Panther Creek

     A few weeks ago at church, we were teaching about wearing the armor of God. Shannon had a great idea to actually have the kids put on some armor. You have to be creative to keep their attention. We didn't actually have armor, but we did have my downhill race pads. We took them to class, not sure if any of the kids would even want to put them on. One of them, Tessa, volunteered to put on the pads as we explained what each piece meant spiritually and how it was used to protect me while riding. She ended up leaving the pads on the rest of class and didn't want to take them off afterwards. She looked so funny reading scriptures while wearing full downhill gear.

Tessa reading scriptures in full 661 downhill pads

     We got back to traveling the week after the Music City Triathlon. It was another triathlon trip, this time racing off-road. It would be my last chance to work on XTERRA skills before Nationals. This race was up in Morristown, TN at Panther Creek State Park. I have raced there before, but it was way back in 2001, my first full year of racing. Needless to say, I didn't remember much about the trails there other than I liked them.

     I was disappointed to be running tubes in my new set of Maxxis CrossMark tires. I tried to seal them tubeless with Stan's NoTubes, but they just wouldn't seat on the rim. We struggled with it for over an hour before giving up and putting in tubes. I had this same problem before Chickasaw earlier this year. I also tweaked my derailleur two days before the race. It was frustrating trying to get my shifting fixed, but somehow I got it worked out. It was a miracle because the shifting was so far off that I shouldn't have been able to fix it back to normal.

    We made the drive on Saturday in order to get in a pre-ride. We were going to camp in the free camping field the park was providing for the racers. We got there just after lunch, planning to set up camp, go for a ride and then go to a movie. We have had 2 free tickets to see a movie for a while and they were about to expire. The gate to the camping field was locked. And it was really hot, so we decided to change our plans around and go hit the movie first. We saw the new Dark Knight movie, then returned to the park in time to pick up numbers and get in a pre-ride loop.

    The trails were good. They were dry and fast. Some of the sections could've used a little trimming, but otherwise it was good. The challenge was the climbing. There were several long climbs on the bike course and a few were rocky. It was almost entirely singletrack which I was thrilled with. I even recognized a few sections from my one trip up here over 10 years ago. The run course is on hiking trails, so I couldn't pre-ride it. By the time we wrapped up our ride, the gate was open to the camping field and we went in to set up our tent. I could see some of the run course from the road and was able to view a massive hill out in an open field.

     It was a cool night in the tent. We were expecting 68 degrees for a low and it dropped down to around 60. We were not prepared for that cold. We only brought a sheet to cover up with. No blankets. No pants. No long sleeves. Nothing. And we paid for it dearly. I woke up at 2am feeling damp and cold. My calf was cramping from being tense in the fetal position trying to create some warmth. We left the rain fly off, anticipating a warmer night. The heavy dew that fell with the cooler temps had everything soaked when we got up the next morning, both outside and inside the tent. I felt like crap. Everything hurt from being tense all night. I was slow getting ready and did a shorter warm-up than I like.

     One race time rolled around, I forgot all about the sleepless night. It's funny how race adrenaline can make you forget about all the bad things that have happened that week. The race began with a swim in a small cove of Cherokee Lake. We were to do 2 laps of a 400 meter square they had marked out in the cove. My plan was to start fast this time to avoid getting run over so much. I figured I was strong enough now to hammer the first few minutes and then back off as everyone spread out. I was hoping for my fastest swim ever, followed by a good bike and then I wanted to push the run as hard as I possibly could. I wanted to be destroyed at the finish.

Racers and spectators gathered for the start in Cherokee Lake

Swim underway

     We had over 100 racers as we began the race. I started fast, but so did everybody else. I think the shorter course made everyone go harder than they normally would. I got hit a lot on my legs on the first lap. That is annoying because your head and chest come out of the water when your legs get pushed down. The legs become anchors and hold you back from gliding through the water smoothly. I stayed far to the inside of the course to get away from everybody. That worked better than being in the middle, but I still got hit by people that were swerving badly off course.

    The pace of the first lap took its toll on me. I had to back off a lot more than I wanted on the second lap. One guy kept running into me from my right. I moved over twice and he just kept cutting over on me. Then his elbow jacked me in my left eye, knocking my goggles off. Since I had my swim cap on over my goggles, I didn't lose them. I reset the goggles and then ran that guy down and passed him to get away from him. I can't believe he hit my left eye that hard when he was on my right side! Part of swimming is just staying away from the crazies. I faded some more by the end of the swim. My time was slower than I had hoped, but so was the time of all the other people. I think the course was actually longer than 800 meters. My time was 19:00 which was 49th fastest out of 105.

