped at the Branson Sprint last September. After this first main climb, the downhills are really fun if technical. After you pass through transition for the second part of the bike, you hit the real challenges. There is not much choice for the second main climb except to hike the bike up it. It's a very aggressive climb, and rideable if that's all you were planning to do that day. After you get to the top you get the payoff; downhill, switchbacks and ledgerocks, all the MTB fun stuff. Then you cross the dam and hit more fun stuff until the third main climb, and it is a doozy. Aggressive slope and really long. The last .25-.5 miles is very aggressive and I hiked it up. After that, you can haul ass, if you have the courage. I had a great time on the bike, but it took the starch out of me. I rolled into T-2 with pretty tired legs and probably low on electrolytes. The run portion is over much of the same terrain including the second main bike climb. I walked some of the run, but this isn't unusual on a trail run. I started to cramp in my quads and calves, but a little massage helped and curiously enough running did too. I passed Cynthia on the second major climb on the run. I reminded her that she was still at least five minutes ahead of me because the women start after the men. I tried my best to put some more time between us, but she held on to beat me by thirty seconds or so. I had a great time and these folks put on a great event. A special shout out to my good friend Don Buttram who made the trip down by himself to watch, cheer and take pictures. He's a rare breed. This race is on my A-list for next year. I'll have some experience next time and will try to go under three hours. One more thing; we pre-rode this course a couple of weeks before the race, and that was so very helpful. I'll be doing that again as well.
Proper 70.3 training will begin soon. Till then, I've been making it up as I go and laying down a base. These long organized rides are very helpful. Getting the run volume up will be the hard work. The Willard Sprint, Concreteman, and Tiger-Tri are up next. I intend to use these as brick workouts in my training schedule.
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