Donner Lake Triathlon
July 17, 1994
As I said in my DRS report, I had a great race at Donner Lake this
weekend. Here's a longer report for the hardcore tristuds:
Venue
Donner Lake is just beautiful. Water is crystal clear. The
temperature this year was just perfect. The previous days had all
been in the 90's and I was seriously worried, but race day ended up
in the high 70's/low 80's and was great.
Swim
Started in the last wave (M40+), which is rare (usually women
and relays are behind me). This is bad because it poses a serious
threat of me being one of the very last out of the water. However
it's good because it means that 10 minutes after the start of the
swim I won't have the lead 50 people from the next wave swimming
over the top of me! I actually passed two different color caps in
the swim (one person each); I guess they were _really_ slow.
SLP TriTip (tm) #1
Coming out of the water I'm at 39:36. In '91, the
last time I did this race, it was 40:00. That time I was _really_
bummed, thinking my swim was terrible (in '90 I did 32:31!). I
sulked through the transition and first part of the bike before
shaking loose. When I got the results in the mail, I saw that
_everyone_ was way slow - the course was long. So this year, I
ignored my watch and listened to my body. I thought I swam just fine
(for me!), so that I did. DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO TIME COMING OUT OF
THE WATER!
SLP TriTip (tm) #2
Here's something I've never seen anyone else do.
I have Time Racing shoes, with two parallel velcro straps. I used to
undo them mostly, leaving them loose. At least once, putting my foot
in the strap came out of the little metal holder, requiring me to feed
it back in and losing precious time. Now, here's what I do. Loosen
the strap, and then push the end 1" or so of the strap back onto the
part of the strap which is on the shoe. In other words I form a loop
in the strap, but a stable loop because the end is "tacked down." Now
I can get my foot in as is, and even start riding if I want do, and
then tighten the strap (or tighten immediately; it only takes a
second).
Bike
Starting the bike there were like two or three people who I
passed in the first 3 miles (yes, I was _way_ off the back). Then I
made a 90 degree turn onto the major hill of the race (7% grade for
a mile or so). There were all the people! Lined up solid up the hill,
just waiting for me to blow by. So I did. Halfway up, a young woman
blows by me! I was shocked. On the next hill I caught up with her
(temporarily; she left me shortly). "Did you have a flat, or are you
just a terrible swimmer like me?", I asked. "Terrible swimmer," she
replied. Bike was great, lots of climbing and descending. I think they
said 1100' but I wish I had an Avocet 50 to know. The descents were a
little too steep for me, giving a premium to foolhardiness instead of
strength and endurance. I _hate_ passing someone on an uphill, later
to be passed by them on a downhill, just because they value their life
and limb less than I do.
SLP TriTip (tm) #3
Same trick with the velcro in reverse. As I was
nearing the transition area, I used to just undo the straps, pull my
feet out, and ride with feet on top of the shoes into the transition
area. But this leaves the straps flying, and they can catch the
wheels. Instead, just loosen the straps, again forming the loop and
re-velcroing the last inch. Now pulling your feet out, the straps
don't go anywhere.
Run
I think this was the first run I ever did (running or triathlon)
where I did not have a SINGLE negative thought the entire run!
Hooray! I was really pleased: 8:05, 8:20 (hills), 15:28 (Mile 3 marker
was screwed up), 7:52, 8:03, 3:59. I spend the entire run passing
people - it felt great! Quite a change from my first year, when I
told people "I'd say I died on the run, except that would imply I
was ever alive." Got to see Debi on the run, who was doing the
run (circumnavigating the lake) in the opposite direction from the
race, so she could see everyone. She reports that the only difference
between the lead people and the people back where I was, was that
they were wearing fewer clothes (no shirts on the men).
Old Guy Getting Better
Swim Bike Run Overall Division Place
1990 32:31 1:30:07 1:03:16 3:12:28 24/34 (40-44)
1991 40:00 1:29:04 54:00 3:09:16 18/27 (40-44)
1992 39:36 1:21:28* 51:48 2:56:12 14/22 (45-49)**
* Bike course changed, my odometer read 23.6M, and probably slightly
less climbing (though not a lot). The old course went up Donner Pass,
but the historic old bridge there is being reconstructed, so this
year (and next, I think) rode through the Tahoe-Donner ski area.
** Final results not posted; age group may be larger than this.
Awards
As at Wildflower and other Tri-Fed regional championships,
1st male and female overall and 1st male and female masters got a
copy of The Athlete's Diary. The announcer said, "Let's see, isn't
there supposed to be a plaque from Tri-Fed or something? No, I guess
the software is instead of that." I know the winners were happy with
the software, but I think they would have liked a plaque too! The
"Tyr age group awards" which went to every age group were awesome.
They literally gave each of the top three finishers in each age
group a _box_ to carry away various goodies they won from Tyr and
from Hardbody (the new bar people).
Photos
Here was a twist. They had taken pictures of people coming
out of the swim, on the bike, and early in the run, then rushed off
to a 1-hour photo. By the time of the awards ceremony, they had the
pictures available and ready for sale! I had never seen that done
before, kind of a neat idea. Unfortunately I didn't see any of me.
Mother
My 75-yr old mother got to see me race for the first time!
Now she has _some_ idea what a triathlon is. She had a great time,
although before the day started she was _sure_ she'd be bored and
insisted on bringing a book to read.
Positive
In addition to the great course and scenery I've mentioned,
the new bike course went through neighborhoods where there were lots
and lots of people out cheering! A real rarity for triathlons, and
really nice. The run too had quite a few people out cheering. It
wasn't the Boston Marathon or anything, but still great.
Negative
For the third time (out of three that I've been there), the
"post race BBQ" was a total disaster. Ran out of food, stuff was
cold, lines were long, etc. However the other stuff (bananas, oranges,
cookies, crackers, apples) was plentiful and good - more than made
up for the crummy BBQ.
Summary
DO THIS RACE sometime. You'll be glad you did. Great excuse
for a California vacation, you non-Californicators.
Steve "Bring on the Vineman" Patt
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