summary: (please read - below narrative is longer than event itself) 

1.  past

. . . a.  at least one triathlon a year (up to five) since 1978

. . . b.  from sprint to IM distance all on as little, if any, training as possible

2.  present - 13th consecutive BLT is 20 minutes slower than in 1997 on same training.

3.  future - with no cutoff times, as long as I can, if not forever. 

Intrepid Summary - Beaver Lake Triathlon, Sammamish, WA (8/15/09)
oa - 1:55:34 (358/417; AG - 2/3)

 

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narrative

Although many good runners, often upon advice from coaches and books, may shy away from triathlons for lack of adequate time to train for the swim and bike legs, I was looking forward to my 13th Beaver Lake Triathlon even though I hadn’t swum or cycled since the August 2008 BLT. 

Most of my annual tri’s over the years (ever since doing one on a whim in 1978 with the same ski buddies who talked me into that first marathon on a whim in 1977) have been once-a-year affairs too as it seems anyone who ever swam even just a little as a kid, rode a bike sometime in their life, and who can run a marathon without any training can do the same for a triathlon too.

However, it’s getting harder and harder to meet the strict swim/bike/run (oa) cutoff times in the longer distances (to say nothing of the $500 entry fees) so the BLT, with its everyman’s super-short swim (0.25 miles), 13.8 mile cycling circuit around the lake and 4.3 mile run has been an annual favorite since 1997.  In particular, with so many mom, dad and kid first-timers in the Family and Friends Division, it will be a long time before I get to the DGL’s and DQ’s that have been closing the book on the big ones.  I wonder when it happen for the BLT too.

DETAILED PRE-EVENT TRANSITION AREA STRATEGY

Being a minimalist barefoot runner (swimmer and cyclist up to 112 miles too) not having to take on/off wetsuits, shoes, socks, shirts, etc. makes the T’s pretty fast so bike placement in the transition area becomes a key limiting factor.

Here’s how the BLT Transition works. 
1.  Exit lake, run over timing mat to proceed to fenced field transition area.
2.  Retrieve bike from one of 12 racks for 20 bikes each herringboned on either side of running corridor

through the middle of the transition.
3.  push bike from rack to bike timing mat at other end.
4.  Mount bike and ride, ride, ride.

 

Low race number - early registration ensures one of the low race numbers assigned to the racks nearest the T-1 exit/bike start, . . . thereby minimizing the distance to push bike.

  BLT bike exit-from / entry-to transition arch (flicker photo)

Unfortunately, I was a very late registrant and ended up with number 421 and the rack for numbers 421-440 so had to retrieve bike right away upon entering T-1 and push all the way through the transition (while lower numbers could run free to their bikes at the other end before pushing out).

position on rack - actual position on each of the assigned BLT racks, however, is first-come-first-served on event-day morning so I arrived early (6:00am) for packet pickup and access into the transition area to rack my faithful blue Dale Canon (c. 1992) on the part of our rack immediately adjacent to the running corridor.  This would save time each time by not having to right-angle in between bike racks to retrieve Dale after the swim and re-racking deep along the rack after the 13.8 mile cycle.

 . . . .  . . .file photos - transition areas

Glasses idea fizzles - the bigger tri's I've done have sometimes had tables for glasses between the beach and T-1 but, without any such options at the BLT, I've usually stuck glasses in a zip lock under tri-trunks (sometimes slightly inflated for better buoyancy).  However, sometimes they're wet and foggy so this year I taped them on an adjacent tree to put on while running from lake to T-1.  Unfortunately, I must have been thinking of something else as that's where they still were at the end of the race too.

The SWIM (0.25 miles)

 

 

With helmet ready on Dale’s aerobars in the transition area and with calves and upper arms magic-marked with race number and age, I was soon standing up to my waist in the lake with 35 other senior men in the various 50 and over AG's all waiting for our second-to-last wave start (Family/Friends last).

