On the shores of Cutchogue's Cedar Beach Sunday, I again ventured into the wet and wild world of competitive multi-sport racing, participating in the
2008 Mighty North Fork Triathlon. Thankfully, I lived to tell about it here on morganobrien.com.
In April, I covered my
first venture into the world of Long Island triathloning. In rereading that piece, I see that my main focus was to build off my experiences from that event and make less mistakes the next time out. Primarily, I was concerned about slashing my transition times and prepping for a smooth transition into the run. And while there's certainly room to improve--there's always room to improve--I was very pleased after completing Sunday's race.
This event was sprint distance, encompassing a 500m open-water swim, an 8-mile bike and a 3.5 mile run. As an added bonus, the event included a Clydesdale division for those strapping 200 pounders like myself. Excuse me for a moment here,
- Now, I knew I had to hoof it and make hay to have a good time.
- Also, I had to allow myself only positive thoughts--no room for neigh-sayers.
- Being a Clydesdale opened up a new opportunity for me here, a chance to place, so it was important that I didn't look this gift horse in the mouth.
- I'd never want to saddle myself with unrealistic expectations.
- I bet Lindner and Cameron will make fun of this piece. Enough of their horseplay.
- This event was the mane event of my weekend.
Ahem, back to the regularly scheduled article.
In researching last year's results, I saw that the Clydesdale winner dropped a 1:01 and it would take a 1:04 to medal. I also wanted to beat Andrew Cameron's 2006 pace where he threw down an impressive 23: 28 in the run en route to a solid 1:05:42.
Between the two, I had a good idea of how I wanted to finish. It is important to note that Andrew Cameron is decidedly not a Clydesdale.
We left the O'Brien Compound-East at 0500 Sunday morning and made it around Riverhead and up to the North Fork in about 45 minutes. Getting there early was beneficial because the transition areas were a little more open, so you could set yourself up without fear of moving other people's things. After putting everything in place, I turned around and saw none other than Pete Lindner, of CHS '99 and Va. Tech. '03 fame. What a thrill. He was doing well and is apparently on a "bride's diet" because his fiance, the lovely Meg, is already in game shape for the big day later this summer.
After catching up, it was into the water for the swim. Mortal men went in the first wave. Women, children, relay participants and Clydesdales went in the second wave. The water was much warmer than I expected, and swimming in salt water is preferable to swimming in a pool. I had never competed in an open-water swim before. I didn't make the investment for a wet suit, but bought a rash guard. I figured that if this is how our Olympians role, I could be sleek in a rash guard.
In hindsight, I should have worn shoulder pads. Open-water swimming is a contact sport. I had enough 40-year-old woman hit me in the face that I began to have flashbacks of growing up under the wrath of Susie O'Brien.
Now I don't swim nearly as much as I like, but I broke away from pack and hit the turn at a 4:40 pace, and was pretty happy. As we came back in, there were a bunch of guys running in the water like MJ rehabbing his ankle in '85. That pissed me off because it wasn't the spirit of the race. I got out of the water and hit the transition point at 10:59, which is about where I wanted to be (it takes a little longer on the back end because you have to get out of the water and run up the beach a little).
In T1, I was on fire, slipping off my swim cap and rash guard en route to my bike. I threw on my shoes and was out with my mount at 2:36.
The first thing I did on the bike was eat a goo pack (no, it was not oat flavored). I didn't want my calves to cramp again when I started the run. We all know what happens when equines pull up lame.
In reality, what I should have done was hire a sherpa. When did the North Fork get all topographic? Is this a recent phenomenon? Man, those hills were lethal. They're sneaky steep, too. You might call them rolling hills.
My goals on the bike were to hydrate, replenish electrolytes and mash my gears. I downed a bottle of water and another goo pack before finishing and maintained my place through virtually the whole ride. While I would have liked to have ridden faster, I clocked in at 24 minutes, a solid 20 mile per hour pace on the nose.
I was thrilled with T2, where I slipped off my bike shoes and ran with my bike to the rack. I had invested in speed laces on my running shoes, so I was out of the chute in 1:16, in the top 100 of finishers, no small feat for a guy that had to change shoes, unlike competitors that wear the same thing on the bike and run.
You begin the run along the beach. That's a tough transition because you feel like you're trudging through mud. I was excited that my calves didn't cramp again, but didn't feel like I hit my stride until about a mile in. At the two mile mark, someone ran up behind me and said, "Nice going, sweet cheeks." To which I replied "F*ck of--oh, hi Lindner." Lindner passed me in vintage form. It was like the end of Eight Men Out when Buck Weaver watched a semi-pro game with some kids whispering about a certain outfielder. Weaver said, "Nah, he was the best. He could hit, throw, run. None of those guys are around now." Ok, Lindner couldn't hit or throw, but he could run, dropping a 4:25.07 in the 1600 way back when.
I finished the run in 28:40, which is way too slow for someone that runs as much as I do. There's no reason not to break an eight minute pace. A wild stallion must gallop free.
All told, I crossed the finish line in 1:07:29, about 3 minutes from where I wanted to be (so I need to improve about a minute per discipline). That was good enough for 114th overall and fifth place among Clydesdales (I was a minute and a half from medalling), so I would probably make Augustus Busch's hitch, but I wouldn't be the lead pony. I could complain, but I don't want to make myself hoarse.
TRI-NOTES: The shirts were burgundy colored (a shout to the North Fork's rich wine country) cotton shirts, ok, but not anything I'd wear to church or anything like that...There were these ridiculous Ocean Life Guards that should really consider competing in the 2008 Ms. Fitness USA competition. How'm I supposed to focus on the swim with them out there? Just saying...The summer shakes out with a return to Eisenhower with the Mini Mightyman on Aug. 2...We signed up for the Mighty Hamptons, where we'll have home field advantage, on Sept. 14 (Olympic Distance, so I'll invest in a wet suit) and close out the season in the Montauk Mightyman Sprint in early October.
