Race Report - 11th Annual Steelman Triathlon

There are some races that end up as a one-off event, either because it is a destination race or the race just sucked and you don't want to go back. Others appear on your race schedule year after year. For me, there are a number of races I do most every year because I like the event or I like the cause. Thanksgiving morning I am usually in Nazareth, PA for the annual Pumpkin Pie 5k. A lot of my friends are there and it raises a fair sum of money for the Nazareth YMCA. There may be consumption of the complimentary donuts as well.

The Steelman Triathlon is different. Held at Lake Nockamixon in Quakertown, PA, it is close to home on roads and trials I like. I have done this race every year I have been involved with triathlon except for 2006 and 2011 when I raced Ironman Lake Placid just two weeks prior. If Steelman were about going out and just "having fun" I would have been there those years as well. Steelman, for me anyway, is an opportunity to throw down and see what I have in me. Steelman is a chance to compete in a familiar setting on a course that is consistent from year to year.

This year's race was this past weekend on Sunday August 9th. With my previous two races being defined by horrible weather and weather-related changes made to the race course, it was nice to get a nice day with no unexpected surprises.

Pre-Race

If you are going to race here you have to get up early. Start time is 7 am but due to limited parking (due to the approx. 1,000 competitors), you either show up early or you park on the other side of the park. So wake up for The Queen and I came at 4:30 am with a departure from home just after 5 am. The ride down Rt. 412 was quite. Much to my surprise, parking turned out to be just perfect this year. For some reason, even with my relatively late arrival (and cars being parked in the upper lots) I scored a spot at the marina. No post-race hill climb back to the car this year!!!

Dale offers race-day packet pickup, a very nice luxury, which is as easy as it gets. Thank you for that Dale!!! From there I got my transition area set up, took care of the port-o-john business, then hung around till my 7:10 start time.

Swim: 1500M 22:55

Strava File

Last year I had close to a perfect swim that I did not expect to repeat. My goal in the water was simply to swim smart, draft as much as possible, and exit the water at the front of my swim wave.

Fortunately this is exactly what happened. After taking off hard I found a set of slightly faster feet within the first 150 meters. The quick start had me anaerobic, but the draft allowed me to dial back to a sustainable effort.

My lead out was a good swimmer, easily maneuvering the back of the waves in front of us while getting around the first two turns efficiently. One problem I tend to have is passing whomever I am drafting on the turns, but not this time around.

Unfortunately, on the back side of the swim the person I was drafting started to swim off course. I quickly found another set of feet to sit on, finishing the swim without having to burn any matches, in an official time of 22:55.

T1: 2:33

Last year I had trouble getting my wetsuit off. This year ... I had trouble getting my wetsuit off. In fact, I would guess I lost a good minute fooling around with it. The biggest problem I had was the left leg got caught on the huge timing chip I had around my left ankle. (Note to LinMark - invest some money in modern equipment and get rid of the timing chips that were new technology 10+ years ago.)

Basically, any chance I had of a PR disappeared the moment I had to sit down to remove that damn wetsuit.

Bike: 40K 1:04:09

Strava File

The course profile is one that plays to my strengths. I find a flat course to be rather boring and enjoy the challenge of dealing with varying terrain. Here you get a bit of everything. The race starts with a short, steep climb right out of transition, follows that with two loops of various types of rolling terrain, and concludes with a short, steep downhill back into transition. If there were any course I feel comfortable on, this would be it.

So after a very short flat section I dropped into my 39 CR and comfortably headed up the first climb and through the park, using the 1.5 miles in the park to get myself situated. Once onto the two loops on route 563 it was game on.

My first loop I passed a good number of people from the waves in front of me, including both Lauren and Cassie who had started in the wave just prior to mine, as well as the two guys in my age group who out swam me. I had a feeling this would not be the last I would see the ladies as they are both great cyclists as well as more fleet footed than I am. While I wanted to put as big a gap as possible between me and my age group competitors, I also wanted to finish the race in front of these two very fast ladies, even with the 5 minute head start they received.

