October 31, 2009 by steve.

Well, the week before Halloween and its time for the last triathalon of the Team CurbCrusher season. As with last year, I’m ending the season a short trip down the road from the house at Moss Park for the Masters Triathlon Championship race. Of course there is good and bad to this, the good is that it is close to the house, the bad is that this race is put on by Buttar.com which is probably my least favorite race promoter.

Pre-Race

I was busy on Friday and Saturday, so I wasn’t able to get my packet early. I showed up at Moss Park around 6am for a 7:30am race since I needed to get my packet. I checked in fairly quickly and put my number on the bike and headed to transition. After body marking, I wandered into the transition area to find an ‘open-seating’ policy in place, put your bike and stuff where ever you want. So I found a nice spot up against the fence and set up. I then wandered back to the car and noticed that the race t-shirt said it was Nov 1, a week later than the current date. I thought that was odd.

The race was advertised as starting at 7:30am, with pre-race meeting on the beach at 7:15, so I made my way to the beach about 10 after 7. Someone got on a bull horn and announced that the time on the web site was wrong, that the race would be at 8:00am. Then about a minute later, they announced that the race meeting would be at 7:30 and the sprint tri would start at 7:45 and the Olympic tri at 8:00 because the original date was Nov 1 and that was after daylight savings time ended. About 7:30am the bullhorn came alive again and race instructions were given, and it was announced that the sprint tri would start in about two minutes and the Olympic tri would start three minutes after that.

Swim - 15:25
So we finally start the race about 7:35am, just five minutes after the advertised time. The air temperature was in the low 70s and the water was probably in the mid 70s. There was only one wave of sprint tri athletes, but it wasn’t too crowded in the water. I settled into a good rhythm swimming and made my way toward the first buoy. We were swimming east into the lake, and the first buoy seemed to be right where the sun was rising over the lake. So, I just followed some other folks and made my way there. After turning at the first buoy, I looked at my watch to see how I was doing. My watch face read something like “-=L_” hm, not good. After a few more strokes, I looked at the watch again, and could see a line of water behind the face of the watch. Looks like the battery replacement might have caused the waterproofness of the watch to be compromised. I kept swimming and finished feeling pretty good.

T1 - 5:44
Moss Park races have a pretty good run from the swim finish to the transition area, and this eats up most of my time in T1. The first part of the run is not bad, along the beach in the sand. Then you turn through some pine woods with lots of roots, pine cones and pine needles on the ground which all seem to hurt when you step on them. Next is the pot-holed pavement of the park road that seems to just eat at the bottoms of your feet. Finally, as you get to the transition area, the ground becomes sandy and grassy and comfortable to run on again. A pretty straight forward T1, bike jersey on, helmet on, socks and shoes on and off you go. Although I did take time to remove my worthless watch as I figured if I kept it on I’d just keep looking at my wrist.

Bike - 40:58
Almost 12 miles on the bike. The course is flat and runs through the neighborhoods around Moss Park, so it is pretty easy. I used a five minutes of riding hard with a one minute break cycle, sort of imitating the Galloway running method on the bike. Also, continuing the practice of consuming something other than sports drink on the bike that I started at the last race, I had a goo at about the 25 and 36 minute marks. One of the things that I don’t like about Buttar races is there never seem to be any officials on the bike course. There were at least two different groups running a pace line of at least four bikes on this course, along with a large number of others drafting in twos and threes.

T2 - 1:22
Not much to T2. Rack the bike, put on a dry shirt and head out to run.

Run - 31:19
I really wanted to break 30 minutes on this run, and I think I could have done it if I’d had an idea of what kind of pace I was running. But, I found that without a watch, I am terribly incapable of judging my pace. There are two water stations on the race, and I ran between the water stations. I stopped at the water station and walked for a counted out minute (1 - Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, …) after each one. This seemed to work well, and I was feeling very good during the run. I thought that I was doing fairly well and running at about a 10 minute or less pace. Obviously, looking at the time, I was really wrong about this, I was on more of and 11 minute mile pace.

Overall - 1:34:51
Well, I felt good at the end of the race. But I was slower than last year. That was a real disappointment as I was convinced that I could do under an hour and a half for this race. Of course five minutes is a bunch of time, but I’m going to blame it on the broken watch. That wraps up the Team CurbCrusher triathlon season, now for the one endurance running race of the year, the OUC Half-Marathon the first week of December.

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September 20, 2009 by steve.

It’s been five months, but it is still triathlon season in Florida, and I finally got off my rear and ran another race. For the second year in a row, I ran the Downtown Orlando Triathlon that starts at Lake Underhill and finishes at the Wall Street Plaza in downtown Orlando.

Pre-Race

Like last year, I went and picked up my packet on Friday afternoon. But this year I decided that I didn’t want to fuss with the parking at Lake Underhill, so I put all my stuff in a backpack and rode my bike the three miles from the house to Lake Underhill. This marked a first, the first time I haven’t driven to a race site. I figured I might regret it after the race, but that’s why I had the cell phone so that I could call Lady CurbCrusher to come get me if I was too tired to ride back home.

The transition area was well organized, with each bike spot marked with the race number, and officials wandering around and making sure that people racked their bikes in the proper spot, and didn’t try and homestead and take up three or four spots with their stuff. Since I rode the bike up, I got there about an hour before the race, so I didn’t have to hang around long.

Swim - 10:30

My age group started in the third wave at 7:40am, 10 minutes after the first wave went off. It is a quarter-mile swim, and unlike last year, most all the weeds were gone. Last year this lake was so full of weeds, that on just about every stroke your arm came out of the water with weeds wrapped around it. This year I only had that happen twice, once in the middle of the race, and once after turning at the last buoy and heading for the swim finish. Swimming out to the first buoy seemed a little crowded, even though I hung back at the back of the starting group. Once we rounded the first buoy, it seemed like it thinned out a bit.

