OD Races and the Wonder of the Open Country.

First OD race in a week in Ohio.  It's the first race of the Wheelie Fun Series put on by HFP.  As the name implies, the series is super fun and incredibly well-run.  I definitely get out for HFP races whenever they can fit into my schedule.  They're very professional and if you register early, it's only $55 for an Olympic race.  You can't beat that, especially when you consider that the Olympic race here in Pittsburgh is over $100 and I'm not sure why.

The series consists of six races in Ohio throughout the year.  Points are awarded after each race based on your placing within the age group.  Only your top five races will count towards the point total, allowing you to have a bad race if you show up to do all six.  At least four races must be completed and one of them must be the series championship in September which is worth double points.  The strange thing is, since points are awarded based on your finish within the age group, the series winner could potentially not be the one who finishes most consistently overall.  For instance the series winner could be a guy in the 60-64 age group who wins his age group in every race, even though a guy in the 25-29 age group finishes considerably higher in the overall in every race, but not first in his age group.

It appears as though I'll only be able to show up for four of the races because two of them are all the way on the other side of Ohio.  But who knows; if after the first two races, I find myself really high up in the points standings, maybe I'll make the sacrifice to get to one of the two that are far away to keep the possibility of winning alive.  As of now, the four that I'm scheduled to do are:  Deer Creek State Park, June 7th; Maumee Bay State Park, June 21st; Vermilion Harbour, August 16th; Portage Lakes State Park, September 13th.

Anyway, I'm pretty excited for the race.  I didn't do this one last year because I really wasn't aware of it or the series.  HFP races always have some really good people show up, so it seems as though if I have a good race, I can probably hope for a top five finish.

Last weekend was Memorial Day weekend so I got to go home for a few days.  Day one was spent almost completely on the road.  Driving from Pittsburgh to home, home to New York for a Yankees game (to celebrate Dad's fiftieth) and from New York back to home.  

Day two was one that I was really looking forward to because I was planning on riding a century before heading over to Dad's for more birthday bash fun.  The road at home are a dream.  Well-paved country routes with the bare minimum of traffic.  To top it off, pretty much everyone there is really nice too.  It is the middle of Pennsylvania so there is still a fair share of people in pick-up trucks that look at you like you have three heads if you wear spandex, but it sure beats the rude, city hicks of Pittsburgh who try to run you over with their pick-ups just because you're wearing spandex.  Is it just me or does anyone else find it ironic that football players also wear spandex, yet if one of these gun-toting rednecks saw Roethlisberger on the road they would stop, push out their wife from the passenger seat and offer him a ride?  Who knows.  Don't try to confuse my with all your fancy book-learnin',  son.

Wow, who got off track there for a second?

Well seeing as how I didn't get to Mom's house until after midnight and didn't get to bed until about one, my hopes of getting out the door for my ride at 8 were dashed.  I settled for getting up at 8 and getting out at 9:30.  I started out with an out-and-back that totaled about 43 miles so I could stop back at home and refill my water bottles.  I went out for another hour and a half and arrived at Dad's at the predetermined time of one o' clock with 71 miles under my belt.  Had a great lunch and some Q time with the family before heading out to finish up the century.  When I got to Dad's, I didn't know how much I felt like putting in another hour and a half in the saddle, but I was feeling recharged and ready to go after some great food.

I started back towards Mom's house and passed it at about 75 miles.  Perfect, I thought.  I'll head out for about 12 miles or so and come back and that should put me at 100.  Well, I only got a few miles and and the wind started to howl like crazy.  It was probably a steady 30 mph and gusting even harder.  The sky clouded over and got dark.  A storm was definitely coming.  I wasn't deterred though. I hadn't been riding all day to not finish what I started.  I held this mindset until I saw a couple bolts of lightning in the distance that signaled it was time to pack it in and live to fight another day.  About two miles from home, the skies opened up and I got drenched.  I finally arrived home after 87 miles and got a shower just in time for the skies to clear up again.  Oh well, it was a good day.

Monday I put in an easy thirty miles with Mom and my brother, Ryan before heading back to Pittsburgh.  Not happy to go back to work.  Not happy to be back where it's crowded.  Happy that I get to run and swim again.

