Vineman International Triathlon

June 6, 1993

3rd race, 3rd P.R.! (The last two wearing DRS singlet, of course!). I think, "I can't keep this up!" and my wife says: "That's negative thinking, of course you can, just do it!"

The race

Vineman International Triathlon, Santa Rosa, CA

Distances

1M swim, 40K (nominal) bike, 10K run

The P.R.

2:18:00, vs. 2:32:xx last year! Wow!

The key

Sandbagging (of a different sort!). Last year the Russian River was, as normal, dammed, there was no current, and the out-and-back swim was basically swimming in a long, thin lake. This year, increased rains meant the dam (basically, sandbags) was not in place, and a (slow but steady) current was flowing, so they changed the start to 1M+ upstream and made it a point-to-point swim. Guaranteed P.R.! My swim time went from 32:xx to 20:xx!

But also

Swim camp (where I was last week) was a bad experience [ask me about it offline if you're even thinking along those lines] but I did improve my pathetic swimming a bit, so probably 2 minutes of that 12 minute improvement was due to better swim form. Another minute and a half improvement on the bike, and a minute or more on the run, so all in all I was very pleased.

Strategy

My simple strategy for this race, as always in triathlon (as opposed to running), is the leapfrog or slingshot technique. Simply stated, this is:

In a running race, you can't really employ this strategy, because the only people in front of you are either A) faster than you; or B) the handful of people who started too fast. In a triathlon, however, you also have: C) people who started in earlier waves; and D) people who are better swimmers or cyclists than you. Having said this, this was the first race where this strategy really worked for me on the run (it always works on the bike). In the past I haven't had the confidence on the run that I could pass everyone in front of me, unlike on the bike where I take that for granted (I mean, if you think about it, it has to be true - if someone is AHEAD of me by the time I get out of the water, and if they are FASTER than me on the bike, I'll never see them, so by definition anyone I catch I should be able to pass).

On layoffs

I was very worried earlier this year because in February I did almost no running because of a foot problem, and much less biking than usual due to abnormal volumes of rain. As a result (?), I'm having my best season ever. There must be a lesson here, but I'll never take it to heart. I mean, why would I want to cut back on my training, which is what I enjoy?

Conundrum

If someone told you you could lower your P.R.'s by only running one day a week, would you do it? I definitely would NOT. Could this be the definition of a Dead Runner?

On frozen toes

In last year's Vineman Half-Ironman race, I experienced "hot foot" for the first time - starting a half-marathon at noon, and having my feet burning like hell after about half way from hot pavement. This year it was the opposite. The Russian River was VERY cold (Sierra runoff). My toes remained frozen on the bike, and when a started to run I had basically numb forefeet. This was a VERY wierd (and somewhat frightening) sensation. I yelled to my wife, "My toes are frozen" and she yelled "They'll warm up!" which amazingly enough did put me at ease. I had to alter my running style somewhat to land a little further back on my heels in order to run well. Then, after about 1 1/2 miles, they started to thaw, and for about 1/2 mile, felt even worse, as if hot pins and needles were shooting through them! Great fun!

Gotta run! Carpe cool, overcast race days (and warm training days!)

         Steve "I'm not an athlete, but I play one in real life" Patt   8)
         Palo Alto, CA (w)/Cupertino, CA (h)
         E-Mail: slp@nmr.varian.com
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