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 Swim
Comments: Lined up in the shallows right at the outside buoy on the starting line. This course was set up really well for me...I like to swim in clean water to the outside, if it makes sense to, and with the long haul out to the turn buoy, I could do that and gradually move in for the turn without adding any meaningful distance. At the start, I took a couple steps then dove in and started swimming. A couple guys to my outside were dolphining in the shallows. Not sure what the point was: I was gradually separating from them by swimming and I definitely believe in the rule of thumb that says if the water is at your knees or above, it's faster to swim than wade. This was, all in all, an incredibly uneventful swim. Little to no contact. Kept up a solid pace throughout and could tell I was probably headed for a PR. (Stretch goal was to sneak under 34 minutes.) Caught the back of the previous wave (men under 25 and over 55) by the first turn and the wave before that (women over 45...my wife's wave) before the second turn. Clobbered one of the women from that wave who was breaststroking in the middle of traffic with an inadvertent elbow to the head trying to maneuver around her...also overtook someone from my wave who was breaststroking just before the second turn, i.e., about 1200 yards into the swim--not sure what sort of strategy that guy had that would put him in front of one of the faster swimmers in the AG and then lead to breaststroking by 2/3 of the way through the course. I sometimes wonder how some people prepare for these things (or don't, I suppose). Only bit of weirdness was with about 300 yards to go: I could see the bottom by this point...and I could see I was barely moving! The water had gone a bit cold and all I could figure was that we were in the current from the mouth of the brook that emptied into the lake between the swim start and the finish (looking at an aerial photo later confirmed that I was right...you can see the underwater channel from the brook's flow heading right for the point I found myself at a near standstill). Finally got out of the current and started really moving. Stood up and there was only a short run to the mat (about 50-60 yds). My Garmin showed 33:59...right on my optimistic goal. Officially I was at 34:02...from the discrepancy with my watch there and at day's end, I'm guessing the air horn at our wave start wasn't really in synch with the electronic start time...three seconds is a lot more than I'll attribute to reaction time. In the official results, I have the 10th fastest swim split among 83 finishers in my division...one DNF starter was also faster, so the "unofficial" interactive results put me 11th. What would you do differently?: Nothing...this was exactly the swim I hoped for...after good swims at Strawberry Fields Oly and Vineman Relay, I feel like I've finally gotten my swim to where I'd like it to be relative to my run.  Transition 1
Comments: Wasn't expecting wetsuit strippers, but there they were. Picked out the only adult male in the bunch and went to him...good choice--he yanked the suit right off. With that bit of time in the bank, I decided to stick with my plan to wear gloves on the bike (having crashed recently, I'm not of a mind to end my day prematurely by tearing up the palms of my hands if I were to go down on the course). Had to make sure that bike comp sensor that had moved in transit was in the right position, so that ate some time. Also decided to stuff the gels for my run in my tri shorts pockets at this point, too. Hoped to get out of T1 with a 3:30 or better, but those chores put me over that time. What would you do differently?: Not wear gloves. Not put three gels in my pockets, since I only ended up using one on the run.  Bike
Comments: About five weeks before the race--after training Liz up for her first-ever iron distance ride at the Vineman Relay--I started to entertain thoughts of shooting for a 2:50-ish finish here. Then I did my one real race rehearsal ride two weeks out...FAIL. Went 3:12 for the HIM split on a 60 mile ride. At that point, my goal was reset to breaking three hours for the first time. So I head out on the bike knowing I had a solid swim, at least as far as AG placement: There were only two guys on my rack there ahead of me coming out of the swim in T1. Well, the bike was just a parade of guys from my AG passing me in the flats on much nicer bikes with much nicer wheels. I'm the first to admit that I sacrificed specific training for this distance to support Liz's iron distance training, but the bottom line is that I have a ton of fitness and put in up to 200+ weekly miles this summer. At some point, I have to concede that there are limits to performance--and to training strategies--imposed by a low-end bike (carbon frame notwithstanding) and no "toys" like race wheels, power meter, Computrainer, etc., etc. Bugs me to be able to school lots of the riders who pass me in the flats on long climbs, where my PTW ratio is clearly superior, and then watch them overhaul me on level ground where aerodynamics adds up with each mile. Oh, well. Anyhow, mostly