Earlier this year I struggled with some butt pain, essentially some high hamstring tendonitis that was not going away. I took time off from running, did a whole bunch of stretching, and finally got myself back to feeling pretty good – good enough to start running again without the tendonitis bothering me. And then I went and raced a sprint triathlon.
If there’s anything that will do me in is pushing myself too hard, and I when I sign up for a race, I plan on racing it at my hardest and best effort. I had tested myself a little leading up to the race and had no issues really. And even during the race and the day after, I had no ill effects. I felt great. So great in fact, that I thought why not switch to the marathon training plan and stop following the Ironman training plan that I was using to train for my fall marathon. After all, the sprint triathlon was over, I wasn’t sore or hurting, and really felt like I was ready to add some more running intensity. So instead of taking Monday off, I ran a four-mile run and pushed a little in the last mile per the plan, and that’s when I felt the butt pain again. Oopsie… oh, well – back to the drawing board.
I think I will bounce back a little quicker this time, knowing that rest and stretching was the combo that worked the best for me earlier in the spring. I’ll have to take a little time off from running again, stretch more, and keep putting my butt back on the bike to keep my cardio fitness going. And I will rotate the Ironman training plan back to the front. I need the cross-training to keep me from overdoing the running.
There’s still plenty of time to get ready for the Chicago Marathon in October. I just have to stop doing foolish things and stay away from things that will derail me. No more oopsies!
One of the finishing photos from last weekend’s race. I actually don’t look fat here.
A lot can happen in three years. I certainly changed in that short period, taking time off from almost any type of race that involved going fast, and concentrating on going long and slow. But as I claw my way back into shorter and faster races, I find it difficult to get back to where I was. The Forge Gravel Triathlon has also changed since the last time I did it, adding a very technical (i.e. scary hard) section to the run course that involved a lot of walking and praying that I wouldn’t fall. I ended up with a time about 5.5 minutes slower than in 2021, which I can’t be too upset about. I’m actually somewhat impressed that I held it together through the last mile of the run. It wasn’t easy.
All set up and waiting for the start.
As I drove over a very potholed road into The Forge on Friday to pick up my race packet, I was reminded that this road is part of the course, and it was going to need my full attention on race day. I was up at 4 am on Saturday to get ready for the race. The drive to Lemont was an easy trip and I parked in my usual spot at Lemont HS and rode my bike into the park along the I & M Canal trail. Once there I racked my bike, set up my transition area, then started taking in the important Swim Out, Bike Out, and Run Out portions of transition. That led me to discover that the run-out now takes a narrow path, winding around and eventually dumping you on the trail. I decided a warm-up jog was in order, and headed down the trail to see what parts were changed and what to expect. I saw my friend Tony walking down the path and we exchanged pleasantries. He was there to volunteer as a lifeguard in a kayak, which is very much appreciated. He has a super-packed race schedule this year, so I was a little surprised that he finds time to volunteer for stuff like this.
Back to the warm-up jog, it led me to a very technical portion of the park that is used for mountain biking. It had steep drops and climbs, with many rocks and other gnarly stuff. I “jogged” through some of it until I finally decided I had seen enough and returned to prep for the race.
I saw another friend Leah, and I asked her husband Steve if he was wearing “the shirt”. “Oh yeah, I’m wearing it!” He wears this shirt that says “I DON’T DO MARATHONS, I DO A MARATHONER” to all her events and it gives me a chuckle every time. Leah and I chatted about our nervousness and then got ready.
Even though the water was 75 d. F. and wetsuit legal, I opted for my Roka swimskin, a sort of swim outfit that is supposed to reduce drag in the water. I love my wetsuit, but struggling to get it off after a swim can be a chore.
I was one of the first triathletes to head down to the swim start area and I found myself first in line in Wave 2. Looking at some of the athletes behind me had me thinking that I should probably move back, but I kept my spot and waited for the start. After the Elite Wave group of about 10-12 started, we all started to make our way to the dock and jump in, separated by about 5 seconds. It was a good swim for me – the water was a good temperature, I settled into my pace easily and had zero contact. I started to tire and felt a little out of breath on the last section heading back to the dock, but I got through it fine. SWIM TIME: 13:36
Into T1, I easily unzipped my swimskin and lowered it to my midsection, while sitting down, drying my feet, putting on socks/shoes, grabbing my helmet and bike, jogging to Bike Out, and then I realized I hadn’t fully taken off the swimskin! I stopped, leaned my bike against the fence, stripped it off, tossing it back to my transition area, and then off on my way to ride. T1 TIME: 2:32
I redlined the ride in true Gunner fashion. I was breathing heavily and my legs were screaming at me, but I soon found myself concentrating on my line on this twisty-turning trail and looking out for others as well. I passed a few and had a few pass me, but still felt like I was giving it my best effort. I knew that I wanted to press hard here and try to gain some time advantage because I knew I would be walking some of the run. BIKE TIME: 37:21
T2 was quick for me! It took me all of 44 seconds to rack my bike, take off my helmet and cycling shoes, put on my running shoes, grab my bib belt and visor while running to Run Out. I’m usually not that quick! T2 TIME: 0:44
A photo of the early part of the run course. The gnarlier stuff came later.
