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 Run
Comments: Well, it only takes a quick look at my AG rank on this leg to know it takes me a while to wake up in the morning and get going. That's why I really missed having the swim, which helps me get going gently, as opposed to beginning with a run, which I can never do first thing in the morning because of my achy joints. Right from the start, I felt tight and tired, with heavy legs. The last thing I needed was a stiff freakin' hill staring me in the face. Instead of pushing the pace, I just kind of used the opening run as a warm-up. In the end that cost me, but that's all my body seemed it could handle today. Besides with the way the wind was blowing, I knew it wouldn't hurt to save a little extra juice for the bike. What would you do differently?: Well, obviously this wasn't a great run for me. I finished 66/113 for this leg as opposed to 34/113 for the later run. I probably should have pushed harder but honestly I just wasn't up to it, physically or mentally at that point. No excuses, it's just that my important race is next week.  Transition 1
Comments: Aside from initially missing my bike in the rack, I really don't have much of an idea why my T1 took so relatively long. I didn't have the best rack spot, but it was far from bad. I was really surprised both at the time and my rank-- 87/113! What would you do differently?: I would probably have hung around T1 a bit longer so I could trip Charles Benson, who was in the wave behind me.  Bike
Comments: Even after the opening run, my legs still felt tight and heavy from Friday's long ride. I needed a reason to dig deep, to work past the pain and kick it up a notch. That reason? CHARLES BENSON. Now, interestingly enough, I've never actually seen Charles on a bike. I don't even know what kind of bike Charles rides. But I do know that Charles is a rather tall, willowy fellow, and on a windy day like this, I knew Charles would likely struggle to make headway. I, on the other hand, am built more muscular and compact. I would use this aerodynamic advantage to build a lead that the chisel-chinned wonder couldn't possibly hope to overcome. Plus, I knew I could use my home course knowledge of the route to anticipate the right gear shifts, know where to pour it on and where to back off. Yes, I could make up the time I gave away on the opening run. And the day would be mine. I executed my plan to steely perfection (with the possible exception of almost getting blown off my bike at a few points.) While my recent lack of speed training (to build base for Racine) definitely hurt in spots, my trusty Guru and I powered boldly ahead. My hill climbing was little better than average. But in the stretch along the highway where racers were being hammered by the relentless wind, we made significant gains, passing rider after rider until we reached Golf Rd. As always, I used my ample girth to power down the hills on the back side and absolutely roared along the flat stretch heading east back toward the lake, at times hitting 28 MPH. I believe it was along this very stretch that, over the howling of the wind, I could also hear the plaintive wimper of one Charles Benson realizing his chances for victory were all but (dare I say?) yesterday's news. What would you do differently?: Not a dang thing. Considering I haven't done much speed training, this was a great ride for me on a brutally windy day. Transition 2
Comments: This was a lot quicker than my T1, but still surprisingly slow. I'm really not sure why. Perhaps it was because I was also carrying on my shoulders the hopes and dreams of all Average Joes who would like to stick it to one overgrown news anchor by the name of Charles Benson. What would you do differently?: I would probably take the time to find Charles Benson's rack spot and leave a note taped to the bar. It would read, "Tonight's top story-- you're toast, suckah!" Run
Comments: By now, I know this course in my sleep. That doesn't make it any less nasty, but at least I know what's coming and where. I started out easy enough, passing Terri and the kids, right at the right hand turn along the lake. It was along this stretch I got passed-- sheesh-- left in the dust by some kid who couldn't have been more than 12. I'd seen him along the bike course, too, and even though I passed him, he was really moving. I think we're gonna ha some superstar triathletes coming from around here soon, folks! Before I knew it, I hit the left hand turn up Spring Street, and my left leg is just tightening up. It was right at the point where it could cramp at any moment and I'd have to stop and stretch it out. So instead, I backed off the pace a little and crossed my fingers. Luckily it seemed to do the trick and soon I was doing the loop around the highschool parking lot. At this point, I was feeling great, so I opened it up for the final push downhill. As usual, I cruised past people on the steep downhills-- I'll just never understand why they insist on braking their momentum when they could just let gravity