SavageMan Triathlon 70.0 - Triathlon

I'm much better about staying in control in the beginning of the swim. I've wigged out several times and have the OWS under better control. For me, it is critical to remain calm and swim very easily and just know there will be some jostling and bumping but don't let it get in your head.

A bit of contact as swimmers behind me grabbed and bumped people, probably due to the difficulty sighting. I had stayed far left to avoid as much of the crowd as possible. Still a very good swim--except for the part where I decided to draft off someone on the back stretch and he swam 50+M off course. Sigh...

At the end, I again commented to the crowd as I got out of the water 'I'm alive!' It's like a tradition now for me.

Nothing. I took in the moment and it's forever embedded in my memory.

Well, I knew I was going to be a snail in transition, as I still wasn't sure what I was going to wear, so I had it all there to choose depending on how I felt after getting out of the water. My spot was at the far end of the transition area so I was able to do most of my walking without the bike.

I dried off. Stepped out of my wetsuit, which got stuck on the timing chip and onto my hand warmers that I had put in my shoes to keep them warm. Then put on long red socks (come on, I'm a Red Sox fan!), an extra pair of short socks (also red), an extra pair of bike shorts for warmth, and because i was still cold, a long sleeved black sweatshirt. My gloves were in the pockets and also had hand warmers in them.

Dressed, walked the bike out the back and up the small hill to the mount line, which is on a hill. A bit challenging to mount on a hill...My time was 8th in my AG, which was surprising to me.

Nothing really. The extra clothes were the right choice for me and I was most worried about being cold, not doing well.

Let me start off by saying I did not make it over the wall.

There was enough power and I thought I had given the 3 riders enough room, but I caught them too quickly and didn't look up early enough. Caught them, tried to go left and when I turned and applied power to the left side to pass them, my right shoe unclipped. I accidently heeled out, was startled standing there in air, 10 feet from the top, looked down and stepped off as I began to roll and slide backwards standing on one leg. A volunteer quickly caught me and my bike as I unclipped the other foot. I may have swore at that point and walked up the left side out of everyone's way, but there was a big gap as I went up quickly and no one was behind me for quite a ways.

It only takes 2 1/2 minutes to ascend the 4 blocks and I paperboyed my way up the first 3 blocks. My HR did not even go above 135. it did spike on the final ascent and I popped a wheelie at one point, but it is certainly doable. Most people actually make it up. I've checked back 3 years, and it's about 2/3 that make it. I was warned that getting cut off or having someone fall into can be an unavoidable reason, but I did not think I would unclip.

I will replace my mountain bike cleats with speed clips in the very near future.

I like the fact that average cyclists can make it up the wall, with strong 45 second power and a good line with no people cutting you off or falling into you. Even strong cyclists can fail and that brings some parity to the challenge.

My son was at the top of the Wall and watched for a few hours. He noted that the very first 2 up the wall both fell this year. He said it was very fun to watch but he was extremely nervous when he was dropped off and walked up the road and could not get his breath at all.

This course has brutal climbs, often with a few false flats to give a sense of security, and then very swift descents into shaded areas and turns where you cannot see road very far ahead of you. Each dangerous spot was well marked but I was never sure of how much to brake and I even misjudged one turn slowing from 40 to 30, but needed to get to 20 pretty quickly of I'd have drifted off the side of the road. Need to work on bike handling skills, but the Tri bike was the better choice, IMO.

The scenery was breathtaking! That was, by far, the prettiest bike course that I have ever ridden. It also was brutal...I was convinced that I was having a bad day, but it is just that hard. It was also quite windy over the second half of the course. The headwind seemed to get stronger, but that may have been my imagination.

I loved the volunteers on the course. Seeing devils on the wall and out on Miller. So many costumes and people genuinely wanting everyone to make it up each hill. It was great! I tried to thank as many people as I could along the way, but at times, I had no breath to get the words out...No, really, I didn't.

Not...fall...on the wall.

Came down the hill to T2 and stepped off the bike and slid a few inches down the hill. Yeah, that's tricky. There were a lot of people having trouble at the bike in/out area...Couldn't do anything about it, really. Just go slow and try to stay on your feet.

Walked the bike over to the rack and changed quickly chatting with my son the entire time. Grabbed my nutrition and then jogged slowly out the back to the run exit.

Nothing really. I could have gone faster but I just wanted to stay steady, not speedy. My time was 4th in my AG, so that's pretty good.

Everyone seemed to hate one more hill than the other. For me, it was the firetower road. I walked minimally up the campground but walked both times up the firetower road, for significant stretches. It was bad, and people on the course told me it was 'in much, much better shape than last year'. What??

I cramped up in my right arm from swinging it too aggressively up the hills. The right quad locked into a knot the second time I bounded down the firetower road and I had to stop and walk a bit down that hill to unlock my leg, after rubbing it out.

Q:What's 1700 feet of running?
A: More pain...

Plenty of volunteers and aid stations, complete with awful tasting Heed and delicious cola. Water was available to fall back on when necessary.

Um, train a bit more.

Pretty much exhausted at the finish line. Heard my son scream to me as I came down the chute and he took a pic with my camera that I'll cherish.

We chatted about the race and I vented about my failure at the wall. Cheered the last of our clan down the stretch, Dan had cramped up badly and gutted it out.


Training certainly.
Weather partially.

I was severely undertrained on the bike and run for distance. Did solid short, steep hill prep, but a long run of 10 miles and long ride of 40 miles is inadequate for this distance and I knew that going in.


This course chewed me up and spit me out. I'm already looking forward to coming back. I'm just not sure when. Kyle Yost has enlightened the triathlete world about the magnificient cycling in the Appalachian Mts and for that I am grateful.

Deep Creek is stunningly beautiful and quite savage!