One racer running toward the transition area following the swim

     I had a better transition than at Lock 4 and set sail on the first of two 7.5-mile loops. Greg Gibson was just ahead of me starting the bike. Greg is a Pro mountain biker as well. I was hoping to beat him to the woods because I wasn't sure if I could beat him on the bike. I was first out of the water, but he beat me in transition by going without gloves and socks. There was a tricky rock section about a mile into the loop and I got by him there after slower riders ahead of us piled up.

Transition area

     The swim didn't seem to hurt my bike as much as the past few races. I tried to be more smooth though, especially since there was a lot of climbing in the second half of the loop. I passed a lot of people on my first lap, moving up into the top 5 overall. I picked off a few more on the second lap. I rode really well in the second half of the bike leg and picked up my lap time by a minute. I caught the 2nd place overall in the last section and had to follow him into the transition area. We got yelled at about dismounting late, but I'm not sure why. Both of us were off our bikes well before the dismount sign. The officials were on the other end of the transition area so they didn't have a clear view of the dismount anyway. They fussed at us, but then let the guy behind us ride all the way into transition to his spot without saying anything. I knocked off two laps in 1:06:17. I thought that would be the best bike time, but it was not. One guy beat me by over 2 minutes!

Bike course map through Panther Creek State Park

     I tried to get my running shoes on as quick as possible. I was actually a little too quick. My helmet was still on when I ran out of transition. If Duane Leach hadn't yelled at me as I went into the woods, I may have had it on for the whole run. I heard him though and tossed the helmet into the bushes as I started the trail run. I passed the 2nd place guy in the transition and started the 4.9-mile run with just one racer ahead. I knew the guys behind me were better runners, so I started fast and tried to hang onto my podium spot overall. I was leading my class at this point too.

Run course

     I felt good early in the run, but then went flat after the first mile. My legs just didn't have any strength. I wasn't burning with fatigue or bonking, I just didn't have any run legs. I dropped back quickly in the overall and lost the lead of my class. There were 2 long climbs on the course. I shuffled up them like an old man. I had to resort to walking at one point on the second climb. I faded all the way back to 17th overall by the end of the run. What was most irritating was that my legs started to feel good in the last 1/2 mile. Even with as bad as I felt, I averaged a 9:43/mile for the run. My time was 43:46 and 62nd quickest in the run.

     My total time was 2:11:04. I finished 5th in the 25-29 age group and 17th overall. The race didn't go the way I had hoped, but I got good training out of it. I've been running more at home since then, but my legs continue to be flat. I definitely have some work to do before Nationals!

Race video. Would've been more, but the GoPro battery died on us. Thankyou Shannon for what video we do have.

More from 4...

    Here's a few more pictures from XTERRA Lock 4 Blast. Enjoy.

Swim start

Me putting on the bike shoes

Headed out to the bike

Halfway through lap 2

Mike Edens and I together on the bike

Nearing the end of the bike segment

Mike Edens and I about to sprint for the finish

Poke

     I finished my block of long, endurance rides this past week. The temp has cranked back up, which made for some hot, draining rides in the sun. It seems like I rode a different bike each day. I started the week on my singlespeed cross bike, then moved on to the race road bike. I did the local group ride on Thursday with the race bike. It turned out to be a bit more than I had bargained for. It was super hot most of the ride, then a thunderstorm snuck up on me the last hour. I ended my ride with a time trial that got even more interesting when my shifter cable decided to break about 8 miles from home. The cable had frayed badly under the bar tape and a fragment jutted through the hood covers, poking me a little in my palm. That left me riding a singlespeed yet again and staying in my drops to avoid getting stabbed. I did beat the storm home by a few minutes though.

Cable poking through

     I was not willing to back off my week at all to rest for the Music City Triathlon. It was not a priority so I was training through it. Shannon and I went out for 36 miles on Saturday morning. It was her longest ever ride. We were blessed with a cloudy, cool morning as we rode out to Adams, TN. We picked the wrong day to ride to Adams. The town of about 100 people was hosting a festival called the Thresherman Show, which brought in several thousand people. The show is for antique farm equipment including old tractors and horse-drawn buggies. They also have a tractor pull and mule pull. We were riding in the traffic of everybody heading into town. Most were pulling tractors behind big trucks. Others were riding in horse-drawn buggies. It was cool to see, but a little chaotic at the same time. More than once I thought we might die.