Not sure if it was from putting in so much on the bike and so much in general last week, but I've been so tired after all of my runs this week.  I think today is just going to be a yoga day.  I haven't done that in a while anyway, so I should get back to it.

Well, stay tuned for a race report in about a week and a half or so.  June 13th, I'm going back to where it all started.  That's right, it's Yellow Creek time!  I was telling myself last year that I wouldn't do the race again after realizing how short the season really is.  I didn't want to use one of my weekends on such a small race that doesn't have all that much importance, but it turns out that there really aren't any other races for me to do that weekend.  But it's a fun race and I'm sure I'll always enjoy going back to the place where I started this crazy triathlon career.

Cheers!

Race Report of the Davis Family Y/Steel Valley Tri Club Sprint Triathlon. Boardman, Oh. 5/17

Unfortunately, race morning number two of the season was much like race morning number one of the season.  I managed to grab about four hours of broken sleep after a busy night of work before getting some breakfast and heading out the door.  Thankfully, just like week one, the drive was only a little over an hour long.

I threw my disc wheel (yay), which I had tried out at the track a few days earlier for the first time, along with all my other gear in the car and made the drive without incident.  Having a cool new piece of equipment such as a disc because it provides much motivation for the race.  

The thing is definitely darn fast.  Its maiden voyage at the track was a good time.  My legs felt like complete mud, but my speed was still at least what it would have been with fresh legs and standard wheels.  Above all, I noticed how much its momentum carries up slight grades.  I was a little worried to feel how much of a difference the weight penalty of a disc, but I don't think there really is any.  Towards the crest of the home stretch on the track, it helped keep my speed up quite significantly.  I knew that on fresh legs, decked out in an aero helmet with full-on race motivation, I would fly.

Anyway, I got to the race site, picked up my packet and set up transition.  All seemed to be in order, save for the fact that it was about forty degrees at seven in the morning!  There was beautiful weather all week long, but a Saturday storm blew threw and took all of the warmth with it.  There was only a high of mid-fifties for the day.

Thankfully time went by quickly and before I knew it, I was jumping into the heated outdoor pool awaiting the whistle.  My shivering was nearing an uncontrollable level, so the whistle couldn't come soon enough.

After about the first hundred of the 500 meter swim, my lane partner started to pull away.  I knew the race was young and the bike and run would be where I could make up the ground that I needed to, but I couldn't help but feel a twitch of concern.  But there was really no need.  He must have gone out harder than he could hold at the start, because I quickly caught him and started to put time between us.  I came out of the water in third.  I passed second place on the run to transition and passed number one during transition so I came out in the lead.  To make a long story short, that was the race.  But if you've ever read this blog, you know I usually tell the long story, so here it is.

I drove down on the pedals to get up to speed as quickly as possible, the disc wheel grinding beneath me.  I settled into my aero position and noticed that there was a pace vehicle in front of me.  This made me very happy because when there is a pace car, you don't really need to worry about getting lost; just chase the car all day.

For some reason, I barfed at about mile five on the bike.  I guess I was pushing too hard and my stomach didn't want to keep down the stuff I was drinking.  It was all fluid so not as disgusting as it could have been, but it was still weird though.  But I felt completely fine so didn't do anything differently.  

Hitting the turn around, it took a minute or two until I saw anyone coming the other way.  I didn't want to temp the bad luck gods, but at that point, it was pretty much in the bag unless someone was thinking about running a 12-minute 5k.  It was surely a cool feeling hearing the disc wheel; it just made me want to go faster and faster.  

The 14.5 mile bike leg came to an end as I rolled into transition and started the run.

Surprise, there was a lead bike on the run for me to follow too!  Life is good.  The bottom half of my legs and feet were so cold that I could barely feel them hitting the pavement at the beginning.  I buzzed through the 5k in a little over 18 minutes without incident and won by nearly five minutes.  

Just as a little extra bonus, I beat the time of last year's winner by a few seconds.  The winner last year was the same person who beat me in a duathlon last year by a few minutes.  Hopefully this means I'm definitely getting faster.

Lastly, my leg seems to be feeling considerably better.  There's still some pain and discomfort, but I ran again today and think it's only a matter of time until it's 100% again.  I'm very glad about this because I very much need to get in some quality run training to drop my 10k time in races.

