Northwoods Triathlon Recap

What's this? A race recap?! I haven't done one of these in a while, and now I'm going to be doing two in a week. That's because I had the awesomely amazing, maybe not quite so sane, idea of doing two triathlons as the bread around the meat of a week-long vacation to the lake.

We'll start in Nevis.

The Northwoods Triathlon isn't particularly big (some 200-some people), but it is popular, which sounds kind of confusing, but trust me, I'll explain. Registration opens each year for the race in the first week of January at 8 a.m. on some random morning. Race registration fills up by 9 a.m. of said morning every year. So, I had to actually put registering for a race on my calendar. It's a minor miracle I remembered.

Challenge #1:

I may have registered for the race months and months ahead of time, but that didn't stop me from completely forgetting about such unimportant things as, you know, lodging. So, a week before we were heading out Kate had the bright idea to check on hotel rooms. Nothing. Not expensive, not inexpensive. Nothing. The idea of tent camping before a race sounded less than ideal (especially with a toddler), but we didn't know what else to do. Then I had the brilliant idea to check with Steve Peterson, now Executive Director at Pathways to see if we could stay at Camp Emmaus, 25 miles from Nevis. We could. Thank God. Steve saved the day.

My 2014 year in review

So, basically, my 2014 can be summed up in one picture:

That's Bean, and she's a monster of cuteness.

Basically all other 2014 achievements are dwarfed by that monster in pink.

But other things did happen this year. Many other things, actually. In fact, as much as people liked to tell me that I wouldn't have time for other things, 2014 was a year of plenty of other things. Here are just a few:

Lakes Country Triathlon Recap

It's not often that I have a race that's an after-thought. Normally, I tend to obsess over these things, but in this case the Lakes Country Triathlon was really just a sideshow to Kate's first triathlon the day before in the Cities. I'm going to let her recap that one (she said she would!), so we'll pick up the action the evening after Kate's triathlon, the night before mine.

The part where I eat like an idiot:

This part is pretty self-explanatory. We went to Olive Garden in Baxter the night before the race because... well.. I'm not very smart. Now, eating pasta the night before a race is not a bad idea. However, eating cheesy, loaded pasta and a ton of breadsticks and more raspberry lemonade than a person should ever drink is definitely not very smart. I waddled the rest of the evening.

The part where I'm not sure the race is going to happen:

It stormed overnight--like thunder and lightning and winds and heavy rains and all that business. So, when I got up around 5:30 I was less than sure that the race was going to happen, but a check of the radar showed that the heavy storms were just passing. It just looked like rain ahead. So, we packed things up and headed down to the race, which was 15 minutes away from our hotel.

As we pulled up to Whipple Lake the rain had slowed to a drizzle and things were looking up. I was racing. So, I had better figure out pretty quick what the heck I was doing. Thankfully, I now have a checklist, so setting up the bike in the transition area wasn't nearly as difficult as it used to be. Things were pretty well organized. I had some extra time to ogle the super nice bikes that signified this was a race with actual fast people, and then Kate and I walked around for a bit, and I used the port-a-potties a half dozen times because of nerves (this is, as far as I can tell, completely normal).

The part where we race:

Ngede Challenge Recap

Apologies this has taken so long. It's been well over a week since the race, but life has been busy! We've been packing for a week and half which includes a triathlon for each of us, a week at a resort, a stay at a hotel, two days with my parents, and of course there's a baby involved, so it's possible the packing has taken longer than the vacation. But anyway... on to the story.

This year started out with the hope of completing my first Olympic distance triathlon. Well, it didn't work out that way. The dates just didn't fit right, and I didn't have any more Sundays to take off. So, I needed a challenge. Naturally, I wanted to pick up where I left off last year and work toward a 100-mile "century" ride, but again the dates didn't work. All the big rides around these parts fell on days where I had weddings or Sundays. So, on to plan C: A revisit to the Ngede Challenge.

Two years ago I did this race (see recap here) and it went well... or as well as something that really hurt, left me heat exhausted, and included a busted up bike and a hurting back could go. Anyway, I finished in under 3 hours then (2:59:10 to be exact) and my goal was to improve on that this time. All in all it should be doable: my physical condition was as good or better, my equipment was in better shape, and I was two years older and wiser (not sure if that last one is really a help or not).

