Timberman Race Report - Kevin Mepham
Timberman 70.3 was the final race of my second tri season. After Quassy Half in early June, I switched to short course training, and raced local sprints and Olympics. I did one race rehearsal for Timberman on the prior Saturday, which went near-perfect.
Arrived at Lake Winnipesaukee with the family on Friday evening for the start of an 8-day NH vacation. We stayed at the Bay Top Motel at Weirs Beach, which worked well because it’s within walking distance of restaurants and attractions, an important point for my family since I would be monopolizing the car for most of the weekend.
Before driving to Gunstock to check in on Saturday, I pumped up my tires, and the rear tube spontaneously blew. Replaced the tube and tried again, and this time I was halfway to Gunstock when the tube spontaneously blew, with the bike just lying in the back of the car. At this point I’m starting to freak out. I’ve been having this problem with tubes on the rear wheel all summer, always in the same spot – the inside of the tube near the valve stem. Old tubes, new tubes, butyl, latex, three different brands, it keeps happening. I had the LBS replace the rim tape, they did a beautiful job so I know the wheel isn’t the problem, it must be something I’m doing wrong, but what? What if it happens during the race?
First event at Gunstock was for the top Make-A-Wish fundraisers: a meet-and-greet with Chrissie Wellington! She was my inspiration to compete in triathlons and aspire to Ironman distance, so this was a big deal for me. And what a wonderful human being she is. She really only comes back to Timberman each year because of her support for Make-A-Wish. The cause clearly means a lot to her and she was genuinely moved and really grateful for the money we had raised. I was the top fundraiser, so she gave me an autographed poster, a certificate for a Mavic Cosmic Carbone wheelset, and a hug. Whatever happened the rest of the weekend, that hug made the whole thing worthwhile. (BTW, the new wheelset means I will be putting a complete EN power-training/racing setup up for sale: PowerTap-PRO+ equipped Mavic Open Pro rear wheel, PowerTap little yellow computer, PT software and manual, and EN-stickered Wheelbuilder disc covers. PM me if interested.)
After pre-race briefing and checking in my bike at Ellacoya (and getting sand all over my chain when installing tube #3 in the parking lot), went to dinner with Kim DuBord and Scott Feder. I wish more of the ENer’s could have joined us; I saw many of them on the run course during the race, and introduced myself when possible, but that’s not exactly the best time to chat. I didn’t feel the need to drive the bike or run courses, since based on the elevation profiles they couldn’t possibly be as bad as Quassy.
In bed by 9pm. Decided I’d sleep in an extra hour by taking the shuttle from Gunstock rather than trying to get to Ellacoya at 4am; this worked out fine.
2am, drank 2 x Trader Joe’s knockoff of Odwalla Super Protein Original, about 600 calories. 5am, 1-1/2 Clif Bars and a medium coffee while driving to Gunstock.
It was still dark when I arrived at transition. The smart people were wearing headlamps. Set up, met an ENer named Billy, chatted with Larry Pfeffer and Kim, met Hasan. Went to the Make-A-Wish area for the red carpet treatment including the dedicated decorated Wish Racer porta-potties. Then off to the swim start. Had a gel and drank some water. Met ENer Steve Ford who was in my wave.
SWIM
7:25am: 164 M45-49 age-groupers in Wave 7, the largest wave. All the way up to the first turn buoy it was a total scrum. Then it spread out a bit, but still enough people that, combined with a little sighting, I never went far off-course. I just swam my swim, with my Tempo Timer set to a 1.13 stroke rate to keep me steady. Water temp was perfect, and no chop except for a bit on the last leg. I’d taken a Bonine as a precaution but probably didn’t need it.
Wetsuit strippers are awesome. How can I get that at every tri?
Swim Time: 38:35. 68/164 AG – solid middle-of-pack, improved from 39/76 at Timberman. Did a better job of sighting this time, held form better, kept head down so my neck wasn’t tired at the end of the swim. I still want to shave off 4 minutes by next season; that would have gotten me 22/164. Looks like another OS with swimming.
BIKE
I'm riding a Cervelo P2, PowerTap/Joule, Hed3 front/disc cover rear, race tires, latex tubes. 3-hour 600cal Speedfil of 150%-strength Infinit, and between-the-bars water bottle that I'll swap out at aid stations.