The start of the second loop is where things can/have gotten interesting. By the time the Olympic distance racers get around to the park entrance the Sprint distance people are flowing onto the bike course. It can be good for the psyche to pass a lot of people. But it can be hard to deal with a crowded course, especially at the two turnaround points. Fortunately there were no issues.

I felt better on lap number two and pushed the pace all the way in. I hit the timing mat in 1:04:09 for the 3rd fastest bike split of the day and 49 seconds faster than I rode in 2014.

T2: 1:00

Smooth and without issue. Nine seconds faster than last year.

Run: 10k (really 6 miles) 44:41

Strava File

Heading out onto the run I felt pretty good but knew that I just do not have the run miles in this year. I have been running between 15 and 20 miles each week, not the 35-40 miles I have done in years past. It is a non-Ironman year. I have made a conscious decision to not beat my run legs up with high mileage in 2015. I'm not a kid anymore and I know I have issues that could someday come to the surface. Not making any excuses, just putting it out there.

One more important thing: this is NOT a full 10k run course, but a 6 mile run. Always has been. If you don't believe me just check out the Strava file, then ask yourself when is the last time your Garmin shorted you distance on a race course. The answer is never. If anything your Garmin will measure a bit longer. I say this to make sure it is very clear when looking at my run time exactly what I ran. That extra .2 miles would have added another 90 seconds to my overall run time. People can fool themselves into thinking they are faster than they are. I may be a fool but I prefer to not fool myself into thinking I am better than I really am.

Anyway, my run started out just fine running a "comfortably hard" 7:10-7:15 for the first 4 miles. It was here that my lack of muscular endurance came into play. And by came into play I mean I simply didn't have the legs to hold pace. My heart rate was fine but the legs were just done. Last two miles I ran 8s and called it a day.

To be clear, I do not believe that my not-what-I-wanted-it-to-be-run is a result of over-biking. Been there, done that on many occasions and know exactly what that feels like. If I came out running a 7:35 first mile feeling like I wanted to die ... that's a bike induced implosion. And if I blew myself up I would just say it.

Anyway, what I did get to see out on the two-loop run was a battle for top overall female between Lauren and Cassie. These two young ladies are incredible athletes who came to throw down and they did. At the end Cassie did squeak out a small victory but they were both winners on the day. Danielle came in not very far behind as fifth overall woman and first in her age group while Alison won her age group and KT set a nice PR in his race.

Overall: 2:15:15 M 45-49 1/34, Overall 13/328

Racing a new venue is fun and challenging, but so is racing the familiar. With my last two races being disasters (here and here) it was good for the psyche to race well.

First Place AG 45-49

Lots of hardware among this crew.

Women's Overall with Cassie and Lauren going 1-2

How Could I have Raced Better?

More run training, which just isn't/wasn't in the cards for 2015. With my overall mileage way down from where it has been in the past my fear has been not having the muscular endurance to run to my capabilities. I have always responded well to volume. I will continue to experiment with my training to get this right.

Overall Impressions of the Race

I am a personal fan of this course. The lake is a nice place to swim, the bike course is challenging, and the run is on a shaded trail. The trail does get tight when both the Olympic and the Sprint athletes are all out there, but it really isn't that bad if you pay attention to your surroundings. Dale does a great job as the race director.

The only real complaint I have is with the big hacking timing chips provided by Lin-Mark. Seriously, you spent the money to redo your website and get the ChronoTrack System. Couldn't you now upgrade your timing chips to something a little more modern and smaller? Please?

Full results can be found here.

Up Next: Not much racing for a while. On September 13th I will be a part of The Queen's relay team at the Via Marathon right here in the Lehigh Valley and then on September 26th I will be back down in Quakertown, PA to race the Quakerman Triathlon (Olympic distance).

Thanks for reading.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon

Race Report - 10th Annual Steelman Triathlon

This past Sunday was the 10th running of the Steelman Triathlon held at Lake Nockamixon in Quakertown, PA. While I haven't raced this every year, I have raced it eight times, only missing the two years I raced Ironman Lake Placid. For those of us in Eastern Pennsylvania it is a chance to get out and race against some of the best triathletes in the area.

