Just a little while back, I had a thread going on the winter triathlon
events promoted by 5430 Sports in Boulder, CO. They are promoting two
events, a "warm-up" race that was this past weekend, and the National
Championship and ITU Pan American Championship coming up on Feb. 4.
Both races are located at Devil's Thumb in Fraser/Tabernash, Colorado.
I wrote to our local New Mexico triathlon website (Transition Times)
about the weekend's event(s). I figured it might be interesting
reading to some of you. Keep in mind that this is written with the
triathlete, not Nordic skiers, in mind. I'll send my girlfriend's
story along when she's done. She is originally from Russia and finds
us Americans to be crazy with our sports obsessions. She's quite funny
about it, though. Enjoy:
WINTER TRIATHLON -- TAKE 1
Your TT author is still sore
I'll hopefully have more to say later about this most interesting
event, but my brain is still pretty muddled from the trip, conducted
mostly in snowstorms. I'll also send along Dina's interesting recount
of her experience, as it's probably a little more typical than my
experience.
As I mentioned earlier, the trip up to Grand County, Colorado
(North-Central CO, more famous for being home to Winter Park ski area)
was pretty epic just by itself. We almost didn't go, as the weather
had called for snow all weekend. But, seeing that the storm was on the
slow boat to China, we opted to bail out of work early and hit the road
anyway. We did hit a heavy snow squall between Tres Piedras, NM and
Antonito, CO (around San Antonio Mountain), but then we had pretty good
roads until Poncha Pass. After that, the temperature plummeted to
arctic levels and we had snowy driving until I-70.
Leadville is always a good place to stop to eat, so we pulled into the
Tennessee Pass Cafe and filled up before hitting the road for the final
push. Out of Dillon, we started heading north again to Kremmling,
where we hit a knarly blizzard that lasted until we pulled into our
motel in Granby. Whooof, what a trip.
We signed on for a 15km classical xc ski race on Saturday, the Snow
Mountain Classic. It is very competitive, with all of the area's best
xc skiers showing up, many of whom are pros. It was supposed to be
frigid, but the cold air had not yet made it over the high mountains,
so we just had a nice 20-degree morning with about a foot of fresh
snow. Not too bad, except I had waxed my skis for sub-zero conditions.
Oh well, I was just doing this as a "warm-up" for the Winter
Triathlon, which was on Sunday.
Off the line, I realized I was not quite ready for this. XC skiing is
tough and a lot faster than people think...often as fast as a mtn. bike
race in terms of speed. The drive up the night before, the rushed
morning getting ready and trying to find somewhere to eat, and etc.
just all came rushing back to me as I did my best to "kick-double-pole"
at 99% of my anaerobic threshold with these Colorado Nordic aerobo
monsters. I felt my breakfast, which consisted of some sort of
egg/bacon/cheese mush stuffed into a croissant, protesting the effort.
I almost just gave in and stopped on the trailside to yack, but I
resisted the temptation due to not wanting to pollute such a beautiful
environment and embarrass myself at the same time.
I eventually got over the feeling and pulled myself together to have a
good race. I ended up 14th overall, which is OK, but I was happy, as
it was a very competitive race and I was in the mix the whole time. My
companion Dina also had a very good time in the 7.5 km race, as did my
friend Paul Graham who also did the 7.5 km race. They both had lots of
great war stories to share over dinner at our favorite German food
restaurant in Granby that night. I had to tell them how sore my
abdominal muscles were and that they had actually cramped up from the
intense "double-poling" that we had to do at the end of the course on
both of the two laps.
Now, to the winter triathlon. After the previous day's race, we went
to Devil's Thumb to check the course out a little bit while Dina
attended an xc ski clinic hosted by Estonian National Team member and
former CU skier, Jana Rehemaa -- WOW! While she did that, I walked
about looking at the run and bike course out in the cold and noted how
incredibly soft it was. I wondered just how we were going to ride a
bike in that. It was just about then that the race's eventual winner,
Brian Smith from Gunnison, rode up and stopped to discuss it with me.
We both decided it was going to be tough, but everyone had to do the
same course. Of course, he had a much nicer bike than me, so I
secretly lamented not investing in something a little nicer.
The tires are everything in these races. You go with as wide as is
physically possible, running as low of air pressure as is physically
possible. The first suggestions were to run about 25psi, but on race
day, it ended up being about 12 to 15 psi! We were not riding very
fast, that's for sure.
