Race Report: 2008 Over the Mountain

Finally, here’s my full race report. This really turned into a novel! I’ve put bold headers above each section so you can just read the parts you want. If you just want the facts, scroll down to read the “Things I Learned” section and read the quick race summary I wrote immediately after the race.

Official Results

Race distances: 1.5K swim, 45K bike (HILLY), 10K run

LEG    PLACE    TIME 
Swim  2           29:42     
T1                   2:34    
Bike    1           1:27:55  
T2                  1:22    
Run     8          1:01:36         
Overall 3         3:03:08

I was quite surprised to place third in this race! Now the pressure is on to keep up my streak 🙂

Overall Impressions

Last weekend I did the 2008 Over the Mountain race in Kings Mountain, NC. This is an Olympic distance race with an extra long bike. Any time there’s an extra long bike, it helps me. I’ve been wanting to do this race for a couple of years, because the unique point to point nature of the race sounded very interesting: you swim across a lake, then bike over a mountain, and finally run through the streets a quaint little town. Doesn’t that sound fun?

In a nutshell, I loved this race, and found the point to point nature exciting. The swim took place in a clean refreshing lake with just enough of a chop to make it interesting. The bike was extremely challenging – and oh so HILLY. I’m sure it was scenic as well, but I was working too hard to notice. The run was awful – two laps, very hot, very boring – the only bright spot being the lone Palomino grazing in an overgrown field.

Because of the point to point nature of the race, the logistics were tricky. I had to set up T1, drive to a separate location to set up T2, and finally grab a bus ride to the swim start location. The process of setting things up was unnerving; but once the race was on – it was an exciting venue!

I planned to arrive as early as possible to give me plenty of spare time. Because of a conflict, I was not able to drive to the race site the night before. So, I had to get up at the crack of dawn for the three hour drive to Kings Mountain. Actually, I got up way before the crack of dawn. I awoke at 2 am and left home at 3 am. I arrived at Kings Mountain around 5:45 am. It took me 15 minutes to find the race check in site, so that put the time at 6 am.

Setup T1

Race check-in was at the Swim Finish location, or T1. The first thing I noticed while checking in was the extremely steep hill that I’d have to run up when exiting the water. The timing mat was at the top of that hill, which essentially means that there are hills even in the swim at this race!!! click image at right to see this hill!

Due to the point to point nature of this race, you’d never return to the swim start or swim finish locations. That presents a problem about belongings left behind, so the race packet included two trash bags marked with your race number. Any belongings can be stuffed into those bags. Those bags were then collected by volunteers and transported to the finish line.

After checking in, I went back to my car and prepped my bike: filled tires with air, oiled the chain, attached my race numbers, taped 3 Gus to my stem, put my water bottle in place and filled it with water. Then I headed for the transition area. I was one of the first people on site, so I had plenty of room to set up my gear. I racked my bike, put the helmet on the aerobars, and laid out my shoes on top of the trash bag marked with my number. I would have to stuff my goggles into that bag during T2. I didn’t expect any need to stuff a wetsuit in there, as the pre-race temperate report was 78 degrees – not wetsuit legal!

After that, I went for a potty break. Short line thankfully, because it was still early. Then I went back to double-check my bike gear. It made me uneasy knowing that once I drove off, I wouldn’t have a chance to come back. A guy was just finishing setting up his gear next to my bike. I asked if he was ready. He expressed the same concern I had when he said “I hope I’m not forgetting anything!” I looked over his gear and said “Well, you have your shoes, helmet, bike and water. That’s the minimum you need, right?” Then I looked at my gear and went through the same checklist out loud, hoping he was also looking over my gear. I wished him well and headed back to my car. On the way, I ran into Scott Dewire and we exchanged wishes of good luck. By this time the parking lot was full, and cars were lined all along the road for a quarter mile. I was very glad to have arrived early to avoid the rush.

Setup T2

The next step was to go set up T2 which was a 15 minute drive away. Since this was also near the finish line, it was also where I’d park my car for the day. I didn’t know my way there, so I followed a car out of the T1 parking lot. I expected this car to turn onto the main road through town, but it kept going through the intersection and along a windy country road. I spent the next 10 minutes in a state of semi-panic wondering if this car was going to the race site, or if I screwed up and picked the wrong car to follow. Finally, we returned to the main road and I saw the race site. Phew!