Even though the lake temperature was in the balmy low seventies, almost everyone was wearing slippery, buoyant wetsuits to swim faster. However, it would have been unheard of to use them back in those days and, for fitness runners, it’s kind of like cheating (to say nothing of messing up annual comparisons) so I was one of the few non-rubberized swimmers.  

It’s probably just as well as now there's no longer any Speedos in my age group anymore but I kind of miss the equivalent attire in the goddess waves.

  Sammamish Review photo - 2009 BLT swim start

 .  , ,  . . . file photos. 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .... .. .............

 . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ... . .. . .. . . .... ..circa 1996 ,

 

My slow-motion 11:54 swim (fastest was 5:04) turned out to be a nice average compared to the 13-year range of 9:57 to 13:18 and was good enough for 415/446 swimmers but 3/3 AG.   Slowest 16:22.

T-1 (swim-to-bike)

 

It took a minute 12 seconds from crossing to the timing mat at the beach to run up to Dale’s rack to push through the transition area to exit over the bike timing mat.  In spite of being so wobbly that I fell down right on top of Dale on the grass when an official reminded me to fasten helmet before exiting T-1 (instead of outside T-1 but before mounting bike), it was good enough for second fastest T-1 of the day.  (Fastest T-1'er at 1:10 was the eventual third place overall finisher; slowest T-1 was 6:22 with lots of three and four minutes).

 

    . . . file photo (not me)

BIKE (13.8 miles)

Cycling is my favorite leg.  Like the swim, it’s something that comes naturally from childhood when it was all for fun too.  Having completed 12 marathons this year and still having some muscle memory in the quads from a lifetime of skiing also probably helped.  

Further, with the aerobar set-ups I’ve been using since 1987 when they were first introduced by some skiers from Sun Valley, Idaho (called “downhill” bars then), it’s remindful of the downhill ski races in the old days to get to lean out over the handlebars, especially speeding with abandon at 45mph down the winding, blind curves of Guthrie Hill I’ve come to know by heart over the years to pass other cyclists, such as the three younger guys who’d been commenting on my lack of footwear when they had passed me on the Guthrie approach.

  2009 BLT photo (me) - mile 12

. . . . watch out, here comes tetsu 

But all things come to an end at last and the corresponding two mile ascent up what is just known as “The Hill” is becoming a more-and-more tortuous, slow motion struggle.  Haven’t had to walk yet and it’s more than made up for by the final descent to Beaver Lake Park, . . . and thrilling right angle turn at the bottom. <<<(reckless abandon/reckless abandon)>>>

T-2 (bike-to-run)

Not having to worry about shoes usually makes for another fast transition in T-2 too but legs were really wobbly this time pushing Dale all the way to our rack by the run start and I ended up with probably the slowest T-place in life at 12/417.  Not surprisingly, some of the faster T-2'ers were middle/back-of-the-pack sneaker cyclists who didn’t have to change shoes either. 

RUN (4.3 miles)

Apparently the days of quickly getting into the run of things off the bike seem to be over as the first half-mile was more like the last miles of some of the more mountainous ultras around here.  However, legs gradually recovered as I enjoyed high fiving kids at the aid stations, asking curious residents if they seen anyone about my age holding out a pair of shoes, talking to other runners about barefoot running, encouraging various triathon aspirations, being passed by a nine and ten year yo combo, passing a middle-aged fellow who wasn’t going to let a broken toe spoil his annual BLT, and even having a spirited sprint to the finish with a very determined young lady. Me too, ma'am.

  file photo - BLT finish

No wonder I love triathlons so much and can hardly wait for next year’s edition.

I hope you all too someday.

 

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FR -
swim: (a) black tri-trunks/(b) goggles/ (c) yellow AG swim cap
bike: (a) black tri-trunks/(b) helmet and (c) Dale Canon road bike (b. 1992)
run: (a) black tri-trunks (100 yen Japanese vending machine variety)

Hooray for the boomer tri-guy god; non-rubberized tetsujin!!      

 

It makes me want to tri one of these. 

I love it. Your joy in doing these things is infectious! Thanks for the great story and the pictures. I assume you did go back and get your glasses off the tree?