T1 - 4:44

The transition is very close to the swim finish, so it is fairly quick to get to your bike after you swim. Of course I have an innate ability to take something that should be fast and make it slow. I got to the bike fairly quickly, but seemed to take forever to get my bike jersey on. Once I got that done, I was able get out of transition.

Bike - 39:00

The bike ride as changed a bit from last year. Instead of heading all the way east on Robinson to OEA, we turned at Bumby and went down to Central, then turned east to OEA. This introduced about four extra turns into the course, and a bunch of rough road. I know that last year I felt that Robinson and South streets were rough, but they must have been repaved during the year as both of these streets seemed smoother that last year. I did two things different this race, that may have contributed to my better time, or maybe I just got faster.

I had noticed in the last couple of races that I’ve run out of energy on the run after about a mile and a half. So I decided that I’d try eating a bit on the bike. So I ate a gel, and also had a couple of these gel-drops that they gave away in the bags for the race. To take the time to eat, I also applied a bit of a Galloway Method to the bike as well as the run. So every six minutes, I took a minute to get out of the drops and take a break for a minute while riding. This gave me time to drink and take the gels.

T2 - 1:34

Fairly quick and uneventful transition. Switched from a bike jersey to a dry t-shirt, grabbed my belt with my number and started running.

Run - 43:58

I ran with a Galloway approach, running for five minutes, walking for one. I tried not to pay attention to the amount of time that it was taking, as last year I’d pretty much run out of gas on this run and ended felling miserable. One thing that made it better in 2009 was an overcast day, so the sun wasn’t beating down on you as you ran. Since I had plan to walk, I always found myself running again after each break. Since I was using a six minute walk run cycle (1 minute walk, 5 minute run), and I had run this course in just under 56 minutes last year, I’d figured nine walk run cycles. I was just focusing on how far I’d gone using my nine cycles, and not where I was on the course. So, I’d finished seven cycles, and looked up and was like “Wow, I’m almost done.”

Finish - 1:39:47

Well, I was happy. I ran the same race and shaved about 14 minutes off of last years time. And, I didn’t feel like crap. I still think that the Wall Street Plaza is a bad place to end a race, it is crowded, and the lines of people looking for free beer, water and food all cross and it’s hard to figure out which one is which. But they did seem to move some of the goodies to the street that runs up behind the plaza in front of the History Center, so there was a bit more room this year.

Mears ran the shuttle this year that transported you back to Lake Underhill and the start. I had to wait about 10 minutes for a bus, and it was pleasant riding in the air conditioning back to the start. I felt good enough that I didn’t bother calling Lady CurbCrusher, and just rode the bike back to the house.

All in all a great race for Team CurbCrusher. Taking almost a quarter hour off of last years time was fantastic. Now maybe one more race at Moss Park in October, and then I’ll wrap up the year at the OUC Half-Marathon.

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April 17, 2009 by steve.

Well spring is here and it is triathlon season again. Actually there have already been a few races in Central Florida, but for Team CurbCrusher the season starts with the Escape From Ft. Desoto, or at least it did last year and this year. Since this race was on Easter weekend and we had family obligations on Sunday, we didn’t try and camp at Ft. Desoto. Lady and Little CurbCrusher had Easter oriented activities that they wanted to tend to on Saturday, so there was no interest on their part in making the trip to St. Pete. Since I didn’t want to get up at 4:00AM to drive over, I traded in some Marriott points and spent Friday night in St. Pete.

Pre-Race
Well, with the night before being spent in St. Pete, it was possible to sleep an extra half-hour or so. Because of the race being on Easter weekend the park had asked them to move the start time back , so it was changed to 7:00AM. I’m sure at the time this seemed like a good idea, but the weather had a different plan. When I arrived at the North Beach parking lot, it was so foggy (well it was dark too) that could only see a glow where transition was. As with last year the check in procedure was well organized, and I was able to zip through getting my packet, shirt and cap. A walk back to the car to retrieve the bike, and then a trip to the body marking and chip pick-up made me ready to set up transition. I’m not sure if some people didn’t show up, or if the reduced the number of bikes on a rack this year, but it felt like there was a good bit more room on the bike rack. I was able to get everything set up in plenty of time and wander down the swim start.
Of course it turned out that there was plenty more time. A thick fog was over the beach, and even though the buoys were set in the water, they would fade in and out of view as the fog moved around. As 7:00AM approached, the organizers postponed the race until 7:30AM.

Swim - 12:30
Ok. That’s a heck of a lot better than last year. BUT, it seems they may have had problems setting the buoys in the fog, so the it is likely that the distance was more like 600 - 700 yards instead of the intended 880. The water temperature was advertised as 74, and it was a bit cold when you first jumped in. However, it didn’t take much past the first buoy to get warm. The waves were sent out six minutes apart, and while this meant I started 30 minutes after the first wave, I think was good in that is spread the 1000 athletes out over the course better. Unlike last year’s race where the swim felt crowded the entire way, it really seemed to empty out after the first buoy (once everyone gets around me), and there was plenty of room to swim.

T1 - 6:59

Straight forward transition. The reason it takes so long is that you have to run from the beach to the transition area. I don’t know what the distance really is, but race organizers include this distance in calculating the 4 miles of running advertised for this race. T1 is non-eventful. Bike jersey, helmet and sunglasses on, then sit on the bucket and get shoes and socks on. Grab the bike and run out of transition. Mount up and on my way.

Bike - 31:23

I messed with my bike over the winter, raising the saddle and the handle bars, and it feels a lot better riding. Not a lot of wind this year, although I hears some people complaining about a headwind after the turn around on the bike. I was very happy with the ride, over a minute faster than last years ride, and I felt good at the end of it. Maybe it was because I was in the next to last leg starting, but the bike course seemed less crowded where I was riding, but I could see large clumps of people coming the other way. As a matter of fact, looking at the penalties, it seems there are a lot of drafting violations, probably a result of the number of people on the course.

