I will say up front that I think Timberman is one of the most challenging courses around. The bike is hilly and the run has hill and doesn't have a lot of shade, neither does the bike for that matter.
I drove up to Grand Rapids Friday after swimming in the morning, having coffee, and working at the Gear West area at the Lifetime Fitness Expo for 2 hours. I went by myself because Jackie had school, then had a "Lady's Night" at our apartment, and wanted to get some studying in on Saturday. The drive up to Grand Rapids is about three and a half hours and alternates between being nice scenery and kind of dull.
I got to the Sugar Lake Resort about 5. The swim was already setup, so I gave it a look. The swim looked long, the water looked really nice. I went and got my race packet, no problem. Then I had the 7 dollar all you can eat pasta dinner they had at the resort. I ate with Dan and Suzie, it was nice to have some company for dinner. The all you can eat dinner was simple salad, red sauce, pasta, and meatballs. Desert was a blackberry crisp. It was surprisingly good meal, especially for 7 bucks. I had two helpings everything except the desert.
After I ate I drove the 15-20 minutes to the AmericInn in Grand Rapids. Hotel was ok. Next year, especially if Jackie comes with, I would like to stay at the resort for Friday and Saturday night.
Anyway, I went to bed early and got up about 4:45AM. I brought some stuff for breakfast and picked up some stuff from Cub the night before. I got up, showered, ate, packed, and got to the race site about 6:15. The weather looked a little sketchy at first, but by the time the race started it was clear and sunny, and warming up.
I found a nice spot in transition at the top of the hill , the tranisition is on a hill with the enterance from the swim and bike at the bottom and the exit for the run and bike at the top.
There were more people than I thought I would know at the race, so I chatted a little and did a short bike warm-up. I was feeling a little tired/lethargic, and it felt even more so when I went out on the bike warm-up. I was a tad worried about how I would feel.
The race is in waves, there is no Elite wave, so everyone 39 and under started together. I started on the outside and probably stayed there too long. The water is very clear and the temperature was probably perfect. The swim was very uneventful and felt ok. I didn't feel like I could go much faster than I went. I think the swim was shorter than the stated mile, based on my time.
I got of T1 with no issues and started the bike. The bike for the long course is two different loops. First loop is the same as the short course (10 mi) and then you split off and do another loop that is longer and the last part meets up with the short course loop. The ride was hilly, some pretty descent climbs, some pretty cool descents, and some nice scenery. There were some areas of bad road that made for rough ride on the second part. This was the first race where I had to go into the small chainring on the front, also probably the most I was ever out of the saddle in a race. It was a tough bike. When it was over, I was glad.
I got out of T2 with a little sock trouble, but otherwise ok. There are some short, and somewhat steep hills out of the start. The first 2 miles is on pavement, with very little shade, the next two miles, out a mile and back a mile, is on hard pack gravel/dirt, and the last 2 miles is pavement. It was hot, hard run. I thought about stopping and walking, but I made it without stopping, I kept running. You have to run a nice little uphill before the finish and then when you come in there is a guy on the other side of the finish line with a house and a showerhead type sprayer. I let him spray me, it felt great, but I thought I was going to go into shock. I wish they had more of those at other races.
I was pretty proud of myself. I felt kind of cruddy most of the day, just tired. Making it through the run, actually the whole race, was more of a challenge than usual, and I am really happy with my time. I was thinking something close to 2:40, so just under 2:30 was a nice surprise.
I recommend this race to someone who wants a real challenge, especially if it is a warm day.
I drove up to Grand Rapids Friday after swimming in the morning, having coffee, and working at the Gear West area at the Lifetime Fitness Expo for 2 hours. I went by myself because Jackie had school, then had a "Lady's Night" at our apartment, and wanted to get some studying in on Saturday. The drive up to Grand Rapids is about three and a half hours and alternates between being nice scenery and kind of dull.
I got to the Sugar Lake Resort about 5. The swim was already setup, so I gave it a look. The swim looked long, the water looked really nice. I went and got my race packet, no problem. Then I had the 7 dollar all you can eat pasta dinner they had at the resort. I ate with Dan and Suzie, it was nice to have some company for dinner. The all you can eat dinner was simple salad, red sauce, pasta, and meatballs. Desert was a blackberry crisp. It was surprisingly good meal, especially for 7 bucks. I had two helpings everything except the desert.
