Race Report : 2013 Summer Open Sprint Triathlon...uh...Aquathlon

It is at times like this when one asks "Why does God hate the Summer Open  Sprint so much?" Well, that's a bit over the top, but understandable all the same.

Last night I took a look at my e-mail and saw right away an "emergency" notification from the race organizers. I expected to see swim cancel along the lines of the e coli event from two years ago. In fact, it was the bike that was canceled. The bike? That's weird. I read on.

" At 10:00am this morning Highway Technologies closed all their national operations, with no fore notice to their regional offices.  Highway Technologies is responsible for all the road closures, traffic barricades, cones, etc. "

I honestly had no idea that event planners were so reliant on companies like this one. However, it does make sense. There are several sections that have to be closed off from each other, particularly on this course where riders actually go right by each other in opposite directions.

You can read more details including how it nearly caused serious problems for the Colfax Marathon in this Denver Post article.

I was a little bummed. I just had my bike in the shop last weekend for a pre-race tune up. Alas, it stayed home this morning. Not everyone did that, but more on that later.

But bike or no, there was still a race and I was going to kick-off my season one way or another.

Like every other race morning, this one started early and I was on my way to Longmont. Unlike last year, I had good weather going for me. I made good time and was actually able to park in the lot next to transition. This would result in having to wait a little longer to leave, but it was nice to be near the car for purposes of dropping of my swag, etc.

Placid, clear and warm water awaited.

Pre-race announcements said it was 70*. That's pretty amazing considering it snowed in Colorado just a couple of weeks ago. However, I was not complaining. Even 70* feels pretty cold when you're used to warmer pool water.

Transition was wide open. Bikes aren't big, but bikes and racks to together take up a lot of space and you don't appreciate that until you've seen a TA without them:

If you take a look the left center of the picture above, you'll see a bike. Yep. It was not the only one on site though it appeared to be the only one in transition. I suppose some folks completely missed the cancellation story (though you kind of had to try to do that) but even if it did end up on the back of your car, why bring it into transition.

I've seen this phenomenon at other Aquathlon events. Someone brings their $4000+ TT bike to the event and locks it up to a railing. That's right, they risk theft or damage so that a bunch of strangers can admire their wheels. Much as I wish it weren't true, this sport has an inordinate number of douche bags.

Prior to the start, I managed to get a short warm-up swim. Nothing to fantastic, just a chance to see what 70* felt like. Know what, it's colder than you might think. It's not bad, but I did huff and puff just a little bit as it flowed down the back of my suit. Fortunately, I was warm and then I got to experience the fast feeling of swimming in a wetsuit. As I swam away from shore, I noticed how clear the water was. Like Aurora reservoir clear. No doubt that will change over the course of the summer, but it is kind of nice.The start was late but not excessively so.

Due to the bike cancellation of the bike, the organizers at Without Limits added a long-course option that would consist of a 1 mile swim and a 10K. I was not interested. For starters, the second lap involved a long run along the beach ala Stroke and Stride or Aquaman style. Additionally, I did not feel up to a 10K today. I don't have my first Oly for over a month. One thing at a time, I say!

At most races, I have to wait to start. Not today. Short course men were all going out at the same time. There were a lot of us. I mean an awful lot. Taking a page from my brother's strategy book I sought to stay to the outside and angle toward the far buoy rather than swim right along the line. A little experimenting with Google Sketch-Up confirms that even if you move 25 feet to the outside the total distance you swim is still less than foot. Unfortunately, a lot of other folks had the same idea and I ended up in the usual washing machine-group grope that is an open water swim start.

It was okay, though. I managed to clear through the worst of it fairly soon and then only found a little bunching around the buoys. Despite having not done anything in open water in something over eight months, I was sighting fairly well. A little hypoxia hit me at about 125 meters but I just focused on my rhythm and my breathing and soon it passed. Overall, the swim went pretty well.


I hit the carpeted exit and was soon jogging out back to transition. The run to my spot ended up being around 0.10 mile and in bare feet I felt okay about doing it at just over 10:00 pace. I struggle a little getting out of the suit, but not very much. T1 ended up being 2:39 which was faster than a year ago.

