SavageMan International - TriathlonOlympic

Finally time to start, so went into the water and saw a big crowd at the starting area. The swim went parallel to the beach, and a few other guys and I said, “can’t we just start here?” Sure enough, that’s what we did, and it was awesome! Had a completely clear shot to the Turtle turnaround marker. I was able to draft for a bit, and felt like I was going pretty good.

Rounded the bend, and I was surprised that it still wasn’t very crowded. Now I was able to draft for a good while on a guy’s hip, but I kept rotating to breathe in his wake, so that was messing me up, and I was taking water in. I went in behind him, and then I realized I was behind him and another to his side. This went on for a while and I felt very good throughout the swim.

Water was crystal clear, and I even got a view of some fish below!

Finally rounded the bend, and started up the hill up to transition.

By far my best swim in a race – first wave, and no congestion even though the wave was almost 100 strong and felt like I had a good stroke throughout, so I was pretty satisfied getting out of the water. I felt that it must have been pretty good because no women in the next wave passed me!

Nothing in particular for this swim, but more training would have certainly helped my time.

Did a combination walk/run to get up to the transition area. I got there and was extremely surprised to see so many bikes.

Started to get my suit off, but sat down this time. Had major trouble getting it off. Just to make up for my swim and to not get a big head, this was by far my worst T1!

As bad as the wetsuit was, now my watch wouldn’t get the satellites. Usually I turn it on before the race, turn it off, then turn it back on again and it picks up coverage right away. Not here in the valley in the woods! Headed out with it still trying to get coverage…

Work on getting that suit off. :(

I drove the course the night before, so I felt pretty prepared for what to expect. What I didn’t drive though was the exit from T1. I was ready for the 200 foot uphill out of T1, but didn’t see what happened after that. I’m already in aero and motoring and suddenly see a sharp turn around the parking booth. I was sure I was headed for a wipeout! Luckily I got back up and on the brake and ended up okay.

The first major hill is within ½ mile. If I remember the sign right, it’s a 7%, ¼ mile uphill with a turn in it. Someone passed me at the base, but once we were standing, I went by him pretty quickly. I was happy about that at the time, but since then I’ve realized that it was because I have a 12-23 cassette, which probably isn’t right for this course.

Anyway, made it up, caught my breath and watched Tracy’s husband, Doug, go by. So I hung behind him for a bit, but no way could I keep up. The watch also finally picked up the satellites, so I was happy about that.

I had my first gel. I ran out of Accelerade gels, which I really like, so I had a Hammer Gel for here, then my last Accelerade for later. The gel was much thicker than I’m used to, so had half and a few minutes later had the other half.

The 2nd big-ish hill came, and handled this one alright. I was preparing for the next one which is the biggest on the course – a 10%, 0.7 miler. I thought I remembered that there was a downhill leading to it, a left turn then up the hill. So I’m going up this one gradual hill, and further up the hill I see the turn! “Wait a minute!!! What happened to the downhill leading to it???” Crap.

Started up, and sure enough went by someone else again while we were both standing, but my legs were burning. Got up halfway and had to stop. There was a group there taking pictures, and they gave me good encouragement, by basically saying wait until I see what happens at the top when I pass everyone who passes me.

Don’t you know, only one person went by me, and two others got close. I got to the top, hopped on, and felt great! I went by the guy who passed me pretty quickly, and never saw him or the other two again.

This was before mile 10, and the rest of the course was either rolling hills or hills! Most of the downhills were fairly steep with either bends, or sharp turns, so good brakes are vital. Plenty more standing, and lots of gear changes. This was all pretty similar to what I normally ride on, so I was pretty comfortable now.

Other than the water I had with the gel, I was sipping on Accelerade. But close to mile 15, my stomach was feeling terrible. I’m not sure why this was since that’s what I normally use. It might have been a reaction from the effort so far, or the Hammer gel. So I laid off the Accelerade, and just sat up and had water whenever I was thirsty. By mile 20, I felt good again, so had a little more Accelerade before the end.