an uneventful ride. Course is pretty, but I don't think it's as pretty as Vineman...the scenery is a bit unchanging. Hwy 106, which makes up the bulk of the course, is a decent route--nice wide shoulders, mostly decent pavement, and no significant grades at all. The only challenging climb is Marsh Hill in mile 10, but that didn't get me out of the saddle at all...in fact, I don't think I was out of the saddle at all the whole ride. I know that New Englanders think the area has mountains, but by California standards, it's really no more than hilly. Stuck carefully to nutrition/hydration regimen: 1/4 bottle of Powerade Zero every 30 minutes (i.e., about 1.5 bottles for the ride) and 200 calories every hour (alternating gels with Shot Bloks, with one extra 100 cal mini Clif Bar as a mid-ride "reward"). One issue was lack of my usual GU gels--we thought it unwise to bring packets of gel on our flight out, but didn't reckon with complete lack of anything other than Power Bar product onsite. I used to use Power Bar "Double Latte" gels a couple years back, but definitely prefer GU. I bought some Power Bar gels out of necessity, but honestly wasn't happy with it and it contributed to my stopping non-fluid calorie intake on the run. Got to the turnaround under 1:30, so was hopeful of sub-3:00...but I knew the turnaround was less than halfway (there's a weird little side excursion on the return leg that included the only really steep--albeit short--grade outside of Marsh HIll) and that the profile for the return was actually net uphill for most of the course. In general, though, I felt like I'd been marshaling power pretty well. My right ITB was balky after about mile 20 and I wasn't getting the power I'd have liked out of that leg, but I knew I wasn't going to run out of gas (or blow up my run, either). Coming down Marsh Hill, I tucked deep into aero and let 'er rip...Garmin and bike comp agree that I hit about 47 mph there...that and a couple other downhills late and I was able to run across the mat into T2 with a 2:58 and change on my watch for the ride...second goal for the day in hand. What would you do differently?: Buy race wheels. Buy an aero helmet. Buy lighter and more aero components (specifically pedals, cockpit). Maintain my bike better and more frequently. Make more money. Meanwhile, over in the Land of Things That Could Really Happen: Swap the 12-28 cassette I ran out for my 11-23 so I'd have had my 18T to run the false flats in (rather than just my 17T and 19T)...didn't really need the climbing gears (24T and 28T), but didn't really know that going in. Transition 2
Comments: Okay, I'd practiced yanking my gloves off in one pull and that went fine, so I don't think I spent more than 2 - 3 seconds on that. In fact, this was a pretty much picture perfect T2...glove removal was the only thing added to my usual "rack bike, helmet off, bike shoes off, pull running shoes on, grab hat and run really fast" routine. Unfortunately there was this REALLY long run to the timing mat. Had to go to the furthest corner of the TA to exit, then run all the way down the far end outside the fence, then run almost all the way along the long side outside of the fence to get to the mat. I'd figured on a 1:30-ish T2, but didn't count on 20 - 30 seconds of running. What would you do differently?: Not wear the gloves...but, really, the time consumed by them was in putting them on, not in taking them off.  Run
Comments: Didn't take an opportunity to drive the run course, so this was a bit of a crap shoot pace-wise. I was hopeful of maybe getting just under 1:40 based on training, but realistically thought I'd be somewhere under 1:45. Plan was to go out around 7:40/mile and assess things after the first mile. Well, after a couple miles, I'd come off a long uphill, followed by the complimentary downhill and was cruising along around 7:30/mile. I'd been holding that comfortably on longer runs in recent training, so I decided to ride that out as long as I could. One of my other goals was to be on the run course before Chrissie finished...made it by a surprising margin...she came by on her way in when I'd just passed mile 2. At some point, I recognized a couple things: 1) There were a couple meaningful hills on the course and one of them would be at mile 12 on the second loop and 2) It was getting hot and humid. Now I run in high temps all the time (did a brick run earlier today, as it happens, in 92F temps)...but low 80s for both heat and humidity is something else again. So I started doing something I've never done in a race before--dumping some of my water from aid stations over my torso. I think that helped...certainly made a mental difference. Power Bar gels weren't sitting well with me and I gave up on them after eating one around mile 4. Decided Gatorade and water would get me through. Still was sitting sub-8:00 after the turnaround at 3.28 miles and felt okay. The big hill at 5.5 miles sucked a lot out of me, though. I was really happy to get through the end of the first loop (right next to the finish, of course) and know that I was "in the homestretch." Starting down a grade at around mile 8, my chronically balky