The run was underway and there is no question that I'm slower than I was a year ago. But I was moving at a decent sub 9:00 pace and feeling okay. Around 0.6 mile my right leg (the hurt one) started giving me a lot of trouble. I was proceeding with a fairly pronounced limp. I shortened my stride and slowed up for a beat. That worked because the pain faded and soon I was moving again at my normal pace.

As expected, I slowed some on the big hill that takes you to the first mile. Even so, the first mile was 8:47. Now I got to enjoy a downhill to the turn around. That helped because my second mile was 8:26. The pain returned again at the bottom of the big hill but, again, my technique of shortening and slowing helped. I'm pretty sure this is IT Band syndrome. The sharpness of the pain and the fact that it passes so quickly are pretty consistent with past bouts. It means I'll have to do some exercises over the next few weeks to strengthen my glutes and ease the strain on the band.

From a cardio stand point, I felt pretty good for the whole race. My biggest concern was I hit the last stretch  was that I'd feel that same pain and have an ugly finish. But I didn't. I had a nice sprint into the end. There were a couple of people ahead of me that I probably could have caught and passed. But that's kind of douchey. Apparently the woman who went past me in the final 15 yards didn't think so. Did I mention that tis sport has an inordinate number of douche bags?

In any case, here's the run:


I felt fine as I completed the race. Actually, I felt too good. I don't really think I left anything on the course (and my aching IT Band made sure that I took it easy on that front), but I really missed something not getting to ride.  It's not the fault of anyone at the race but it still sucks.

The Review

Next Time:

It seems like a race that can make it to it's sixth year has some competent people behind it. That's certainly the case with the Without Limits crew. There's no significant criticism I can offer. They've just about perfectly dialed this one in. From a purely nit-picky stand point, I would suggest that anything that can be done to reduce the amount of beach running on a two lap-swim is a good idea, but I didn't do the two lap, so that criticism has to be taken with a pretty big grain of salt.

The Colorado Marathon did a really cool thing this year in hiring a photography company that was selling electronic copies of pictures for $0.99 each. At a smaller event like this one, I can see how that cost might go up, but I'd probably pay up to $5 for a decent picture. As for the $15 or so most companies charge, no thanks. The race organizers might want to consider a new company for that or seeking a crowd sourcing option like the one DC Rainmaker notes here. At the end of the day, however, the photography company is a non-factor in whether or not to run a race.

The Good:

Cost: I registered a little later this year, but an early registrant can do this thing for something like $80 including the $4 charge to do race-day pick-up. The big boys (WTC, et al) are charging some pretty serious scratch just for their shorter races. I'm encouraged to see a scrappy company like Without Limits being so competitive.

Venue: I called this out in my report last year as well, but this is a really good spot for a race. That's true for racers and spectators who can watch the swim from the berm above the beach and see runners at multiple locations. The bike course is away from the main staging and transition areas, but that's true of most races.

Logistics: These were really good. Facebook, Twitter and of course, their own website, had full details about the unfortunate bike situation. That was in addition to the e-mail. When I arrived, they had figured out their route for the long course and proceeded without missing a beat. My packet was ready to go, my timing chip was waiting for me and indicating my course preference was as easy as me telling a volunteer and him making a note of it. The official results were accurate for me.

I don't have a long laundry list of all that is right with this race, but it just is. The title is Summer Open and I can't think of a better way to kick off the tri-season other than going out of state. One of these years, though, I'm going to swim, bike and run at this event and do it all under warm sunny skies!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Catching Up

So it’s been a couple of weeks since I posted. There are a few things to catch up on and no clear place to start. I’ll just dive in:

I've been running.

I've managed to do all of two runs totaling about 7 miles. The injury is not as bas as it was, but it is probably also less than 50% healed. I’m signed up for physical therapy sessions for the entire month of April and I think I’m going to need all of them.

The Colorado Marathon will probably become a half.

That sucks, but short of me being miraculously better, I don’t see how I can do 26.2. I might be able to pull it off from a cardio stand point, but the pain in my leg would just about guarantee a DNF. I’m going to wait about one more week and then officially notify the race organizers of my desire to change.