I’d barely mounted the bike when someone called out that I’d dropped my sunglasses (the pockets in my brand-new Wish Racer tri-top were too shallow). I looked back – and promptly grazed the guardrail and fell over. Ego bruised more than bones. Got the glasses, remounted, and off I go, probably lost a minute or two.
Mile 5, my rear tube spontaneously blew (you knew that was going to happen). Fortunately, the bike tech just happened to be driving by, so he replaced the tube using his spare, but I still lost 7:21.
Bike course was just too frickin’ crowded. I constantly found myself behind clumps of people who were going slightly slower than I wanted to go, so to avoid drafting I had to surge to pass them. Between that and the rolling hills, it was difficult to get into a groove, which disrupted my nutrition schedule (every 5 minutes), so that by the end of the ride I’d only consumed 2/3 of my Infinit. Compared to race rehearsals, I felt like I was working harder, definitely felt it in my legs, and was quite sore and stiff the next day which never happens after RR.
On one sharp right turn at the end of a downhill, I couldn’t negotiate the turn tightly enough, rode wide through the cones but stayed upright. Nevertheless, message received: my bike-handling skills suck and will be getting a lot of focus this fall.
Stopped to pee once at the 1:30 mark – learned from Quassy not to wait until desperation set in.
Bike Time: 2:58:52, 100/164 AG – woulda been 2:51:37 70/164 without the flat. TSS 153.4, IF 0.745, NP 173, VI 1.08, HR 149. IF split: 0.75/0.78/0.78/0.76/0.76/0.74/0.70/0.66 for 30/20/20/20/20/20/20/15min. I didn’t fade like that in my race rehearsal. And to have the bike be my worst leg, even without the flat? I’m having trouble wrapping my head around that.
Lessons learned: solve the tube-flatting problem, really work on bike handling, OS focus on raising bike FTP, and choose a less-crowded race next time. Re the tube-flatting, my best guess is that it’s due to the 90-degree pump adapter I use with the disc cover. The adapter doesn’t lock onto the valve, so I have to hold it on by pushing it up onto the valve stem with a lot of pressure – maybe that’s causing the tube near the valve to distort and weaken? I’m going to try to do without the adapter and see whether that solves the problem.
RUN
I did not feel like running fast. No chance of a podium in this field, and I did not want to disappoint my Wish Racer sponsors by DNF’ing. I walked the aid stations, alternating between water and Gatorade, grabbing sponges. Otherwise, I always ran, but I didn’t push to hit my 8.5MPH Z2 target pace. I chatted with EN racers Beth, Michele, Heather and Nemo as I met them on the course, and cheered on Hasan and Steve when I saw them.
The two-lap course was cruel – who wants to reach the finish line and have to turn around and do it all again? But it was mostly shaded, and the hills weren’t as bad as Quassy, so I shouldn’t complain too much. Well, just one complaint: by my Garmin the course was long – over 13.4 miles.
Peed once, at the very first porta-potty I found on the run course.
Run Time: 1:56:03, 46/164. Despite not trying too hard, that’s a slightly better rank than I got at Quassy. NGP split by mile (Z2 target 7:02): 7:31/7:41/8:01/7:20/7:48/8:12/8:16/8:39/9:29/9:22/9:31/8:59/8:37/8:16. You can just see my motivation fade as the run progresses.
OVERALL
Total Time: 5:38:17, 56/164 – woulda been 5:30:56, 46/164 without the flat. (Strangely, my finish place nearly always matches my run place, even though the other legs were slower – does anyone else see that as well?)
After racing my first two HIM’s this season, as well as three local sprint/oly races, I have to say I enjoy the local short course races wayyy more than I enjoy the big impersonal long-course races. Short-course feels like a race – I’m looking at ages on calves, chasing people down, if I don’t podium this year I know if I put in the work I have a shot at podiuming next year. I’m racing with my local tri team members, who I’ve gotten to know after training and racing with them for two years now. In contrast, these long-course tris don’t feel like races at all, they feel like individual endurance tests, totally solitary even though they’re unpleasantly crowded.
I’d already planned to focus exclusively on short-course in 2012 since I want to qualify for and race USAT Nationals while they’re still relatively local in Vermont. I’m still planning to do IMLP in 2013. But after that, unless I miraculously achieve pointy-end capability or something else happens to change my perspective, I’ll probably stick mostly to short course. And stick with EN – there’s too much wisdom here to give that up!
0
Comments