Normally a great mid-season race, due to early season injuries this was my first triathlon of the year. And without much running at all this year the challenge would be holding it together for the 10k run. A nice challenge for Jon.

Race week was a bit different for me this year. With a late season Ironman on my schedule I would be training through this race, taking a three day taper to freshen up the legs. Those three days was coming off a higher volume 10-day training training block which included 300+ miles on the bike, some hard interval work on the run, and the heaviest volume swim work for the year. And just to spice things up, I changed around my training in the "taper" to experiment with a few things.

So how'd it go?

Pre-Race

Every year it's the same thing. About ten days out the barrage of emails from the race director (Dale) with two main points - read the athletes note and make sure you get to the park at 4 am to secure parking. I didn't get there at 4 am, electing to "sleep in." Due to my laziness I arrived to the park at 5:30 am and was forced to park 3/4 of a mile from the start line. Where the people who entered the park after me parked, I have no idea.

Note to Dale: while it is great that you are on the ball about just about everything is great, you really need to quit stirring the pot on parking. And yes, I am glad to see such great participation, you really need to cap the race at a smaller number of athletes. There is just not enough parking.

Moving beyond the parking situation, we had quite the day to race. Temperatures were in the 60s, there was no wind and the swim was wetsuit legal.

The race day packet pickup was quick, transition setup was smooth, and I found my crew in short order. The only problem was the relatively small amount of pot-o-pots available. The line was crazy long from the moment I got there until the start of the race.

Note to Dale: If you have more competitors you will have more fully hydrated people who need to use the facilities. Take some of the extra money and use it to rent a few more toilets.

Swim: 1500M 20:56

If there is such a thing as the perfect swim, this was pretty darn close. Starting in wave three with the 40-49 year old men and the aquavelo competitors, I lined up at the front and not far from the inside. Unlike past races I stayed in control for the first 100M and, surprise, surprise, I found a pair of feet to draft off. After a few strokes in the draft I looked ahead, we were swimming straight, and I was sitting in the third position. For the next 1400M I stayed on those feet and enjoyed the ride. The final result was a PR swim.

T1: 2:07

Uneventful with one exception - getting my wetsuit off. Never my strong suit, the problem was compounded by the oversized timing chip provided to us. Damn thing got caught on my wetsuit and I struggled a bit.

Note to Lin-Mark: I think I speak for many when I say that I would be more than happy to pay an additional $1 for each race I do next year if you promise to take the additional revenue and upgrade your technology. There are better options out there ... please.

Bike: 40K 1:04:58

This is a fun, but not the fastest, course to race. Normally you want to take the start of the bike to settle in and let your heart rate settle down before starting to push the pedals. Here, that is not an option, as you have a nice climb out of the marina out to the two loops on route 563. Key is to have your bike in a small gear coming out of transition and not overdoing it on this first climb. From there you can settle in, get your $hit together on the slightly rolling park roads ... which was exactly what I did.

Once out onto the main race loop I dropped it into a big gear and got to work.  Last year I burned too much on the first loop and couldn't push in from the final turnaround as hard as I would have liked. My plan this year was to push the first loop hard, then kick it up a notch for loop number two. Much to my surprise I held to plan, with a slight negative split. I rode fast but within myself, knowing that the true unknown was ahead of me - the run.

Note: Technically this is an easy course to navigate. The roads are closed to car traffic and the visibility is excellent. Best of all, Dale has a street sweeper come out and get the gravel off the road. Thank you Dale!!! However, there is little flat terrain. Thus, you are almost either climbing or descending so be prepared. It is very easy to over do it and not know it until you start to run.

T2: 1:16

Smooth and without issue.

Run: 10k 43:43

Photo Credit: Kevin T

Out onto the run and the real mystery of the day would unfold - how would I hold up on my first "real" run off the bike since last October. Still nursing my knee, with little running at all this year, I did manage to get two very short runs off the bike in, just to make sure it wouldn't be a total disaster.

