HITS Triathlon Race report as well as Tribute to our National Parks!

This past weekend, in Palm Springs, was the inaugural triathlon in the brand spanking new HITS triathlon series. It’s triathlon series that is out to appeal to triathletes of all ages and experiences. Those who want to go short and fast and those who want to go long and endure.  It really has a little of something for everyone, different distances spread throughout the weekend with plenty of categories for you to race in. This new series is going to travel around the country and then come back to Palm Springs next December for a winner take all championship event. In many ways it is very similar to our national park system, what you say? Well they both go from the desert to the ocean side and just like the series there is a park for everyone’s taste, and let me tell you the similarities don’t stop there!

My experience at the HITS triathlon (a brand new triathlon) is reminiscent of the our newest national park; Patterson Great Falls in Patterson, NJ.  Patterson is an area of the country which is credited as the birthplace of the industrial revolution.  But who would think they would find a national park in the middle of urban NJ?? Well who would think you would find an equestrian event company running a brand new series of tri’s around our country?? Well HITS is first, and foremost , a horse show company but its owner got the tri bug awhile back and wanted to bring a new vision to triathlon. He has the organizational skills, the cash and the drive to get it done. When someone’s passion is also their work good things happen. Obviously there will be glitches at the start of anything new, and this encompassing, but you could tell the vision is there. I, for one, will be sure to enter another in the series.

This race was an add on one for me this year, not really into any training plan at this point, I was just looking to do something before the end of the year and thought “hey there is a new iron distance race in Palm Springs, why not??” Well maybe not being in shape for such a long race might have been a good why not! But hey I have done stupider things before and lived.  This idea of mine ranked up there with the two worst ideas for national parks. The Proctology National Monument in Tennessee comes to mind, although the hands on exhibits are fascinating. Also there is The Valley of Cheese in Wisconsin which has suffered severe degradation since the introduction of Velveeta.

The Glacier National Park swim. OK you set up a tri in Palm Springs, historic information tells you it will be warm enough, so you think “good let’s do it!” Well the area was hit with a couple of weeks of pretty cold nights, plummeting the water temp to about 52 at the start of my race. I was prepared though! I came with two thermoses of warm water, one to put in my wetsuit before my warm-up swim, and another to dump in before just before the start of the race (both thermoses were significantly warmer than the 98.6 warm-up fluid us triathletes usually use). Second I had two hand warming pouches, you know the ones where you open the bags up and they stay warm for six hours, which I stuffed into my wetsuit. I was feeling downright toasty for most of the swim. The sighting on the way out during each lap was a bit difficult due to the sun, but manageable, coming back was a breeze. I starting to tighten up on the last length home and could feel myself slowing down. To be truthful I had been in the pool about three times in the past month and between the time off and the cold water I got a time I deserved: 1:10. Hey one thing about Glacier Park, in 1850 there where a 150 glaciers in the park, now there are only 25 bigger than 25 acres. The two biggest could disappear by 2030 with the rest to follow shortly after, better get there while it’s cool!

Now onto the Vanderbilt Mansions National Park Transition area! The transition area was the roomiest ever, we had a box with slots in them for our bike, the wheel going in the slot and holding the bike upright. Plenty of room to spread out, a chair with our race number on it, and even extra room in the box for our stuff! I was waiting for tea to be served before I rode.  Now usually I am a minimalist in transition, not a lot of moving parts, fast in and out of there. No changing into a new outfit, no accessorizing, no applying foundation so I look good for the pictures , if I am not the fastest one out I am pretty darn close to fastest. But with this setup up I took the extra few seconds to add the comfort of socks (I always ride barefoot), gloves (it was still chilly) and two new warmers inside my tri-suit! Watch out here comes a rant…. If you have spent all that money on an aero bike, a bike fit, aero wheels and an aero helmet why the hell would you then put on a parachute (ie windbreaker) in transition before your ride!?!?! Or for that matter, why have you not have ridden enough to stay in aero position on a flat course with swirling winds! OK sorry. T1 4:10 second fastest, a full minute too slow, but it was luxurious!