I am indeed running the SOST

Though I only registered late last week, I am pleased to say that I will be among the field at this year’s Summer Open Sprint Triathlon. I thought about skipping it, but that would mean no race until the 5430 Sprint in June. I may be taking some chances with the weather, but I’m really hoping for another nice day like they had two years ago:

More Outdoor Rides

I was up in Northern Colorado for Easter weekend and managed to get a ride on the Poudre River Trail heading west. I must admit to being fairly impressed. Though I normally don’t like bike trails, this one was free of the normal obstacles and I got a good 30 mile ride in. Riding along, I noticed the landscape seemed kind of desolate. It looked a little bit like the pictures coming back from the Curiosity Rover:

West of Windsor                                  Mars

Really, just take away the grass and the clouds and I think it could work.

Physical Therapy Continues. As I mentioned before, I am continuing physical therapy. That mostly consists of having small needles poked into my muscles while I try not to cry like a little girl. I’m so anxious to have my leg healed that I’d be willing to try just about anything. Not getting to run very much really sucks. Never thought I’d say that, but it’s true.

I am going back to TriRock

I have registered for the TriRock Oly distance in San Diego. That will be on September 22. Their updated run and ride courses look good and the swim is still in San Diego Bay. This will be a good bridge between the Rattle Snake Tri and IM Austin 70.3.

I’m renting a bike in Ibiza

I found a rental shop on the Spanish island of Ibiza that is going to deliver a bike to the place I am staying for a two-day rental. My research on Garmin Connect shows that there are others who have done rides around the island. I am really looking forward to it. The GoPro will be with me so I can capture all of the fun.

Okay. All caught up.

For now it’s just focus on getting over this injury in as little time as possible. Right now, my worst case is completely withdrawing from the Colorado Marathon but I’m hoping the next month will give me a chance to get better and at least crank out the half. We’ll see.

Thanks for reading!

Race Report: Summer Open Sprint Triathlon

In climate like the one we have in Colorado, triathlon is a warm-weather sport. Nearly all of the major events in this state and those surrounding it occur between the middle of May and the end of September with the bulk occurring the summer months of June, July and August.

When I ran this race a year ago it was under blue skies and temperatures between the mid sixties and seventies.

Then there was yesterday.

We left home at 5:30 and as we headed north, sprinkles became showers which in turn became a down pour. I was concerned. I hoped for a break in the rain, but also told myself I'd better be ready to race in lousy conditions.

Fortunately, the rain did break as we got further north and by the time we arrived at Union Reservoir in Longmont, there was significant wind, but no precipitation.

This is a race that offers a race-day pick-up for a nominal $2 fee and I opted for this since Parker was not likely to be near any of the pick-up locations. It actually would not have been a bad drive, but I didn't know that at the time.

Getting my packet was easy with the only delay being waiting in line behind others who had opted for the same thing. But the volunteers worked efficiently and I don't think I had to wait even five minutes before I was on my way to the area outside transition to be body-marked and pick up my timing chip.

Transition was about half full when I arrived so I still managed to get a spot roughly in the middle of the area. I figured that was a good spot since the ends mean a lot more people running by you. The middle means a little more running to the end, but less chance of a collision with another racer.

Having been eight months since my last race, I was a little rusty in my transition area, but I managed to get set up with a fair amount of ease. Then it was off to the rather lengthy port-a-potty line to take care of my pre-race business. I probably waited 15 to 20 minutes in that line. Lots of people have pre-race business.

Back in transition I happily climbed into the lower half of my wet suit. With an outside temperature of only 50* or so, and the wind blowing hard off the lake, it was cold. Being clad in neoprene was sounding pretty good. I walked back to my car to drop off my transition bag and have my wife help me with zipping up. The suit is fine once it's on, but I've struggled getting all the way on without assistance.

That done, I managed to make a quick last stop in transition before it closed and grab my goggles and cap. Then it was off to the water to get a few strokes in before the start.

Yesterday not withstanding, we've had a very warm spring here on the Front Range and that meant temperatures in the lake were around 65* which is considerably warmer than the air. You could feel it. Last year, my first experience in open water involved a shock similar to having a bucket of ice water dumped on you including the short breathing and general feeling of shock. Not so today. It felt good after freezing in the cold wind on the beach. As you can see here, several of my fellow participants were doing likewise:

I'll grant you that 50* sounds pretty good in the dead of winter. But standing on the shore with the north wind carrying across the surface of the water and gusting up to 15 mph or so, I can assure, this was a very chilly environment. As I waited for my wave to start, I ran up and down the beach to stay warm. Even in the wetsuit, I felt a chill.

