One of the best things about the Fox Cities Triathlon Club is the strong drive to share triathlon with newbies. While most triathletes love bringing new people into the sport, the Tri Foxes offers Tri 101. This annual program brings together first timers, experienced racers, coaches, mentors, and training sessions to prepare people for their first race.
Since our first timers haven't yet reached triathlon maturity, we refer to them as "Tri Kits" instead of Tri Foxes.
This year, I helped mentor Jesse. Truth be told, Jesse paid pretty close attention through the training classes, received swim instruction from some experienced and qualified coaches, and had plenty of prior bike experience. I provided a bit of general guidance and moral support. Jesse followed the training plan and showed up ready to race on June 20th. Well, almost.
If I remember correctly, Jesse showed up at transition around 6 a.m. He was delayed by one of those situations we all fear. His bike had flatted out, and he realized he was out of spare tubes. He decided to head to the race, hoping one of the bike shops would have a maintenance tent. Nobody did.
He got in a good warm-up running all over the place trying to find someone with a tube he could have. We never crossed paths, but he eventually found Mark, who wasn't racing. Mark had the spare Jesse needed, and they were able to get the bike ready to go with about five minutes to spare before the start of the race.
The picture above shows Jesse getting marked up for the race. The guy in the yellow shirt in the background is Mark. Mark is a huge force in the Tri Foxes for reasons just like this. He is always there to help out fellow triathletes.
Our paths did manage to cross just before the start of the race. Jesse's wife took this great picture of us ready to go. This is just after I took care of my own last minute "freak out" issue of a leaking ear plug. More on that when I post my race report.
The sprint starts were after all the half distance waves, so Jesse had an opportunity to calm down a bit from the bike issue. He used that time to wonder about the water conditions, as he'd heard the conditions were a bit rough.
Jesse reported he got through the swim like most everybody else. He floundered his way through like everyone else. The reports he'd heard were accurate. While there were no whitecaps on the lake, there were huge swells the entire morning. One of the pros admitted in a news article that he had almost called it quits during the swim.
Jesse got caught on the very inside of the turn, wrestled with the bouy, and made it back the the swim exit in about 6:36. Not bad for a quarter-mile swim. Faster than me, anyway.
Jesse headed up the hill to T1, hopped on the bike, and headed out for his ride. His biggest concern for the bike was low tire pressure. I pointed out (after the race) that he probably had more pressure than he thought as the temperature increased a great deal. He completed the bike portion in 1:09, another great performance. After a short transition, he headed out on the run.
In addition to being Jesse's first triathlon, this race exposed him to his first trail running. Several areas of the trail had him concerned because of tricky footing. More than one triathlete has taken a tumble along the course, so his concerns were valid. He made it through with no issues, and completed the run with "time to spare."
His second goal, after finishing, was to come in under two hours. His official time was 1:51:25. And he said he wasn't completely exhausted. Apparently he had a little bit more available to give, so knows what he might be able to accomplish in his next race.
Jesse is no longer a "Tri Kit." He's now an official triathlete and fully grown Tri Fox. He's already looking at a couple of races in the coming weeks and months. Congratulations, Jesse!
Well, it's here. The High Cliff half-Ironman is tomorrow. It should be interesting.
From an aerobic standpoint, I'm probably as ready as I could ever hope. After marathon turned ultramarathon training, long workouts are not an issue. I should be good to go the distance.
Speed is another issue. Last week's Bellin 10K was completed in a 45:15, well below my target. Of course, after months of distance training, the ONE speed session was obviously insufficient training for a sub-42 race. This weekend will be little different. I am confident of two things. First, I'll finish. Second, I'll finish well behind the leaders, and most likely behind my half-IM PR.
Race day looks to be beautiful, though. Despite my "gloom and doom" predictions of temperatures over 100F, the high is predicted to be around 80F. I should miss that, even if it takes me until 1 p.m. to finish. And it looks to be fairly clear, with little chance of rain.
The good news is that the blister on the bottom of my foot is pretty well healed. Last night, the last of the dead skin came off. That eases my concerns about how my feet will hold up on the run. Since I got a couple small blisters on the toes of my other foot during the Bellin Run, I'll be looking at shoes, socks, and other factors. In 10 years of running thousands of miles, I never had a single blister until the last two races.
Bothersome, to say the least.
Finally, I have a special request to fulfill during the race. Iron Wil has asked that I spit on a particular rocky stretch of the run. The poor footing caused her to slip and fall when she ran this race in 2007. I promised to help her carry on the grudge match.
I know, it's been a while. Because of that, I'll refund everyone's dues for the month of June. Keep an eye out for those reimbursements.
In addition to being busy, I wanted to keep the Run for Ron Charity event at the top of the page. The donation link is still in my profile, and I hope you'll consider making a donation.
With just two weeks left until the High Cliff half-Ironman, I'm a bit concerned about race day conditions. Rumor has it we're supposed to train like we race. If that's the case, I hope it's rainy, windy, and cold enough to make snow a real possibility over the rain. Because that's about all I've been training in, lately.
Though it's been tough commuting to work, I managed one such ride May 28th. It was in the mid-40s the entire trip in, with a headwind and rain. When I left the house, I had on my running tights with tri-shorts, a long sleeve jersey over my tri top, and gloves. I was concerned with what I would do when I got to warm.
As if...
Late in the ride I became more concerned with how I was going to change a flat tire with frozen hands. Apparently the answer is, "Not very well." I barely avoided blowing my last spare tube when I inflated it with part of the tube outside the tire. Thankfully, I did have one more CO2 cylinder than tubes.
It was somewhat better after work as I headed to a bike shop near the office to replace tubes and CO2. Two minutes down the road I felt my foot slipping and figured I'd broke one of my cleats. I "uncleated," looked down to see what was wrong with the cleat, and wondered where my pedal had gone. All that was left was the shaft of my Speedplay. Luckily, I found the pedal still in my cleat.
At the bike shop, I was able to replace the tubes, CO2 cylinders, and properly inflate my tire. The weren't able to provide much help with the pedal, so I pushed it on and biked home hoping nothing else would go wrong.
Obviously, the wind had changed direction and I had the same headwind going home as I had going to work. And home is uphill.
Saturday, I went out for my final long ride prior to the race. I hoped to get in 60 miles. When the rain started five minutes after I started, I shook my fist at the heavens to show my determination to stand up to the elements.
By the way, our high temp on Saturday was 53F. That was the temperature at midnight as the temps fell through 50s into mid-40s territory, which is where they were at during my windy, rainy ride. Fortunately this time, I only had a headwind in one direction.
So far, this year, only one of my rides has been in temperatures any warmer than 50F. Most have been in the rain.
I am fairly confident that race day will be sunny, windy (during the swim and bike), and somewhere around 100 degrees. I will burst into flames somewhere around mile 45 of the bike. Luck will be with me as the wind prevents the flames from totally engulfing me.
That luck, and the wind, will die as soon as I step off the bike. It is most likely I will spend the entire half marathon dumping cups of water onto my head to douse the fire as I continue to deal with spontaneous combustion.
Still, I will be there. I will race. I will have fun. And perhaps, just perhaps, I'll live up to my expectations.
Not on that list, however, is a PR at the event. The last time I raced here, I was a few short months away from Ironman and in a far different place.
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