Luckily, everyone else was still back at T1, so there was plenty of parking near the race site. I grabbed my running gear and walked a short distance to the T2 transition area, and found my number on the racks. I laid out a towel on the ground at my spot, and placed my shoes, cap, Gus and and water bottle on top. It was an odd feeling not having a bike there, too.

Then I headed over to the chip pick-up. There was a short line at chip pickup, and people were carrying wetsuits. I learned that the official water temperature reading was 75 – so wetsuits were allowed. I did not like the idea of having to stuff my wetsuit into a bag and leave it behind at T2 – what if my bag gets lost in the shuffle? I did like the idea of the free speed that wearing a wetsuit provides!

Then over to body marking, which went quickly: one volunteer marked my left side and another my right. Sure is nice to be early!

I went back to my car to get my swim gear: goggles, swim cap, wetsuit and Pam spray. Also, I snapped on my race belt with the bib, and tucked it into my tri shorts. That saves me from having to put it on in T2. (discovered this little trick at White Lake, by accident!)

Then I headed toward the line of buses waiting to take athletes to the swim start. On the way, I once again double checked my transition area. There was a guy putting sunscreen on. The weather forecast had called for overcast skies with a possibility of rain. I asked “Are you being optimistic about the weather?” He smiled and said “Yup!” Turns out, he was SMART!

Bus Ride to Swim Start

I boarded the bus, once again feeling uneasy: as, once this bus departs, there’s no coming back for forgotten items! I sat down next to a young man ~ 20-24 age group. He looked very nervous. I debated whether to strike up a conversation, or leave him alone with his thoughts. I decided to ask “Are you ready for today?” He said “Yes, except for water.” Then he explained how he had brought a water bottle for his bike, but no water. He further explained that he couldn’t find any water source at the T1 area. Yikes, poor guy! I tried comforting him by saying that maybe we’d get some rain on the bike course. I also shared my story about how I got stuck 15 miles from nowhere without water in 90 degree heat, and how I just rode easy so I did not sweat. We chatted about more pleasant things the rest of the short trip.

Pre Race:

It was about 7:45 when I got off the bus, leaving 45 minutes until my wave starts. I scoped out the race course. It went straight out toward the middle of the lake, and then turned toward the right. It ended on the opposite shore, where I could see the wacky inflatable waving arm man. It didn’t look too long.

Then, I found a grassy hill overlooking Moss lake and sat down to “people watch”. Grown men and women anxiously pranced around in wetsuits, reminded me of kindergartners dressed in costume for the school play. Aren’t we all really just children inside?
Click photo at right to enlarge – you can see me sitting on the left side of the grassy hill. I am wearing a red tri top, and I am sitting with my knees bent.

At 8:00 they announced that they were delaying the start of the first wave for ten minutes to wait for all the buses to arrive. Grrr…that bumped my start time ten minutes – to 8:40. More waiting.

At 8:15 I finally got impatient and put my wetsuit half way on, sprayed Pam on the legs and arms, put my flip flops, shorts and Pam into the gear bag and handed the bag to the volunteers. Then I headed down the beach area. Time: 8:25, still 15 minutes to go. The back part of the beach, which was clear of people, was speckled with clumps of grass. I walked along inspecting the terrain, hoping I could do some strides. It looked clear of unsafe objects, so I did about 10 repeats for my warm up.

They were calling up the wave ahead of mine, so I finished donning my wetsuit. I had difficulty pulling the sleeves onto my arms because the Pam spray made them slippery. Kari Wilkinson walked up to me and introduced herself. I know of her from a local tri club, but never actually met her. I guess that’s how she knew me. Kari is one of those amazing athletes that is way ahead of the pack. I had seen her name on this race list…and knew that there’s no way I could beat her. Kari was wearing an odd color wetsuit – sort of a brick red. We chatted until they called up our wave.

