4th Annual Lewis and Clark sprint triathlon - TriathlonSprint

The first portion of the swim, about the first 100 or so yards, was extremely crowded and got bumped a bit. I attempted to draft off of some fast feet, but ended up getting kicked pretty hard and gave up on that attempt. My nemesis, Howard Bich, managed to keep right on my ass for the first 200, so at the turnaround buoy I kicked it up a few notches and gained some time on him.

Probably not attempt to draft at all. With a shorter swim like that I just need to focus on swimming my swim. Overall I had a good time, for me. I just need to keep losing weight and keep swimming.

Well, today I tried a new technique for T1 to try and save time. This was my first time trying it to, and let us all remember.. don't try anything new on race day. Ok, with that obvious foreshadowing out of the way..

Quickly threw on my t-shirt, glasses, and helmet while my feet were soaking in the water bucket. I patted them dry and then threw them into my shoes. Yep, I decided to go for sockless today.. again.. foreshadowing. Grabbed my bike and off I went.

Umm, wear socks.. more on that later

So.. where to begin?

I was warned all week about this hill and didn't take it seriously enough. I managed to get only a half-mile up the hill before pulling over to puke. Yep, that's right... I lost my breakfast on the hill. After a few people asked if I was ok I was back on the bike and plodding along up the hill. I recently switched from a triple (cannondale r300) to a double (cannondale ironman sprint) and well.. I missed my triple. I was in my lowest gear the entire time and still struggling to maintain a cadence above 40. I ended up pulling over again (but stayed on the bike the second time) and lost my lunch again. Finally with nothing left in my stomach I braved the rest of the hill. I'll be honest, I wanted to quit so bad during this hill. However, knowing that so many people had faith in me that I would rock this triathlon I just couldn't quit.

After turning at the top of the hill I ran into a heavy headwind (15-20mph) and started to slowly increase my pace. One gentleman said, "Damn, we just climbed Mt. Everest and now we get a headwind?" Up to this point I had been lucky to keep a 7-8mph pace up that hill. I got up to about 10mph and kept it there for the next mile to get my legs back. More rolling hills came as soon as I found my legs, so my pace was pretty horrid on the way out. Many people would pass me, but little did they know I was coming back soon.

At the turnaround I started to shift up quickly as the descents were dominate here, and I quickly hit the big cog. I began pushing 18-20mph on the flats and 14-15 on the hills. Before I knew it I had hit the turn to head down the big hill... oh yes.. :D

I dropped into aero and allowed gravity to speed me up to 30mph. The former head/tailwinds had now become a wicked 18mph crosswind that was making it difficult to stay in a straight line. I honestly wonder how much the 'little' people suffered compared to me there. I had planned on staying there until an older gentleman passed me on the right (nearly clipping me from behind).. I kind of got pissed and kicked the bike into gear. I caught him near the bottom of the hill where I was pushing the big cog downhill at 39.4mph. I would have broken 40 had we not CAUGHT a car who was going down the hill (speed limit of 35 at that point).. I felt great at that point, I knew my time for the day was going to be horrible but going that fast was just awesome.

Umm, not weigh 280lbs? I really think that my weight and inability to maintain a higher cadence hindered me greatly. I also need to do more hills, yes yes.. more hills.

Today I employed a new tactic for the T2 of carrying my bike to the rack. I had practiced this many times now at home and this worked great. I didn't have to worry about steering the bike.. just pick the mofo up and run with it. I grabbed my hat and race belt and off I went. I also forgot something, more on that later.

Don't forget stuff!

As I mentioned earlier I forgot something in T2... my endurolytes. I realized this as I turned out of the campgrounds and began to cramp up. Since I didn't have them I just guzzled down some extra gatorade endurance and hoped it would help. The cramps went away around .5 miles in, but that is where the REAL problems started.

Remember the earlier foreshadowing? Going sockless I mean.. I could feel tiny rocks in my shoes digging into my bare feet, and I began to literally wince in pain every few steps. However, being one of extreme pride I refused to stop at all. I kept on running (my unique mix of jogging/shuffling) and enjoyed the scenery along the river and over the bridge. I knew I would have blisters at the end and just hoped it would stop hurting soon.

At the aide station I got some ice cold water in my mouth and my hat, which helped with keeping cool. As I passed the bridge I noticed there were still a good 7 people behind me, which made my day feel a tad better. However, since most of them were women that meant I had a 5 minute headstart. There was a single guy still heading the other way, but he was walking so I didn't worry about him.

After the return trip on the bridge I felt a SUDDEN and unbearable urge and before I knew it I was relieving myself (ie pee!) while I ran past the 2.5 mile mark. A couple of the women passed me and I took a glance back and saw my 'walking' buddy hustling along about 200 yards back. By the time I hit the quarter mile left mark he had closed the gap to about 100 yards back and his family began cheering him wildly. His children ran back to him and kept cheering for him to catch me and beat me. However, little did the kids know that they were just fueling my fire. I kicked it up a couple knotches and took off. Every step was agony but I REFUSED to be the last guy across the line, I ended up topping him by 9 seconds.

Umm, not do anything new on race day? Not overhydrate.. not forget endurolytes.. not puke on the bike?? wow.. the list goes on.

After the finish I took off my shoes and found that I had two HUGE blisters along the arch of my feet that had both formed AND popped during the run. I laid down on the grass while the race volunteers called the ambulance for some band-aids, hahaha. I ended up with a couple of McDonalds band-aids and a good story about NOT DOING ANYTHING NEW ON RACE DAY.


Mistakes on my part about socks and a big hill that my body was not ready for.


The Lewis and Clark Sprint Triathlon is an awesome triathlon with many of the best local talent being present. Aside from the killer hill at the beginning it is an awesome race!