Thanks for stopping by!

It's a Laundry Night in Pittsburgh!

Since moving into the new apartment, laundry has been piling up in epic proportions.  Hard training late last week means I have an opportunity to turn my stinky heap of spandex and underwear into a gleaming Mt. Olympus of cleanliness.  That means blogtime!

The most recent race update is that I have to unfortunately cancel the Pinchot Park Triathlon in Lewisberry, Pa.  I was greatly looking forward to it, as my brother and dad were going to come out in support.  However, one of the busiest weekends of the year at the restaurant (Carnegie Mellon's graduation) means nobody can have off.  Driving to Harrisburg is out of the question for Saturday afternoon.  Technically, I could drive there the morning of, but that would mean getting up at about two in the morning after going to bed at midnight.  Not happening.

So as a solution, I'm doing a race in Boardman, Ohio that's pretty close.  They're pretty close to the same in terms of distance (750m/18.5 mi/5k at Pinchot vs. 500y/14.5 mi/5k in Ohio) but the major difference is that the race in Ohio is, once again, a pool swim.  I suppose it's good for my chances, but I'm disappointed that my first open-water swim won't be until June.  Lame.  It looks as though I'll be in the mix for the win, but as I found out all season long last year, that doesn't always mean it will happen.  The person who won last year was the person who beat me in the Silver Springs Duathlon last May.  I have no idea if he's showing up this year, but if he is, that will be at least one more major player there.  However, there will be a huge reason to be excited this weekend...

It's here, it's here!

That's right, I'm talking about the disc wheel.  I got it in the middle of last week, threw a tire on it and quickly realized that I had not yet gotten a "crack pipe" with which to inflate said tire.  To explain, there is a very small opening in the disc where one can reach the valve to inflate the tube.  It's so small that a normal pump head cannot fit.  Therefore, a little right-angle adapter must be used to inflate it.  It's slang name is a "crack pipe" precisely because that's what it looks like.  Don't worry, mom, I don't know from experience ;-)

Fast forward to two days ago when it arrives in the mail, along with my new tri suit.  More on that later.  The good news concerning the crack pipe is that I figured out how to use it without having another person to help.  I have read that this is a common problem.  The bad news is that the end of the adapter that goes into the pump head basically ruined the head's seal so the the pump can't be used without the adapter at all.  It's not necessarily that terrible, as it still works, but I thought it was a bit weird.

Anyway, it's all pumped up and ready to go, though I haven't been able to get out to the track to take it for a spin yet; a must do before the race.

On to the tri suit.  I have needed a new one for a while.  Badly.  I have been using my beloved Orca elite tri suit for the past two years, but it's getting dangerously worn, almost to the point of offending those behind me on the course.  I would gladly buy another of the same suit if it wasn't out of production for two years an impossible to find.  I'm not sure how it's possible, but even with all the manufacturers of race apparel, not one of them makes a suit that attracts me like the Orca I had.  I wanted something black with some red highlights and maybe some white.  Only two that I found fit that criteria:  The De Soto Forza and the Speedo FastSkin II.  Huge problem with the Forza is that the legs are way too long.  My friend has one and they go pretty much down to his knee.  No good.  To find the problem with the Speedo, you need look no further than the price tag.  It's around the $230 ballpark.  Ouch.

So time passed and I delayed long enough that I had to use my trusty Orca in Slippery Rock.  But afterwards, it was time to finally make a decision so I could have some new threads for the next one.  I ended up with the 2XU endurance suit in black.  I have a wetsuit from 2XU and think they're a reputable company, so I didn't really have any inhibitions about the suit.  It has some white/grey highlights with the stitching that gives it some visual interest.  It fits well, albeit a bit more snug than the Orca.  For me, its drawbacks are:  A front zipper.  I'm still not sure whey anyone would do this.  Second drawback is the silicone leg gripper on each leg.  I much prefer the looser leg of the Orca that provides for some movement.  I'm not sure why people seem to shy away from this.  The third and final negative is the top-opening rear pocket.  I have seen some side-opening ones and that makes a little more sense to me.  The top-opening one is strange because it makes me think that it would create drag in the water if swimming without a wetsuit, as I will be on Sunday.  Granted it will be the only one that I'll do this year without a wetsuit in the event that the water is cool enough to always use one. 

