Month: September 2019

How not to run a race (The Blacklight Run) – 9/14/19

I understand and accept that no race is going to go off perfectly. As a RO/RD, you can plan for every eventuality, every contingency and even put pre-emptive Darwin Awards measures in place. But it won’t stop [X] from happening — specifically [X] that no one could ever think of happening. When something like that does happen, it really hasn’t been a big deal. They did everything right, and something out of their control just happened. HOWEVER, The Blacklight Run Chicago does not fall into that category.

To begin with, their ‘free’ race was not really free. This ‘free’ race registration required you to make a mandatory donation to a charity in addition to paying a facility fee. Quite odd to mandate this, as well as then charging you the registration percentage on it. But looking at it as a 5K for < $15, I went along with their process.

I had registered for both this race and a similar one that they did in May. I had believed it would be a very simple conversation about my guide, especially since it appeared that they wanted people there. If not, then why do a ‘free’ entry that kept getting pushed? However, it took me having to reach out to the Chicagoland Speedway before this RO got the message that the ADA needs to be followed. I’ve got the e-mail chain to show just how unhelpful their staff was initially. And then within a VERY short time of calling the Speedway, it was all resolved.

The next issue with this event was the parking. I remember seeing something early on from the RO along the lines of ‘Parking is $20 (cash). We have specifically told the tow companies to watch for people parking on side streets. You will be towed if you do.’ IMO, that sort of message smacks of bullying. But we went along with it. I’ll admit that I did get some satisfaction from handing them a bag of change to pay for the $20 BS parking.

As I had to do packet pickup that evening, we arrived in plenty of time. Once it started to get dark, we moved towards the starting area. As usual, we seeded ourselves far enough back to ensure that it could be a safe, good run. As they were sending people off in waves, I thought we’d be even better off.

However, things did not go well throughout the race. I would estimate that at least 90% of the people were walking. There were some others running, but they were having the same issues that we were. You would be able to run for about 150-200 feet and then a pocket of people walking across the ENTIRE path would stop your progress. I don’t have an issue with people walking. But the overwhelming percentage of people go with walk right, run left. So overall, we were able run about 1m total.

The Blacklight zones on the course were interesting, and lived up to what they were supposed to be. On the other hand, the aid station did not. To that point, every single aid station in the 100+ events (Tri and running) that I’ve done have had COLD beverage options, pre-set and ready for people to grab. Hell, even during the Half where I had horrible calf issues and we were beyond the race finish, there were still cold jugs of water for us to self-pour from. Last night, their idea of an ‘aid station’ was to set up empty cups on a table, then have you wait in line. When you got to the front of it, someone filled the cup with warm water from a garden hose. Utter, utter BS.

The final straw of the evening was how their staff acted post-race. I’ll admit that I was beyond pissed with the cummulative BS of the evening. When I talked to the Assistant RD, he said that (a) the RD was out on the course, (b) the RD wasn’t reachable and (c) I’d have to go through their ‘helpful’ CS team. Again, I’ve NEVER seen a situation where the RD is unreachable. I’m quite sure that Marconi didn’t just invent them today…

I have already reached out to their CS for a FULL refund. And I’ve also contacted the SPeedway. I truly hope that the Chicagoland Speedway takes the appropriate actions to ensure that others don’t have to go through this absurdity. It was the Blacklight Walk, NOT the Blacklight Run. Had it been promoted as what it ruly was, I would not have wasted the almost $38 that I did.

Finally, if you want a well organized, fun and TRUE night run, I strongly suggest the GloRuns done by AllCommunityEvents. I believe Amita Health is the title sponsor for these races that are held across the country.

USABA / USAT VI ID Camp (9/4-8/19)

Last August, I was given an amazing opportunity to be at the OPTC for the first Visually Impaired (VI) Talent ID Camp. Even though I struggled during that camp (see last year’s blog post), I still learned a tremendous amount from it.