Just prior to the race, the director called out on the bullhorn for anyone who was freaked out by the water to come gather around him. This was due to the swells which I estimated to be around two feet high at their peak. Indeed, the waves were crashing on the beach the way they might along a gulf or bay. Nothing like the huge breakers you would see in Hawaii or Pacific Beach, California, but huge for a medium sized inland reservoir. He gave anyone who was troubled a no-swim or shortened swim option and a big shout-out to him for doing so. While nothing short of lightning or an unexpected release of piranhas into the water was going to keep me out, a lot of folks with limited swimming skills or minimal exposure to open water swimming were no-doubt fearful. Considering the fatalities that have occurred at races all over the country in the swim portion, it was a wise and thoughtful decision.

As for me, like I said. I was swimming. Waves be damned! I got shut out last year and I was not going to miss out on the swim again. Since the conditions were so rough, they put a lot of extra time between the each wave. Given that, I would imagine I probably started around 8:20 or so. I was not looking at the time. In fact, since I have not done an open-water race with a watch on before, I completely forgot to start my Garmin until I was near the first turn. Here's the partial track of what I did:



The swimming was sloppy, slow, ugly and tiring. I think I spent as much energy fighting the waves as I did propelling myself forward. In fact, I think I would have had a pretty good day in calmer water. Even without any advance preparation in the open, I've been swimming well and I think good form and efficient use of energy would have made a difference. But with huge waves knocking me around like I was a cork, it was rough. Nothing short of flying out to the ocean and swimming in it multiple times could have prepared me. Note to self, don't attempt any triathlons that involve an ocean swim!

A very slow 19:54 later, I hit the shore and gratefully climbed out of the water on my way to the bike:

Most of the way from the water to the transition area was carpeted which is nice given my own likely hood to stub a toe or scrape some skin off my feet. A series of small buckets and baby pools were also aligned so that I could rinse my feet before going into transition.

Once in the area, I finally pulled the wetsuit off my shoulders and was in the process of pulling of the sleeves when I discovered that the watch was going to be a problem. Even after removing the watch from the band, I struggled to get the sleeve off and lost a lot of time on something so stupid.

I'm going to need to find a better alternative if the watch is going to go swimming with me. More on that in a future post.

It's clear it's been a while since I transitioned (I did not train with bricks this year) because I also forgot to have my cycling shoes unbuckled. More time lost. Finally, I had everything ready, got out to the mount line and was on my way for the ride. Not the smoothest of mounts, but I did get both feet locked in on the first attempt and was on my way:

I've spent most of the early season riding in strong winds and unfortunately, this race was no different. Fortunately, on the areas where I was riding northward and more or less into it, there were more breaks in the form of houses, fences, trees etc. That's not to say that I didn't have to battle it, but I also was not going full on into a harsh gust. I felt a little tired but once I found my rhythm, I managed to keep a respectable speed up and even took advantage of the tail wind on the section where you go southward. This was especially helpful because on that section, there were no breaks to speak of. It's a criterion style course with three laps so I figure the wind more or less cancels itself out. The roads were also nice and smooth (except for the dirt at the beginning and end) which makes for a much nicer ride.



Leaving T2 and starting the run is, I think most triathletes will agree, the hardest part of the race. It was hard today, but less so than it has been on previous races. I also was dealing with that head wind, and nearly lost my visor as I exited onto the run course:

For the first quarter mile or so, I struggled to get my pace established and it felt like I was taking very short strides. However, as the distance grew, so did my stride-length and soon I found my pace well below 9:00 even as I went uphill. Going back down, I started running under 8:00. I think it was a combination of having done so many long runs, intervals and running in cool weather that made this the most successful part of the race for me. After my experiences at the Horsetooth Half Marathon the hill here looked almost flat. While my heart rate was high, it stayed below 150 or 85% of max for all but a few moments of the run. It ended up being my strongest event:



I finished strong and was pleased to hear my name called as I approached the finish line. It's a nice touch that good races do. SOST is no exception.

