Rattlesnake Sprint 2006
It was a dark and stormy night. No. Wait…On a day dark and drear. Came her bold cavalier. Would they rescue Guenevere? Yeah, it was raining. All the way out there. And chilly. The weather cleared a bit to set up transition, then the rain returned just before the start.
There were at least 6 RMTC volunteers out there. Yon was there to do body marking on 21 year old girls. His girlfriend came along to make sure he didn’t. Tom and Amy were there as well as Clyde and Charlie. Charlie had a bullhorn. Oh and Jim Flint made it out too. Jim is the race director as well as one of us.
It seemed to be drier on the swim than on the bike. Great ‘cross weather. ! got out the prozac glasses and told Jeff Carroll whoever got to T1 first would wear his jacket. ! started the 500 meter swim 10 minutes before him, but took pity on the freckled lad. The 12 mile bike was actually 14.5 miles so it did take me more than 30 minutes to cover it.
Trish started first in the PC wave w/ Roberta guiding her. After the swim Roberta’s job was to handle the breakfast burritos. The duathlon pack went off next. They ripped up the beach terrified of the bass that had just come ashore. All those skinny little runners must have looked like worms. Fear is not conducive to navigation and they all went the wrong way w/ Clyde chasing and shouting trying to redirect them. Nancy, who has spent years not listening to Clyde, only got back on track when all the guys she isn’t married to went that way. Nancy was doing the du because she has already qualified for tri Nationals and the winner get a du World’s spot in Hungary. Will she make it? Keep reading.
Then the girls started. One every 5 seconds. ! went off to huddle in the water which was by now warmer than not in the water. And ! needed to pee. Shivering 4 feet away from Jeff Carroll and BoJak ! didn’t think of moving closer. ! continue to not think of moving closer.
Then it was my turn to line up. Then to start. It seemed like ! was doing pretty well on the swim. 500 meters in a triangle. ! got out to the turn and headed back. ! looked all the way to the beach to sight and noticed all the earlier swimmers had clumped up coming out of the water. Then ! saw the kayaker gently redirecting my gaze to the swim exit where there was no clumping. ! had sighted on the gaggle waiting to start and was pointing head-on to another swimmer.
Halfway up the beach ! passed Robin Williams. !’m not sure how they got his number on his arm through all that fur. ! hope Yon did him.
T1 was a struggle for some reason. ! kept setting stuff on other stuff that ! wanted to pick up. Mary came in and racked her bike. And then onto the bike course. It was slightly downhill @ the start then onto the main road into the park. That was hilly. Still ! was flying and opening a gap on everyone behind me. Onto Quincy and ! started overtaking people. The downhills were cool. The climbs were tough. ! passed Megan @ the top of the first climb out on Quincy. She was on her way back in. ! went over hills and over dales and when my computer said 6 miles which !’ve been taught was half of 12 miles ! could still see bikes disappearing over yet another hill and onto potentially more hidden dales. What, ! opined, could be going on?
The hills were alive w/ the sound of music. Those turnaround volunteers being high school kids, moved on to where they hoped to find rap instead. ! found them and should have rapped them on their noggins.
All was well w/ the world. ! had found the turn in 23 minutes and not fallen down. ! was half way back when ! saw Jeff Carroll. He was 7 miles behind. We had wonderful ‘cross weather and no one was gaining on me.
Turning off Quincy means just 2 miles of rollers to T2. ! pushed. That’s a tough section. ! made it and even passed a couple guys in the final straight. Only 20 minutes on the return. Negative split.
After the dismount line it was a tight 180 into transition. Finding my spot was tricky. The landmark ! had used after the swim was my bike. Ahhhh. There it is.
