Forgot to post one this one- this race was actually back in August.
This year we changed up the podium a bit-- but the same top three as last year- I dropped to third on a poor run (a bit of stomach cramps) and Duncan moved into 2nd overall and Tim Oakes won it. Happy to share the podium with these guys, I was glad I could hang onto 3rd. Glo got 5th overall woman and got 2nd in her age group! Sweet.
October 11, 2009
September 25, 2009
Recent Races- Catch Kissena
I did the Catch Kissena handicap race in Prospect park on 9/19. I had looked forward to this race for a long time because the format really appealed to me and my desire to avoid traditional mass-start park paces in NY. It was a success for us, as we managed to hold off the chasing field and take all of the top spots (the top 20 or so). I loved it, as after a long period of doing triathlons, it was fun to operate in a well-oiled bike train. Sure there were occasional bobbles in the rotation, but we had an amazing "coxswain" (William Doyle-Capitman) coordinating between resting/reserve riders and the front rotation. I followed Lenny Katz and Greg Donovan followed me for a lot of the time, props to them both for being so solid and dealing well with my occasionally erratic bike handling. JP Partland took the win by popular acclaim. Not surprisingly Gloria slept in for this one. Super proud of my teammates.
August 08, 2009
June 20, 2009
Escape From Alcatraz Race Report
Photos Here Well, I survived the race, that's probably one of the most positive things I can say. I went into this race undertrained due to work and real-life commitments and expected to complete the course without drama (and maybe a good bike leg).
However, there was a further monkey wrench to be had. I managed to place myself right in the path of a sneeze from a very sick person on Thursday prior to the race. I knew this was bad news, and felt ill for the rest of the day on my flight to SFO. Friday, however, I felt well, and did my last workouts at Gloria's brother's athletic club with the lovely nieces and nephews Johnny, Elena and Mia. I spent the early morning hours of Saturday setting up my sweet borrowed (cyclocross) bike from a good roadie friend, (Sean Co) who lives in Berkeley. Then, disaster. I started to feel nauseated and all energy drained form my body, the virus had completed it's incubation period. I realized I had now started to get sick- damn that errant sneeze! I felt so bad that I didn't know if I would be able to participate in the race (especially as I was anxious about the legendary swim anyway).
We relocated to the house of Gloria's good friends Holly and Doug that lived literally a few hundred yards from the transition zone for the last night prior to the race. I spent a restless night, not knowing if I would even go to the start. However, when my alarm went off, the adrenaline kicked in and I felt actually OK. I racked my bike and boarded the San Francisco Belle, the paddle steamer that takes you to the start at Alcatraz Island. Advice: get on the Belle early so you can grab a prized piece of floor around the perimeter, unless you want to stand up for an hour and a half.
The swim start was rough, with all 2000 participants unloaded in 6 minutes, There was a lot of contact and flailing to be had, but the chaos cleared after about 10-15 minutes. At least the water was a warm (for SF) mid fifties, and I didn't notice the cold (thanks Coach Cane for the hood!). The current was slow this year and times were slow as well, I hit the exit right on and changed into my backup shoes for the long run to the transition.
The bike felt great for the first 5 miles or so, and I loved passing people on my steel 'cross bike with box section rims and 28 mm wide tires as they were riding their tricked-out tri rigs and Zipp 909's. Then the bug that I was afflicted with (could it have been H1N1?) made itself known and I ran out of fuel. I dialed it back until kids on tricycles were passing me, and limped into transition knowing that a long and hilly 8 miles awaited me. I had fun on the run, jogging it in, joking with my fellow competitors, walking the 400-step sand ladder, and making it back to the finish and my boo-ful Gloria, our friend Alyse (who was volunteering) and my lovely Uncle Tom who had come out to take photos. I was actually heartened by my top 10% finish, as if I can finish that high in a big national qualifier-only triathlon while ill, what can I do while well? I guess we will see at Philly next weekend. Thanks to everyone who came out and helped me with this one, sorry I was so bummed out, my apologies I was sick. I spent the next week in bed.
May 26, 2009
May 15, 2009
April 19, 2009
March 24, 2009
January 31, 2009
November 27, 2008
The Anti-Hole Shot at Whitmore's Cross
Its 'crossing time again, and Glo and I went the Whitmore's Cyclocross race in the Hamptons last weekend, braving the freezing conditions and arctic wind. At the start, I was not only pretty far back, but due to my inability to buckle my helmet with thick gloves on, I started at least 200 yards behind everyone else. It was part of my plan to start at the rear of the field anyway, as I haven’t done a ‘cross race for years, and it is widely known that for every triathlon completed, one loses a small modicum of bike handling skills (assuming one had any to begin with). Given the number of tris I have done in the last two years, my bike handling skills are now not even on a par with those of my teammate Neil Ross's 3 year old son Hugo, whom I saw do a beautiful flying remount on his tiny bike over the weekend, the kid is ‘cross crazy!
Anyway, the first part of my plan (to start at the rear) went perhaps too well, but at least I was able to hit the first few sections with minimal traffic and get a feeling for the bike. I started passing people by the barriers and it was a pass-fest from there on. My handling skills came back alright, though after a few laps I started hitting lousy lines out of fatigue. My lack of workouts and excessive calorie consumption of late have conspired to endow me with a beer gut of Jan-Ullrich-in-the-offseason proportions, which is harder to move around the course and probably throws off my balance. Luckily in the masters B field people are nice and let you pass if you look like you can pull it off. I get the feeling the other fields might not have been so nice. I worked my way up to Kissena riders Dave, Gui, Eloy, and Ian, and watched how they handled the course, trying to learn a few things from these guys with more experience. I also had trouble keeping the feeling in my hands (did anyone mention it was cold?), which made shifting/braking and holding onto the handlebars difficult. There was also a steep section that most of those guys had no trouble riding, but I felt more comfortable running, so I guess I need to work on my power. However, the most important thing I learned is about the “bell” lap. There is a lot of cowbell ringing in cross, and when I went through the finish area after about 28 minutes or so, I thought I heard one being rung by someone near the officials, and I thought to myself ”I know this race is 40 minutes, so this can’t be the bell lap…” and wrote the bell off as being wielded by an enthusiastic spectator Well, as it turned out, yes, it could be the bell lap, and I was waved to a halt when I next crossed the finish line after 35 minutes or so. I thought ‘crossers were tough, and if anything the race would be longer than 40 minutes. Maybe in Europe. Lesson learned, 8th in my category. It was amazing to watch the guys in the other categories fly over the course after we were done. I was psyched after the race and ALMOST did the Sunday race, but ended up having to get back to the city earlier than expected, I will do the race next Sunday in Staten Island, anyone want to hop in the zipcar?
I put some photos up here
http://picasaweb.google.com/nshorne/200811WhitmoreSCross?authkey=b7SI9ExROO8#