The Mojave National Perserve ride. It surrounds Palm Springs, its third largest national park (below Alaska) with Death Valley and Yellowstone ranking one and two (now don’t you give up Mojave, the deserts are always growing and Yellowstone is going to blow up some day!) It also contains three of the four major deserts of North America within its boundaries: Mojave, Great Basin and Sonoran. It’s all time high temp was 124 degrees with a record low of 13. The ride, like the area, was flat and somewhat rough. The chipstone rode surface started to rattle you after 80 or so miles. The wind, which was wild in the days before the race, had started out calm enough but on our second loop it began to kick up some and with no place to hide, definitely had an effect on your time. For today I was after a low cadence, moderate heart rate ride. Not having the big training days behind me for the race I wanted to save as much HR as possible, low cadence equals low HR, and hopefully have something left for a run I didn’t train for either. I averaged a cadence of 80 (when I was bored enough to count it) with an average hr of 148. My time was 5:20 for the ride but I left a little more in the tank than usual. Looking ahead to IM CdA I am thinking a ride of 5:10 to 5:15 is definitely in my wheelhouse, if my wheelhouse weighs 7 pounds less that is!

Back to the Vanderbilt Transition area, this time no tomfoolery, in and out, in about a minute. Extravagance be damned!

The Kobuk Valley National Park run. Kobuk Valley is located in Alaska and within the Arctic circle. It is the least visited of our national parks with a scant total of 1250 visitors for its expanse 1,669,813 acres in 2010, or about 1 visitor for every 133,000 acres. At any point in time you could be totally alone in a an area the size Delaware, haunting really. Now this being the first of the HITS tri’s and it being pretty late in the season to add an iron distance race to one’s schedule, there weren’t many of us 140.3ers at the start. Now, with the ½ iron distance runners mostly done for the day and off the course by the time we fullers got started, we had 26 miles of desert road to ourselves. Add in the fact that its winter, and an early sunset, well it was a dark and, at times, a lonely run.

My run started out great, nice turnover, feeling loose and like I a decent amount of run in me. Unfortunately I came down with an upset stomach around mile 6. This is a little unusual for me but, when it does happen, I try and grab some Coke at an aid station to settle things down. Unfortunately there was no coke at any of the aid stations. Physically and, maybe even more, psychologically I suffered for the next 8 miles. You see I had some coke in my special needs bag but it was far, far away…. sparing you the details I heaved my way to mile 14 and the coke. During the bike I had moved into second overall, somewhere around mile 15 or so, and had built up quite a cushion on third place, a cushion that totaled 30 minutes by the start of the run.  But now I proceeded to throw (up) that lead away. In fact the second place dude was only about 2 minutes behind me by mile 14 and my desperately needed coke. Luckily the soda had the desired affect and soon I was back to running at a pace just under 8 minutes a mile. Now, ladies and gentlemen, the race was on. Over the next 9 miles he slowly inched closer. 

The darkness, which was now fully engulfing us, hid him most of the time but the lights from oncoming cars would reveal his shadow to me, stalking me like some super sized runner. I began to seriously fade at mile 23 and, with slightly younger legs and the momentum at mile 24, after holding onto second place for almost 130 total miles, I was passed. L  For some reason I feel if you have raced for over 10 hours no passing should be allowed in the last 2 miles. But there was no one around to listen to my protests. After a long iron day, and for those who have done a few of these know, I was totally spent, finished, done. My problem: I was 2 miles from the end. As he passed I held on for as long as I could but soon he disappeared into the night and all I could see was a blinking light at an intersection far down the road. My legs were shot, my spirit was lying next to mile marker 24 and those damn lights just kept blinking, seemingly getting no closer. There was no further challenge from behind and I was too prideful to walk, but I assure you no one would confuse what I was doing with running. A race I just wanted to do for fun had turned into an event for me and now the party was going to start without me. My run total was 4:12, 2:04 ½ way out and feeling ill, 1:33 over the next 10 and then it took me 35 minutes to cover the last 3 miles.

Now I have never done it but finishing an ironman has to be like childbirth. Once you see that pink, mucousy, squished up ball of flesh and realize it’s your kid (most) of the pain and torture you have experienced over the past nine months melts away. Well it’s the same here, as I got closer I could hear the celebration as the second place guy crossed the line and I started to get a little more energy, Good for him! He preserved and deserved it. As I came down the chute and the cheering starting the pain and fatigue began to melt away and I basked in the enjoyment of finishing a grand task I had set my mind to doing. Not unlike finishing this report!