It had been raining as you may have heard. My hat was wet. My socks were wet and my feet were wet. ! decided to abandon the socks and go. ! went. The ramp down to the path was steep and sketchy on tired legs so ! was cautious. Once ! was down ! picked up the pace. ! don’t know how fast ! was going, but it was clearly too fast. Maybe 7:30. ! just wanted to hold on for the 1st mile then see what ! could manage. You must learn to suffer and enjoy it if you want to race well. ! fully expected to walk some. ! was suffering and enjoying it. ! got to 1 mile and thought ! could keep pushing. ! could see runners coming back so ! knew there was a turn out there somewhere. ! passed a girl who told me ! sounded like ! was about to die. She was right. ! kept going. The turn was hidden over a hill and ! made it. Starting back was uphill. ! can do this then blow up. ! did it and didn’t blow up. My breathing had settled down to where ! wasn’t paying $3.99/minute and my pace had only slowed a little. There was the 1 mile aid station. ! grabbed a cup of water and kept running. ! spilled most of it and didn’t care. ! was having my best run in 4 months. ! was starting to believe. ! could make it all the way. ! could see the finish and the trail was turning away from it. It’s less than a mile. Not even enough distance to give up in. The legs kept turning over. There were runners ahead of me and ! was picking them off. ¼ mile out and Charlie was on the bull horn telling me not to let that guy pass me. ! couldn’t see anyone back there. ! picked up the pace and left it all out there on the course. ! made it and fast too. Would it be fast enough?
Then suddenly earth and sky were dazed by a pounding roar
And suddenly through the dawn an army began to pour
And lo, ahead the army, holding aloft his spear
Came Lancelot to save his dear Guenevere
That army was RMTC. We had a podium place in about 1/3 of the categories. Micah got 4th overall. He’d have only managed 10th if he had ridden his Honda instead of the Orbea. Amy sat under the tent staring in disbelief. She made the Athena podium. She thought she was really slow on the bike. 2.5 miles adds 8-12 minutes. She didn’t know it was long, but kept going. The lesson here is the same we learned from Trish’s IM qualifier. Trish thought she was over the cutoff and kept going. She finished w/ 14 seconds to spare. Never quit. Never give up. No matter what happens race all the way to the finish. Nancy won’t be needing Lancelot and his spear. She won her age-group on the Du so she is going to Hungary for Worlds. Jim gave her a Swiss Army knife to help her get through airport security. My results were a bit disappointing. ! counted 7 in front of me and 32 signed up so as long as 24 finished ! would be going to Nats. Final results show 26 finished. Alas, my actual placing was 10th. Not enough.
Sorry this took so long. !’ve been tired. Tom was saying ! haven’t missed any races this year. ! think ! have. Just couldn’t think of any. Tom is a bit delusional. He’s married (to a redhead) and he thought he was going to sit on the couch and drink beer Sunday. Good luck Tom.
Results here. http://www.rattlesnaketri.com/index_files/Page1232.htm
There were at least 6 RMTC volunteers out there. Yon was there to do body marking on 21 year old girls. His girlfriend came along to make sure he didn’t. Tom and Amy were there as well as Clyde and Charlie. Charlie had a bullhorn. Oh and Jim Flint made it out too. Jim is the race director as well as one of us.
It seemed to be drier on the swim than on the bike. Great ‘cross weather. ! got out the prozac glasses and told Jeff Carroll whoever got to T1 first would wear his jacket. ! started the 500 meter swim 10 minutes before him, but took pity on the freckled lad. The 12 mile bike was actually 14.5 miles so it did take me more than 30 minutes to cover it.
Trish started first in the PC wave w/ Roberta guiding her. After the swim Roberta’s job was to handle the breakfast burritos. The duathlon pack went off next. They ripped up the beach terrified of the bass that had just come ashore. All those skinny little runners must have looked like worms. Fear is not conducive to navigation and they all went the wrong way w/ Clyde chasing and shouting trying to redirect them. Nancy, who has spent years not listening to Clyde, only got back on track when all the guys she isn’t married to went that way. Nancy was doing the du because she has already qualified for tri Nationals and the winner get a du World’s spot in Hungary. Will she make it? Keep reading.
Then the girls started. One every 5 seconds. ! went off to huddle in the water which was by now warmer than not in the water. And ! needed to pee. Shivering 4 feet away from Jeff Carroll and BoJak ! didn’t think of moving closer. ! continue to not think of moving closer.
Then it was my turn to line up. Then to start. It seemed like ! was doing pretty well on the swim. 500 meters in a triangle. ! got out to the turn and headed back. ! looked all the way to the beach to sight and noticed all the earlier swimmers had clumped up coming out of the water. Then ! saw the kayaker gently redirecting my gaze to the swim exit where there was no clumping. ! had sighted on the gaggle waiting to start and was pointing head-on to another swimmer.
Halfway up the beach ! passed Robin Williams. !’m not sure how they got his number on his arm through all that fur. ! hope Yon did him.
