This past weekend was what I often feel is the official kick-off to summer triathlon season in New Hampshire: Mooseman. After the original Mooseman in 2004 this race moved to Wellington State Park in Bristol where it has been held every year since 2005. I raced the half in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and last year and the Olympic distance in 2010 since it was a tad too soon after Ironman St. George. The point is, this was my first time not racing. Not once during the weekend did I wish I was.
No, that is not because I don't like racing and don't want to do another triathlon. That is definitely not the case. Two weeks after Ironman Texas I certainly was not in racing mode yet again and the weather was... less than desirable. The weather in New Hampshire in June is sometimes quite pleasant. But there is something about this race that attracts either incredible heat and humidity or torrential rain and cold. It's very rarely anything in between. 2005 was blazing hot, 2006 was really cold, 2008 I think the pavement was on fire, in 2010 you would've been better off keeping your wetsuit on the entire race.
So this year as race weekend approached, while the weather was absolutely gorgeous in the days leading up, just in time for registration the rains moved in along with awesomely cold temperatures. Nothing like having to wear a heavy jacket in June. I wisely opted to skip spectating on Saturday at the Olympic. It rained all day long. My friend Trent came up to stay at the Zahr lake house and we went over to the QT2 dinner in Bristol with an exceptional amount of athletes. The team has expanded so much I feel as though there are more people I don't know than do know at this point. Being a non-racer I was just about the only one without a plate of pasta and chicken in front of me.
The other nice part about not racing? I didn't set an alarm that night. I knew I was going to watch but under the circumstances I figured there was no reason for me to be there to sit in the rain and watch people come out of the water. I woke up a little after 6 and fortunately Trent was already long gone so no worries about him missing his start or anything. The good news was that it actually wasn't raining. The even better news was that a quick look at the weather radar showed that it really wasn't going to be all that rainy that day. The temperatures weren't going to get out of the 50s, but cold and dry is a hundred times better than cold and wet. So I took my time getting ready and then hit the road.
Given that I had some extra time I stopped off for some breakfast at a little local diner I've always loved and had a really good veggie omelet and arrived at the race site about 8:15. There was some drizzle as I pedaled my bike in from my really-far-away parked car, but other than that, it was basically fine. Oddly, it took me a very long time to run into anyone I knew. I watched some people heading out on the bike before heading over to see some of the slower swimmers come out of the water. Given that there was nothing else to watch really at that point, I opted to stay and watch the final swimmers come out. It's sort of amazing to see the circuitous routes some of these people take. Not that I haven't been one of them in the past. It's also pretty cool to see how immensely thrilled some of these people are just to get through the swim. Two guys came in together (note that every single one of those slower swimmers I saw were men!) and just made the cutoff and a couple of minutes later one last soul came in and unfortunately had to be told that his day was over. But the guy would take like ten swim strokes and then stop and "rest" by treading water in place for like ten seconds before continuing forward. If that was his entire swim strategy then he might want to consider at least doggie paddling in a general forward direction while he "rests" so he's at least continually making progress.
Anyway, after that I just kind of wandered around some, looked at the expo and stuff, because the bikers wouldn't be back for a while. And even after the first biker came back it was like ten more minutes before the second one came in. That bike course is so challenging that everyone is really pretty spread out, but slowly people started to come in, including plenty of QT2 jerseys right up front. I don't think I saw anything particularly exciting. I will say that transition was basically a swamp, so that was kind of amusing. And actually watching people come out of T1 quite a few of them would walk out and put their shoes on after they were out of transition and there was even a person with a hose standing there to spray people's feet off. Yes, things were messy. But again, at least it wasn't raining!
I think at some point there in spite of the lack of rain it actually got colder outside. Great running weather, though not so great for biking. Eventually I went over toward the finish line to watch people come through which is always fun. Lots of very solid performances there including by two athletes I coach, which is always nice to see. Especially since this was the first race I'd coached them through. Trent had a good race in spite of having been stopped on the bike course for a bit due to an ambulance and a bike accident. I hope nothing too terrible happened there. Then it was just watching more and more friends come through.
Sometimes I can't believe how long I've been racing and I remember my first few years not knowing anyone when I'd go to a race. I think I'd have to go race in Switzerland or something at this point if I didn't want to run into anybody. It's always fun though to run into people at races. And eventually it was time to get out of there. That is of course another perk to not racing and certainly not getting awards, you can leave whenever you want!
