Mountain Madness Half iron - Tri-ing to find some hills
A year ago when I signed up for Ironman Lake Placid, my biggest concern was trying to find some training rides and races with some hills/mountains as the only elevation change in my town are the overpasses and one dinky little hill that the cyclists call "Mount Skippy". I found a race called Mountian Madness in North Georgia that fit the bill. Since its not my most important race, I opted not to spend big bucks and to add camping to our "outing".
The plan was to go up Friday, do some downhill reconnaissance, practice swim Saturday, race Sunday. Friday the weather forecast was for 90 % rain, so we decided not to drive up (5 hours) until Saturday. Rain chances were 100% Saturday as we drove up, and no ride or swim was happening for me that day. In fact, at the race meeting, the RD said the number of competitors had dropped from 200 to 90. The forecast was 100% rain and 49 degrees. (VERY cold for me) Water temp 62.(Again, very cold for me).Quickly decided to forego tent camping and ended up sleeping in the back of my Honda Element. (Husband and I are both 5'6" or that wouldn't have worked.) Woke up Sunday, and the RD said so much rain had fallen and there was so much debris on the roads and some of the course was under water. The descent down the mountian was deemed unsafe and the bike course was shortened by 12 miles, thus eliminating the mountain I went to ride. To further the disappointment, I left my bike in transition the night before as we were asked to do. Although I thoroughly covered my PM, it was full of moisture and would only read 888 or 88 any screen I tried. Since I'm new to the power meter, it was a huge crush as I was counting on this race to hone in on my numbers. At swim time, the fog rolled in and the race was poseponed 30 minutes. This happened twice. The RD said for once he was hoping for rain to clear the way for the swim, but it did not happen. The event became a duathlon.
We began in a time trial start, and I seeded myself near the back. The total number of athletes had dwindled to 77. The ride did not disappoint as there were climbs everywhere. It stayed 49 degrees the entire day and the rain began just after the swim was cancelled and continued until after the awards ceremony. I used the "bottom of my foot" approach to try and take it easy up the hills. Since hills are a rarity for me, this was difficult, but I think I succeeded. Where I had the most fun was on the descent. I am lucky enough to never have crashed on the bike, so I have no fear, and had learned from the PM that I can push on the downhill. I sailed by fearful riders who probably were a lot smarter than me.
I worked on nutrition and thought I was doing great. The problem was my fingers were frozen and so were the sport beans so it was a chore. Made a mental note to only use gels on the bike. When I finally got some out I bit down on something hard, so I spit it out. As I threw it over my shoulder I thought that sure looked like a tooth...quick investigation with my tongue verified it was a tooth...my tooth. Another reason to abandon the beans.The course was an out and back and the last two assents were tough, so I need to rethink how to conserve energy better. Overall, I averaged 16.4 on the bike as calculated from my bike split dividing by the mileage as I had no functional computer.
For me that's good for a mountain ride. The run which was rerouted began with an incline that was unrunable, at least for me. Being niave, I read the race report and it said a run 'around the lake', so I assumed it would be flat. Yes, there was an elevation map, but I just did not pay it much attention. Another lesson learned. The run was a constant up and down, and I got to practice walking a lot. However, when I did run, I ran well, and my time overall was decent for me. I did the half in 2:16. This was only 13 minutes slower than my stand alone half mary in January on a flat course. Best of all the run was no too hard mentally. Overall, I ended up with 5:07 (bike was only 45 miles). Only 19 women ended up in the race and I came in tenth. Actually got third overall female masters...something I can thank the weather for! I gotta say I am in the right sport because I really had fun out there. This race has great directors, volunteers, and competitors. Hope y'all will give it a try.
Jodi
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