T2 - 2:30

T2 is fairly non-eventful. Rack the bike, change shirts, grab by race number belt and make a pit stop. It took a minute longer than last year, but that’s a combination of the pit stop and changing shirts. In the past I’ve always biked and run in the same shirt, but when Lady CurbCrusher gave me a bike jersey last year, I started using it on the bike. It is sort of nice to start the run with a dry shirt.

Run - 42:06

I’ve talked before about how much I just LOVE running. I had really hoped with running the half-marathon this winter and my increase in mileage that my run time would improve. It’s two minutes slower. That was a disappointment. The run starts down the bike path from North Beach to the fort, and along the way you pass the one mike mark. I look at my watch and see that I did that mike about 9:30. Ya-hoo! There’s some hope here, I might just knock off some time from last year’s run and race total. Even as we run past the fort and walk up the stairs, I’m feeling pretty good. After some water and Gatorade though, and going down the stairs, my body starts wanting to slow down. I can feel the energy just emptying out of me, and I just get slower and slower. Once I started back on the beach, with no shade, it became a chore to run. I alternated running and walking on a five min run to one min walk ratio, but even that seemed difficult, but I did finally cross the finish line.

Post Race — 1:35:29

So even though I thought the run was going to kill me, it turned out OK, I was two minutes faster than last year. That’s a good thing. I ended up 57 out of 67 for the age group, and 805 out of 1000 overall. A result I’m happy with. This race is well organized and the post race food is great. I filled up on pasta and chicken before heading back to Orlando. I think of all the events that I’ve done since getting back into triathlon, the Ft. Desoto is the best run and most fun.

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December 10, 2008 by steve.

One last endurance event of year. I’ve been talking about running the OUC Half-Marathon for years. About four years ago, Lady CurbCrusher told me to either quit talking or run the darned race. So I quit talking about it until this year. Earlier this year I was talking on the phone with a friend that had started running again about a year ago. He was talking about running the Disney Half-Marathon in January. I suggested that we both run the OUC Half and we signed up.

This was my first long distance running event. I really hate running. But I put a lot of effort into trying to get into shape for this, and was able to survive. The first weekend in November I went and and ran the course by myself and finished in a time of 2 hours and 46 minutes. I used a run-walk-run method that I’d ready about years ago, run a mile walk a minute. That gave me a baseline, and by Thanksgiving I’d decided that I was shooting for a 2:30 time on race day. After the Turkey Trot, I re-thought my race and decided that if I finished under 2:40 I’d be happy.

In the meantime, I talked to some people and they described a different run-walk-run method that had you run x minutes and then walk y based on the mile pace you want to maintain. I read some of this, and at the Highlands Hammock Turkey Trot, I used this method for the race. I was now torn between using something that I knew worked for the long distance on race day (run a mile walk a minute) and trying this new method.

I finally compromised. I used the run a mile walk a minute method for the first 10 miles. That leaves 3.1 miles or a 5K. I switched to the run-walk-run running for four minutes, and walking for a minute. The 4-1 ration is supposed to be used for a 8:30 mile, but for a 5k on fresh legs it produces more a 9:15 for me. After 10 miles it produced more of an 11:30 pace, but that was good enough for a finish of 2:29:10, 50 seconds under two and half hours. Yay!! I was ecstatic, I broke two and half hours and still felt great afterwards.

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October 27, 2008 by steve.

October and time for the last triathlon of the season for Team CurbCrusher. On October 26th, I headed out to Moss Park to run in the Masters Triathlon Championship sprint triathlon. I did this race last year, so it was going to be a good chance to compare times over the past year, and its a familiar place that’s close to home so it’s a great race to end the year with.

Pre-Race

I got to Moss Park about an hour or so before the race. Since the race was in town, I was able to pick up my packed the day before, so I had my race numbers and shirt and various goodies. I walked my bike into transition and got body marked and a transponder. This was a fairly small race, I think there were less than 150 people altogether, so it was “open rack” meaning that you could choose where you wanted to put your bike. I choose a spot about two racks in from the swim entrance and up against the outside. I laid out everything, shirt, shoes, race number and set up my bucket to sit on. I think I ended up having the whole rack to myself.

Swim - 14:28

The temperature was in the upper sixties, with a slight breeze. This made it fairly cold to stand around the beach waiting for the swim start. I was in the second wave, so that meant I got to stand around for an extra five minutes. The water temperature was about 78, so when it came time to get in the water, it was warmer. I was actually toward the front of my wave as it started, as I’d gotten in the water deep enough to cover my shoulders. The swim was great. As with most swims in Lake Mary Jane though, you have no idea where people are as you can’t see your hand in front of your face in this water. I’m sure a bunch of people passed me in the water, but I got out of the water feeling good.

T1 - 5:47

T1 in a race at Moss Park has a bit of a run to it. You have to go from the lake, across the swimming beach and then into the park. Once you leave the beach, you are running either on pavement, or ground covered with pine needles, pine cones and a number of hidden roots and cypress knees. Needless to say, this can be a painful run. At the transition area, it time to sit down and get shoes and socks on, along with a bike jersey and a helmet. Grab the bike and head out on the road.

Bike - 41:02

The bike course had changed since last year, but is still basically the same. Leave Moss Park, make a right on Lake Mary Jane Road and head around the lake until it’s time to turn around. Back a couple of months ago, I did the aqua bike race and was able to average 18 mph on this course, so I was hoping for a repeat. There was a bit of an easterly breeze this morning so part of the outgoing leg was into the wind and I could tell that I wasn’t getting the 18mph that I wanted. I was hoping to make it up on the inbound leg, but from the time you can tell I didn’t quite manage that.

T2 - 1:21

T2 is simple, dump the bike, switch from the bike jersey to the t-shirt and grap my cap. It still seems to take me a couple of minutes, but hey, the race is almost over.