Swim:

I entered the water and made my way up to the second row as usual. I wondered if that was the right place for me this race, as Men 50 and older were included in my wave. I wasn’t too concerned: this race has a smaller race cap, so the number of bodies in the water was manageable. I treaded water until the horn went off, then started swimming. The water was calm and I was able to easily sight the buoys. I felt like I was swimming well and staying on course. Things were going well except for the nauseating smell of gasoline from the motor boats. Why do they allow motor boats to serve as lifeguards in triathlons?!

After making the right hand turn toward shore, the water got a little bit choppy, so I could not see the buoys. I did breast stroke for a few seconds to pick out a unique spot on the treeline to sight against. There was a pair of trees that looked like two boobies, so I aimed for them.

My swim strategy is always the same no matter what race distance: swim as hard as I can without getting the least bit out of breath. Try to swim straight. Try to pull equally on the left and the right (helps with the straightness). Breathe every other stroke to the right.

The chop seemed coming at me from the right, and hitting me in the face with each breath. I wished I was equally adept at breathing to the left. I continued swimming toward the two boobies until the second to last buoy. I paused there for a moment to regain my bearings. I could see the wacky inflatable man fairly well, so I re-aimed for him. I also noticed a woman just ahead of me and to the left…with a brick red wetsuit on. I was pretty sure it was Kari. I was pleased to be keeping up with her!

I continued swimming as normal, and each time I sighted, I caught a glimpse of the brick red wetsuit. I considered sprinting the last bit to beat her in the swim, but thought better of it. Sprinting during the swim just sucks the energy out of me. Then I decided why not pull in behind her and start drafting. I knew she was swimming a good pace. I was pretty sure she’d be good at following a straight course. So, that’s what I did.

I drafted off Kari for maybe five minutes. My most successful drafting attempt to date 🙂 Then all of a sudden, she seemed to slow way down. I lifted my head and realized she was gone, and a slower blue cap swimmer was in her place. She must have pulled around someone, leaving me to fend for myself. I wonder if she did that to get me off her tail (tho, I doubt she knew who it was that was following her bubbles).

Ahh, well, anyway the swim was almost done. I actually was a bit disappointed, as I was enjoying the challenge of the chop, the challenge of keeping pace with Kari, and was somewhat dreading those hills on the bike course.

Finally, I exited the water and saw Kari about 10 seconds ahead of me running up that steep hill to T1. I wondered, “if she is in 1st place, then maybe I’m in second”. If so, that’s my best swim performance ever! I wasn’t sure, tho, as the woman who won first place in our age group last year was also racing today, and she was also very fast. I had forgotten to put tape to block the time on my stopwatch this race…so I glanced down and saw the time was 28 minutes. Yeah, that’s a great swim time for me!

Bike:

I had some difficulty grabbing the strap to unzip my wetsuit. Finally got it unzipped, peeled it down to my waist, and yanked off my cap and goggles all while running up that steep hill to T1. I ran to my bike which, by the way, was in a really good spot for a quick exit. I sat on the grass and stripped my wetsuit the rest of the way off. I put on my cycling shoes and then stuffed the wetsuit into my numbered trash bag, while thinking “I really hope I get this back at the end of the day!” I donned my new aero helmet, sunglasses and grabbed my bike.

I ran to the bike mount line, flew past another biker and did my flying mount. I had been very careful with the Pam spray this time, keeping it below the knees, because at my last race, I slipped during this maneuver. Luckily, I nailed the mount perfectly today, and sped away to tackle all those hills.

And, I was worried about those hills! I’m not as strong on hills as I’d like to be. I was also worried about running after riding hard on such hilly terrain. As such, I didn’t have much confidence that I’d get a top finish in this race. My real hope was to make the #1 bike split. Based on past year’s results, that meant 19 mph average speed, and a 1:28 overall time for the 27 mile ride. I had my computer set to show average speed, so I could work on keeping that at 19.

Fairly early, Kari passed me. That surprised me since, she was ahead of me coming out of the water. I guess I must have had a faster transition or something. (later, I learned she had dropped her bike computer and gone back to get it.) I worked hard to pass her back. Soon after, she passed me again. I pushed harder and repassed her.