Even though there have been unexpected and unplanned bumps throughout this season, I’ve seen an upward trend. I had hoped to have the opportunity to be there again this year. While I wasn’t given a spot initially, I was fortunate to be given one off the wait list.

Last year, I suffered from the altitude adjustment and from trying to do a long bike ride in Tri shorts. Going into this year, I intended to do a run in CO pre-camp and had bibs for the longer ride. So after running errands Wednesday morning, Larry and I went to the track and ran 2 miles. As expected, it was absolutely, positively no fun. Even doing 1/2 mile repeats was a challenge since my body wasn’t yet acclimated. However, it was worth it in the long run.

Something that I’ve said before and will say again is that you can’t do this sport without a lot of trust. You’re putting your life in someone else’s hands, especially on the bike. For me, as long as my guide is an experienced Triathlete and has a good attitude, it’s all going to work out. I’ll always share what I need with a new guide before we do a practice or race. Taking that small amount of time leads to success, even if they’re a first-time guide.

The first full day of camp was packed. We started on the Colorado College track for a strenuous workout. I was glad to have done the warm ups the day before with Larry. Because of that, the first session with Jace went much better. That’s not to say it was easy by any means though. We ended up doing a warmup followed by dynamic stretching work and then 3x 400/200/400/200 (run/walk) with a focus on negative splits. During that last session, one of the coaches showed me a way to improve my run strike/run stride. It was odd and a bit painful at first, but I knew / know it will pay off long-term.

After a strength session and lunch, we were in the OPTC pool for the first time. While the altitude created some struggles for me during the early set, it wasn’t as bad as last year. I would say that I wasn’t feeling it that much by about 500-600 into the set. The main set was full of drills, during which I was trying to watch/focus on the left arm catch. While the right is usually OK, the left has far more drag — and is something that I’ve been working on with a private coach as well.

After the swim and time to finish bike builds, we headed out to do bike skills. For safety reasons, they had the pilots ride over solo while the stokers were in the vans. I’m sure that drivers in Colorado Springs had some interesting comments when they say 10 tandems ride by with just one person on them. After working out some minor issues with starts and stops, Jace and I went through all of the different drills without incident. He was able to successfully maneuver us around those small two legged obstacles. Once done there, the day ended with a Sports Psychology classroom session.

While the next day only had two sessions, it was more challenging than the previous day. It started with 4.8mi Gold Camp repeats. Even with losing 20-30 minutes having to address a tire puncture, we made it up / down almost twice. The van turned us around about 80-85% of the way back up the 2nd time because of time constraints. It’s a long uphill climb, where you feel like you’re going through mud a times. But it’s well worth doing and an amazing hill workout. Oh, and coming down Gold Camp is a tremendous amount of fun. 🙂

The afternoon swim session was an Open Water Skills (OWS) session. It included a warmup, drills and all of the standard things you’d do in open water in a race. We also had the assistance of two coaches (Beck and Kelly) that were there for the PT Coaching Certification Clinic during the session. It ended with us doing two full race simulation laps.

In 2007, when Coach O put us through the paces like we new recruits during the first day of spring ball, I remember walking around the IPF track in a daze post-workout. My brain was fighting my body at that point. I had a similar feeling after these two sessions, and it took a good deal of sugar to get me back to ‘normal’ so that I didn’t fall asleep during the classroom sessions.

The next day included the Triple Brick session and another pool session. Each of the bicks was T1->bike (5K)->T2->run (1mi), with a focus on negative splitting per brick. Throughout our sessions, the transitions kept decreasing, the runs were about constant and the bikes were on target.

The meat of the swim session was a 16×50 workout. These were broken down into 3 ‘active recovery’ and 1 fast. For me, I can do a fast 25 okay. But after that 25, the motor dies a bit. Even still, we made it through the workout, which finished with a coach/guide race.