T1 was a struggle for some reason. ! kept setting stuff on other stuff that ! wanted to pick up. Mary came in and racked her bike. And then onto the bike course. It was slightly downhill @ the start then onto the main road into the park. That was hilly. Still ! was flying and opening a gap on everyone behind me. Onto Quincy and ! started overtaking people. The downhills were cool. The climbs were tough. ! passed Megan @ the top of the first climb out on Quincy. She was on her way back in. ! went over hills and over dales and when my computer said 6 miles which !’ve been taught was half of 12 miles ! could still see bikes disappearing over yet another hill and onto potentially more hidden dales. What, ! opined, could be going on?
The hills were alive w/ the sound of music. Those turnaround volunteers being high school kids, moved on to where they hoped to find rap instead. ! found them and should have rapped them on their noggins.
All was well w/ the world. ! had found the turn in 23 minutes and not fallen down. ! was half way back when ! saw Jeff Carroll. He was 7 miles behind. We had wonderful ‘cross weather and no one was gaining on me.
Turning off Quincy means just 2 miles of rollers to T2. ! pushed. That’s a tough section. ! made it and even passed a couple guys in the final straight. Only 20 minutes on the return. Negative split.
After the dismount line it was a tight 180 into transition. Finding my spot was tricky. The landmark ! had used after the swim was my bike. Ahhhh. There it is.
It had been raining as you may have heard. My hat was wet. My socks were wet and my feet were wet. ! decided to abandon the socks and go. ! went. The ramp down to the path was steep and sketchy on tired legs so ! was cautious. Once ! was down ! picked up the pace. ! don’t know how fast ! was going, but it was clearly too fast. Maybe 7:30. ! just wanted to hold on for the 1st mile then see what ! could manage. You must learn to suffer and enjoy it if you want to race well. ! fully expected to walk some. ! was suffering and enjoying it. ! got to 1 mile and thought ! could keep pushing. ! could see runners coming back so ! knew there was a turn out there somewhere. ! passed a girl who told me ! sounded like ! was about to die. She was right. ! kept going. The turn was hidden over a hill and ! made it. Starting back was uphill. ! can do this then blow up. ! did it and didn’t blow up. My breathing had settled down to where ! wasn’t paying $3.99/minute and my pace had only slowed a little. There was the 1 mile aid station. ! grabbed a cup of water and kept running. ! spilled most of it and didn’t care. ! was having my best run in 4 months. ! was starting to believe. ! could make it all the way. ! could see the finish and the trail was turning away from it. It’s less than a mile. Not even enough distance to give up in. The legs kept turning over. There were runners ahead of me and ! was picking them off. ¼ mile out and Charlie was on the bull horn telling me not to let that guy pass me. ! couldn’t see anyone back there. ! picked up the pace and left it all out there on the course. ! made it and fast too. Would it be fast enough?
Then suddenly earth and sky were dazed by a pounding roar
And suddenly through the dawn an army began to pour
And lo, ahead the army, holding aloft his spear
Came Lancelot to save his dear Guenevere
That army was RMTC. We had a podium place in about 1/3 of the categories. Micah got 4th overall. He’d have only managed 10th if he had ridden his Honda instead of the Orbea. Amy sat under the tent staring in disbelief. She made the Athena podium. She thought she was really slow on the bike. 2.5 miles adds 8-12 minutes. She didn’t know it was long, but kept going. The lesson here is the same we learned from Trish’s IM qualifier. Trish thought she was over the cutoff and kept going. She finished w/ 14 seconds to spare. Never quit. Never give up. No matter what happens race all the way to the finish. Nancy won’t be needing Lancelot and his spear. She won her age-group on the Du so she is going to Hungary for Worlds. Jim gave her a Swiss Army knife to help her get through airport security. My results were a bit disappointing. ! counted 7 in front of me and 32 signed up so as long as 24 finished ! would be going to Nats. Final results show 26 finished. Alas, my actual placing was 10th. Not enough.
Sorry this took so long. !’ve been tired. Tom was saying ! haven’t missed any races this year. ! think ! have. Just couldn’t think of any. Tom is a bit delusional. He’s married (to a redhead) and he thought he was going to sit on the couch and drink beer Sunday. Good luck Tom.
Results here. http://www.rattlesnaketri.com/index_files/Page1232.htm
posted by Doug!! @ 9:28 AM
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