So, what is the Ngede Challenge? Four parts: A 10k road run, 10k mountain bike, 25k road bike, and a "5k" trail run. Notice the "5k" in quotation marks. We'll get to that.

10k road run

No matter how prepared I am for a race the start line is a place of jitters. But this time I felt like I had things fairly together. The weather was nice--maybe a little warmer than I would like--but it wasn't overly muggy. My transition zone was set up precisely according to my pre-list instructions. Kate was there with Natalie to cheer me on. Basically, things were good.


Then the gun went off and I forgot all plans and preparation. OK, maybe that's an exaggeration. The first part of the run is uphill for almost a mile. This stinks. It also makes pacing a problem. I settled into a gait that was comfortable, but I had no idea if I was too fast, too slow, or just right. I would have to wait and see.

This year's race was small. They always are, but this one particularly so. Only 12 people were out on the road, and of those I think 4 or 5 were relay teams, but I didn't know who was a team and who was an individual. So, as we started the run I sized up the competition. The first guy on the road is ridiculous. His name is Craig and he's won this race every year. I didn't need to worry about Craig, except to see how far ahead of me he was going to be on this leg and then again when he was coming back on the road bike. Second on the road was a guy I didn't know who seemed to be trying to keep up with Craig. Then there was a high school kid in a blue shirt who was running fast but whose form didn't look good. Then a guy, Corey, who I finished in front of two years ago but who looked much stronger now. Then a woman in purple who seemed to be a runner of similar ability to my own. Then me.

A last training run

Yes, I know I haven't put up Sunday's sermon yet. That will happen tomorrow when I'm in the office. Today I'm off, recovering from the weekend... and getting in one last training run.

The Ngede Challenge 50k is four days away, which is exciting and terrifying. This also means that the training is winding down. Today was supposed to be a swimming day, followed by a bike ride tomorrow, an off day Thursday, and a short mountain bike ride Friday on a portion of the race course. Plans changed, though, as I was completely exhausted when we got back from our Confirmation retreat last night and there was absolutely no way I was getting up early to lap swim this morning.

So I changed things up and added in a short 5k run instead. This allowed me to sleep in (like an extra thirty minutes but with an infant I'll take what I can get) and run instead at my leisure. Fast forward to eight-something this morning and I was walking to the arbitrary crack in the pavement where I start my run, planning, as I told Kate, to do an easy interval: code for one mile easy warmup, then one mile hard, and one last mile of easy recovery. Boom.

Hence, nobody was more surprised than me that when I reached my start I took off like a crazy person. My first mile was going to be hard. In the split second before I started to run I had decided that this was not going to be an easy 5k interval; instead, it was going to be a 5k at a hard, race-like pace. I am nothing if not a masochist.

Race against me in 2014!

So, if you know me you know I need goals. Better than that: I need goals that others know about to keep me honest. Best still: I want goals that push others to do things alongside me, or even with me. So that's the real purpose of this: it's a challenge for you to join me in one or another (or all?!) of these things, or to do something similar.

So far this year I've done the local "Just for the Health of It" 5k in Hallock, and then I participated in the Crookston Duathlon (see a recap here).

Here's what I'm up to the rest of 2014:

Friday, June 27 (hey, that's tomorrow!): The Celebrate Kennedy FTB Troll Stroll

A 5-mile run from Donaldson to Kennedy. Weather looks iffy, but last year we ran through lightning, so...

Saturday, August 9: The Ngede Challenge 50k 

Probably my favorite event that I've ever finished (covered here from 2012). This is a 10k road run, 10k mountain bike, 25k road bike, and 5(make that 6)k trail run. It's benefits a great cause, takes place in the area around Ox Lake Bible Camp near Amery, Wisconsin, and basically it's a bunch of Lutherans trying to survive/thrive in a very difficult event. I'm aiming to beat my 2012 time of 2 hours, 59 minutes, 10 seconds.

 Sunday, August 24: The Lakes Country Triathlon

It didn't work in my schedule to fit in an Olympic triathlon this summer so it will have to be a sprint variety in Baxter. If you don't want to join me there, then come along with Kate for her first ever tri the day before in Hudson, Wisconsin. It's for first-timers only and called "My First Tri" (click here for more info).