The pocket could come in handy for storing a gel flask as opposed to keeping it on the frame of the bike, but I'm undecided on what approach I'll take.  Still, I would just prefer having no pocket at all.  As I said, I find it strange that given all of the manufacturers, a suit with this many flaws was my best option.  Oh well.

Lastly, I'll mention a new race that will be cropping up in Western Pennsylvania this fall.  It's not the closest to Pittsburgh, being in Meadeville, but it's still maybe only an hour and a half drive.  As I've mentioned before, Pittsburgh is a disappointment when trying to find races that are close by, but this one definitely helps.  There will be sprint and olympic triathlon options.  You can find more info here. 

Oh, I Forgot. It Rains in Pittsburgh.

There's really only one thing to do when there's a torrential downpour all day long.  

1.)  Watch CNN?  Nope, because if I hear one more thing about the biggest non-story of the year that's been on non stop for a week and a half, I'm going to commit myself to an insane asylum.  That's right, I'm talking about Swine Flu...I mean H1 N1...I mean...oh, who cares?

2.)  Watch Sports Center?  No, because 9 out of the top 10 plays of the week are people slam-dunking a basketball in the exact same manner.  The only reason it's not 10 out of 10 is because some no-name horse won the Derby.

3.)  Write in the blog?  Yes, you're so smart!

So the big news for the week is that the disc wheel is finally coming.  It either shipped today or last Friday so it'll be here soon.  Man, I can't wait.  It feels like I ordered it so long ago that I've almost forgot about it.

The Pittsburgh Marathon was yesterday.  It turned out to be a pretty rainy day, but it was perfect weather for running.  I felt a little bad that I wasn't in it.  I always feel like I'm wasting an opportunity when I don't do a race that's taking place where I live, but I know it would not have been a very good idea in consideration for triathlon season.  

Speaking of the race, my good friend Mappleton ran it in 3:48.  I was honestly surprised because I knew how his training was going, but having been a runner for a long time, I think he recognized that he would not be able to get the 3:30 that he wanted so just paced it out as evenly as he could.  

I was also a little surprised at the winning time of the race was 2:22.  I know I could never run that fast, but it just seems a little on the slow side for a decently-sized marathon.  I'm not sure what the prize purse was, so that might have had something to do with it.  Also, maybe so many of the big players that can run in the 2:1x range were at Boston like two weeks ago.

Lastly on the Pittsburgh running front, there is a new half marathon in Pittsburgh this October!  I'm definitely going for it and really excited about it.  The "Spirit of" series is already in a few different cities throughout the states and is gathering steam.  The races that are already in existence are incredibly well-run and a lot of fun.  I have often criticized Pittsburgh for being a big-profile city and not really having any racing scene to speak of.  Within a year, however, there is now a marathon/half marathon in May, a triathlon in July, a huge 10k in September, and now a new half in October.  It would be great to see a few more triathlons pop up in the still-under served area, but it's a great foundation on which to build a great racing environment.  Who else is tired of traveling across the border into Ohio to do anything?

So how's my running going you ask?  Not so bad.  I'm trying to pick it up lately, but I still can't seem to bring myself to run more than three times per week.  Having said that, my times are looking amazing for some reason.  My last four runs have had the following average paces:  6:39, 6:15, 6:30, 6:47.  Just for fun, I'll compare those to four similar consecutive runs last August/September:  6:57, 6:47, 6:51, 6:55.  Looks good to me.

My left hip is killing me, however.  I'm pretty sure it's because I very much need a new pair of trainers.  I have well over 500 miles on them and haven't gotten a new pair because I have been stubbornly searching the internet to find the same pair that has been out of production for at least a year and a half or two years.  I'll probably just have to suck it up and order something today because now pain is involved in the equation.  Injury would be bad.

The swimming has been looking up after being considerably dormant for a lot of the late winter/early spring.  I've been comfortably putting in a few hundred meters more every session and feel pretty strong going longer distances.  I can't wait for my first open-water swim of the season in a few weeks at Pinchot.

I hope everyone is having a better Monday than me; hopefully one without rain.  Thanks for visiting!

P.S. Go Pens!