Shannon cruising through a tunnel

Going up a small, wooded climb near Adams

     I felt great after we got home so I went back out and logged in some more time to end my day with over 4 hours of riding. We then did yardwork in the hot sun most of the afternoon. I tried my best to stay hydrated, but it was nearly impossible in the heat. We worked hard all evening, going to pick up a new freezer and installing it in the house. That was easier said than done. I had to take off the front door to get the thing to fit inside. I am pumped to have more room for berries! I also had to put on my aero bars, fix my shifter cable and change out tires. Needless to say, I was very fatigued by the end of the evening. We didn't have much time for dinner and ended up eating ice cream. What an awesome pre-race meal.

    As usual for a triathlon, it was an early morning, departing the house well before sunrise. We had some construction traffic to negotiate, but made it to the race in plenty of time. I brought two bikes so I could get in a warm-up after the transition area closed. Sprint racers always start first at Music City, followed by Olympic distance. They also seed everyone based on expected swim time. So, with me being Olympic distance and not exactly a fast swimmer, I was going to be waiting a while before my chance to start.

     Registration took longer than expected. They red-flagged my registration because of my new USAT license. I don't know what the big deal was. I've already raced on it twice. I had to go through three different registration lines before finally getting my numbers and packet. I had to hurry a little to get my stuff into transition in time. The transition area closed 30 minutes prior to the start, so everything had to be in place early. They announced that the swim would be shortened from 1500 meters to 1000 meters due to excessive river current from recent rain. I was a little disappointed as my main motivation for this race was to get in a long swim at race speed.

      After getting things set in transition, it was back to the car to change. It was already hot standing in an open parking lot letting the sun bake you. We could hear the announcer at the river and I actually thought they were already starting people. I didn't think I had time to warm up on the bike. I honestly didn't even feel like getting it out. I was hot and tired already. I just wanted to get in the water and cool off. We hurried down to the river to find out that the first swimmer hadn't even gone off yet. I could've gone back and got the bike out, but I decided to save my energy and just relax for the next hour. I was worried about being able to make the full distance. Last year I had a hard time with the run and I was well-rested.

Racers lined up on the dock awaiting the start of the swim

Swimmers heading upstream from the dock in the Cumberland River

    Finally, it was my time to get in line. The line slowly worked down onto the dock. The dock is a hectic time to me. I like to get my face wet before I put on my goggles just to help them seal a little better. I always put on my swim cap over my goggles so that there is less chance of them getting kicked off my head should I run into some feet. I splashed my face, got the goggles set and put on the swim cap just as we were told to slide off the dock into the water. The past two years the water was deep by the dock, but this year it was only about 3 ft deep. It was a sudden jolt when I hit my feet on the bottom, which was made of sharp, cragly rocks. I got stabbed in my right foot, just in front of my heel. It felt like a piece of wire poking me rather than a sharp rock. My first thought was of infection from the river water or tetanus from the wire. I only had about 10 seconds to worry about that before it was time to start.

Me in the middle on the dock

About to reach the starter and get the race underway

Swimming away from the dock for 1000 meters of fun

     The swim began against the current. I hit it as hard as I could, pretending the first buoy was the finish line. I wanted to use my strength to pass the weaker swimmers while we were pushing against the current. If I overdid it, I could always coast back with the current. My foot burned like fire the first 5 minutes and then began to ache. It was annoying, but I don't think it slowed me much. I passed quite a few people in the first half of the swim. The toughest part of the swim was the last 100 meters where we crossed the current back to the dock. The current was pushing people downstream way past the exit point. I made sure to look up often and keep myself pointed as straight as possible toward the ladder on the dock. The guy ahead of me was slow getting up the ladder so I gave him a helpful shove in the butt. I got out of the water with a swim time of 20:38. I was seeded 295th based on my expected swim time, but my time was 164th fastest. I definitely had some proof to go with my argument than I should've been seeded a tad higher.

Looking down on the swimmers from the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge

Racers head from the river toward the transition area

It was a painful run from the river for me after cutting my foot

     There was a lot of traffic on my run up from the river to the transition area. All the people were walking! I was trying to run without touching my heel on the concrete because it was still smarting from the cut. I had to run through the grass to pass a pack of walkers and that got the foot to hurting even more. It was killing me by the time I reached the transition area. I got a quick glance of the wound as I slid on my socks. It was a nice round little hole at the edge of my heel and arch. It looked like somebody stabbed me with a pencil. There was some swelling around it and it was bleeding slightly. I jammed on my socks and struggled to run out of transition. I was gritting my teeth and limping, but I managed to keep running and moving fast in a big line of riders exiting transition.