 Saturday, September 13: Grasshopper Run, Roll, Ride Half Marathon and 10k run

One of my favorite local events, this is a 13.1 mile run, rollerblade or bike ride (or combination thereof) between Hallock and Lancaster. You can also do a 10k run where you start at Grasshopper corner (the event's namesake). Last year a ridiculous tailwind helped me average 25 mph on the bike leg. This year I haven't decided if it's a run or ride kind of year. Perhaps my first half marathon? We'll see...

TBD (potentially Sunday, September 21): A Bike/Roll/Run-athon fundraiser for the 2015 ELCA National Youth Gathering

Details are not confirmed (including the date), but we're looking forward to a four-hour relay (or individual if you're up for it!) race/fundraiser in Hallock to help send our youth to the 2015 ELCA National Youth Gathering. Runners will tackle a 1-mile run course, rollerbladers a 1.5 mile course, and bicyclists will have a 2 mile course. Teams can be all runners, all cyclists, all rollerbladers, or a mix of the three. Most laps in four hours wins! But everybody is raising money for a great cause. More info coming soon!

Race Report: Crookston (not-so) Triathlon

I wasn't sure exactly what to call this race. The official name everywhere was the Crookston Triathlon--and that's what it was last year--but, because of pool filter issues this year it was decidedly lacking a swim and so they switched it up to a run/bike/run duathlon format. However, since all the signage and t-shirts and website say "Crookston Triathlon" I'm still lost as to what to call this.

But I digress. This year's event was hosted on a nice cool June morning. We could not have ordered better weather: mid-50s, warming to 60 during the race, with sun and a cool, light breeze. Hard to complain. In fact, a little too nice so as to ruin any/all of my excuses when my race inevitably fell short of expectations.

Natalie at the finish

The lead-up

I've been fairly shy about my training this year, markedly talking down any expectations for myself. We did, after all, have a baby on March 2, and that does kind of create a new (happy) wrinkle for training. This has also been a difficult spring at work for a couple of reasons, and so the stress has been fairly high, and the weather this spring was pretty terrible for getting outside. In fact, we didn't really have a spring--just miserable weather and then, boom, summer. However, with all of that said, I have something to say to the people who smiled knowingly at me when I said I was going to stay in good shape even after the baby arrived--all the people who said "You'll see" and gave me that knowing wink, suggesting I had no idea what I was getting into. All those people? They were wrong. In fact, now, a little over three months after Natalie was born, I am in the best shape of my life.

So... nanner-nanner.

This happened for a few reasons. Firstly, I really was pretty darn dedicated in the months prior to Natalie's birth. After an October of running I did Insanity again in November and December, mixing in basketball twice a week. Then, in January I hit the bike trainer full force. I bought two videos from Sufferfest--one an hour long and the other two hours long, and I did them not once or twice, but so many times that I now have the videos and music down to heart, and I kept playing basketball all the while. When the spring eventually came, I started running and biking outside (even in terrible weather) and then we had our Hunger Ride, which meant a week of long days on the bike (whether I wanted to be riding or not).

So, that was a lot of unnecessary background, but I wanted to share a bit about how accomplished I felt even before taking the starting line.

My first duathlon: A recap

There's something awfully great about working toward a goal for a long time and finally completing the work. The harder the goal; the more rewarding the finish line. That was certainly the case this weekend. After the Thief River Falls triathlon in May I made the decision that Ngede was the next, big goal, and I started to work doggedly toward that goal. This weekend I finally did it. The verdict? Hard. Awfully hard. But worth it. Well worth it.

First of all I should say I am indebted to Peter and Janelle Rimmereid for giving me a place to stay on Friday night, even though they were out of town. That made preparation so much easier (driving six miles in the morning rather than over an hour was very helpful). Also, it was great to see people I haven't seen in awhile--Wapo people, seminary people, and all of that. Doing this with familiar friends certainly helped.

With that, let's get to the race. When I arrived at Ox Lake for the start I went through the normal routine of checking over the bikes and warming up, which is usually pretty uneventful. However, if there's one thing I've learned from things like this it is that something--usually little--always goes wrong. This time the problem was more than a little one. When I got around to testing the road bike, checking shifting and all that, I ran into a serious problem. When I accelerated or put a lot of pressure on the pedals the chain was slipping on the gears quite badly. The chain was brand new, which could mean only one thing: the teeth on the rear cassette were worn down. This was something the bike shop had told me was not a problem, but now I was finding it most certainly was. Unfortunately, there was no way to fix this. I would simply have to ride with slipping gears. My best leg (the road bike) was starting to look a lot more challenging.

