Yup, I know the race was last October and the NBC TV package was aired in December. I watched a live video feed of the pro race on raceday--there goes 9 otherwise productive hours--and it was incredible to be a part of an IM in that way. Monday night, I finally found time and motivation to watch the 90 minute NBC show. On the plus side, there was decent coverage of the pro race. They definitely didn't capture the excitement of the race for second on the women's side (go Rinni!), but overall, I can't complain.
What I can complain about is the coverage of the age-group racers. This is the world championship afterall--not just for the pros. So the age-groupers they profiled were: a heart transplant survivor, a couple of amputees, a stroke survivor, a Biggest Loser (also on NBC...) competitor, a couple of Navy officers who did all their training on a boat (or submarine). I may have missed one or two, but you get the picture. Without taking away from their accomplishments which are incredible, can they just once (!!!) profile an athlete who had to overcome what most IM athletes have to overcome? Working training into family life? Having a full-time job?
I think it's safe to assume that aside from the Navy guys, no one else they profiled actually qualified for Kona. There are as many compelling stories about the IM World Championships as there are athletes competing. I'd like to hear about some of those folks.
Isn't 140.6 enough?
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Well, that was a bad idea...
To the extent that anyone cares 4 months later, racing twice in the same day is not something I recommend and I can confidently say I won't do it again. As I get ready to start blogging the 2010 season, I figured I'd tie up some loose ends of the 2009 season.
After my strong showing at Harvest Moon, I scooted up to Boulder for the Tri For Your Cause super-sprint. The weather was cold and threatening and just as I pulled into the Res, I saw a big lightning strike on (or really close to) the water. Swim cancelled. At least I wouldn't have to go through the the discomfort of pulling on a cold, wet wetsuit.
But now I was facing a duathlon--2 mile run/23 mile bike/4 mile run. With the 70.3 race in the morning, I was already 13.1 miles of running into my day. Swapping out a swim for an extra 2 mile run wasn't exciting and a lot of folks bailed on racing altogether, but I was committed to this stupid idea so I toed the line.
This race wasn't about "racing"--I was merely "participating." This was painfully clear within a few seconds. I was off at a jogging pace and finished several minutes behind in 17:17. I took my time through T1 and rode off to a 1:19 bike split in the soaking rain. I have to admit I was a little self-conscious on my fancy tri bike and aero helmet riding at the back of the race. But it hurt if I tried to push so I basically softpedalled around the course and came back into T2 with a smile. The point here was to finish without getting hurt.
The second run was ridiculous slow. 44 minutes for 4 miles. That includes a comedy porta-potty stop where the combination of being exhausted and really having to pee had me cracking up as I tried to wiggle out of my tri suit.
Finished near the bottom of the AG and overall. I'm super-proud of my morning results and I attacked that race the right way. A word of advice from experience: don't do what I did--I won't do it again. I have to say that the reality of the day was pretty rough (but I still think it's pretty cool to be able to say I raced twice in a day...)
More frequent posts to come--full recap of last season & plans for next season.
After my strong showing at Harvest Moon, I scooted up to Boulder for the Tri For Your Cause super-sprint. The weather was cold and threatening and just as I pulled into the Res, I saw a big lightning strike on (or really close to) the water. Swim cancelled. At least I wouldn't have to go through the the discomfort of pulling on a cold, wet wetsuit.
But now I was facing a duathlon--2 mile run/23 mile bike/4 mile run. With the 70.3 race in the morning, I was already 13.1 miles of running into my day. Swapping out a swim for an extra 2 mile run wasn't exciting and a lot of folks bailed on racing altogether, but I was committed to this stupid idea so I toed the line.
This race wasn't about "racing"--I was merely "participating." This was painfully clear within a few seconds. I was off at a jogging pace and finished several minutes behind in 17:17. I took my time through T1 and rode off to a 1:19 bike split in the soaking rain. I have to admit I was a little self-conscious on my fancy tri bike and aero helmet riding at the back of the race. But it hurt if I tried to push so I basically softpedalled around the course and came back into T2 with a smile. The point here was to finish without getting hurt.
The second run was ridiculous slow. 44 minutes for 4 miles. That includes a comedy porta-potty stop where the combination of being exhausted and really having to pee had me cracking up as I tried to wiggle out of my tri suit.
Finished near the bottom of the AG and overall. I'm super-proud of my morning results and I attacked that race the right way. A word of advice from experience: don't do what I did--I won't do it again. I have to say that the reality of the day was pretty rough (but I still think it's pretty cool to be able to say I raced twice in a day...)
More frequent posts to come--full recap of last season & plans for next season.
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