One interesting thing showed me the value of a tri-bike. One fairly tall guy went by me on a road bike, but soon there was a good downhill that you could just go on. He was way up ahead and we were both pedaling all out, and I was catching up quickly. Pretty soon I was up around 35 mph and had slack in my chain so I just coasted. Even while I was coasting, I passed him while he was pedaling. I wondered if he noticed that!

Got back into the park and made an error. I saw the turn to go down the hill, so I unclipped, but that turn wasn’t the final one. It turned out I rode about ½ mile unclipped. Live and learn!

Throughout the ride I was surprised how empty the course was. With over 200 on course I expected to see more bikes. I guess being in the first wave helped me have a wide open course. So I looked at the scenery, tried to smile for the cameras and just enjoyed the ride. I even started mooing at the cows - I then wondered if I was getting delirious! About 10 or so people passed me throughout the ride, and I passed some back and some others.

Got in and saw lots of empty bike racks!

Hill training. Kind of silly that there's virtually nowhere in Pgh with a level road and I struggled on the steep one. I even live on a 7% grade road!

Also need to look into possibly changing the rear cassette for this race.

Tricky to stop on the downhill, but probably better than rounding the bend and then stopping. I had a long run with the bike both in and out, and pretty much just walked quickly!

I was tired, but got moving okay and ready to try to take it easy on the run. I never did have that Accelerade gel, so I ripped it off the bike and put it in my pocket. My nutrition was probably messed up, but I couldn’t do anything about that now.

I think I had a drink, so I could have done without that since there was an aid station right outside of T2. Could have run more with the bike, but I was kind of tired. :P

During all my training for this race, I concentrated on the bike and worked on the hills for that. My thought always was this would be a rolling hills type run and I should be fine.

I can’t count the number of ways that statement is so wrong!

Started off okay and I followed another guy for the first mile and a half as a pacer around 8:30/mile. Then the first hill hit that I was completely unprepared for. I just said to myself, “pick up your knees, pick up your knees.” I made it up, and felt much better coming back down!

I had water at the stations, and kept on following the guy. I got myself in a good mood and started to feel even better by cheering on the bikers coming in and the runners that were ahead of me that already passed the 2nd turn around.

Then I hit the 2nd hill I was unprepared for. This was an uphill up a rocky trail somewhere after the 4 mile mark. I ended up walking up at about the halfway point, but I tried to go quick with big, long strides. But I was very disappointed because I knew my goal of under 1 hour on the run was out the window.

Finally got to the top, took a drink, and headed down – watching my footing! The rest of the run continued the rolling hills. People kept passing me, but at this point I wasn’t thinking about that because I figured I was pretty far down in my age group, and just thought about running my race and finishing.

Got to the end, and was at least able to pick it up to look decent going into the finish area. I couldn’t believe the clock was under 3 hours!

Concentrate more on the hills. Where have I heard that before? Get in longer runs.

Got my finisher’s shirt and had some food and stretched. Excellent food and a great atmosphere with music and people cheering for the finishers.

I know Tracy wrote about this also, but I saw her come in with her daughters all holding hands which was very cool! Everyone cheered them on, and the announcer called them “Team Ahrens” Great moment!


Tough course, but manageable. Obviously more training, and concentrating on the hills around home will help immensely.

When I left I was pretty down about the run. I had too much time to think as I drove back home. To tell you the truth, I was very surprised to see my place, so that picked me up again on Monday. I couldn’t believe I got 7th in the age group, but don’t you know I was only 30” out of 5th! I was actually in 4th after the bike, and about 6 minutes ahead of 5th, so I really blew that.

Happy enough with the placement, but also see that I could have done quite a bit better, so it's time to get to work for next time!


This is an excellent race, and I highly recommend it for everyone. They do it right with many volunteers, great park and police support, and an excellent setting.