The other thing was the humidity. It wasn't super hot--right around 72 degrees at start time--but the humidity was around 75% and it meant almost nothing was evaporating. And the thing is I sweat A LOT. It's something we Scandanavians struggle with--we are very white. So, that would prove to be an additional challenge.

10k road run
As always the race started at much too fast a pace. I ran with a group (not the lead group, mind you) that did the first and second miles at 7:10 pace, which considering the hills was blistering (both for me and for most of the others). Some of them were relay runners, but several were individuals like myself. I hung at the back of the group, aware we were running too fast. However, I felt pretty good. The legs were good and I was probably pushing myself around 75%, which was only slightly harder than I would have liked.

Predictably, the times slowed down. My mile times went from 7:10 and 7:10 to 7:35 and 8:00, then a bit over 8 minutes for the last two miles. My goal time was between 47 and 48 minutes, which is about 4 minutes slower than my personal best. I wanted to leave plenty of energy for the next three legs, so I consciously slowed down for the last couple of miles (especially mile 5 which was largely uphill). I even let the small group around me put a little distance between us. I could have closed down the gap, but I knew this was most definitely not a sprint. So, I finished at the back of a group of five--four of which were individuals. My time? 47:50... I was pretty content with that.

10k mountain bike
I knew this was going to be a tough leg. It was much harder than I thought. The elevation change was tough--lots of big hills, some of which also had sand that made riding extremely difficult. The only time I had ever "mashed the gnar" (that's for you, Evan) was prior to my buddy Jesson's wedding last year, which was considerably easier only because of the superior bicycle I was riding and--I can't stress this enough--the clip pedals. I discovered very quickly that riding a mountain bike without clip pedals is just tough. The hills are just awful. Hear that again: awful. Also the shocks, while good, were not good enough to save my back from taking a serious beating.

As the ride went along I felt worse and worse. My back was tightening up. Two guys who I had passed earlier came back and passed me, and I was focusing mostly on not being in pain. I never thought I would have a fast time, but my time was becoming slow, slower and slowest. This leg just never seemed to end. When I finally came out of the woods I was just so thankful to get off the bike that it didn't really matter how fast I finished, but the clock showed I was slow. Right around 0:38:00.

25k road bike
Remember the state of my bike? Well, yes, it sucked. I mean, I'm a good road bicyclist. I'm no cycling star; it's not like I'm going to average 24 mph like some insane triathletes do, but 20 mph is in the picture on a good day. Also, the Ngede course is absolutely made for my strengths. It is filled with short little hills that are absolutely in my wheelhouse. I could have gained a lot of time here (last year when I raced this course as part of a relay I finished with the second fastest time on the longer 40k bike course in spite of crashing and losing 2-3 minutes fixing my bike... and my injuries). Unfortunately, my slipping gears killed any chance of a similar performance this year. I wasn't going to empty the tank--what with the tough trail run yet to come--but I planned on having a very solid, 19+ mph ride. That simply was impossible given the mechanical issues.

So I was a little frustrated. But here's the thing: I still passed people. I passed one of the guys who had passed me on the mountain bike. My time wasn't fast, but it wasn't a complete disaster. I didn't keep up a 19 mph pace, but I did average 18 mph over hills... so considering the situation I wasn't unhappy. But on the other hand, I expended A LOT more energy getting that 18 mph than I otherwise would have. So, that's all I have to say about that. This leg: 51:30.

"5k" trail run
The first thing you need to know about this is the "" around 5k. This was NOT 5k. It's funny/cruel that the two big races I did this year--the TRF tri and Ngede--both advertised their closing runs as "5k"s and neither was particularly close to accurate. The TRF tri was actually 3.28 miles--or 5.3k. Ngede was even more cruel. I was told afterwards that it was more like 6.2k. That's a whole freaking 1.2k extra... over AWFUL hills.

About a half mile into the "run" I realized there was no way I would be doing anything approaching running up some of those hills. I have talked with long distance trail runners before who told me that many people walk up steep hills to save their legs, and I quickly decided that was a good philosophy. At first I was walking up sharp hills--anything that looked over about 4%--then it slowly became every hill big or small, long or short. This course was incredibly hard. It would have been a tough route if it was the only thing I was running, but after three events it was deathly hard.