This run course is a bit pesky. For some reason I always remember it as being flat. I don't know if this is because it is by a lake, or on trails, or my old age, but I just always do. That would be fine, if it was actually a flat course. After taking the quick left out of transition and completing the short out-and-back the trail turns from flat into just enough of a rolling terrain to make it a bit uncomfortable ... especially off the bike.

Coming out of transition the course I felt normal (legs a little heavy but coming around quick) but different (no sense of pacing). The lack of feel for pace showed when I hit the one mile mark in 6:55, a bit faster than I expected. The next two miles were a bit slower, but on target with both coming in right at a 7:02/mile pace. So far so good.

After getting some water at the aide station (big shout out to Endurance Multisport for the job they did) and some cheers from Kevin, I headed back in from the first loop, hoping to maintain my pace. With the trail now full with runners I made sure to be more aware of my surroundings.

All was well until it wasn't. Around 4.2 miles in my legs were calling for a short time out. After a short walk I picked it up again and continued on until I had another brief walk break around mile 5.5.

Normally, walking a part of the 10k would have me  upset with myself. Having to walk means I screwed up my pacing, either on the bike or out of transition. No worries for two reasons.

First, I paced the bike just fine. Coming into and out of transition my legs were where they should be, no questions. Second, the breakdown was a total muscular endurance issue. With the small amount of running I have been able to do I knew this could be an issue. Better pacing may have helped, but without having many miles in I don't yet have my feel back. But I will.

Overall: 2:12:58  10th Overall 2nd in AG45-49 

Men AG45-49 Podium

Every year my goal at this race is the same - place in the top 10 overall and have a top three bike split. Admittedly these are terrible goals as they are performance based, not process based, and you can't control who shows up to race. Still, this is our local race and these are the two things I want to accomplish every year. Competition be damned. Age be damned. From this irrational perspective success was achieved - only two guys out biked me as part of my 10th  place overall finish.

Back to the rational world of goals, I really wanted to have a good run. Prior to the race I explained to The Queen how I had no clue how my run would go. Realistically I thought I could go about 44 minutes, but would be happy with a 48. The 44 is the high end of what I have run the distance over the past few years. The 43:43 I ran certainly qualifies as a success.

More important, however, is the fact that I somehow managed to just miss an Olympic distance PR by a mere 2 seconds. I honestly did not have any expectations of going below a 2:14:xx so, while disappointed I couldn't find a few extra seconds of speed somewhere, really stoked to have such a great overall race.

The crew, post race, all blinged out. Photo Credit: Alison

Thanks for reading.

Up next: A week of solid training then TriRock Asbury Park on August 24.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon

Race Report - 9th Annual Steelman Triathlon

The ninth iteration of the Steelman Triathlon took place on August 11, 2013 at Lake Nockamixon and was my seventh time racing here, with my first race in 2007. Unless I have an Ironman scheduled that keeps me from racing here, I'm here come race day. Dale has done a good job of growing this race and making sure there aren't any surprises come race day.

I am drawn back here every year for a number of reasons. Being local, it is an easy add every year, which brings out a big contingent of local triathletes. And with local tri club Endurance Multisport entering the scene a few years ago, the contingent of local racers has only grown. I enjoy traveling to races, but having a local race where a lot of your friends are competing is always a good time. Of course, having the local knowledge of the track and the ability to get down and ride the bike course is a nice bonus. From a training/racing perspective, being here year in and year out also enables me to see where my fitness/race readiness is before the Fall racing season.

My goals were the same as every year - finish in the Top 10 overall, win my age group, have one of the top five bike splits, run solid off the bike. I know, the only goal I have any control over is the run ... but that's life. At this race I want to win my AG, I want to have one of the fastest bike splits, and I want to place top 10.

Now let's dig right in ...


Pre-Race

I love me a race where I can do packet pickup the day of the race. Especially a local race. Saves at least two hours on Saturday, not to mention the gas and hassle of getting to and from the race venue. Thank you for that Dale!!!