Run - 31:34

I was disappointed in the run. I wanted to do it in under 30 minutes, and you can see I failed. I did make a pit stop back in the campground, which took about two minutes. So if I could ever get through a triathlon run without needing to urinate, I’d probably break three minutes. I felt good for most of the run, and only walked when making the pit stop. This is perhaps the only thing about exercise that I don’t understand. I generally drink a full bottle of Gatorade on the bike and at every water stop on the run. I sweat at a rate that could keep the Nile flowing for a month. Then I need to make a pit stop. If I don’t, it gets real uncomfortable to run. I’ve tried skipping the water on the run, with the result of being both thirsty and needing to take a pit stop.

Overall - 1:34:13

Well, I was more than four minutes faster than last year. That’s a good thing. I was really hoping that I’d run enough to get my run time under half and hour. So in some ways this was a disappointing way to end the triathlon season. It will be April or May of next year before I run another triathlon, but I plan on running a bit this winter. My first order of business is to complete the OUC Half-Marathon the first weekend in December.

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September 18, 2008 by steve.

Team CurbCrusher is out racing again. Although what happened at the end can not be called racing, more like surviving. This month’s triathlon installment is the OUC Downtown Orlando Triathlon. This race starts with a quarter mile swim in Lake Underhill, located just south of Orlando Executive Airport, followed by two laps on the bike that takes you to downtown Orlando and back for a total of 12 miles. Then its a one way run of 3.9 miles from Lake Underhill to Wall Street Plaza in downtown Orlando.

Pre-Race

I wandered downtown on Friday and picked up my packed at the Y. That made Saturday morning a bit nicer, but I still got up early and headed the three miles up the road to Lake Underhill. The pre-race email said they would close the road around Lake Underhill at 6:30am, and I wanted to park off Lake Underhill so I was there in plenty of time.

The transition area was set up very nicely. Not only did they have the range of numbers on the racks to let you know which rack to use, they actually had a number at the location where your bike was to be racked. Evens on one side and odds on the other. In addition, they had officials working the transition area making sure that all bikes were racked and equipment set up within the rules. Alta Vista was running they race, and they run a good tight transition area, only athletes in transition at all times, and they make sure they check body markings and numbers on the bikes when you exit.

I set up my stuff and did my usual walk through. I walk down to the swim finish and then back to my racked bike. Then leave through the bike start. Re-enter at the bike finish and walk back to my racked bike. Then walk to the run start. Sort of a rehearsal of the transitions so that I know where my spot is in relation to the entrances and exits.

Swim - 10:49

I’m in the third wave this race. The first wave is all the folks over 50. Second wave is the 20 year olds, and they put all the 40’s in the third wave. You start this race in the water, treading water actually. When the wave is called, we all walk down the boat ramp and dog paddle, tread our way over to the start line (an imaginary line between a no wake bouy and the dock). The horn sounds and I start swimming. The water is clearer than what you experience at Lake Mary Jane in the Moss Park races, but there are a heck of a lot of weeds in the water. As you look down, you see weeds. They grow high enough in a number of places that as your arm strokes through the water they get tangled on your arm. On the inbound leg of the swim, I have to slow down three times to reset my watch band, because the weeds have pulled the velcro off and it is working its way off my arm. Needless to say this makes for a very errie, weird feeling swim.

T1 - 4:11

One nice thing about this race is that the transition area is real close to the swim finish. Up and out of the water, and your at the entrance to transition. I put on the bike jersey, helmet and shade. Find my shoes and get them on grab the bike and head to bike start.

Bike - 41:22

On the bike you start with a smooth ride along Lake Underhill, then turn west on South Street. This is where the smooth ride ends. South Street has a number of pot holes, water and sewer covers, not to mention bumpy intersections, that the seat on the bike is just beating up your rear end. The nice thing is that the wind is out of the east, so I was able to get some pretty good speed, I was just waiting for a tire to go flat going over all those bumps. At Rosalind Street we turn north, and head up past Lake Eola, then take a left and head east on Robinson Street. Robinson starts out as bad as South, but smooths out just past Howard Middle School. The wind doesn’t seem like it is too bad headed east on Robinson, as a matter of fact it felt like it helped more headed west than hurt headed east. At Crystal Lake, by Herndon, you turn south. The first time you take a right at South and head back for another lap. The second time by you take a left and head back the transition. I was pretty happy with the bike time, I averaged a bit over 17MPH, and that’s a good bit better than I was doing last October.

T2 - 1:48

Easy transition. Rack the bike, change from the bike jersey to a dry shirt, grab my hat and go.

Run - 55:53

Ok, this sucked. It started out good. The run course went up Crystal Lake to Robinson and then to downtown. So it basically as the north part of the bike lap in reverse. So on the second bike lap I’d checked the distances to the water stations and back to the transition. I ran about 10-11 minute miles to the first water station, reaching it at about 14 minutes. Not bad. I’m thinking this is going to work out ok. Then I turned west on Robinson. The sun was out and shining bright, but I was running away from it. However, with a dark pair of shorts on, I could feel the heat coming off the road and cooking my rear end and thighs. I wish I could find some light colored tri-shorts to wear. I just kept getting slower and slower, and really not liking the run at all. I was at about 38 minutes at the second water station, which was a little over a mile from the finish. That last bit to the finish was bad, I walked a few times, and just sort of looked to survive the end.

Finish - 1:54:05

The race took you down Orange Avenue, then right into Wall Street Plaza to finish. Yay!! I’m done. I was really hoping for about a 1:45, but it was over. Wall Street Plaza is a crappy place to finish a race. There were so many people in that little alley that is was almost impossible to breathe. You had to walk all the way through the throngs of people to the end of that little alley, then they had blocked off direct access to the park in front of the history center. To get somewhere to breathe and feel a bit of a breeze on you, you had to walk south to Central (I think its Central). Because of the crowd in Wall Street Plaza it was almost impossible to find any post race food, I was lucky to locate the water and sucked down a couple of bottles.

To get back to the transition area, Lynx was running a special shuttle bus. I wandered over and was packed into a standing room only city bus with a bunch of other sweaty triathletes for the four mile ride back to Lake Underhill.

