Race Reports

Race Report: Rage in the Sage 2007

I think this year’s Rage in the Sage turned out to be a true learning experience once again. Whereas last year’s race was a series of snafus that left me pondering how much time I had lost and how many places I could have moved up in the rankings if I’d only had my shit together, this year’s race forced me to look closer at the weaknesses of which I am already aware. Weaknesses I want obliterated from my physiological and mental repertoire.

This year also marked my migration to the 40-44 age group, even though I won’t be 40 until July. Looking at this group’s times from last year, I’m in trouble. These dudes posted faster times than most of the 35-39 age group.

If you’re new here, I’ll save you some reading and tell you that I had a barely adequate 2006-2007 racing season. It was year of getting back into the fitness game after a long layoff. It was a year that concluded with a real kick-in-the ass, and my first DNF, at the Mt. Taylor Winter Quadrathalon.

It was my hope that I would come back to the 2007 Rage in the Sage with a performance that would blow away my 2006 times.

I was partly correct.

It turned out the only thing doing any blowing was the wind…to the tune of 45 m.p.h. That wind created six-foot swells in Lake Mead and in turn moved some very well-weighted buoys to some far off land. When I arrived at the transition area around 6:15 a.m., I was informed that the triathlon had now become a duathlon. There would be no swim.

Not good for Hak.

The one event where I have some modicum of speed is the swim. I was counting on those extra 2-5 minutes of lead time to help me.

Nope. Not today. No such luck.

The Universe’s plans for today were to throw me right into my most suckiest of events: the bike and the run.

As John Redcorn, the Native American healer and town gigolo from “King of the Hill” said (I’m paraphrasing here), “When my people pray to God for strength, he sends them difficulties to teach them how to be strong.”

Leave it to an animated character to put it all in perspective.

Rather than give you the blow-by-blow, I’ll simply run through some race highlights.

Getting ready to go in the cattle shute. Has anyone seen my girdle? Note: The big dude on the right has some power on two wheels. He passed me near the end of the bike, but fortunately, his Run Fu was far worse than mine and I took great pleasure in returning the favor early in the run.

Bike (15.2 miles)

• After some initial confusion on the new start logistics, the athletes were launched in waves of 25. Olympic distance and relay teams were first, followed by the sprint group. We lined up in the transition area, waiting to be ushered out past the timing mat with our wave. It was like being in a cattle shute sent off to slaughter our egos.
• The climb out of the parking lot onto the road was about a 6% incline for approximately 300 meters. One poor gal, a rather large woman, had already gotten off her mountain bike and was pushing it. My hat’s off to her for even stepping up to the starting line. I hope she was able to finish the race. It takes a lot of mental fortitude to not pack up your gear and go home when people ride by while you’re pushing your bike in the first minute of the race.
• To make things fun, we had 20 m.p.h. tailwinds going into the first five miles of the race until the first turnaround. For the next eight miles, those fair winds turned into headwinds with gusts pushing 45 m.p.h.
• I had a blast passing people on the bike. Yes, you read that correctly. I was picking off earlier waves of riders like a cheetah nails gazelle. This was an incredible, and a first, feeling for me. And I liked it! And I want to do much more of it in the future!
  
• I was passed by a handful of riders, yet nothing like last year.
• I played cat-and-mouse with one other douche bag* in my age group until he finally caught me after I thought I had dropped him for good. After all, I was finally learning that once you pass people, they generally stay passed. I stuck to my game plan, however, and stayed at my lactate threshold of 185-190 BPM and cadence of 85 and did not push the pursuit. In hindsight, I wanted to fucking crush him and should have finished him off.
• My moment of humility came when I mentally chastised a guy in front of me for having to look where his cage was as he stowed his water bottle on the bike. “Hey Slick,” I said to myself, “this is how it’s done.” I grabbed my bottle, took a swig of Heed, went to put it back in the cage on my frame without looking, missed, and promptly launched it behind me and down the road.
• After a gnarly, but short, 8% climb into the 30 m.p.h headwind, I had the thrill of hitting 51 m.p.h. on the downhill portion.