left calf cramped up. Thankfully, it wasn't bad...however, I had to baby it for a mile or so to make sure it wasn't going to knot up completely. Calf loosened gradually, but the heat and humidity didn't and by the turnaround at 9.84 miles, I was feeling heavier-footed than I'm accustomed to. Sure enough, just before the mile 10 marker, I'd pretty much hit the wall. Now I'd been reminding myself of how I'd felt at various stages of the Boston Marathon this spring...at mile 4, I was saying how at Boston I'd have been heading into the "Three Sisters" hills and how I powered through that, then at mile 8.5, with the calf cramp and heading into a rolling section, I reminded myself that I'd have just come off of Heartbreak Hill and was starting to suffer. Definitely put the run into perspective. Passed Liz around mile 11.5 (she was at mile 5) and told her to be careful of the hills and not blow up...then headed for the last big climb, almost 100' in just under half a mile. Up ahead, almost everyone was walking, but I knew I wasn't going to. By the top, it was just me and one other guy running. Wasn't much of a pace...my Garmin showed 8:50 for mile 12...but definitely real running. After that, I knew it was mostly downhill. I took cold towels from the cold towel station, but no more water. Finally I could hear the PA announcer and I headed down the last hill to the turn into the finish chute. Honestly had no idea of where I was time-wise. Just stretched it out into a kick down the chute. Looked to see if Chrissie was giving out medals up ahead...nope...so I decided I'd indulge in my habit that she said in her Friday talk that she wanted to discourage and look at my damn watch at the finish. Crossing the line, my Garmin showed 5:24:59. Very happy with that. What would you do differently?: Probably took mile two too fast, but it was within my target pace range that I tested pretty well in training. Whatever the reason, I was about 90 seconds over my expected finish and that's almost 100% attributable to miles 11 (8:30) and 12 (8:50). Course was not "hilly" but there were more meaningful grades than I'd heard there were...should have surveyed the course beforehand. Post race
Warm down: Picked up "morning clothes" bag. Got some finisher's food. Stretched a little. Waited for Liz to finish...she was shooting for sub-7:00 and just missed (7:02), but still PR'ed by 12 minutes. Which turned out to be the case for me as well...lowered PR from just under 5:37 to around 5:25 flat. Also happy with winding up with top 10 swim and run splits among the 83 finishers in my AG. Not so happy with being absolutely dead in the middle of my AG on the bike...pleased to finally get under 3 hours for an HIM ride, but would like to see that translate into something better in terms of placement. Anyhow, very satisfied with the day--mildly disappointed with the 1:46 on the run, but very pleased to hit my goals on the swim and bike. Overall, I PR'ed in all segments of the race: Swim - 34:02 (old PR 34:45 Vineman) T1 - 3:51 (5:03 Wildflower) Bike - 2:58:43 (3:04:42 VM) T2 - 1:59 (2:40 WF) Run - 1:46:28 (1:48:35 VM) Total - 5:25:03 (5:36:41 VM) As Liz was cleaning up and eating, the PA announcer says that the course is going to have to be closed due to approaching thunderstorms with potentially damaging winds. Wow...would suck to be pulled off the course for that. Our final goal for the day was to get packed up and get our bikes to the LBS truck before the rains hit. Just made it. Not 100 yards up the highway from the park exit, we drove into the teeth of the thunderstorm. Balance of the weekend was the Sunday night lobster bake, then a Monday drive to spend a couple days with Liz's family in Maine before heading back to LA. I think it'll be awhile before I agree to do a destination tri that involves shipping bikes, but it was fun to do once. What limited your ability to perform faster: Lack of HIM specific workouts on the bike. But the reality was that I expected to finish in the 5:21-5:25 range based on training and that's just what I did. Event comments: Timberman is a very well organized and family-friendly weekend of racing, including a Saturday sprint to go along with the 70.3 on Sunday. Some of the logistics involved in getting back-and-forth between the race site at the state park and the expo and other events at Gunstock Mtn resort are a challenge, but that's a minor quibble, really. Last updated: 2011-01-13 12:00 AM
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United States
EndorFun
70F / 21C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 383/1691
Age Group = M 50-54
Age Group Rank = 20/85
Signed up for this race--essentially--because I didn't sign up for IM 70.3 Hawai'i in 2010. My wife, Liz, wanted to do that race with some other people from the Disney tri team, but I made the case that it would have been just too expensive for both of us to get to HI with our bikes and stay there long enough to be worth the trip. We compromised on doing a destination 70.3 in 2011 and Timberman seemed appealing inasmuch as Liz has family about two hours from the race site that we could stay with for at least some of the trip.