The final day was an optonial swim workout. It was a good opportunity to practice the drills that we had done throughout the camp. It also had more of the 4×50 drills…

I am truly grateful to have had this amazing opportunity again in 2019. While it’s a short stay, I always learn a LOT at the camps I’ve been at at the OPTC. And what I’ve learned has helped me to improve across all phases of Triathlon.

THANK YOU to everyone that made this possible, all the coaches for their time and sharing their knowledge, Larry for his help in getting to/from Denver and Jace for guiding for me. He did an amazing job as my guide and I hope to work with him again!

Du Chicago (Chicago Triathlon) – 8/25/19

Throughout the summer, I went into the city for Dare2Tri’s bike / swim sessions and Chicago Tri Club’s swim / run sessions.  After the issues in June, the focus behind them was getting ready for Chicago.  Even during the ‘washing machine’ swims, things went well for the most part.  All of this was great practice for what was to be my Tri season finale.

Knowing that traffic / road closures could cause delays Sunday morning, I decided to do packet pickup myself.  IMO, the Expo is set up like a Vegas casino – in that even when you see an exit, it isn’t always an exit.  At least pick up went smoothly once I finally found the right place to start at.  Having gotten all of the race materials, and just as important, the alcohol bracelet, I was set to do the Tri.  And then the water decided not to play nicely…

The first e-mail dropped the swim to 750 for everyone and offered people the option of a Du.  When that happened, I told Eric that I still wanted to do the full Tri.  Unfortunately, early Sunday morning it became a mandatory Du.

Upon making it into the city, we ran into lots of closed streets and delays.  The closest we were able to get at 6:30 was Navy Pier.  So it was a mile walk to transition.  Eric met me at the entrance, and we still had plenty of time to set everything up.  As a Du, the set up was much more simple (just helmet, sunglasses and bottles on/next to bike).

After making sure that everything was properly set and we had the layout for ‘swim out’, bike in/out and run out properly mapped, we made our way to the start.  It’s a 3/4 mile walk that is best done in shoes.  Even if it hadn’t been a Du, I still would have been in shoes pre-swim.  But with it being Run/Bike/Run, I just walked there in my run shoes.

Given the duplicate run leg, I had planned to do the first one more slowly than normal.  I figured that this would save my legs for the second run.  After we started in a time-trial type one, the pace was a little bit faster than I had planned.  We ended up passing a few of my Dare2Tri teammates, making it to T1 in about 8:15.

After a quick T1, we headed out on a challenging 15.8mi bike.  Because one side of Lake Shore Drive was closed, the bike was reversed.  You could tell who didn’t pay attention during the briefings – those were the ones riding right.  They were also the ones serving penalties at mile 1 of the run. 

As with the past several bike legs, we passed a tremendous amount of people during it. We had a tailwind on the way out, which helped us to almost catch Alberto and Justin.  But we paid for that wind ‘help’ on the way back – doing hills into a headwind aren’t fun.  Even still, Eric told me that we topped out at 39.8 and had an average of 21.

We had a solid T2 and left it just seconds behind Alberto and Justin.  The first 1.25 miles went well, and then the hills came into play.  I remembered the first one at about 1.5 from 2017.  However, because of course changes, we had a ‘new’ second one at about 1.8.  With the heat and climbs, I ended up having to walk part of these hills.  As we were at about 2.2, Val and Andrew came past us headed the other way.  While I was starting to struggle, my main thought was ‘I need to finish strong and not let the bike go to waste’. 

Going into the race, I knew that I was giving 5-7 minutes up on the run to Alberto and Val.  With that solid bike, I had probably 12 minutes on Val going into the run.  I would have been distraught for giving up 13 minutes on the run.  Even though the last mile was a moderately painful run/walk, I turned it on when we made the final turn and finished strong.

A huge THANK YOU to Eric and to Dare2Tri for all of their support.  Not just during the race, but also leading up to it.  Eric was my pilot during many of those bike sessions.