A few miles into the bike, I heard something clanking to the ground. I looked down at my top tube to check if my Gu’s were still taped in place. (can’t go 90 minutes without some energy source!). They were there. Hmmmm…. I wondered what that noise was. Oh well, time to take a Gu anyway, so I did.

About 5 minutes later, I looked down at my bike computer to check my average speed. Crap, it was gone. So, THAT’s what fell off back there. Ah well, at least I had Kari to race against. Kari and I played the cat and mouse game for first five miles of the race. Then I decided to change my bike strategy to merely shadow Kari, with plans to blow post her at the very end – just to get the number 1 bike split. (I knew she’d blow me away in the run!) I was a little concerned I was pushing too hard. I had no idea of my average speed to gauge things. All I could do was pace myself with Kari. Things were going well.

About ten miles into the ride, it started getting hot. My sunglasses steamed up from the sweat, and lack of airflow around my face due to the aero helmet. I guess I can’t wear sunglasses with the aero helment. The foggy lenses were impeding my vision so I took them off and stuffed them into the back of my pants. I couldn’t think where else to put them.

Speaking of hot… I had taken both my water cages off to save on aerodynamics. I was using my Profile design aerobottle, which sat between the aerobars. I knew I’d have enough water to last me to the handoff, and that the 20 ounces they gave me there would be enough to finish. This plan was perfect. But was this heat going to throw things off? It was too hard to see into my aerobottle to check the fluid level – so I just hoped it would last until the handoff. I thought of the poor fellow I had met on the bus who had no water to fill his bike bottle. We did not get any cooling rain for him!

Finally the water bottle handoff arrived at mile 14. I did not run out of water, thankfully. I was behind a young man who slowed WAAAAYYYY down to grab a bottle. That forced me to slow down too. I would have preferred to breeze through the handoff at a much quicker pace. If you drop the first bottle, no big deal, just try for a second. They have at least five people lined up at the handoffs!

To make matters worse, they did not give us the usual disposable Deer Park 20 ounce sport top bottle. They gave us a custom water bottle printed with the “Over the Mountain” race logo. Cute, yes, but I it was hard to hold onto and even harder to squeeze the water out of it. And anyway, I couldn’t keep it as a souvenir because I had nowhere to stow it. On first try squeezing water into my aerobottle, nothing came out. Shoot – the cap was not popped open. I bit it open with my mouth, and tried again. Finally, water came out and ever so slowly flowed into my aerobottle. I had to release pressure every so often to let air into the bottle, and then resqueeze. This process seemed to take forever, and slowed me down! The disposables are so much easier to handle and the water flows out so much faster. Finally I was done, and tossed it into the big pile of water bottles abandoned by other athletes.

Oh no…Kari was long gone. She must have been smart and carried all her own water with her.
Now I had to work hard to play catch up. I really pushed hard for several minutes and finally caught sight of her. She was about 200 yards ahead. I kept her within my sight the rest of the race, but never was able to pass her, despite that I tried really hard! I played alot of mind games with myself to find a way to go harder and faster, but to no avail.

I took this as a great opportunity for me to observe. On the flats we were about evenly paced. On the uphills, she was the stronger cyclist. I don’t think I ever saw her stand during a climb – she remained aero the entire race. Even tho I’ve been training to stay seated, in the heat of the moment, I found myself getting up out of the saddle on the worst hills. During the downs, I would slightly catch up to her. My downhill strategy has always been to shift to the hardest gear and keep spinning hard, even if it means super spinning (really fast cadence). Meanwhile, Kari was pulling her body into a tight tuck and coasting down the worst hills. I was only going slightly faster than her, yet I was working my tail off and she was getting a nice little rest. So, I learned an important lesson here, and for that I am glad.

I guess I should say something about the hilliness of the course. Yes, it was VERY VERY HILLY. I don’t usually mind hitting hills so much either, but this course was just hill after hill after hill without much in the way of easy parts to rest. I don’t know if that’s because I was working so hard chasing Kari, or because it’s just a tough course. Perhaps both. Those hill repeats I did on Borland and Mount Sinai were good training – especially since I had ended each repeat by accelerating to race pace coming off the hill. If I do this race again, I will do more repeats, not just three! Because this whole race felt like doing those repeats.