Similarly, the run was interesting. Imagine running on very soft, deep
beach sand. The first lap was not so bad, but after that, the course
was a mess. The "front-runners" have the advantage with a little bit
less disturbance and firmer snow, so the time gaps get exponential due
to the conditions and abilities. I just decided that my regular ol'
racing flats would do as well as anything, and I was almost right. I
think a shoe with a little more ankle support and deeper lugs
(traction) would have been better. A stiff sole would be good too.
Race morning dawned cold -- about -10 degrees F with a low grey sky and
not too much promise for a warm-up. Sure enough, the temps at the
start were hovering around 0 degrees F. It was not so bad once we got
going, actually, but thick socks and perhaps an extra layer of thermal
underwear were necessary for everyone.
The start of the race was a little faster than I had expected. I
quickly found myself back in 20th position or so and hurting a little
bit, but I moved up steadily to about 9th place by the end of the
trudge-like run. I was gassed early on, but every once in a while, I
found a good section and kicked it in.
The bike was more about being smooth and Zen-like on the relentlessly
soft surface, rather than just putting your head down and hammering.
In many places, going very gingerly, soft and easy was faster than
being aggressive and attacking.
I had a pretty good first lap, but then I started running into problems
on the second as there were more people on the course going every which
direction. It looked like a bunch of drunken idiots trying to ride
home after spending all night at the bar -- rather hilarious, actually!
There were times I would call out, "on your left," several times, but
the person ahead would be powerless to stay straight and would just
keep pushing me off the trail until we were both crashed in a snowy
ditch.
During the second lap, I had to dismount on hills I rode up with no
problem the first time, and I ended up on the unpacked sides of the
trail and consequently going "end-o" when my front wheel submarined
into the deep snow. I felt battle scarred by the end of it, but
realized I must have been in pretty good position, as no one was really
going by me. It was more about surviving than racing for a little
while there.
By the end of the bike, I had hit a groove and was going strong -- at
least I thought until T-2. When I got my ski boots on, I ran out of
the transition and put on my skis. I stood up and suddenly slipped and
had to catch myself. My legs felt like rubber and my heart-rate shot
up. I realized this wasn't going to feel just really good.
I got going and it felt weird -- that's the only way to describe it. I
hit my "V-2" skate quickly, but it was choppy and less fluid than what
I can normally do when I don't feel like a knotted rubber band. I
thought things were bad for me until I saw another guy in the top-10
ahead of me suddenly hit the only steep uphill in the course and cross
his feet beneath him and wipe out right in front of me. I just
couldn't see how he did that, and it looked painful too. I felt a
little less bad about how I was skiing and just concentrated on staying
smooth. Even that became difficult as I entered my second 4 km lap. I
managed to get through it smoothly, though, and finished up in 6th
place.
It turns out that one of the top leader guys, Mike Kloser, took a wrong
turn on the bike course and had to do part of an extra lap. Otherwise,
I would have been in 7th. Oh well, after that, I was happy with either
place.
Overall, it was a lot of fun. Now that I know how these go, I will
have more fun the next time. It's always hard to do something,
especially like this, for the first time. I have done the Mt. Taylor
Quad (Grants, NM) a couple of times, but this is quite a bit different.
I would have to say that it would be EXCELLENT training experience for
the Quad though. As a matter of fact, a multiple winner of the Quad,
Josiah Middaugh, who is also an Exterra world champion, was 3rd
overall. I noticed other Quad racers in this race as well (not just
elites). Randy and Ann Mattila from Grants, NM were there preparing
too. Randy won his age group and had an excellent race. My
girlfriend, Dina (Pesenson), who admittedly is not the greatest mtn.
biker, made it through to take second in her age group too.
5430 Sports (of Boulder Peak and 5430 Long course fame) put on an
excellent event. The organization was superb and the prizes were
great. Both Dina and I won a new pair of Pearl Izumi running shoes of
our choice. Not too shabby!
Dina has a much more colorful account of her experience, as I said
before. I'll send that along when she is done with it.
NM native and pro triathlete, Jimmy Archer was there to cover the event
for Inside Triathlon. You can read his article and see pictures -- I'm
the one on the farthest left (white/pink jersey) on the top run photo
with the transition area in the foreground. Look for it here:
http://www.insidetriathlon.com/portal/news/news.asp?item=106601
There are also results posted for both the xc ski race and the winter
tri on the RacingUnderground (www.racingunderground.com) website.
If you don't have an aversion to winter time sports and can xc ski a
little, I highly recommend this event. The next one is the USAT
National Championship and ITU PanAm Championship on February 4.
There's more info at 5430 Sports (http://www.5430sports.com/index2.htm).