Here's my review of this year's race:

The bad:


When I talk about "the bad" I mean things that the race director and his/her staff could have done but didn't.  For example, they can choose a venue, but can't alter it. They can select a time of year where the historical weather is promising but can't control what happens on race day. In that light, I have only two, very small nit-picky items. That's all I could come up with:

Port-a-Potties: I counted eight of them including two designated just for "express use" only. I chuckled to see "#1 only" on the poster on the front of each. With 500 participants, and figuring at least 90% of them needed to make a visit, that's a ratio of 56 POH (per out house). I don't think anyone missed their start but I think probably two or four more would have been wise.

Medals: Without Limits Productions has made a point of doing something unique instead of the traditional finisher's medal. That's a great idea but for the last two years, it's been a beer pint glass. This year's was especially generic. I like pint glasses, but I've done a lot of races where I get a medal and a glass. I think they should start giving out finisher's medals. For those of us not expecting to see the view from the podium, it's a nice tangible piece of race memorabilia.

That's it, and I had to struggle to come up with those two.

The good:


Pre-Race Communication: Excellent. Multiple e-mails combined with updates to the website and Facebook page meant I knew all about this one during the week leading up to the race, including the water temperature. I think they struggled with this last year, but this year was a marked improvement!

On-site Support and Logistics: Another 'A' in my book. I had no problem getting my packet, chip or body marking. The woman doing the marking even held some of my stuff while I pulled off my hoodie. She, like all of  the volunteers I encountered, was friendly and helpful. It was a tough day to be out working the race and I tip my hat to all of them.

Attention to Safety: The water conditions really were intense and to the uninitiated, scary. Offering folks the chance to either stay out of the water or swim a shorter route was a good call. We'll never know, but it might have saved someone's life. If you think I'm being dramatic, see this item or this one. Race directors need to take this risk seriously. Lance Panigutti did and he deserves a lot of credit for it.

Course and Venue: I'll admit that this would be a lot more fun on a sunnier, warmer and calmer day, but this is a good spot for a race. It's a short run from water to transition and the transition area is spacious enough to allow one to move through it without bumping shoulders with fellow-competitors. In addition, closing the bike and run course to traffic means you only have to look out for other competitors. That's a real treat in races these days and one of the reasons to do this race.

Scheduling: I think this is about as early as you can have an all-outdoor event in Colorado and I'm glad someone is doing it. I don't think this, or any sprint, would ever be my 'A' race, but it sure is a good opportunity to start the season and shake down any flaws in training or technique.

Race Results: On the website by the afternoon after the race. I think 24 hours is a reasonable standard to publish results and these guys blew that away.

You never know what other races will come along and intrigue me, but absent that, I see no reason why I won't continue to come back again and again to do this one. I've had occasion to see a number of racing companies over the last year and I have to say that Without Limits is one of the best. In fact, I think they are good enough to start running events for outfits like WTC, Competitor and others. Colorado does not have Rev3 event? Maybe they should see about hiring these guys to put one on!

For me, I have a few things to work on before racing in Greeley on June 10. Chief among these is to practice my transitions. They need to be smoother and faster. Now that Grant Ranch has opened for the season, I'll also be out there doing my open water swimming and hopefully seeing improvement. I need to be better about using my Garmin. I'm denying myself some accurate timing data if I fail hit the Lap button at transitions and as I start each event.

Also, by no fault of the LBS who sold it to me, but by poor execution in production and distribution on the part of Blue Competition Cycles, I still do not have my tri bike almost two months after I ordered it. It seems that the wait my finally be over so I'm also hoping to see an improvement in bike speed. We'll see.

Final Results:

Swim: 19:54
T1: 3:14
Bike: 36:38
T2: 2:27
Run: 25:13
Total: 1:27:24

Finally, I have to say a big thanks to my wife, Tisha. Not only did she get up a 5:00 am just to come and watch me, but she stood out there in the freezing cold and took all of the pictures I used to illustrate this post. I'd do this without anyone there, but it sure means a lot that she was. Thank you sweetie! I love you very much!

Thanks for reading and have a great week ahead!

Race Report - Summer Open Sprint Tri...er...Duathlon

Yes you read that right. The Summer Open was changed from a triathlon to a duathlon. I learned this Friday when standing in line to pick up my packet. The heavy rainfall caused excessive runoff into Union Reservoir and the result was e coli levels that were four times the minimum safe level. As the race director put it this morning, it was not a question of if you got sick, just when and how bad.