do the work by leaning into the descent and increasing their turnover. Still, I didn't want to let up even one iota. For I knew, somewhere behind me, a certain giraffe-legged news anchor was no doubt gaining on me, his unfairly oversized limbs furiously pumping away in a last ditch effort to stave off his inevitable humiliation. So I pressed on, down the final stretch back toward town, then over the railroad tracks where my lovely wife and kids were once again waiting to cheer me on to victory. Yes, the day would be mine! As for Charles Benson, well, he will no doubt once again appear one day to seek his own revenge against the foe he has never even known existed. And on that day, he will race his race, and I will race mine. But only one of us will be able to report the real inside scoop on the Greatest One-Sided Rivalry in Sports. What would you do differently?: Not much. This wasn't one of my fastest runs ever, not even as fast as last year, but it's hard to compare because of my lack of tapering and the opening run. Post race
Warm down: After finishing, I went over to the Fleet Feet tent to chat with djdavey for a bit, and also met joerunner and cweninger. After finding Terri and the guys, I took advantage of the short food line to get my pancake breakfast and saw jmwebs and sgoehner, with BunnyT joining us a few minutes later (I actually met him just before the race start, when jmwebs and I were getting ready to go.) I also got to see firstnet911 and amyjo, capping off a great day of racing... even if it was just a stinkin' DUathlon and not a tri. What limited your ability to perform faster: Charles Benson. He's just too gosh darn likable and respectable to truly fuel the hatred that feeds my speed. Event comments: Honestly, if the course wasn't so appealing and the venue right outside my back door. I'd really consider not doing this race anymore. Over the years, it's gotten so crowded, and the number of novice racers it attracts has made it downright dangerous on the bike leg. I swear, it was like they told the slowest riders to ride as far to the left as possible and I had to take a number of chances just to maintain my pace while passing people. In addition, organizers really need to secure the transition area and make sure racers are matched to a bike number when leaving transition after the race. As an additional flaw this year, they didn't have any mileage markers on the course. If I hadn't already known the course so well, I wouldn't have had a clue where I was throughout the race. Last updated: 2008-02-19 12:00 AM
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United States
Midwest Sports Events
Sunny
Overall Rank = 196/1339
Age Group = 35 - 39
Age Group Rank = 34/113
This really began on Friday. Instead of resting for the race, I put in a full 56-mile ride on a hot day, then immediately went to meet the family at a church festival and had a late dinner while watching a movie.
On Saturday, I awoke at 6:30am feeling very tired, but I had to meet "The Basement Guy" to begin work on refinishing our basement. After putting in a solid 10 hours, I once again immediately loaded up the family and we went to the Brewers game. Of course, dinner consisted of nachos, a brat, a beer and some of those sugar-coated almonds.
To say I didn't treat this race as a priority would be a huge understatement. Ever since it was announced that the race was becoming a duathlon, I just wasn't mentally into it. I love going for PR's and comparing my results against other years, and knowing that I'll NEVER do another race with these distances just sorta took the shine off it for me. As far as I'm concerned the big race is next week at Racine, where I'm hell-bent on redemption for what I thought was a really bad race for me last year. So I went into this race tired, unmotivated and with a belly full of not-completely-digested jalapenos loping around.
...But all that was until I saw HIM (Duh-Duh-DUH!!!).
Now, don't misunderstand me. I've really got nothing against Charles Benson. He's a decent enough local TV anchor. I'm sure he's a great guy. Maybe under different circumstances, we'd be buddies. Maybe we'd even go bowling together. Unfortunately, I've decided CHARLES BENSON MUST BE BEATEN LIKE A PINATA AT A PRESCHOOL PARTY.
You see, unbeknownst to Charles, he tends to finish these races with times very close to mine. And Charles tends to compete in many of the same local races that I do. That fact has locked us in a heated rivalry the likes of which has not been known since Frazier v. Ali or Godzilla v. Mothra. He just doesn't know it. Last year at Pewaukee? I beat Charles. At the Lakefront Discovery Run? Charles beat me. And so on. Oh yeah, I know. I've been keeping track. Charles Benson has become the Al Capone to my Eliot Ness. The Warren Sapp to my Brett Favre. The Tiffany to my Debbie Gibson. Er, you get the idea.
And I decided that on this day, at this race, CHARLES BENSON WASN'T GOING TO KNOCK ME OUT OF CASEY KASEM'S "AMERICA'S TOP 40". Or, you know, whatever. He wasn't going to beat me.