"Got The Nerve" Race Report

Drove out of Mount Joy yesterday on my way to Got The Nerve and saw the thermometer: 45 degrees. I thought to myself, that's only 13 degrees above freezing, and it has been a cold damp week, and Mount Gretna Lake is filled by small mountain streams...this was going to be a another Polar Bear Plunge.

I arrived at Gretna early and and was one of the first ones to get set up. I enjoy having a lot of time to prepare and relax. I can't sleep once I hear the birds outside, so rather than lay in bed, I like to get moving to get rid of the nervous energy. Followed the same ritual/set-up procedures from last week with the exception of tying my running shoes ahead of time. After a slow T2 transition last week, because of cold hands and the inability to tie my shoes, I opted to run in shoes that were a little less snug. Saw a lot of people I knew including students, friends, co-workers and acquaintances I have met through triathlons and enjoyed chatting with them while setting up. The sun was beginning to rise over the trees and it was starting to warm up and become a beautiful day for racing. Went for a 20 minute run with form drills, and it was a good thing I did, because the strap holding my timing chip broke. When I returned it to the tent the guy said, "that's odd, that never happens." Well it did, but at least it happened during warm-up. Returned to my gear and got my wetsuit on for the swim.

Swim

We had five minutes to jump into the lake before the first wave went off and I took advantage of it. The water was definitely colder than last week at Pinchot, but again, after the initial shock of a little water seeping down the top of the suit, everything was okay. I swam a few strokes then got out to await the start. We started from the beach and I decided that this year, I wasn't going to be timid. I got in the front, and went out with the pack and muscled and clawed my way to the first buoy. Last year I panicked when I bumped into people, this year I stood my ground, or should I say "water." I got into a rhythm rather quickly and established a consistent bilateral breathing pattern. Things were going smooth. I was hanging with the pack and even began to overtake swimmers from the first wave, but then I noticed the water appeared darker. I looked up to mark and, damn, I was in the shadow of the trees, which meant I veered slightly off-course. I quickly adjusted and made it to the next buoy and headed in. I swam hard and didn't stop swimming until I touched bottom. Stood up, wobbled a little, but had a good run up to the transition area.

Bike

After a fast transition, for me, I was out on the road. I don't know what it is about the course at Gretna, but once again, I had trouble clicking into my pedals. This didn't cost me a lot of time, but while I was fiddling around, I noticed a a guy with a "45" on his calf pass me, so I knew I had to play catch-up with him. I finally managed to get clipped in, and off I went. I was moving fast, but wasn't gaining ground on "45." We got to the first hill, which is one of the biggest hills on any course I have ever raced on, and I Wes able to reel in a few bikers, but not "45." He manged to stay about 50 yards ahead of me. I did, however, reel in one person in my age group on the hill, so I moved up a little in the standings. The ride went well, but the wind picked up and we were pushing head winds at times, which slowed me down a little. No matter what I did "45" stayed 50 yards ahead of me. At one point, I thought of making a move, but a truck passed me then stopped in front of me at a stop sign, I was screaming, Go, Go!! and the volunteer at the intersection was waving frantically for him to get moving, but he was oblivious as to what was going on. I lost momentum and had to shift down, and this was the last time on the bike that I had a chance to catch "45." Although I didn't catch "45" I did pass two other riders in my age group, so I knew I was moving up. I would have to make my hay on the run.

Run

Transition went well, but it was slightly slower than last week. Part of this was because even though I had my shoes pre-tied, I started to run with my bike helmet on, so I had to take a few seconds to run back and take it off. The run course a Gretna, begins with a small, but taxing incline. I could feel that my quads were tight, so I shortened my stride and took it easy going up the hill. Once over the top, I could feel my legs loosen a bit and I opened it up. No sooner did I begin to feel loose than, lo and behold, my old friend "45" appeared. Maybe I could not catch him on the bike, but I had no problem catching him on the run. I went by him fast and, he never went with me, so again, I moved up in the standings. Got to the rail trail and was feeling good, but winded. The first part of the trail is on a slight decline, so I had a chance to settle down a little and drop my heart rate, During this time I came upon another runner in my age group and sat on him for about 400 yards, once my heart rate dropped I made a move on him and he didn't go with me either. Moved up another place. I got my legs under me much quicker than last week and really was able to open it up the last 1.5 miles and had fun picking people off including two more in my age group. Again, I remembered the words from my friend Rob Duffield, who said to me at last years race when I was staring to flag, "finish with dignity." I found another gear and sprinted home to the finish, passing one more runner in my age group, which turned out to be the one I needed to pass to place.

Results and Final Comments

63rd overall; 3rd in my age group, WOOHOO!! more hardware (Actually, glassware. They gave out pint glasses to the winners with our place on it)

Swim, 12:43 (2:33 pace); T1, 1:36; Bike, 46:52 (19.3 mph); T2, 1:14; Run, 22:23 (7:13 pace)

* My swim time was only slightly better than last year, despite feeling that I swam faster. After talking to people, everybody swam slower this year than last year. It could have been the cold water, but I think the course was slightly longer. Others felt the same way.

* I still need to work on transitions. With limited time to train, it's hard to devote training to just transitions, but I have to come up with some time-saving procedures.

* Do I want to do an Olympic distance triathlon? I don't know. I'm in good enough shape, but the thought of being in the water for 1500m doesn't thrill me. It's not the ability to swim 1500m, and it's not the fear of being in open water for that long. It's the slowness of swimming that drives me nuts. I'm thinking I will try to do two more sprints this year and continue to work on my technique then undertake an Olympic distance.

* Training for triathlons is more fun than training for marathons; racing in triathlons is more fun than running marathons. With that said, training for Boston is largely why I'm more successful this season. Guess I'll have to do Boston again next spring. Why not, there's nothing else to do over the winter

* SEALs bonk; Marines finish. My buddy was on a relay team with a Navy SEAL who was doing the swim leg. He never finished the course. I heard, however, that his hair looked good and that he had cool sunglasses.

* Once again Chris Kaag put on another quality event. The organization was superb and the volunteers were outstanding, OOHRAH!!!

* Congratulations to Manheim Township students Josh Sindorf and Sean Delaney. They finished first and second respectively in their age group.