While, of course, I don't want to get sick, I was still pretty disappointed. I've been training all of these months for a three sport event. Nevertheless, the race went on, so I did too.

It would have been a nice day for a swim. The sun was out, the air was warm but not hot and it just felt like the kind of spring day most of us have been waiting months to see.

We arrived at the race site just a little after 6:15. Parking proceeded smoothly and within a few minutes I was walking my bike over to the transition area. It was my first time in a transition area. In fact, it was the first time I had even seen one other than in pictures. The set up was good. Lots of racks and plenty of space to set up my area.

Like a lot of races, there was an element of hurry up and wait, thought that's really just the result of arriving nearly two hours early. The waiting was not bad.

Soon enough the pre-race instructions were done and the first two waves had started the two mile run which was the replacement for the canceled swim.  Being only two miles, it was fairly easy and I still had energy. There was one big hill included just to make things interesting:



My entry into T1 felt good and although I had not picked a landmark to identify it, my bike number came into clear view.

Just under a minute and a half later I was running out of transition toward the bike mount line:

As I mentioned in a post a couple of weeks ago I really like this bike course. I had been concerned about doing three laps, but the flat fast nature of the course made it a secondary consideration.

Plenty of people in the elite wave went by me, but I still maintained a good 19+ MPH pace.




It was a fairly bumpy ride in but I felt good as I dismounted and headed into T2:

Unlike some of the transitions during my bricks, the T2 actually went pretty well. I had my running shoes back on quickly and soon I was out on the 5K course. Like my bricks, the tightness, high heart rate and and a general feeling of exhaustion set in. I think this would have been the case even if the first leg had been a swim, but I also think that the second run was a lot harder.

The extra 1.1 miles of the second run consisted of a long drawn out hill. That was fine going down and my pace actually picked up below the 9:00 minute level. Not so true on the return. Indeed, by the time I turned in for the final 0.1 mile, I was pretty spent. No sprint to the finish for me:

I finished the entire race in 1:27:08 which is more or less on pace with my goal.

Generally speaking, I was fairly impressed with the job Without Limits did in putting this one on:

The bad:

Pre-Race Communication - My plans had originally been to pick up my packet at a triathlon shop in Boulder on Saturday. I was going to be up north anyway and it would have saved me the trouble of driving across town in rush hour traffic. At some point after the website went up, that shop was no longer a race sponsor and as a result, no longer a pick-up location. That sort of thing should have been communicated much sooner than it was.

Parking - The ability to park in the same lot that was being used for the transition area was advertised. It was said that the first 150 cars to arrive would enjoy this benefit. When we were sent to a lot further away, I figured there must have been a lot of people who showed up early and got those spaces. Much to my dismay, several late arriving participants and spectators were rewarded for their lateness by getting these spaces. It's important that, after you say what you will do, you do what you say. This was not a big deal, but I did get up very early this morning to ensure an early arrival.

The Good:

Transition - Lots of space and easy access without compromising security. I did see a few bikes get tipped over, but I think that was due to the carelessness of the participants, not the amount of space each of us had around our bikes.

Course - It was a challenging but very scenic run course. The view of the front range, with the sparkling lake in front of it, was remarkable. All the more so since this was on the return leg of the run and provided some extra motivation to finish strong. Additionally, the bike course was closed so I only had to keep an eye out for other riders. Cars were not a factor and that really is a plus.

Organization - Ignoring the fairly minor communication issue, the race--from packet pick-up to finish--was well organized. Issues such as informational announcements, course marshaling, and yes even porta-potties were handled well. Race day can be stressful enough so major kudos to the race directors for having their organizational house in good order.

Results - I would say less than twenty minutes after I finished, I was able to see my results on a multi sided post in the middle of the expo area. This was most impressive since they were obviously doing regular updates. Many races don't make optimal use of timing chips or they post results in a congested area where it's next to impossible to read them. Not so here. Another big shout out for that.

In summary, despite the disappointment of missing the swim--which was nobody's fault--I have a positive impression of this race. I'll be back next year and I hope for many years to come.