On the other end of the convenience spectrum is race morning, specifically the parking situation. You have to be there early. Real early. Like pre-sunrise early. Did I mention you had to be there early to get a parking spot? The Queen, The Mayor and I rolled into the park around 5:20 am and were relegated to the upper parking lot. If we were 10 minutes later we would have been even further away ... or maybe down at the marina where the race is held. My one big complaint every year is how they decide on parking. "Get there early" we are told so you can park at the marina (and not have to navigate up and down the hill). And every year I get there 90+ minutes before the first wave goes off and I end up parking in the upper lot. This would not be a big deal if ... and I do mean IF ... every year when I am walking down to the transition area there are not cars being sent down to the marina to park. And I'm not talking about handicapped parking, I am talking about race participants.

End of Rant ...

Once on site everything was laid back and enjoyable. Looked to be a good weather day with cloud cover and temperatures in the low 70s. Talked to a lot of friends and hug out until my swim wave (#3) went off at 7:15 am.

Swim: 1500M 22:38

Water temperature was 76 so it was wetsuit legal swim. There was a little bumping in the first few hundred meters and then I found some space and a comfortably hard pace. With only two waves ahead of mine, there were people to swim through but it wasn't that bad. I swam a relatively straight path and got out just behind two other 40-44 men. Lost a couple of seconds getting out of the water due to congestion, but no big deal.

T1: 1:59

Best perk of the day: On my way out of the water one of the staff members helping you out of the water unzipped my wetsuit for me. This. Is. Awesome!!!! Moved efficiently through with just a minor delay getting my wetsuit off (gotta work n that).


Bike: 40K 1:05:29

Normally heading onto the bike one would want to let the heart rate settle down during the first few minutes of the ride. That is not an option here as there is a sizable climb out of the marina before you wind through the park. Once onto the two loops on Rt. 563 you have a chance to get settled in.

When I made the right hand turn I found myself behind the #2 man in my AG and I settled in on the decline at an appropriate (legal) distance. Knowing he was a better runner than I am I made the decision to pull ahead of him at the first turn and see if I could get a buffer before hitting the run course. As we hit the first climb and then the flat I managed to get 20-30 seconds on him, but he closed that gap during the second loop. At the final turn of the second loop, I dropped my chain while shifting and he gaped me. I headed into T2 sitting third in AG40-44.

T2: 1:26

No problem running into transition and finding my bike. Forgot to put some lube on my Brooks Adrenaline GTS 13 running shoes and lost a few seconds futzing around.

Run: 10k 42:39

Out onto the run course my legs were immediately under me and I felt pretty good. I hit the 1 mile mark in 7:05 and picked it up a notch. Knowing I wasn't going to catch the two AG40-44 men in front of me my goal of top 10 overall and a solid race was the motivating factor. I was able to maintain my pace and intensity right to the finish line.

The fact that there is nothing more to discuss here is a very, very good thing.

Overall: 2:14:10  9th Overall 3rd in AG40-44 (But Won My Age Group)

I am happy with how I performed on Sunday, technically meeting all of my goals, even though I was really the 3rd person in my age group to cross the line. For those who don't know, if you qualify for the overall top three you are removed from the age group awards. The two people ahead of me were removed and I technically won. In reality, whatever!!! I was top 10 and my bike split was 5th best on the day. My run was solid and it should improve in the next few months.

If I'm being critical I would have to say that my bike split could have been better. The one mistake I made was not pushing as hard as I could on the longer, steady climbs. I was working, but pacing my effort. Last year I was faster on the bike because I basically just rode right at the line all day. Last Sunday, I was more tactical which cost me some time.

I also want to give a quick shout out to my Saturday morning crew who had some great performances as well. Emily and Cassie walked away with 1st in their respective age groups, Allison was 2nd in her age group, while Barb had a solid day and took 3rd in her age group against some real tough women.

Up next: A few weeks of solid training, then some Fall racing.

Train hard, stay focused.
Jon