1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run
About a month and a half out from this race, I almost pulled the plug. I had been battling a persisting chest cold and very limited time in the saddle due to the cold and, well, about a month straight of rain. Everyone in these parts was struggling to get in seat time. I decided to press on knowing it wasn’t an ‘A’ race for me. And I had already paid/registered and wasn’t going to be getting that back.
Couple of really cool things out of the gate about this race – one, the whole family would be in attendance. There was a cancellation at the place where we were staying that freed up a two bedroom unit with enough room for all the girls. Second, Paul and Heather Simica were going to go with us. I met the Simica’s about a year ago swimming at John Gioffre’s. Since we were all going to the same place, we decided to share the unit so we could hang out and cut costs.
Actually, lots of people I know were heading to White Lake for this race. I’d say a couple dozen. I had heard much about White Lake but could never really be prepared for it until arriving. White Lake is a sleepy lake resort town that popped up in the 50’s-60’s - and actually never really progressed past that. It is still stuck there. If the modern cars driving around weren’t present, you wouldn’t know it was 2009.
Even the gal that runs the place where we stayed, Brisson’s Cottages, tried to present a lengthy disclaimer when I was booking the room about how old and rustic it was. I thought it wasn’t that big of a deal, until we got there and saw the accommodations, which were everything she had cracked it up to be. Wow. Let’s just say we didn’t take our shoes off the entire time we were in the room.
But it was going to be a great weekend of roughing it. And it wasn’t like the place was expensive. We had a great drive down on Friday and arrived with plenty of time to check in, go to packet pickup, then over to Erik Johnson’s place for a huge pasta dinner. Now where he was staying – that was some nice digs. Need to scope that place out for next year. Good times to be had by all, including Sorelle walking around to every person there (about 30 or so) and letting them know she was going to be doing a concert that evening for everyone. Her promoter (me) pulled the plug on that, though she did a mini-concert out by the water for a select few of us - the Miley Cirus song, ‘The Climb,’ which I have now officially heard more than any other song ever.
Back to the pad to settle in and try to get some sort of sleep, which was not going to be easy in a room with an awful double bed, a 6 and 4 year old on the floor and the air quality of a musty basement, but I gave it a go. All in all, probably logged about 5 hours. Not enough, but the best I could do. We also spent the evening getting all of the gear ready. Like I’ve mentioned before, there is a lot of gear. Too much gear. And I had to get it all tidy in the duffle bag for the short bike ride to the TA in the morning.
Race day arrived and there wasn’t much to do other than roll out of bed, eat a little, take care of ‘bidness’ and head to the race. Paul and I rounded everything up and headed out. We got about half way there and realized he had forgot something. I can’t remember exactly what it was, but it was important, so he turned back and I headed to the TA. Got everything set up, stopped by the port-o-pot and off to the water’s edge to squeeze into the wetsuit.
White Lake itself is interesting. It is an oval about 6 miles or so around. It is spring fed and pretty much 8 feet deep at its deepest point. You can walk from the shore out nearly 200 yards in some places and be no more than shoulder deep. And you can see the bottom always. My friend Erik took his ski boat and the depth finder the entire way across the lake from the ramp to the house was 8 feet.
I was in wave 2, which was the 35-39 age groupers all unto itself. The start was surprisingly civil for that large of a group. Maybe everyone was on the same page that this was a long race and there was no need to go blazing out of the gates. I don’t recall any traffic in the water at all. The swim was a triangle, so two turns out on the long straightaway and back to the opposing dock about a couple hundred yards away. There were several ladders around the base. I picked one, up the ladder and onto the TA. The swim went well. Probably left a little in the water, but not to worry.
Onto the bike…the first few miles of the bike were fast. Not sure why exactly. Probably adrenaline. Our hotel was literally right on the bike course. Versus getting the girls up and trekking down to the swim start, Allyson got the girls up and waited by the roadside. I passed by around mile 2-3. They were screaming, cowbells, etc. That probably attributed to the fast start as well. I remember coming up on friend James Ruth on the bike and we traded off leading for 10 miles or so. Pace was up around 23-24 mph. Too fast to keep up for the long haul. But not to worry – the first right hand turn was going to slow us down greatly. The majority of the bike was directly into what seemed like a headwind that was following us around no matter what direction we went.