Fastest Overall: 0:41:58 (set by a dude in the 45-59 age group!) with an average speed of 21.9 m.p.h.
Fastest Age Group: 0:48:43 with an average speed of 18.8 m.p.h.
Hak Time: 1:01:55 with an average speed of 14.8 m.p.h. (9:41 faster than last year; throw in the wind conditions and I’ll take that improvement)
Age Group: 10/12
Overall: 101/199**

T2
Nothing special to report here other than a tactical error. I had built up some good speed coming into the transition area and figured I had two choices: 1) hit the brakes so I could slow down enough to safely unstrap my shoes, remove my feet from the shoes, and then rest the feet on top of the shoes so I could quickly dismount; or 2) ride like a crazy man until the last second, brake hard, unclip and run to the rack in my bike shoes.I chose the latter, forgetting that I had about 50 meters to clip-clop my way to my bike rack. I wasn’t able to run very fast and sounded like a dysfunctional tap dancer as I shuffled to the rack.That being said, I don’t know if one tactic would have worked better than the other.

Fastest Overall: 0:00:43
Fastest Age Group: 0:00:45
Hak Time: 0:02:01 (33 seconds slower than last year)
Age Group: 9/12
Overall: 124/198**

Run (5K)

• I had received some advice earlier on how to switch my Polar HRM from bike mode to run mode and it worked great in practice. Race days are always different aren’t they?This time, it took me about 90 seconds to get the damn thing to work as I came out of the transition area and I really screwed things up. I was reading time in some foreign language and gave up as long as I had the stopwatch function and HR working.
• I turned on the foot pod in my shoe prior to the start of the bike leg so I wouldn’t have to screw around with that in T2. Of course, the battery died and I had no concept of speed during the run. This was not a good thing for me as I use that pace per mile calculation to tell me I’m running slower than I think. It’s my kick in the ass reminder that my mind corrupts the feedback from my feet.
• Same as last year, I walked up the first little hill once my running speed slowed to that of my walking speed. This time, however, it was only on the last 150 meters or so.
• Once I hit the turn where the run leveled off and ran parallel to the shoreline, the legs were back to life and I was good to go.
• My plan was to bump the speed after the turnaround and then open up the burners the last half mile. After the turnaround I started to gradually increase speed and passed some more people. Yes, more fun for Hak.
• I had to run back down the same hill I walked up and knew I had enough gas in the tank to really let fly. Unfortunately, the rocks were the size of softballs on the dirt road and I had to run with the brakes on until the ground leveled off again.
• This is my favorite part. My masterpiece of the entire race. I saw this dude in red (see photo series below) running toward the finish line. He was about 50 meters out and I was about 100 meters from him. I knew I could pass him if I let it all loose.
• At that moment, a sartori moment, time ceased to exist. As I put on the afterburners and hauled ass toward the line, it was if I was floating in slow motion. I had absolutely no sensation of pain or effort. I just flew until my legs maxed out. Then I flew some more as I heard a voice in my head come to life “Pump your damn arms! Pump your damn arms!” And so I did. And I so went fast until I crossed the finish line.
• I have no memory of even passing the dude in red.
• Mrs. Hak later said that she didn’t think it was me (hence no photos until I passed her) because “you don’t run like that. That wasn’t your gait.”
• It was a great feeling to have full confidence that my left calf was in working order and I could stretch out the stride.
• Finish line glory aside, I should have pushed the pace faster, earlier. It’s only a 5K for chrissakes!

Fastest Overall: 0:19:21 with a 6:14/mile pace
Fastest Age Group: 0:23:29 with a 7:34/mile pace
Hak Time: 0:31:14 with a 10:05/mile pace (2:06 faster than last year)
Age Group: 11/12
Overall: 118/203**

Overall time

Fastest Overall: 1:03:22
Fastest Age Group: 1:14:33
Hak Time: 1:35:09
Age Group: 10/12
Overall: 103/203 (compared to 52/63 last year)

In the end, I felt much better about my performance before I saw the results. I thought I had passed more people and was faster than I was. Photos and stats don’t lie.So, on that front, I was a bit disappointed. However, it’s a reminder that I have to train twice as hard as the average triathlete just to make an average grade. Looking at my training volume for the past few months (see below), I shouldn’t have expected much more than I got.

Find your edge and dance upon it.

hak

*Note: This race marks the awakening of the Lethal aspect of my former OCS nickname Lethal Cupcake. The name came about when classmates couldn’t believe that such a nice guy like me was wanting to go into the military specialty I did. I have been in too much touch with that inner cupcake last season and am now getting in touch with the lethal side, at least mentally. Apparently, the time I’ve been spending with roadies is rubbing off!

** Note: As with all timing chips, there are some times that are not recorded for an athlete’s bike, T1, or run, although an overall time is recorded. If there is no time recorded for that event, that person is not included in my overall ranking calculation for the bike, T1, or run. That will explain the variances in the overall figures.

Another triathlon completed. Assistant Coach, and future triathlete, Amanda and I head back to the rig.

© 2007 The Outdoor Journey.