This would be Liz's 2nd HIM (first WTC race ever) and my 3rd (after Vineman 70.3 and Wildflower)...and this was our first time transporting two bikes out of state. We got a great price on airfare to NH via Southwest and hoped we could get our bikes on the flight free or cheap, but the reality was that no viable bike case or box I could wrangle was within the max dimensions for checked baggage on SWA. So after investigating every possible option (including Amtrak, renting bikes, and even buying bikes off Craigslist), I decided to bite the bullet and ship them FedEx, paying the event LBS to receive and build them and then ship them back. This at least saved us some money on car rental, since the LBS would have them at the race venue and take them from us there after the race, so no need to transport 2 bikes (and boxes) over the weekend in the rent-a-car. (I highly recommend the Crateworks corrugated boxes we used to ship, btw.)
Trip out was pretty uneventful...apart from the need to take a redeye to Manchester due to my lack of available vacation days. Stayed at a hotel by the airport for the night, picked up the rental car in the AM, then moved on to our lodging in the Tilton, NH, area. One annoying hiccup: When we stopped at a store in Tilton to pick up some provisions for the room, we got back to the car to find the module with the outside rear view mirror adjustment knob dangling from the door by a wire...some moron had stuck it on with silicone sealant, which cut loose in the 80F temps/80% humidity. Spent the weekend driving around with the unit duct-taped back into place and fretting about the possibility of getting charged for the damage.
Our intention was to get as much out of the Timberman events as possible, so after checking in at packet pickup (and buying Liz 3 t-shirts and a hat), we got tickets for the Friday night dinner. After checking out the lay of the land at transition and ascertaining that our bikes were in good shape in the hands of the LBS, we went off to the dinner...where the guest speaker was Chrissie Wellington.
After her brief remarks, she spotted a challenged athlete she obviously knew sitting at the table next to ours and came over to talk to him. So we're like six feet from Chrissie and I'm saying to Liz that you wouldn't really know at a glance that she's the Michael Jordan of long course triathlon and one of the most dominant female athletes ever...but then she moves around so that her back is to us. OMFGZ! The hamstrings! I've seen a lot of elite runners and triathletes over the past few years, but I've never seen hammies developed like Chrissie's!
Anyhow, after that Chrissie obliged us groupies with pictures... ;)
Saturday AM was reserved for driving the bike course, then lunch with Liz's sister and nephew who came over from Maine for the day. After lunch, we picked up our bikes from the LBS folks and did a short checkout ride on the first few miles of the course. I had a little issue with my bike comp magnet ticking against the sensor when I braked, but otherwise A-OK. Checked our bikes into transition and covered the saddles, bento boxes, and elbow pads against the possible evening t-showers.
Armed with advice from Timberman vets here on BT, we decided to get up at 3 am and get to parking before it opened. We were pretty well set for an early evening when Liz realized she hadn't gotten sports bottles of Gatorade she wanted for the bike. So I dashed out to find some...scored them from a market that was two minutes from closing...zoiks...
Up at 3 and out the door after a breakfast of low fat string cheese, two Clif Bars and Diet Coke, we got to the state park entrance at 3:55 to find only a short line of cars waiting to turn in to the park. We were able to park quite close to transition (and, more importantly, avoid shuttling from the expo site at Gunstock resort)...and even grab some coffee and a short nap.
When transition opened at 5am, we both got set up quickly. Liz--being in the first wave after the pros--turned out to be racked right in front of Chrissie's bike! (Perhaps there'd be speed by osmosis or something.) My favorite find of the week: Chrissie's cheap-ass Cateye bike computer.
For the second race in a row, I came back to my rack close to race time to find my stuff moved! The guy next to me was passive-aggressively making comments about setup earlier, but I was setup first and was within the rules as far as I could determine. But this a-hole says, "An official came by and said your setup was wrong and had it moved." Funny...somehow that "official" moved my stuff on top of the next athlete's to the other side...if mine was "wrong," then so was that guy's, yet that didn't get moved. I was pissed enough to drag the head referee over to ask WTF? He mostly wanted to calm me down, but ultimately conceded that if my setup was not on the "established" side for the odd-numbers on the rack, then, yes, the setup next to mine should have been moved, too. Bottom line, the other guy just lied to my face...can't stand that sort of gutless B.S. -- especially since he had his bike racked by the handlebars, which is not allowed at some races.
Anyhow, had a mini Clif Bar and after a bit, got in wetsuit and walked down to swim start with Liz. She was in 3rd wave (1st AG wave) and I was in the 5th. Water was dead calm and 72F. After having done a full IM swim three weeks earlier at the Vineman Relay, I really felt set for a fast swim.
Nothing really...just stretching before the swim start.