All in all a good day. It’s almost the end of the CurbCrusher triathlon season. There may be one more race at Moss Park in October. At some point I have to start concentrating on running, as I agreed to do the OUC Half Marathon the first weekend in December with a couple of friends from work. I’ve wanted to do the half-marathon for a number of years, and decided that this is the year that I’m doing it.

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September 3, 2008 by steve.

Time for the August installment of Team CurbCrusher. Ok, I know its September, but on August 23rd Team CurbCrusher was up early and participating in my first Aquabike. No, not a triathlon for August, I decided that I’d try the Aquabike event at the Buttar Fall Traithlon Festival at Moss Park.

Pre-Race

The nice thing about a local race is that I can go pick up the packet the day before the race. On Friday, as Tropical Storm Fay was moving away from central Florida, I drove out to North Lake Park and picked up a race number, t-shirt and all the assorted junk that goes with a triathlon.
Race morning goes fairly smoothly because of this. Lady and Little CurbCrusher decided that they want to go cheer me on, so we head out to Moss Park early in the morning. I get the bike set up in transition, and organize all my stuff with no problem. I’m in the middle rack on a set of three racks, but snag the spot near the end. It’s not my favorite spot, but it will do. Looking at the soaked ground with standing water, I’m glad I signed up for the Aquabike. The run portion of this triathlon is through the campground at Moss Park, and the entire road is hard packed dirt. I’ve been in the campground after a regular rain and there is a good deal of standing water, I can imagine what five straight days of Fay has done to the roads. Nope, good think I’m swimming and biking today.

Swim — 14:37

The water is comfortable, but not something you can see in. Lake Mary Jane is a lake that has clean water, but because of all the cypress around the lake, the water is a permanent shade of brown. So when you start swimming you can’t see much in front of you. All the male triathletes and aquabikers go in the first wave. Its 750 meters and even though I’ve only had a couple of swims in the past month, I feel pretty good in the water. I keep reminding myself that I don’t have to run, so not to hold back. I come out the water in a little over 14 and a half minutes, and head for the transition.

T1 — 5:19

There’s a pretty good run from the water exit to the transition area. The run is on sand, some pavement and through a stand of pine trees that leave a number of needles and pine cones to step on, along with a bit of standing water. I slog through to the transition area. Get the bike jersey (a Father’s Day gift) over my head, helmet, shoes and shades. Grab the bike and run to the spot where I can mount.

Bike — 39:30

The bike course is about 12 miles long. The roads are dry and clear of debris so it turns out to be better that I was thinking. I keep telling myself that I don’t have to run, so there is no reason to take it easy on the bike. The course has a couple of places where you have to make U turns and they are a bit sandy. I watch my cadence and speed, trying to make sure that there is at least an 18mph on the bike computer. Since I’m not running, I don’t worry about drinking too much, so I suck down the bottle of Gatorade on the bike. As I get near the end I realized I will probably break 40 minutes on the bike. Considering that the previous two times I’ve done this course I did close to 44:00, I’m really happy.

Finish — 1:01:17

I dismount and run the bike back to transition. The guy next to be is back and racked his bike right where mine should fit. I spend 15 - 20 seconds moving his bike and getting mine into position. Then its time to haul butt to the finish line. I leave the transition area and head to the ropes marking the finish line. There is standing water the entire length of the finish chute. 30 yards of splashing and getting wet, but I’m done for the day.

I was hoping to get under and hour, but was only a little over a minute over. I’m fairly happy with the finish. It’s good enough for second place overall in the aquabike group (of course there were only three males running the aquabike). Everyone that’s running the full tri is coming in covered with mud. Apparently there are lots of parts of the course that look like the finish chute. Yep, its looking like I made a good decision to run the aquabike.

Next month its back to a triathlon. It was fun to just do the two fun things, but its not really a good workout unless you do something awful like running.

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July 1, 2008 by steve.

Time for Team CurbCrusher to get out for the July triathlon. This month I traveled all of 20 minutes north of the CurbCrusher homestead to Baldwin Park in Orlando to swim 750 meters in a lake, bike 5 laps and 13 miles around Lake Baldwin, and then run once around the lake.

Pre-race

A much nicer drive this month. With a 7:30 start time, and a travel time of 20 minutes, it was almost like a regular morning. Since we are so close, I’d picked up my packet on Saturday so the only thing to worry about Sunday morning was getting body marked and set up in transition. Lady and Little CurbCrusher decided that they wanted to sleep in, so I packed myself up and left home around 6:15am. The only real concern I had was parking in Baldwin Park, but there was no reason to worry, lots of spaces were available at the Publix.

Once parked, it was easy to move through the line for body marking, getting a transponder and into transition. The racks were set up three deep on each side of the center aisle, and numbers were assigned to each of the racks. So I was in the middle rack, with eight other bikes. It wasn’t too crowded, but I like being up against the outside of the transition area, so I wasn’t thrilled to be in the middle. I was pretty much ready to go by 6:45, so I walked around an chatted with other folks. The only bad thing was I realized that I forgot my hat. I’ve gotten attached to running with the hat on but didn’t pack it, so it looks like a hatless day.

The Swim - 19:59

For the first time this year, I was not in the first wave. We watched two waves leave in front of us, the waded into the water. The lake bottom is mucky and it seems like the longer you stand there, the further you sink. Everyone was stretched out along the lake front, and the starter was very hard to hear. As a matter of fact, I’m not sure anyone ever blew the horn or said go, I think the mass of the blue swim cap wave just sort of got underway. The swim was touted as 750M, I think I swam a good bit more than that. You left the beach and sort of went around a dock and then turned right. Right into the sun. It was hard to find the first buoy, as you were looking directly into the sun while swimming toward it, so I just followed the folks in front. The waves weren’t too crowded, because as soon as we got around the dock, it seemed to spread out and you had room to swim without getting beat up. After turning the first buoy, it was easier, as you could see the second one without too much problem.