Anyway, the course was completely flat. This will pretty much tell you how much so – avg. for the race was 21.4 mph. Top speed achieved – 26.1. Very flat. Overall the bike went well, except for one small problem. We’ll call him Cervelo dude, or CD. CD was an age grouper in the group that started after me. So he caught me on the course, then decided for about 20 miles to trade back and forth with me. He couldn’t pick a speed. He would fly by me, then slow down, repeat. A lot. At the end of one of his slow down segments, I was preparing to pass yet again when an official drove up and pegged me with a 4:00 drafting penalty. It was wrong, unwarranted and his fault, but so is life sometimes. Wasn’t going to let it ruin the race. Stay focused.
The bike came to an end. Two copperheads on the side of the road, three water bottle exchanges, a battle with CD and a really, really sore taint (mainly from the segment of road from miles 40-50) I was ready to be off the bike and running. I was happy with the outcome. Allyson was standing right beside me in the TA at the fence talking to me during the transition, which was so helpful. Strapped everything on and off I went.
The run was an out and back around White Lake. Literally, we ran around the lake, turned around right about where the race start/transition area was, and ran back. The first eight miles of the run went really well. The pace plan was 7:25-7:30’s and I was right on track. At the turn around I had to stop for a very fast pee break, which added about 20 seconds, but not a biggie. The girls were also right at the turn around mat cheering, which again was huge. I seriously can’t say how much that helps me when racing knowing they are there.
During mile 9, the heat kicked in big time. By the mile 10 water stop I was walking through them, three to four cups of fluids and a ice towel. In hindsight I think I had some electrolyte issues going on. Maybe too much water on the bike? Diluted? I don’t know. I just know the world was becoming a literal white fog by mile 10 and the air temp was well into the mid to high 80’s. Only clear memory of the last few miles was water stop 11, where I approached and no one was manning it. I very nicely barked out some directives and the volunteers responded.
I was able to pull up the bootstraps and push out a sub-8:00 on the last mile. And on the only slight incline on the course. I was pretty emotional approaching the line. Given my training and fitness leading up to this race, I was shooting to match or slightly improve on my HIM time from the previous September. The big goal was breaking 5 hours in the upcoming November ‘A’ race. As I approached and realized I could finish right at 5 I was beyond ecstatic. Crossed the line at 5:00:21. Then of course had to add in the 4:00 penalty for the official time, but the actual race time 5:00 flat. I couldn’t have asked for more that day.
The next hour was spent regrouping, cheering for friends that were finishing, hearing war stories from the course. The main one being the crazy heat. Allyson was about spent as well from chasing the girls around, so we all headed down to the lake for a swim. The cold water was a perfect prescription for the legs.
The evening was spent with the Mueller’s and Pirkle’s down by the water eating greasy pizza and playing in the sand, then settling into our five star room for some sleep. That night, I could have slept on cinder blocks and been happy. We packed up the following morning, stopped with the Simica’s for a photo op and back to Charlotte.
So what’s for White Lake:
- Still need some work fine-tuning the nutrition plan on the bike. Over-hydration may have been an issue.
- Yet another race where the run pace progressively got slower. Must, must must learn how to keep a steady pace or pick up pace as the run leg progresses.
- Do not tolerate a yahoo on the bike that is breaking the rules. Kindly yell at him to knock it off or accept the penalty that will follow. The mistake was not saying something to him. I certainly was not going to slow down.
All in all, I couldn’t have asked for more from this race. I gave it what I had and the result was better than expected. It was certainly a great learning experience and great preparation for the fall ‘A’ race half in Wilmington, which I am so excited about. Not sure how in the world I’m going to wait 6 more months to race the half distance. I love it.
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