I felt miserable. My only brief encouragement was that I wasn't getting passed. In fact, I passed two people in front of me over the course and I saw two more a bit ahead though I never could make the pass. Clearly, this was miserable for more than just me. It was almost cruel. Scratch that, it was. I finished right around 36:00 at an average pace of 9:22. That seems slow... and yet, not at all. I walked a lot. My "run" was more like a painful slog. I was just happy to be done. So happy. It was just incredible to no longer be moving forward, whether on a bike or my two feet.

I finished in 2:59:10.

Three hours was a goal of mine, but I realized on the final leg that the time no longer mattered. Neither did it matter who I finished before or after. All that mattered was doing it. After the finish line I struggled to cool down. I overheated like crazy. The humidity meant that little of my sweat was being wicked away. Eventually, I got ice packs on the neck, forehead and arm pits and slowly started to come back to normal. Food started to look attractive again. I was starting to come around.

So, the big question is what's next. Truthfully, I don't know. I'm not sure if I'll be back for Ngede next year, or if there will be another big challenge on the horizon. My next race is in two weeks. There is a half marathon run/bike/rollerblade from Hallock to Lancaster on September 8 with an additional 10k option. I think I will probably run the 10k... or possibly make up for my poor cycling performance by crushing the bike ride. Other than that, there are no firm races on the calendar. I plan on improving my fitness over the winter, then we'll see what next year has in store!

Til then, happy duathlon-ing!

My first duathlon

You see all those goodies?

Yes, I am a complete dork, but there is not much that gets me more excited than prepping for a race I have been working toward for a long time. Saturday morning I'll be doing something completely different. Well, maybe not completely. I have done four triathlons now since starting in 2006, but all of them have been sprints--pretty easy, straightforward, fast--you get the picture. This is a duathlon--so easier, right?--no swimming. Woot! Well, except this is definitively not a sprint.

The Ngede Challenge is a 10k road run, 10k mountain bike, 25k road bike and a 5k trail run. And it's hilly--like, western Wisconsin hilly.

Four months ago I had never run 10k. 5 miles was pretty much my limit. And you know what? That extra 1.2 miles sucked. Really sucked. Then it didn't. This has been a fun process of training. I have pushed all kinds of limits and shattered some personal bests. I'm faster and I can go A LOT longer than before. There are still some worries: I've trained exactly zero on the mountain bike (I'm picking one up tomorrow), I've never run more than 8 miles, and I really don't know what three transitions will do to me. But this is all a part of the process. This race has been my goal for some time, but it's not the end of the road. There are plenty of races ahead; it's just a matter of picking the next big challenge.

So, I'm heading out to Wisconsin tomorrow, spending the night at a friend's place and racing Saturday morning. I'm mostly over being sick, mostly over crashing three days ago; I'm mostly feeling really good. So, yes, I'm excited.

Wish me luck!

Chess tournament preparation and exercise

For the last two years, I have spent much of my free time doing two different things: exercising and studying or playing chess. Over the course of that time I have been charting my chess performance and correlating it with the kind of physical preparation I've had. The results have been a mix, but some trends have emerged.

The up-shot of this is important for chess players certainly, but I think it's also important for studying anything. If you want to improve--whether at chess or anything that requires a degree of mental exertion--the best way is to study or practice. None of what I'm about to say should take away from any of that. What proper physical preparation does is not increase your knowledge or strength; instead, it maximizes the strength that you already have.

Some of the people I have learned the most from are triathletes, because they know how to prepare themselves both mentally and physically for race day. Over time I've come to realize that preparation for a chess tournament is not so different. You can play chess completely out of shape, and yet an in-shape person will be more consistent and overall a better player than the same person out-of-shape.

So here's my advice: prepare for a chess tournament physically as well as mentally. Chess is a workout--even if it's not the kind that will make your legs sore in the morning. To prepare for a tournament, exercise regularly with particular emphasis on the time a week before the first game. Peak in your workouts sometime around 3 days before the tournament. You can workout up to the day before (and you should), but don't push yourself too hard on Friday if you're going to be playing 2-3 games on Saturday.