Turning the final buoy, you head toward land. There was plenty of room to swim by now. Although I breathed to my right and saw a pink cap, then to my left and saw another one. That was sort of bad news, as the that means the people in the wave behind me that started three minutes after I did had caught me. Then I almost ran over a guy in a white cap. Well he started six minutes before me, so I guess it all evens out.

T1 - 3:12

Out of the water you run along the lake walking/biking path to the parking lot the transition area is in. It was fairly close and easy to do. Little CurbCrusher had gotten me a bike jersey for Father’s Day, so I needed to wear it for the bike. I’ve never been a big fan of having different clothes for each leg of a sprint triathlon, but since I have a jersey, I figured I needed to give it a shot. So, its fairly easy, jersey on, helmet on, shades on, sit on the bucket and get the shoes on, grab the bike an go.

Bike - 42:50

You mount up and turn onto Jake Street. It is approximately 2.7 miles around Lake Baldwin, and you need to do it five times on the bike. This makes the race interesting because there are a lot of people on the bike course. I don’t think it would have been physically possible to enforce the no-drafting rule at this race. There were times on the bike that you felt like you were riding in the peleton. People were three wide passing each other, and sometimes four or five deep. It was fun, and I averaged a little over 18.5 MPH on the course, but it made for some tense riding. I’m not used to riding that close to other people. The course if flat, and there wasn’t really any wind to speak of, so it was great to just pedal your heart out.

I counted laps, and after the third lap switched my cycle computer to odometer. I figured if I lost count, I would just quit on the first lap I finished after it read 13 miles. I actually counted correctly and finished after five laps.

T2 - 1:26

Having the bike jersey added to this transition some. I racked the bike, swapped shirts and grabbed my race number belt. Then grabbed some water at the water station at the transition exit, and began running.

Run - 31:22

I probably shouldn’t insult the sport of running by calling what I did Sunday running. I sort of plodded my way around the lake at a very slow pace. It was disappointing as I’ve been running sub 10 minute miles training and the last race kept the pace under 11 minutes. Of course if you’ve read my other race reports you know how much I just love running. The first quarter of the course is in the sun, and I’m constantly thinking about how much I miss my hat. Should have listened to Lady CurbCrusher and written out a check list. Ouch, not only is the running hurting, now I’m admitting my wife is right, see this running makes you delusional. The shade comes and I feel better.

The shade doesn’t last long. Once back out in the sun on the other side of the lake, there is a water station. I’m weak and walk for a minute after sucking down some water and pouring another cup over my head. I’m really not having much fun at this point. After I start running again (ok, more like plodding) I hear some footsteps behind me. A man and a woman are running along and sharing life stories. It takes them a minute or so to catch up with me, and I hear the woman say “I really started running after my divorce. It was better than therapy.” As they pass me, I offered up “I started running after I got married, it was cheaper than a divorce.” It might have been mean, but the third guy in the group thought is was funny and had plenty of energy to laugh.

Post Race

Well, I was hoping for something less than 1:35 and ended up at 1:39 and change. I was really hoping for a run that would have been 27 minutes, a ten-minute mile pace. And I thought the swim would be more along the lines of 15 - 18 minutes. I think I biked about where I expected. I was also completely beat after the race. I’ve been less tired after the first two races of the year, this one just seemed like a struggle. But I’ve been doing these for close to 18 years now, so I know there are races that are like that, they just aren’t a lot of fun. I think the location is great, I liked the 20 minute drive, but the bike course was a bit too crowded and that may the thing that keeps from coming back here next year. However, this is a great race for spectators, as you get the chance to see the triathletes multiple times on the bike as they do the laps.

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May 25, 2008 by steve.

Another month, another triathlon. Team CurbCrusher continued the 2008 triathlon season with a race in Ormond Beach, Florida. This race is put on by the local YMCA, and is held where State Road 40 intersects with A1A. A picturesque swim in the Atlantic Ocean, followed by a ten mile bike ride and a three mile run. Great race setting and a great day for racing.

Pre-Race

Ormond Beach is about an hour and fifteen minutes from the CurbCrusher homestead, so this and a 7:00AM start time meant another early triathalon morning. A little easier this month than last as Lady CurbCrusher and Little CurbCrusher choose to sleep in and go to church instead of watching CurbCrusher race. The drive over was uneventful, and I arrived around 6:00AM. This race was put on by AltaVista sports, the company that put on the very first triathlon that I ever did. Compared to the gang that put on Ft. Desoto, they were not as organized, but I was able to have my USAT card checked, get a number, champion chip timing device, t-shirt and body marking done in pretty short order.

Setting up transition was fairly easy. I like my bike at the back of the rack, and my number fell in the group that racked right up against the edge of transition. I got my coveted next to the netting spot, and set up the bike, towel and five gallon bucket. Putting my number on was easier this month, a I parted with five dollars and purchased a number belt, a stretchy belt that you attach the number to and then just put on in transition. No more crooked number for me. I was finished and ready to go by 6:30AM.

So I wandered across A1A to the beach, and watched the water and the life guards arrival. The wind was out of the North-North East, and the seas were probably 2 - 4 feet. I want to say they were taller, because when the swim started and I was making my way to the first buoy, some of the waves were breaking over my head. About ten till seven, the life guards put the buoys out and we walked down to the start line.

The Swim - 11:18

The swim would have been a breeze in a lake, or even in the Gulf, but this was the Atlantic. The horn blows and you start walking out to water deep enough to swim in. The waves are breaking over you, and you can’t really swim into them. You can dive through them, or hop over them, but it takes a while to get to where they aren’t breaking any more. This puts you just about to the buoy. Now you’ve got to swim parallel to the shore, but the current and the wind are blowing right into the shore, so you need to navigate to the left (seaward) in order to make sure you don’t go inside the other buoys. If you breathe during the trough of the swell, you don’t see anything but water. You have to time your breaths with the top of the swells so that you can see where you are. About half way down I’m thinking, darn I should have seen that middle buoy by now. A couple of breaths later, I turn my head to the right and wham! There’s the blamed thing right in my face.