Last year this race was basically the end of my season. I had had a disappointing race in Oceanside, a really bad race in Florida including a foot that kept hurting and I didn't know why, and then I went out at Mooseman knowing things weren't going to go well. It was the second race I'd ever had to drop out of, although the first one I knew going in I'd have to stop before the run because I already knew I had a stress fracture. After a terrible bike ride I ran three miles and finally said to myself, something is definitely wrong with that foot. So I stopped. And an x-ray some days later told me that I was not imagining things and I was sentenced to the boot for the entire summer. So, anyway, let's just say I'm in a better spot this year.
All right, so, what's next for me? For the first time ever, I didn't have a whole line-up of races planned out. After IMTX I had no plans. Zip. Zero. Honestly, a couple of months ago I was wondering if I'd even wind up racing at all again afterward. My USAT membership needed renewing in March and I usually renew it for two years just to delay the hassle a bit, but I opted for one because, well, I wasn't sure if I was going to need it beyond that. Who knew what was going to happen?
The best possible outcome was another trip to Kona. That obviously didn't happen, and that's ok. I finally had to start thinking though about what I might want to do next. Right away I went into overdrive thinking up a few crazy ideas. Mooseman had 25 slots to Lake Placid. Maybe I could get through that and get a Placid slot and qualify for Kona and race there again. I knew that entire plan was ridiculous, but it was hard not to at least consider it briefly. Jesse would certainly never let me do that.
Another thing I discovered was that Ironman Louisville was still open. In the past I felt as though you'd have to pay me to do that race, run in that weather and, most importantly, swim in that disgusting water. But suddenly it all sounded like a great idea. Three months. I can be ready in three months, right? Well, Jesse didn't like that idea either, really. And the more I thought about it, the worse it seemed. I mean, not only is it turning around and doing another Ironman pretty quickly, but if the whole point was simply to get to Kona again, I'd then have to turn around and do yet another Ironman six weeks later. Yes, maybe that's not the best idea.
So, I'm trying something new. Being patient. I'm not going to lie and say it's really easy. A big part of me is still sitting here thinking, but if you just get your act together you can do it now. Okay, that may be true, but at what cost? Where is that going to leave me for 2013 and beyond? Admittedly we all have a finite amount of time to be elite athletes. I can't pretend that there will always be enough time because unfortunately, that's not actually true. But at my age another year is not going to make or break me. Craig Alexander and I share the same birthday... except he's six years older than I am and he seems to still be doing pretty well.
So instead of scrambling to try and barely make it through the season and maybe or maybe not make it to race Kona for 2012, I will be ending my season with an Ironman, it just won't be in Hawaii. Where has not been 100% finalized, but it will be at a point in time in which I can perform to my own standards. Those standards are pretty high, but given another five months or so it will be amazing what I can do. I'm sure in October I'm going to feel a little sad that I am once again not racing on the Big Island. It was 2009 when I last toed the start line and 2007 the last time I finished the thing, so you can see why it might be tough for me to be patient. But being patient now will pay off a whole lot more in the long run.
Given the late season plans there is a lot of room for some racing over the summer and I am quite happy to say that it appears that every race I do between now and October will be in my home state and involve me waking up in my own bed. Not bad. Next up is Black Fly in Waterville Valley, an international distance and a race that I've always wanted to do but it never quite fit the schedule. After that most likely I'll be doing a small, independent half ironman at the end of July in Enfield. How small? Well, last year there were 49 people who raced. But hey, maybe I can finally get my elusive half ironman win. I've won a sprint, Olympic and an ironman but haven't quite nailed one of these, yet. If things go well and only about nine women show up maybe I can finally hit for the cycle. After that I get to finally race Timberman again. Yay! I raced it eight years in a row and it was my first half TEN years ago, so it will be nice to go back after my little hiatus for 2009, 2010 and 2011. Then there is yet another small, new half ironman over by Sunapee in Semptember. I don't know how or why so many of these races have sprouted up in my tiny state, but I'm not complaining and am taking advantage.
So, a busy but fun schedule I'm certainly looking forward to. Entry fees on some of these smaller races are certainly kinder and gentler. As is the lack of flying. It is really nice to be excited about racing again instead of sitting around worrying just how bad the next personal worst is going to be. Very pleasant change of pace.
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