Once on the run I secured my bib belt, got my visor on, and carefully jogged through the opening path leading to the trail. It helped me settle down a little. As I got to the flat main trail, I started pushing pace and was doing quite well. Fortunately, a volunteer directed me over a bridge or I would have blown straight past her, cleaving off about 2/3s of a mile from the course. I was running pretty well on the flat trail and when I got to the technical part the walking began. There’s no way you could run up these little hills. On one of them, I was almost crawling up it. Fortunately, I didn’t have any mishaps and was about to finish that section when I heard a guy yelling about being confused about where to turn. I found that the run course was pretty clearly marked with arrows, but could understand how someone could get confused. He had been ahead of me, so I told him to follow me and got him going in the right direction again. I hit the gas for the last half mile back and finished pretty strongly. RUN TIME: 26:23
I was recovering a little past the finish line when I had a guy come up and ask me if my watch showed three miles. I informed him that it did and he said that he only had two miles recorded for the run. Five minutes later, a young lady also inquired about the run distance, saying she only had done two miles. Things were starting to get a little weird. It wasn’t long after the race that the race director grabbed a microphone and explained that somehow an arrow on the course had been moved, directing runners in the wrong direction. He advised that he couldn’t change the results, but if anyone in the crowd was aware that their run was short by a mile, to do the right thing and let him know. I didn’t see anyone approach him.
That somewhat explains the difference in my finish place compared to 2021. I finished 22nd overall in that race, and finished 60th in this one! And to add insult to injury, I placed 5th in my age group, but when I looked at the results, it was pretty clear that at least two of them had questionable run times. I should have been 3rd overall in the age group. I was robbed of an A/G spot!!! Oh well, it’s not that big of a deal. The bigger picture is that I raced well, felt good about my performance, and had a great time.
It was nice to get back to racing triathlon again.
My gravel bike has been my riding choice this year, as it is more versatile and the tri-bike hangs in the garage, needing a tune-up and a reason to do it. Most of my weekday rides have been in the 20-25 mile range and I have stayed mainly on the local paved trail. Some of it is smooth as butter, but most of the portions of the trail have cracks and bumps, which are hard to avoid. And every bump lately has also come with a loud Ka-KLUNK! The sound was curious at first, causing me to wonder about it, but also to completely ignore it. But on my ride on Thursday, the sound was really bugging me.
The sound sometimes sounded like it came from the front fork, other times it was the back of the bike. But it seemed to echo through the carbon fiber frame of my bike. I tried coasting over bumps – Ka-KLUNK! I tried riding faster over bumps – Ka-KLUNK! I removed my water bottle – Ka-KLUNK! I checked and tightened all my screws – Ka-KLUNK! I removed the top tube bag which contains a bunch of stuff – Ka-KLUNK! One last thing to check was the saddle bag, which includes my flat repair tools – BINGO! No more Ka-KLUNK! It was a little surprising because it was tucked very tightly under the saddle and packed so full of junk that nothing loose could have been moving around. I added a piece of foam between the bag and saddle for now and have been riding Ka-KLUNK-free.
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I had gotten a couple of flats while riding on the tarred and chipped roads we have around here, and the inspection of my rear tire showed considerable wear on it. Little pointy rocks on the road and on the crushed limestone paths were easily causing small cuts and piercing my tube. I ended up buying a new tire to replace it. Replacing the tire was not easy. I got the old tire off easily enough, but the new tire was not going on at all. My son was called in to assist and we both struggled to get this tire on the wheel. We were eventually able to muscle it on, but it left me thinking about how hard it would be to fix a flat while out riding by myself.
I was scrolling through Reddit and saw a post on r/bikewrench from a guy who was having the same issue – couldn’t get the tire on the wheel. One guy responded that he could get it on in about 30 seconds. Others chimed in with the same advice the 30-second guy had and I was embarrassed to admit I had not heard of these instructions before. I bought a new matching tire for the front wheel and it went on much easier, and without having to call for assistance.
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One of the reasons to replace the front tire to match the back was to avoid looking silly, but also because I am doing my first triathlon in 3 years next weekend! Yes, I’m racing a gravel/off-road triathlon next Saturday and the tires I have added to the bike should make for good traction at this course. It’s a crushed limestone path with lots of turns, so hopefully I won’t have any problems negotiating those turns.
I found myself looking at the participant’s list, hoping to see if I knew any other locals racing, but couldn’t resist taking a peek at what the competition looked like in the M60-64 age group. There was one guy I found who had a very similar finish time to me and I figured he was my main competition. I searched his name and found that he’s a triathlon coach. Great. Well, I’m still going to give it a good effort and try to be competitive, despite trying to ease back into it after having hamstring injuries earlier this year. While I was on vacation, I was able to ride 10 miles in about 35 minutes and run 3 miles in about 25, so I’m not too far from my race pace effort.
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Speaking of coming back from injuries, I have been doing much better. After my above-mentioned 25-mile bike ride on Thursday, I followed it up with a 9-mile run on Friday. I fully expected to be sore and have to run a little slower on a rather warm and humid day. But I was surprised to be running very well and pushed a good effort through 6-7 miles before the heat made me dial it back. I’m glad that the stretching and smart training I have done has made a difference. I just got to keep it up and not do something stupid like racing.
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There’s a new Ironman 70.3 in Rockford, Illinois next year and of course, I had to sign up for it! Feeling good about riding and running again, and since this race is fairly close to me, I decided that this is would be a good reentry point. It’ll be a fun time!
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I haven’t told the wife yet, but I signed up for the Broken Anvil Backyard Ultra yesterday. The race director said it was filling up and was capped at 100 participants. So I checked and saw that it had 79 runners so far and figured why not sign up? The race falls about 3 weeks out from the Chicago Marathon, so I can use it as my last long training run before then. I really like the backyard format and this race has been fun the past two times I have done it. I got through 50 miles in 2022, and 37 miles in 2023, so I’ll play it by ear and try to have some fun without wrecking myself.
I’d better tell the wife that I signed up. She hates it when she finds out on Facebook. If I don’t break it to her soon, you might hear a Ka-KLUNK! from my skull.
an amazing run 