And so it begins. Another tale interesting only to me. How do I know that? I’ve seen the glassy stare as I begin this
tale directly with another human being.
The Leadman Epic 250 – a private set
of dreams in the public domain. The Epic
250 resulted in two dreams fulfilled and one still awaiting realization. Dream 1: Back in the 1980’s, when living in Klamath
Falls, Oregon and beginning the adventures in the triathlon world, I wanted to
do a half-iron distance in the Cascade Lakes region near Bend, OR – just a
short travel up Hwy 6 from K Falls. That
race died before I could do it. Dream
2: I’ve long wanted to jump into an endurance triathlon at the end of a tri
season without proper preparation and months of worry and focus. Fulfillment: A family related decision
was going to put me in Oregon so I looked around for a tri to do. The Leadman Epic 250 boldly and seductively
called to me. A still valid discount
code found via the Slowtwitch forum made it possible to answer the Siren’s
call.
Nominal distances: 5K Swim, 223K bike,
22K run (= 3.1/138.6/13.7). Elevation
gain on the bike: 7100 to 7400 ft depending on data source.
Challenges besides distance, climbing
and no long distance training? Well,
cold water (58F), cold air (in 30’s on start morning at Cultus Lake),
loneliness due to small field and then always the surprises of old age.
SWIM: Multiple
challenges arose for me within the first kilometer of the swim – one of which I
had never experienced before in the water.
The new one? I became nauseous
and actually threw up three times, mid-stroke, as I swam. I previously did not know that was possible
(and felt sorry for anyone behind me). My
calves, which had been threatening to cramp the day prior to the race, cramped
early on in the swim – enough that I stopped dead three times to stretch and
massage the cramps. Plus I often had to kick with my foot at a 90⁰
angle trying to stretch the calf taut to prevent it’s cramping into a ball. My arms became weak like wet noodles due to
the nausea. With only four buoys left to
the finish I looked at them wondering if I could make it to the swim finish. And what would I feel like in attempting to
move on land?
Not being a very fast swimmer even
without my troubles, I ended up with an unglorious 79th best swim
time out of 97 finishers. After two
attempts at standing up and walking out of the water I did the usual routine,
but more patiently and more thoroughly – toweling off at the bike (eschewing
the heated changing tents) and donning extra clothing (full-fingered gloves and
cut-open tube socks as arm warmers). I kept searching for the non-existent cap on my head as my forehead was still so constricted from the cold water as I worked in T1. I
take off wondering what I also wondered in the swim – “How the heck am I going
to bicycle 138 miles of mountainous terrain?”
CYCLING: Gorgeous course. Its beauty was my salvation. In the midst of beauty one can become
entranced and forget one’s troubles, which for me were significant though
singular on the bike. Old man issues
combined with drinking too much on the bike and being ill made pedaling quite often slow along with the occasional dead stop – and tri singlets are not quick when it
comes to port-a-john breaks. :) I hadn't done LD training, as noted, so I was
scared about not hydrating enough – a foolish fear I paid dearly for. But I took it as easy as I needed to and was continually
surprised as the miles kept going by.
Reaching the final descent into Bend, a long descent, I finally had hope
of finishing the bike. 7.5 hours of
cycling means I had the exalted position of 69th best bike among the
finishers. Oh yeah, the glory is piling
up this day. :)
(Before moving on let's remember again how gorgeous the climbs were and how scarily fun the high-speed descents were. Oh yeah, even in the midst of pain.)
RUN:
After an insane T2 in which I searched frantically, as a brain-dead racer does, for my shoes (someone had taken my bike rack spot and covered up my shoes) and
then took another long pit stop, I was off – still having to pee quite often as
I continued running (or doing a semblance thereof). Even though I had abandoned most all fluid
the last couple hours of the bike the excess fluids continued to painfully
demand escape. But I was in much less
pain than on the bike so the run can be simply consolidated into: In-between
peeing I was able to push hard for the first time on race day. That felt good. I ended up, on a hilly course with some dirt
and rock trails, with the 25th best run time including pro’s, among
the Epic 250 finishers though I was peeing again a mere 100 yards from the
finish. Yeah, gross is right. (Would it show up in the finish line
pictures?, I wondered.)
More Medical Gore: So much blood in my urine that, regarding my tri-suit, it took a good hand-washing and several clean water rinses before the tri-suit was not iron rich enough to stop me from throwing it, and other delicates, into the washing machine. :)
More Medical Gore: So much blood in my urine that, regarding my tri-suit, it took a good hand-washing and several clean water rinses before the tri-suit was not iron rich enough to stop me from throwing it, and other delicates, into the washing machine. :)
RESULTS: The run
moved me smack dab into the middle of the finisher pack, 49th of
97. 10h45m put me under the 11 hour mark the organizers had set for getting a belt buckle (just as with the Leadman MTB
100 and Leadman Trail 100 which they also own). Only one other guy in my AG. He finished about 4 hours back, if memory serves me well.
RECOVERY: Confession:
I did it all wrong (didn't get to bed on time the week following the event) and am still paying as I write this on September 30th.
THE FUTURE: One more
tri to go for this non-competitive season. At the end of October I hope to do the Xterra
Epic in southern Arkansas (tied in with a wedding anniversary bit of fun).
