The Battle at Midway is probably now my favorite race. This was the second year of the race but the first time I was able to race it. I was looking forward to it for a while and am already looking forward to next year. And it's not just because it's in my backyard and I happen to like where I live. The setting is beautiful and home field advantage is nice but the race is also very well organized. St. George will always be a nice destination race and Emmett's Most Excellent Triathlon in Emmett, ID will always have a special place in my heart for obvious reasons but if you are looking for a great triathlon I recommend checking out BAM.
Look at the swim setting. Could there be a prettier place to start? There could certainly be a warmer place. With the long and cool spring we've had water temps were still in the 50s. The swimmer in the red sleeves is Casey, passing on a "warm up". We were twins in our wetsuits until he decided he's too much of woos to go sleeveless. Not warming up didn't seem to affect him (see photo of him waving below).
Here I am coming out of the water. I was a little worried about starting in the fourth and final wave that it would be too crowded on the course but it wasn't bad at all. The 6:30 start time meant that the air temperature was not going to help my feet defrost. I had a pathetic first transition (over 4 minutes) as I tried to get all the sand out of my toes and then thought I might be able to rub feeling back into my feet. It didn't work.
The bike course was fast, not much climbing. Thanks to Ann and Scott for the cheers at miles 2 and 17. And also rescuing the racer who seemed to be suffering from hypothermia. Thanks to the Johnson clan for honking at mile 13. And thanks to my wife and kids for at least thinking of me at various points on the course, including as I rode past our front door at mile 11.
The run course is the most spectacular. It's held at Soldier Hollow and the same trails from the Winter Olympics. You can see there is a lot of up and down but not huge elevation gains. The climbs were mostly long and gradual but the descents were steep and short so it was hard to maintain any real fast pace. The start of the run was a very strange sensation. I have done a lot of things with cold/frozen toes. I think I inherited the circulation of my Great Grandma Fife. But I have never run with entire frozen feet. Each step I wondered if I was actually wearing shoes. At mile 2 I started to get some tingling sensations that grew until the point I thought my feet were either on fire or I had hundreds of little rocks in my socks. I had to stop for second and take off my shoe just to make sure it wasn't the latter.
Yes that is Casey standing on the 1st place podium. At it wasn't just our age group, he was the 1st finisher of the citizen race. There were three race categories, Professional, Elite, and Age Group. You can see the results
here. I was satisfied with my 7th place out of the 45 finishers in our age group. Next time I won't bother trying to clean my toes. Oh yeah and I'll try to train.
Casey was lucky Ryanne was in town. I told him that if he wasn't trying to show off for his woman he wouldn't be nearly so fast. Just wait until you've been married six years and your wife no longer seems to be impressed. BTW, congratulations to the happy couple. They set a date for October since we last saw them.
I went home and grabbed Jack and went back to Soldier Hollow for the awards ceremony. He loved getting a new hat and eating pizza at the finish line. He looked pathetic though because his dad was in charge of sunscreen and got it all over his eyes. People were wondering why he had tears streaming and yet didn't seem to stop smiling. Which brings me to my final thought on the day. If Baby Sunscreen irritates kids eyes just the same as any other sunscreen then what is the point in buying Baby Sunscreen? Kudos to the marketing department at Baby Sunscreen for selling that. I thought it was like Johnson Baby Shampoo, no more tears. That was very far from the truth. The bottle says "Pediatrician Tested". What the heck does that even mean? I have some stuff in my bag that says "water
and sweat proof". That seems like a better sunscreen to me.
Look at the swim setting. Could there be a prettier place to start? There could certainly be a warmer place. With the long and cool spring we've had water temps were still in the 50s. The swimmer in the red sleeves is Casey, passing on a "warm up". We were twins in our wetsuits until he decided he's too much of woos to go sleeveless. Not warming up didn't seem to affect him (see photo of him waving below).
Here I am coming out of the water. I was a little worried about starting in the fourth and final wave that it would be too crowded on the course but it wasn't bad at all. The 6:30 start time meant that the air temperature was not going to help my feet defrost. I had a pathetic first transition (over 4 minutes) as I tried to get all the sand out of my toes and then thought I might be able to rub feeling back into my feet. It didn't work.
The bike course was fast, not much climbing. Thanks to Ann and Scott for the cheers at miles 2 and 17. And also rescuing the racer who seemed to be suffering from hypothermia. Thanks to the Johnson clan for honking at mile 13. And thanks to my wife and kids for at least thinking of me at various points on the course, including as I rode past our front door at mile 11.
The run course is the most spectacular. It's held at Soldier Hollow and the same trails from the Winter Olympics. You can see there is a lot of up and down but not huge elevation gains. The climbs were mostly long and gradual but the descents were steep and short so it was hard to maintain any real fast pace. The start of the run was a very strange sensation. I have done a lot of things with cold/frozen toes. I think I inherited the circulation of my Great Grandma Fife. But I have never run with entire frozen feet. Each step I wondered if I was actually wearing shoes. At mile 2 I started to get some tingling sensations that grew until the point I thought my feet were either on fire or I had hundreds of little rocks in my socks. I had to stop for second and take off my shoe just to make sure it wasn't the latter.
Yes that is Casey standing on the 1st place podium. At it wasn't just our age group, he was the 1st finisher of the citizen race. There were three race categories, Professional, Elite, and Age Group. You can see the results here. I was satisfied with my 7th place out of the 45 finishers in our age group. Next time I won't bother trying to clean my toes. Oh yeah and I'll try to train.
Casey was lucky Ryanne was in town. I told him that if he wasn't trying to show off for his woman he wouldn't be nearly so fast. Just wait until you've been married six years and your wife no longer seems to be impressed. BTW, congratulations to the happy couple. They set a date for October since we last saw them.
I went home and grabbed Jack and went back to Soldier Hollow for the awards ceremony. He loved getting a new hat and eating pizza at the finish line. He looked pathetic though because his dad was in charge of sunscreen and got it all over his eyes. People were wondering why he had tears streaming and yet didn't seem to stop smiling. Which brings me to my final thought on the day. If Baby Sunscreen irritates kids eyes just the same as any other sunscreen then what is the point in buying Baby Sunscreen? Kudos to the marketing department at Baby Sunscreen for selling that. I thought it was like Johnson Baby Shampoo, no more tears. That was very far from the truth. The bottle says "Pediatrician Tested". What the heck does that even mean? I have some stuff in my bag that says "water and sweat proof". That seems like a better sunscreen to me.
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4 comments:
That is so awesome, John! Congrats to you and Casey! I cannot imagine how it feels to run with frozen feet. . . while I admire you, I don't think I'll be participating in any triathalons -ever :) Though I'll be sure to pass on a good word about BAM to my friends who do.
Great post. Casey is in need of an agent to help him get a faster bike so he can move on to Pro. Sorry I teased you about your long transition times. If you're going to spend 4 minutes cleaning sand out of your toes, what's another couple of minutes blow drying your frozen toes?
way to go! It's funny that I was there while all of this was happening, yet saw none of it... that's my life for you! I love all the pictures.
John you're always up to the most interesting things. And you're a good writer to boot? Some guys have all the luck :)
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