After I ate I drove the 15-20 minutes to the AmericInn in Grand Rapids. Hotel was ok. Next year, especially if Jackie comes with, I would like to stay at the resort for Friday and Saturday night.
Anyway, I went to bed early and got up about 4:45AM. I brought some stuff for breakfast and picked up some stuff from Cub the night before. I got up, showered, ate, packed, and got to the race site about 6:15. The weather looked a little sketchy at first, but by the time the race started it was clear and sunny, and warming up.
I found a nice spot in transition at the top of the hill , the tranisition is on a hill with the enterance from the swim and bike at the bottom and the exit for the run and bike at the top.
There were more people than I thought I would know at the race, so I chatted a little and did a short bike warm-up. I was feeling a little tired/lethargic, and it felt even more so when I went out on the bike warm-up. I was a tad worried about how I would feel.
The race is in waves, there is no Elite wave, so everyone 39 and under started together. I started on the outside and probably stayed there too long. The water is very clear and the temperature was probably perfect. The swim was very uneventful and felt ok. I didn't feel like I could go much faster than I went. I think the swim was shorter than the stated mile, based on my time.
I got of T1 with no issues and started the bike. The bike for the long course is two different loops. First loop is the same as the short course (10 mi) and then you split off and do another loop that is longer and the last part meets up with the short course loop. The ride was hilly, some pretty descent climbs, some pretty cool descents, and some nice scenery. There were some areas of bad road that made for rough ride on the second part. This was the first race where I had to go into the small chainring on the front, also probably the most I was ever out of the saddle in a race. It was a tough bike. When it was over, I was glad.
I got out of T2 with a little sock trouble, but otherwise ok. There are some short, and somewhat steep hills out of the start. The first 2 miles is on pavement, with very little shade, the next two miles, out a mile and back a mile, is on hard pack gravel/dirt, and the last 2 miles is pavement. It was hot, hard run. I thought about stopping and walking, but I made it without stopping, I kept running. You have to run a nice little uphill before the finish and then when you come in there is a guy on the other side of the finish line with a house and a showerhead type sprayer. I let him spray me, it felt great, but I thought I was going to go into shock. I wish they had more of those at other races.
I was pretty proud of myself. I felt kind of cruddy most of the day, just tired. Making it through the run, actually the whole race, was more of a challenge than usual, and I am really happy with my time. I was thinking something close to 2:40, so just under 2:30 was a nice surprise.
I recommend this race to someone who wants a real challenge, especially if it is a warm day.
2010 Timberman Long Course Results
Swim (1760 yards) - 23:41 (1:21/100 yards), I am not that fast, must have been short
T1 - 1:54
Bike (23.8 miles) - 1:10:01 (20.4 MPH), I am happy with this, considering the conditions and how I felt out on the course
T2 - 1:56
Run (6 miles) - 51:50 (8:39 min/mi), this surprised me, I would have totally been happy at or over 9 min/mi
Total -2:29:20
Overall -60/122
AG -7/13 (including at least two Elites)
Next weekend, the day of Sunday 7/18, I will be doing Racine IM 70.3. My first, last, and only half-iron/70.3 was Oct 2008 at Longhorn 70.3. That effort was a little unsuccessful. I had a good swim and bike and 4 miles into the run I hit a wall and ended up walking 9 miles. I finished, but I ended up in the med tent with an IV. I learned some lessons out there that day. I need more/better nutrition was the biggest thing I learned that day. It was hot and I did not take in enough stuff besides water. Hopefully this coming weekend I can take better care. Racine is supposed to be a flat course, so that will be nice, especially after this last weekend. There is a good chance it will be a hot day and I have no idea what the shade will be like. Basically my goal is to finish this race, I think my training, and extensive racing, will allow me to finish. I also think that because I race so much, and that I do not train specifically for this distance, it will be hard for me to have an awesome performance. I would be glad to go faster than the 5:45 I did at the Longhorn 70.3, but I will take a finish next Sunday.
2 comments:
Good result. Would you put this race on your calendar every year? I'm just starting to put down possibilities for 2011. Every time I visit Duluth it seems like whether you are walking, driving...whatever, you are climbing. I like flat!
I would do this race again next year to see if I could improve my time, and to spend two nights at the resort. The night before the race, and the night after to recover and have some beers by the lake. If you don't like hills, don't do this race. Waconia has a more hills on the run, I think, but I think this has more hills on the bike, and run combined.
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