brooklyn

Entering back into the world of multisport

I did the 20th Annual Brooklyn Biathlon last Sunday. Participation marks my entrance back into multisport competition after a two and a half year hiatus. It’s fitting, really, that I would choose this race to get back into it. Seven years ago it was my first ever multisport event.

With a run/bike/run format it really plays to my running strengths. The distances are short with a 2 mile run, then a 10 mile ride followed by another 2 mile run, but the speeds are intense putting those who are competing pretty much on or just under the limit the whole time.

A little nervous

I was feeling quite a bit of anxiety about doing this event. Aside from being laden with emotional significance, my coach and the other “A-list” athletes from my team were there. We’ve traditionally used this race as our official season opener and generally dominate. It’s not unusual for everyone to come home with some hardware either from the overall standing or from their age group.

I hadn’t done much biking over the winter so my bike fitness was a total mystery. I also haven’t done a race transition (changing from running to biking or vice versa) since getting sick. A lot of questions and things up in the air.

Good show!

Turns out that I had little to worry about. The first run was quick, but I came in 11th with a time of 12:18 (6:09 pace). Transitioning to the bike was tough and it took me 1:11 (:30 to :45 seconds is the goal), but after that it went surprisingly well.

I expected to be completely overtaken by riders almost immediately, but I didn’t get passed until about the halfway point and that was by a teammate who wears an aero helmet (dork). A few more riders, including the top three women, passed me with about two miles to go. I hate getting “chicked”, but it was motivating and I held on to finish the seconds leg in 29:33 and 16th place.

The second transition was a little better. In and out in :47 seconds.

For anyone who’s never done a bi or tri, the sensation you feel while running after having just gotten off your bike is hard to explain. You feel like you’re running in quicksand as your body tries to move the blood in your legs from the biking muscles to the running muscles. You feel like you’re moving sooooo slow while in reality you’re probably running pretty well. The urge to panic and push harder is compelling, but it’s important to remain calm for the first mile and let everything thing sort itself out.

This was the part of the race that I was most concerned about. With all the weird tightness, twitching and general misbehaving my muscles do I didn’t know if they were going to work for me. Would I cramp up, feel pain, shutdown all together? I didn’t know.

Through the line

The second run ended up being five seconds slower than the first! And I “unchicked” myself by passing back the three ladies who had caught me on the ride as well as a couple of the guys.

I came in 12th overall in 56:13 and finished 3rd in my age group. Pretty much un-fucking-believable. I really had no idea that a finish that high was even possible for me right now. I had looked over some finishing times from the previous two years the night before the race and I thought that I might slip into the top 20… if I was lucky. But 12th… damn!

The aftermath

Of course, after experiencing my performance, I was feeling pretty good after the race. Over the following couple of hours I did grow increasingly more tired, but I did what I normally do after an event or extra-hard workout. I sort of prop myself up in bed and close my eyes for an hour. I sleep, but it’s this weird coma-like sleep that I’m at a loss on how to explain. My body falls into some weird super shutdown mode and I totally zonk out. It feels great and I wake up feeling pretty good.

I expected a lot of muscle pain from the intensity of the race, but found that I got very little. My legs are more stiff than sore. I wonder about this as it really doesn’t make sense. I know my running fitness is very high right now, but my bike is very low. That plus the overall high intensity nature of the activity should have resulted in some DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). Maybe I’m continuing to underestimate my fitness, but it just seems like something’s off in the process.

What next?

I don’t know… I was really feeling “done” with multisport events, but this gives me a little hope that I might still have some racing in me. That said, I don’t want to over do it and start packing in a lot of races.

I think I’ll keep focusing on running and leave it at that for now.

Thanks for reading.

Scott Jurek (back middle), myself (black shirt with orange sleeves) and some running friends

Runners are awesome

The running store that I coach for is very friendly with Brooks. I like to think that it’s because we’re all-around damn fine people to hang out with. But it’s probably due to the fact that we’re their top retailer within the specialty running store category on the East Coast (not including FootLocker, WalMart, etc.). Who knows? Regardless, because of our relationship with them, we get some special Brooks perks.

The perks usually involve them sending us free shoes or discounts on shorts. Last week, however, completely surpassed any freebie footwear. They sent us Scott Jurek for four days!

Who’s that?

If you’re not a runner – or even if you are – you may not know who Scott Jurek is, but in the world of ultra-running (greater than marathon distance) he’s pretty much The Man. To give you an idea of how baddass a runner he is, here are some of his accomplishments:

Seven-time winner of the grueling Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run with a course record of 15:36 (that’s HOURS not minutes)
Three-time and only American winner of the 153 mile Spartathon. A race in Greece from Athens to Sparta
Two-time winner of the Badwater Ultramarathon. A 135 mile run through Death Valley and up Mt. Whitney

And the list goes on. Check out the highlights section of his website to see more. All of them are pretty staggering achievements most of which boggle the mind of even the seasoned ultra-runners I know.

He’s also somewhat featured in the hot book, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. Which, by the way, is a fantastic read. Probably the best book I’ve ever read on running.

Visiting NYC

While he was here, Scott gave a series of slide show lectures at our Manhattan store, had dinner at a local organic farm/restaurant with a small group of lucky people (Scott’s a vegan) and did two group runs. The first run was in Central Park; the second in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. I couldn’t make the lectures due to work, but I did get to share in the organizational duties of the Brooklyn run. Myself and a couple of other guys from the store mapped out a four-mile mostly trail surface route.

It was a little embarrassing to take Scott on a four-mile run knowing that he averages running 125-150 miles a week (yes, a week!), but if was he was even the slightest bit irritated you’d never know it. He turned out to be one of the nicest people you could ever meet. Very laid back, down to Earth and approachable even with his status as an Ultra-Running Phenom.

After the run, some of us went back to the store with Scott and he hung out, answer questions and signed some autographs. I’m not really one to go for autographs, but since he was signing I decided to get one. He signed a little poster for me that Brooks made featuring him in the trail running shoes that he helped designed, the Brooks Cascadia. It’s now hanging on the wall over my computer in my “motivation space”. The spot where I post goal times, inspirational quotes, old race numbers, photos and (sometimes) medals. A nice addition.

Running makes you a better person

For me, the takeaway from this experience was that the old adage of “running makes you a better person” is really true. Between coaching and just being involved in the community I talk to a lot of sub 40 mile a week runners. Most of them are very nice, but over the last year or so I’ve been meeting more and more ultra-runners and I have to say, as the miles go up so does the cool quotient. Whether they’re local folks, highly-accomplished International athletes like my friends Christopher or top-competitors like Scott, it really seems that the more miles you run the nicer you become.

Thanks, Scott!

Race Report: 2010 Brooklyn Biathlon