By the end of the bike, I had cut the lead that Kari had over me in half. But that wasn’t good enough to see a #1 next to my name in the bike split. (actually, there is a #1 next to my name in the official results, but that’s only because Kari’s bike split did not get recorded. She was about 30-45 seconds ahead of me pulling into T2).

Run:

As I ran with my bike into T2, I became aware of something bouncing around in the back of my pants. Oh yeah, my sunglasses. While still running, I clumsily fished them out and put them on my face. Luckily, they were not fogged up…good thing, as I really wanted them for the run!

I quickly found my spot and racked my bike. I put on my shoes, and grabbed my water and hat. I ran for the run start location while donning hat and strapping the water bottle on my palm. Then I pulled out the race bib that had stayed neatly tucked away into my tri shorts.

I checked my stopwatch and it said 2:01. Wow, if I put in a decent run, I can do a sub 3:00 this race, which could be a podium finish! I actually felt good at this point. I felt my form was good, my legs didn’t feel tired or sore…nothing hurt and I felt strong.

I checked my pace at the 1 mile marker, and was only doing 10 minute miles. Crap, crap and double crap! How can I feel strong yet be running so slow? I just don’t get it. I recalled last year’s Duke half race…this is exactly how I felt at the 1 mile marker. I had thought I was doing well, but was well below the performance I expected of myself.

I started going through all my mental strategies to pick up my pace: Shut Up Brain, A Pain that I am Used to, Suffer Well, Erase that line holding me back, leap up into nirvanna. None if it worked..it’s like I had no energy to pick up the pace…all I could do was try and hold onto my slow pace. Alas, at the 2 mile marker, I was still only going a pace of 10. And it was starting to get HOT. The sun was shining and I could feel my exposed skin burning. And I was sweaty. There was no air flow whatsoever, which just made the hotness feel worse.

I pulled myself together and said that I had to think positively, and at very least – do not slow down. I knew the way to do that was to maintain focus and keep negative thoughts out of my head. I finished the first lap in 30 minutes. I hoped for a negative split, but the day was getting hotter and I was feeling pretty miserable. Again, I thought, let’s just keep it together and hold onto this pace.

At the 4 mile mark, I saw a lone Palomino horse in a shady overgrown field grazing lazily. I sooo longed to go and sit in the shade with him. My distraction caused me to brush up against a thorny bush. Ouch!

As the heat of the day climbed, I started grabbing water cups at the aid station to pour over my head. I stopped once to fill up my palm holder bottle, and another time to gulp a whole cup of water to chase down a Gu. I probably spent more time at aide stations than normal, but I don’t think I wasted the time. Near the end, I was reaching out to grab a cup to pour over my head, and the volunteers said “we are running out of cups”. I decided to skip it, thinking that others who need to DRINK the water should have those cups. I did have water to drink in my own bottle. I thought of the Chicago Marathon, and how the race organizers did not have enough water for everyone one.

The final stretch up one of those long gradual climbs, a man pulled up next to me. He was walking and I was running! I looked at him and said “What’s wrong with this picture?”. He explained that he does power walking with his wife. Hmmmm….a good hill strategy I wonder?

At the 5 mile mark, a woman with 47 on her calf passed me. I tried to dig deep and keep up with her. I did for about 50 feet, but couldn’t maintain it. I tried to imagine having that breaktrhough workout I long for. I said this is it – this is your grand opportunity to do it. But I could not. Sigh.

I wondered what place I was in. I had only seen Kari, and I knew she was WAY ahaed of me, as she is a superb runner. I had not seen anyone else until this ’47’ woman. I was suffering in the heat for the entire second lap, so maybe I missed others passing me. I glanced behind me and saw a group of people about 50 yards behind. Some of them looked like women. I seriously doubted I had a chance at a podium finish, but figured I better try and stay ahead of that group.

Finally, I approached the end of this awful run. I could hear them calling off names as people crossed the finish. I started to pick up my pace, again glancing over my shoulder to see if any women were on my tail. None were. Just hold on.