On the day of a chess tournament don't exercise unless you feel the need to do something light in the morning--say, take a walk or do light weight lifting. Don't do cardio on the same day that you play chess! The more lactic acid you build up in your legs the more your body will have to detox and that's going to make you tired; if your body is tired your brain is not functioning at full capacity.

Next, diet is crucial. Eat well, especially the day before. Fruits, vegetables and grains are all very good. You don't need to carb-load like a triathlete because you're not going to need to burn that many calories, but that's no excuse to pound down a Big Mac, fries and a shake. Not only will this keep you from getting sick, but it will also give your body the needed vitamins and minerals to give you a clear mind.

Most importantly: hydrate. If there is a single thing that even a couch potato can do to improve your physical preparation for a chess game it is this. Hydration is crucial in determining whether you have energy after a long weekend chess tournament. Hydrate while you are playing, but even more importantly the day before. You should be guzzling water the day before a chess tournament. When I go on a run or a long bike ride the difficulty is almost always proportional to how much I hydrated the day before. Water is your friend.

And this brings me to my final point: stay away from caffeine leading up to a tournament. Energy drinks are a big no-no. The day of a tournament is a different story. Everybody is affected by caffeine differently. Personally, I find it difficult to say if the benefits of the rush associated with caffeine outweigh the slightly altered state of mind, but I can understand if you feel the need to have an energy drink before the third game in a day or coffee to wake up in the morning. The problem is in coming down from that high. While runners and bicyclists might not think twice about caffeine, you have to remember that their mental focus need only be on going forward; the chess player needs to be able to process quickly and slowly, with restraint and with accurate calculation.

I hope this has been helpful. If you have any further insight I'd love to hear it!

The bane of my mornings

Most mornings I get up to go the gym at 6 a.m. Yes, it sucks the first day but by the end of the first week it's a rhythm and it does me well. My main problem with the gym isn't the earliness of it at all, actually. It's that there's someone who's always there who bothers me. I'm sorry to that person--who I'm sure doesn't read this blog or even know I exist despite our frequent encounters. It's not really her personality or anything that bothers me; I don't know her at all. It's just that she always does one thing the moment she comes in: turn on the television.

I have gradually moved away from television. I still watch occasionally, mostly with friends or when I really need to decompress, but there are times I just don't want to watch it. In the gym is one of those times, especially if it's not on something with movement. Soccer, ok. Food Network? Not ok. MTV? I will turn up the treadmill to 10 mph and just go until I'm done, because it's more painful to watch than to run.

As I'm reading in the book on Communicative Theology for Ministry in a Media Culture, I came across an idea that I think also came up recently when I was reading Madeleine L'Engle. It might not have actually been her, but I'll give her the credit because she would likely have thought this too. This is the idea of transmitter and receiver. The problem with flicking on the tv the moment we enter the room is that there is a wall between us and the images we see. They communicate to us; we don't communicate to them. That's why I'm not sure that Scharer and Hildebarth are right when they say that the "human person cannot not communicate."

Silence is blessed. Not communicating consciously allows the opportunity for the spirit to enter into me in a conscious way. That is something I do strive for. So please don't turn on the tv. I just want to run.

Apple Run photos!

The Roads We Run

I was struck today while running my usual route around St. Anthony Park that this place has a lot of history for me. With each step I took I remembered running the same route with a friend who is now half a country away and another friend who I haven't spoken to in a very long time. I remembered walking the same road not long ago with people who have influenced my life in all sorts of great ways and people who have left their scars.

This place has a past suddenly that I never expected it to gain. There are memories here that push me forward--good things, bad things, all shades of things. Isn't it amazing that you can be somewhere for so long and never realize that it is a hell of a place? This is a hell of a place. Sometimes it sucks. Sometimes it seems like a passion drain, but then the memories start to germinate. I can't walk down the road without thinking of friends, struggles, triumphs, grace and pure joy.

Who knew that seminary was so sneakily building me up all along? Who knew that I'd get this far? Incredibly, I get it. I feel at home. Everything is connected: the triumphs and the tragedies. There's no regret, just life. I'm not looking back but pushing forward. The history I've gained demands just that--that I don't make the mistake of thinking that this road won't be a memory worth having. And that's a good enough reason to run it as hard as I can.

Thanks be to God.