Rock the Quarry – 8/17/19

Last year, Rock the Quarry was just ‘some race’ that I happened to find on Running in the USA.  It was simply a replacement race for having lost Naperville.  But after how much I enjoyed it last year, it was a definite race and one I looked forward to.

As well, last year we were in a wave with a single other AWD (Athlete With Disability) participant.  It was amazing that they held the race until we were both out of the water.  This yea, we were part of the normal AG wave.  The M35-39 wave was large, and it wasn’t a ‘normal’ start.  To ensure that we weren’t swum over, Michael had us towards the back.  We probably lost 45-60 seconds on the water entry because of how things were set up.

Once in the water, the swim went okay.  There was one point where swimmers from wave 4 (the next male wave) caught up with us.  When one of the participants from that wave swam right over me, I lost my stroke and then time having to restart in open water.  Once I was able to get re-started, we made our way back to the shore without incident.

There is quite a long run from swim out to the transition racks.  After making it there, T1 went decently and we headed out on the bike.  The 15 miles went by quickly with a couple interesting and one dangerous incident —

1)  As it’s Amish country and there are open roads, you can sometimes run into a horse and buggy.  We did again this year and made the pass around both it and the horses without any incident.  A hoof to the bike can ruin your day…

2)  Seeing the two AWD teams and their support teams on the course.  As a ParaTriathlete, I love seeing other AWDs at these local races. 

3)  One of the most important bike ones is ride right, pass left (unless specifically stated otherwise).  That’s important on any course, but especially on this one where you do an S curve under a railroad trestle.  Coming out of it going out, we had someone pass us on the right-hand side.  The asshat did that to someone else a bit further on as well.  I really wish that Michael or I had gotten his bib number.  People like that should really be Dqed.

Also on the bike, we passed a tremendous number of people.  As in the past several races, we got the smartass ‘you’re cheating’ joke.  If someone wants to trade me their 20/20 eyes, I’ll gladly give up the tandem…  But I won’t hold my breath for that…

T2 went as well as T1, after which we made the long run onto the run course.  Loop 1 went okay.  However, on loop 2, the head and humidity took its toll.  It became a walk/run, with the last 1/2 – 3/4 mile being in pain.

While there were issues on the swim and run, I did still manage to shave about 90 seconds off of my 2018 time. 

Naperville Sprint Tri – 8/4/19

Last year, a broken crank sidelined me from the race.  I tried everything I could to make it work, but had to eventually throw in the towel.  So I was really looking forward to this year’s race.

Upon getting to the race site, I was surprised in the dark.  I thought that I knew where my ‘stalker’ was at that weekend.  But they surprised me by being there.  Their note pre-race was ‘finish faster’. 

In past years, we’ve been immediately behind the elites.  While it’s been a privilege to be that far up-font, it’s come at a price.  Simply because we’d have those able to do 5-6 minute swims swimming over us.  To counteract this, we seeded ourselves towards the back of the pack.  This helped some, but didn’t solve all of the issues.  Especially since it seemed like they went from a lane-line barrier to a more solid one.  Even with a couple of hiccups, it was still a decent swim.

After doing a reasonably quick T1 for the distance, we headed out on the bike.  As in Lake Zurich, we passed a tremendous amount of people on the double loop.  I was hoping to see the Para Relay team while we were on the bike, but we didin’t.  It also got a little hairy towards the turnaround on the 2nd loop.  At this point, the participants of the Kids Tri were on the bike course.  While some weren’t as familiar with the rules, Lee was able to keep us safe and [eventually] get them to ride properly so we could pass.

Arriving back in T2, I drained about half the bottle of Skratch before we headed out on the run.  While I remembered most of the course from 2017, I had forgotten about an important hill on River.  Even still, the portion through the woods and over the bridge was solid.  So were spurts along River.  However, when we hit Aurora in the heat and humidity, things broke down a bit.

While it wasn’t a perfect race, I did end up shaving 14 minutes off my 2017 time.