Coming into the final shoot, nearing the mat, I looked back again. No-one was there, so I relaxed and just sauntered the rest of the way. There was no risk of anyone passing me, and I was just so hot and so tired and just so glad to be done.

Post Race:

After crossing the finish line, a volunteer handed me a cold wet towel and a cold water bottle. I draped the towel over my head, and staggered ten feet and plunked down in a shady spot to drink the water. I drank the whole bottle of cold water immediately. Then I opened my own water bottle and poured that over my head.

It wasn’t enough. I was still so hot and wanted water. I watched finishers crossing the line, and longed for the water bottles they were being given. I was too tired to get up and ask for one, tho, so I just sat there for a long time.

Finally, I got up and was craving gatorade. I don’t like gatorade, and I never drink it. But I really wanted some NOW! I walked over to the refreshment tent and looked at the buckets filled with drinks. They had water, coke, diet coke and sprite. No gatorade or any other type of sports drink. So, I grabbed water and then looked at the food offerings. Ahhh…those oranges look good. I walked over and ate about 10 huge orange sections. That was immensely satisfying.

Then I wanted something salty. I looked around and all they had were some really lame cookies and fruit. No salty snacks whatsoever. I grabbed a few cookies and ate them. They were okay, but I still wanted salt.

I remembered that I had a little tub of salt back at my car. I had brought that with me today to put a pinch into my bike water bottle. I walked back to my car and put a pinch of salt right into my mouth. ICKK – it tasted bad, but I figured I needed salt if I was craving it. Then I put on sunscreen, a white t-shirt and headed back to the race site. I still got a bad sunburn despite my belated efforts!

I went back to the oranges and ate some more while talking to a guy from Charlotte. He said he wasn’t trained well for hills, and that the 4 mile pathway loop he rides mutlipele times is mostly flat. I asked if he had a trainer, and when he said “yes”, I told him to get Spinervals Uphill Grind DVD. A great hill workout!

Then I saw Rebecca and Scott Dewire sitting over in a shady spot. I went over and sat by them until the awards ceremony. Scott raced that day, and won third place in his age group. I won third place too, much to my surprise! So, I got another podium finish. I congratulated Kari on her win, and told her I admired her awesome biking skills.

I collected my two numbered trash bags and headed back to the car. On the way, I chatted with Kari and a woman named Juliette. Kari said she got leg cramps at the end of the run, and was dismayed at the lack of cytomax on the run course. I noted how the snack options were lacking any salty foods, and how I was craving salt after the race. I asked her what she uses for salt needs during races. She said she drops an electrolyte tablet into her water bottle.

When I finally left the race site, I was still craving salt, and wanted something meaty. So, I stopped at McDonalds and got a quarter pounder with cheese. I haven’t had one of those in YEARS. It really hit the spot!

I had a very hard time driving home, as I was super tired. I guess that means I put everything I had into the race.

When I got home, the blister on my big toe that has been plaguing me for two months was worse than ever – it was filled with blood! I drained it to relieve the pressure. Gross, I know! I did promise you the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, so this is the Ugly!

Things I learned:

• Don’t put Pam onto the outside of the legs or sleeves of your wetsuit before you try to pull them on. It will make it too slippery!
• Always get to a race early so you have plenty of time to set up, especially important for THIS race!
• Always bring your own water to put in your water bottles
• Have a good nutrition/hydration plan. I thought I could go by feel for a ‘short’ race like this. Not true! Actually, I cannot think of olympic as a ‘short race’ any more.
• Don’t trust the weather report. I got a really bad sunburn!
• peddaling down fast hills probably isn’t worth the energy. better to tuck and enjoy the ride!
• I can’t wear sunglasses with my Rocket Aero helmet because they steam up.
• bring your own post race snacks in case they don’t have what you need at the race
• not worth it to skimp on how much water you carry during the bike. Surely I lost more time than I saved in that fiasco!
• When I got home and took my wetsuit out of the trash bag, it was very hot and the rubber was sticking together. I had to carefully peel it apart. Now there is a small tear in my new wetsuit! Lesson: don’t leave a wetsuit sitting in the sun in a trash bag all day! I should have taken it out right away and laid it out in my car.