Turning right at the final buoy is a challenge also. You’d like to swim perpendicular to the shore so that you don’t have to run a extra thirty or so yards on the beach. But the wind and the current want you to run that extra thirty yards. After about 20 seconds of trying to fight the angle on the current, I finally decided that it was a waste of energy, and let the waves carry me in.

T1 - 4:28

Not too far to run, most of it up the beach. Then you cross A1A and into the transition area. I get my shirt on, my sunglasses and helmet. Then sit on the bucket and get my shoes on. Grab the bike and head for the transition exit.

Bike - 32:26

So, I get mounted and headed west on SR 40. Not bad, then you turn right, north, and you get that wind quartering you on the right front. It is broken a bit by the houses that are between you and A1A and the coast, but you can still feel it. I change the cycle computer to cadence mode and concentrate on keeping about a 85 cadence. About two miles into this I start thinking “Hey, maybe I should have ridden my bike more this past month!” The reason I think this is because, except for the mile commute to work, I haven’t been biking since Ft. Desoto. Of course its too late to worry about it now, but it does strike me as something to remember.

Biking gets easier about half way through. That’s because you make another right turn and head over to A1A. Then you get to make the turn South on A1A. Now the wind is quartering on my back left and I get to use some of the high gears. Keeping my cadence around 85, I find myself running 22 - 23 MPH. I’m even passing some people!

T2 - 0:53

This one is quick, it usually is. Rack the bike, and two new things to do. Grab the race belt with the number and snap it on, and grab a hat. I’ve never run with a hat, but last year at the final Moss Park Tri, they gave away these “sweat vacuum” hats, and I’ve been running with it on for my long run each week. I actually sort of like it, so I figured today would be a great race day to try it.

Run - 30:56

The run course starts just like the bike course. But at about a mile and a half you turn right and cut back over to A1A and then back to the start line. At the first mile I look at the watch and find I’ve run a 10:01. That’s great! I’d love to keep this run under 30 minutes, but I also know that I don’t want to blow up on the run and take more than about 35 minutes or I’ll miss the time goal I’ve set for myself in the race. I try and keep the pace, and at mile two I’m at about 21:15. I’ve slowed some, but my time goal is well within reach, and I try an run a little faster.

Post Race

Well, its over. I’ve run a 1:20:04 and I’m a happy man. Two weeks ago, I’d set 1:30 as my goal. Then I’d come across some race results from about ten years ago when I ran a different race on pretty much this same course. My time then had been 1:24. I’ve always thought of myself as being more fit back then. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought I should shoot for beating that old time. So arriving in Ormond Beach this morning I was hoping for something better than 1:24. And I got it, by four minutes (give or take a couple of seconds). Yay!

The next scheduled race for Team CurbCrusher is the Baldwin Park Tri in Orlando the end of June.

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April 15, 2008 by steve.

Up to now, this blog has pretty much been about RV trips and travel. That will continue to be the main focus, but I’m going to start adding post of a triathlon nature, or at least a post when I run a race. This is the sport where you your swim, then get on a bike and ride for a while, and finally run a bit to round out the day. Just to be up front, I do not run Ironman length or even International distance races, I stick to what is known as sprints, anywhere from a quarter mile to three-quarter mile swim, a ten to twenty mile bike ride and a three to four mile run. The CurbCrusher’s first triathlon was back in 1990 in Tavares, FL. From then until about 1998 I ran about three or four races a year. Following the birth of Little CurbCrusher in 1998, there were a couple of years of one race a year. Basically, after 2000 I retired. Starting in 2006, Lady CurbCrusher noted that CurbCrusher appeared to be a little over his GVWR. So in October of 2006, Team CurbCrusher made an appearance as I struggled through a sprint at Moss Park . I did two more Moss Park tris in 2007, and I finally decided that 2008 would be a full triathlon season. So here we are at the first race of the Team CurbCrusher season, Escape From Ft. Desoto.

Ft. Desoto, located in St. Petersburg, Florida is a great place to camp, and consistently voted one of the best beaches in the nation. Having camped there twice in the last couple of years, it seemed like it would be a great place to run a triathlon, and the Escape From Ft. Desoto race has been around for more than 20 years, so it just seemed like I needed to seek out an entry form. Unfortunately, by the time I signed up for the race, the campground was already full, so it wasn’t possible to combine a motorhome trip with the triathlon. But that didn’t matter, I still got to race.

Pre-Race

Well, since the CurbCrusher’s didn’t camp the night before the race, it meant an early morning. Until the Saturday before the race, Lady and Little CurbCrusher had planned on sleeping late. Then they thought about how they could turn the post race time into a beach day at North Beach, and plans changed. So the plan was for a 4:00AM wake up and a 4:30AM departure from Orlando, hopefully putting us at the North Beach parking lot by 6:15AM or so. Well, all good plans go awry, so at 4:22AM with neither alarm having sounded, I woke up and looked at the clock. With a loud sounding of reveille, and much rushing about, we departed the CurbCrusher home at 4:42AM, twelve minutes behind schedule. The drive from Orlando to St. Pete was uneventful, and we arrived at the race site around 6:30AM.

Check in was very efficient. Show your USAT card, pick up a green waiver that you have to sign. Get your envelope, go around the corner, get a shirt, swim cap and your on your way. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Transition was more of a zoo. But a well organized one. Get your body marking, walk and find your bike rack. The racks were a little jammed. It would have been nice to have had a bit more room. However as I was leaving there was an official in my bike rack area discussing at least one, maybe two bikes being mis-racked. So maybe there was more room than I thought, just some thoughtless person had their bike racked in my section.

Of course one of the preparations during this point was to put my number on my shirt. Over time Lady CurbCusher has always complained that she can’t find me at races. So I have a new shirt, bright yellow. This is the first shirt I’ve raced in that has no horizontal line across the front. As I will learn later, I am apparently very challenged when it comes to lining up the race number on the shirt without such a line. I pin the number on the shirt with the four pins provided. Grab the goggles and head down to the beach.