Changing into my bike gear in transition

The right foot was not feeling good at this moment

    Putting my shoes on while they were attached to the pedals was tougher than I remembered. I haven't practiced it in a while and it showed. I got the tongue of the shoe all smashed up around my toes and couldn't get it out. I gave up after a a few tugs. It was only 24 miles. Comfort shmumfort. My foot ached for the first few minutes, making me wonder how it was going to handle the run, but then all of a sudden it stopped hurting. I settled into the best rhythm I have ever had during a time trial. Sometimes it's just nice to not care what your time is. I concentrated on riders ahead and picked them off a few at a time on the out-and-back course. We were to do 2 laps of the 20km course. It's mostly uphill on the way out, then downhill coming back. There was a headwind coming back that took away from the fun of the downhill.

Bike course heading out of Nashville on Ellington Parkway

Me passing by LP Field to begin lap 2 on the bike

     They had to add a few turns in the early part of the loop due to construction. I took full advantage of my cornering skills on both laps and ripped the turns at full speed like a crit. I was cruising on the second lap. I found a good cadence on the climb and was able to stay in my aero bars until the very top. My legs were tired from all the training recently, but they were strong. I finished in 1:06:22 with a 22.9 mph average speed. That was 24 seconds faster than I did it last year. Not bad for riding with tired legs! I went faster and did it with much less effort. I was 16th quickest out of 355 on the bike. I love coming into the transition area a seeing all the bike racks around my area empty. That's when you know you passed a lot of people.

LP Field in the background on the bike course

Rider comes into transition at the end of the bike segment

These two almost piled up just ahead of me during dismount from the bike

Me coming into transition following the bike

It crowded and dangerous going in and out of transition

Video of the bike segment

     I was still a little worried about my foot when I came back into the transition area. 10K is a long way to run with pain. Like I said, the pain had stopped while I was on the bike and I'm happy to say that it never returned. I had a little heel soreness when running, but it was nothing to worry about.

Run course mapped from my Garmin 305

     The run was hot. Most of the roads are in the sun as you wind through the streets of downtown Nashville. We do two laps of 5km each. Each lap contains three climbs that are tough. The first comes over the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge, starting almost immediately after exiting the transition area. I felt good starting off, but the hill hurt! I got settled in on the descent off the Pedestrian Bridge. The course then takes you around to First Ave, which begins flat next to the river, then turns up steeply. This climb is the hardest part of the course for me. It's steep and all in the sun. And the pavement was chewed up from the construction. I had a hard time on this climb, but recovered well on the descent down 2nd Ave. The final climb comes up Third Ave. This one is more gradual and was easier for me to hold my pace on. Then it's downhill and flat around the back of LP Field to the finish area.

Running up the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge

     I felt good after lap 1 and could tell I was not going to bonk like last year. My first 5k loop was just over 25 minutes. I was hoping to hold that for another lap and get close to 50 minutes for my run time. I was very smooth and settled on lap 2, but the first two hills beat me down. I ran well up Third Ave. and finished strong, but I dropped 3 minutes, ending with a total time of 54:19. That was 13 minutes better than last year and left me 161st best on the run for the day. Overall, I ended up 80th out of 355 with a total time of 2:26:12. That landed me 11th out of 29 in the 25-29 age group.

Nearing the end of lap 1 on the run

Still smiling at the end of lap 2

Turning up the speed as I near the final turn and finish line

    I am VERY pleased with my performance. I was tired and very unprepared beforehand, yet had my best road triathlon ever. I was not even that tired afterwards. I visited the medic immediately after crossing the finish line and had them clean out my wound. It looked much better than it did after the swim. Most of the redness and swelling were gone. And it had stopped bleeding. Shannon and I went out for a spin later in the evening to loosen up my legs and clear out some of the lactic acid. It was a great way to end my big block of training.

      This week is a rest week. I've been healing up my foot and giving the legs some much-needed rest. And it has been a good time to catch up on things around the house. We lost a lot of our flowers around the house with the drought, but the garden is growing well now that it has rained a few times. I have been tossing around the idea of making a riding video for some time. Now that I have the GoPro and a few new accessories, I'm putting the plan into action. The first segment is in progress and I should have it finished soon. I can't wait to finally finish one and share with everyone.

Got an extra battery for the GoPro so we can film for longer

New LCD screen with battery indicator so we can play back the video and make sure the shot was good

Joby Gorillapod Tripod with GoPro Mount

The Gorillapod can attach onto anything...including the skinny metal hook atop a flower pot.

The morning glories are finally taking over the stump in the backyard

    Thanks for reading! Next race for us is this weekend in Morristown, TN for XTERRA Panther Creek. It'll be my last off-road tune-up before Nationals.