Seven HEAT members ventured north to Ludlow MA for the third Firm Grand Prix Race of the season. With 273 finishers, this is a great season starting race and
is my favorite place to do my first Tri of the year. The race consists of a half mile swim straight out and back along a row of cones. The bike course is a
13.5 mile nice rolling rural ride rarely rough when rightly ridden. This is followed by a sunny 4 mile (3.95 more likely) flat run tour around downtown Ludlow.
Short swim, long run is my kind of course.
I was excited to find that my number was 2 for the race. I was puzzled when the director announced that the seeded runners were 1-10, but glad to swim in the first wave. I felt some pressure to live up to my ranking, but after the first 50 swimmers passed me, I settled into my normal steady stroke tempo. The usual thrashing scrum of full contact swimming lasted about 200 yards for me. I got kicked in the goggles driving all of the air out of the right side resulting in a vacumn being applied to my right eye for the whole swim. I had no lingering effects, although I suspect that I looked like Marty Feldman until my eyeball settled back into the socket. Erica had it much worse as she had her contact kicked to the back of her eye for the entire race. Riding and running without depth perception, or vision for that matter, is amazing but she managed to finish the race. I was satisfied with my swim after 2 months with only one other swim, but even happier it was over.
My transition seemed way too relaxed and slow although it turned out pretty good timewise. I was very happy that I seemed to remember everything for the race, even though it was the 1st Tri of the season. I was dizzy from the swim but still managed to weave out of transition without being pulled over by race officials.
Once you get rolling, the bike track is flat with minor rolls for the first few miles allowing riders to get into a nice cadence before the hills. I felt much better after a couple hundred yards and was going very well by the time I hit the hills. Raf would say "What hills?" and his 23+ mph bike leg just confirmed what a power-house he is on these rolling courses. My climbing has improved this winter and I was able to ride relaxed and steady for the whole bike leg. I got passed by a few Cyclonaut groups but otherwise stayed ahead or pulled away from other competitors. My 21+ mph average is way ahead of expectations confirming that my prep for the Duathlon Nationals helped my fitness. Most importantly, I came into transition feeling pretty fresh in the legs.
At that point, I began to realize that it was getting much hotter and the sun was really blazing. I ran well right out of transition but had something nagging at the back of my mind. About 300 yards into the run, I realized I had forgotten the sunscreen and the sound I was hearing was the sizzling of the skin on my shoulders and neck. I wore my new HEAT one piece racer and was very impressed with the comfort for racing. I was also impressed that the sun did not get through the material, although that resulted in some very unusual red on white skin patterns. Next time, the sunscreen goes on.
I passed my first 55+ competitor about a half mile in, but was reluctant to go by since he seemed to be running strong and I felt he would shadow me and use me to pull him through. We all had our age group on our calf so you can see your rivals. I passed the second guy in my age class about a quarter mile later and figured I was in the lead at that point, so I settled into a smooth pace and did negative splits for the run 7:24, 7:08, 6:59, 6:44. I turned into the final stretch convinced I was leading my age group, then saw the first guy I had passed about 50 yards ahead pulling away. He had snuck by me with a group of young pups and I hadn't responded to the pass because I did not see him. To add insult to that, I found out that one of my friends, Ron Mineo had aged up with me and beat me by over a minute. Still, I finished strong and felt very good with my result considering I feel I can improve my swim as I get back into the water after the layoff.
HEAT folks seemed pleased with the early season results. I think Erica would have enjoyed seeing the course but reported no pain in her knee which is a positive. Welcome to the club to Diane Stuart and Kathleen Scotti! Janit had her usual consistent performance. Let me know if I missed anyone. Here are the results:
http://firm-racing.com/result_report.asp?RID=584&type=1
I was excited to find that my number was 2 for the race. I was puzzled when the director announced that the seeded runners were 1-10, but glad to swim in the first wave. I felt some pressure to live up to my ranking, but after the first 50 swimmers passed me, I settled into my normal steady stroke tempo. The usual thrashing scrum of full contact swimming lasted about 200 yards for me. I got kicked in the goggles driving all of the air out of the right side resulting in a vacumn being applied to my right eye for the whole swim. I had no lingering effects, although I suspect that I looked like Marty Feldman until my eyeball settled back into the socket. Erica had it much worse as she had her contact kicked to the back of her eye for the entire race. Riding and running without depth perception, or vision for that matter, is amazing but she managed to finish the race. I was satisfied with my swim after 2 months with only one other swim, but even happier it was over.
My transition seemed way too relaxed and slow although it turned out pretty good timewise. I was very happy that I seemed to remember everything for the race, even though it was the 1st Tri of the season. I was dizzy from the swim but still managed to weave out of transition without being pulled over by race officials.
Once you get rolling, the bike track is flat with minor rolls for the first few miles allowing riders to get into a nice cadence before the hills. I felt much better after a couple hundred yards and was going very well by the time I hit the hills. Raf would say "What hills?" and his 23+ mph bike leg just confirmed what a power-house he is on these rolling courses. My climbing has improved this winter and I was able to ride relaxed and steady for the whole bike leg. I got passed by a few Cyclonaut groups but otherwise stayed ahead or pulled away from other competitors. My 21+ mph average is way ahead of expectations confirming that my prep for the Duathlon Nationals helped my fitness. Most importantly, I came into transition feeling pretty fresh in the legs.
At that point, I began to realize that it was getting much hotter and the sun was really blazing. I ran well right out of transition but had something nagging at the back of my mind. About 300 yards into the run, I realized I had forgotten the sunscreen and the sound I was hearing was the sizzling of the skin on my shoulders and neck. I wore my new HEAT one piece racer and was very impressed with the comfort for racing. I was also impressed that the sun did not get through the material, although that resulted in some very unusual red on white skin patterns. Next time, the sunscreen goes on.
I passed my first 55+ competitor about a half mile in, but was reluctant to go by since he seemed to be running strong and I felt he would shadow me and use me to pull him through. We all had our age group on our calf so you can see your rivals. I passed the second guy in my age class about a quarter mile later and figured I was in the lead at that point, so I settled into a smooth pace and did negative splits for the run 7:24, 7:08, 6:59, 6:44. I turned into the final stretch convinced I was leading my age group, then saw the first guy I had passed about 50 yards ahead pulling away. He had snuck by me with a group of young pups and I hadn't responded to the pass because I did not see him. To add insult to that, I found out that one of my friends, Ron Mineo had aged up with me and beat me by over a minute. Still, I finished strong and felt very good with my result considering I feel I can improve my swim as I get back into the water after the layoff.
HEAT folks seemed pleased with the early season results. I think Erica would have enjoyed seeing the course but reported no pain in her knee which is a positive. Welcome to the club to Diane Stuart and Kathleen Scotti! Janit had her usual consistent performance. Let me know if I missed anyone. Here are the results:
http://firm-racing.com/result_report.asp?RID=584&type=1
| Full Name | Category | Cat | Ov | Time |
| Martinez, Rafael | Clydesdale | 1 | 34 | 1:17:55 |
| Bolt, Dean | Males 55-59 | 3 | 74 | 1:22:59 |
| Russell, Mark | Clydesdale | 9 | 198 | 1:39:39 |
| Romayko, Janit | Female 60-64 | 1 | 231 | 1:49:13 |
| Dinner, Erica | Female 40-44 | 8 | 234 | 1:49:31 |
| Scotti, Kathleen | Female 65-69 | 1 | 266 | 2:11:15 |
| Stuart, Diane | Female 70-74 | 1 | 267 | 2:13:25 |