The Swim - 17 Minutes

Well, you walk a half mile down the beach to the swim start. The race is supposed to start at 7:30AM, but it takes a few extra minutes get everyone corralled together. A tribute to Veterans, a moment of silence, and then we all sing the National Anthem. The first wave lines up and the horn blows. It’s about 7:36AM, but that’s good, we’ve started. Inside the ropes, since I’m in the second wave, and wait for three minutes.

The swim is fairly straight forward. You go out from the beach a few yards, turn left at the orange buoy, then swim parallel to the beach past three green buoys, and turn left again at the next orange one and at the end you’ve covered a half a mile in the water. Well it is simple until you are out there with a couple of hundred other guys. You pretty much walk to the first buoy, it would have been nice to have swam starting about half way, because the water was up to your waist at that point, but there were so many people still walking that you couldn’t navigate. Then everyone starts swimming. This means you get to slap some people on the head, and grab some legs, and you get slapped on the head and feel hands climbing up your leg. This goes on for about five minutes. This is usually the part of the race that really freaks out first timers, I know it did me the first time I raced. But usually if you just plug on you get to free space in the ocean and can concentrate on swimming. Not on Saturday. It was fairly crowded the whole half-mile. It wasn’t until after the green buoy three quarters of the way through that there was some swimming room.

T1 - 6.5 minutes

Out of the water. On the left is Lady CurbCrusher trying to take a picture. The problem is that everyone is wearing black swim suits and has on the same color swim cap. So you have to yell out. I think she got a picture. Now its about a quarter mile run or so to the transition area. Up the beach, through the park and down the long row of bikes to my rack. I reach for my shirt and pull it over my head. I hear a ripping sound. It seems that I’ve put the number on so that it is at about a 45 degree angle from horizontal, and it’s half way under my left arm, instead of in the middle of my chest. Oh well, too late to worry about that. Fortunately the ripping was the number, and not the shirt. Now grab the towel, sit on the ground and put on socks and shoes. Get back up, put on the sunglasses, and then the bike helmet. Grab the bike and run to the bike start and mount.

Bike - 33 minutes

The bike course is nice. We go all the way to the other side of the island where the road turns around and back. Its about 10 miles round trip. The race organizers have done a great job, they put big, bold markers at every mile. The first two and half miles are into the wind, then you turn so that the wind was mostly at your side, maybe a little in the front quarter. This is good, this means when you turn around and come back there’ll be a tail wind. I split my Gatorade drinking up to about a third after the first two miles, a third halfway through, and then I emptied the bottle at the 8 mile marker. Coming into the T2 I see Little and Lady CurbCrusher again. I holler and she gets a couple of pictures of me getting off the bike.

T2 - 1.5 minutes

This one is basic. Run through the transition are, put the bike back on the rack, put the helmet on the bike, put the shades in the helmet and run out the back. Slow down (Ok, I’m not really moving fast at this point, but I like to think that I slow down) and get some water from one of the fantastic volunteers and have a drink.

Run - 40 minutes

I hate running. I really do. They have a version of this sport called Aquabike, where you swim and bike. I really should look into it. But I have a feeling if you tell people you are an aquabiker they think you have some kind of bike you ride in the water, whereas if you say you run triathlons people know what your talking about. Do I really have time to explain this? I should probably stick to tris. This is the kind of thing you have time to think about while your running, because it helps keep you from thinking about the pain. The first half of the run is on the bike path from North Beach to the fort. There is a little shade, the occasional palm tree, but we are headed into the wind, so it doesn’t feel too hot. There are a lot of people passing me (like I said I run slow). I am following a couple of thirty something women (in triathlons you get your age written on your calf as part of body marking) and they are carrying on a conversation about a variety of things. They stop to stretch a bit and I get to pass someone. I’m starting to feel good. I pass the mile mark in about 10:55. This is good, a sub 11 minute mile after swimming and biking is certainly not a bad thing for me. In a 5K road race I can do about a 9:50, so this is only a one minute penatly, I’m starting to feel good.

The two thirty somethings come around me. I tell them how they are damaging my self esteem by going around me after I passed them. They tell me not to worry, they’ll be stopping again soon. We chat a bit about how much we all hate running, and then the fort looms ahead. We run down the side of the fort, then turn and run up 40 stairs. Ok, I walked up the stairs. There is a water station at the top, so I grab a cup of water, and then head down the stairs. The route now turns to the beach, and there is no shade. Even the palm trees (as pitiful shade as they offered) are not present, and now the wind is at your back. So for me that means I all of a sudden realize that I’m sweating since its now in my eyes. Gee, that makes it feel a lot more like work. I pass the thirtysomethings again when they stop to stretch, so I get a little self esteem back. This last until about 2.5 miles when I hear behind be “Hey its the yellow shirt guy, we’re going to pass him again.” Ok, so now my self esteem is gone again, but, hey, I’m headed for the finish line. I pass the three mile marker and realize that I’m at close to 36 minutes for the run. That’s not bad, I’m under 12 minute miles.

Finally in about four minutes the finish line comes into view. There are people watching so I run faster and try not to look tired. One day I’m going to get a good picture out of this. Lady and Little CurbCrusher are there and holler and I look over, another picture.

Post-Race

So I’m fairly happy, I was shooting for and 1:40 or less and got a 1:37 and change. Ended up 58 out of 61 in my age group and 682 out of 1000 entries. I’m happy. I’m not going to the Olympics anytime soon, but its good enough to get my psyched to go to Ormond Beach the end of May for another sprint.

Like the entire race, the post race food was fantastic. There was all the usual stuff like fruit and Gatorade and water. But there were also hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, pasta and my favorite, chocolate layer cake. I’d have run another mile for the cake. Any event that servers chocolate cake can’t be bad.

The organizers and volunteers put on a great race. I don’t know if they can be complimented enough. The event was well organized, and it was well run. I don’t think there is much of anything they could have done to make it a better race.

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