High Cliff 70.3

High Cliff 70.3
Sherwood, WI
June 23, 2018

This is a race I have not  done in a few years, and then it was the sprint distance for me. With the encouragement of my OutKast Triathlon teammates, I decided to add this 70.3 to my calendar.  What better reason to travel to an event than to have fun with friends.

Still dealing with injury, my training was not up to "par" but this was about having some fun.  We traveled over to the Appleton area on  Thursday. My wife has friends and family in the area, so we tried to catch multiple things in this trip.

Friday I ran into everyone during check in for the race.  That evening we met up with teammates for a pre race meal.  It was great to catch up with everyone! We may live a long way apart, but whenever we get together, a beat is never missed.

We stayed at a hotel about 20 minutes from the race venue. Race morning was a short commute in to get things set up.  The lake was calm. The weather was shaping up to be a nice day.

As I was preparing for the start, the announcer's voice caught my attention.  Jerry MacNeil had made the trip over and was announcing the race! It is always great to have Jerry announcing.

The start of the swim has you going through knee deep water fro the first few hundred yards. The challenge is to swim or run. Beyond that, the swim was uneventful. As I exited the water, the transition had been shifted from previous attempts at this event. The run to transition was a little steeper than I had previously remembered. My hamstring was tight, so I opted to walk up the hill rather than run. I finished the swim with the 3rd fastest time in my AG (22nd OA).

T1 was uneventful.  I had the 4th fastest T1 on the day, so I really can not complain.

The bike starts out by rapidly transitioning into a significant climb.  The key is fo be in the correct gearing before you even leave transition. I remembered the hill being a monster! This year, as I exited the park, I didn't think it was too bad. Must be all of the hill training for IM Wisonsin that changed my perspective!  As the miles clicked by, I ran into a number of teammates along the way. After the first hill, the rest of the course is gently rolling hills. 

T2 was much slower than I would have liked.  As I was getting to the end of the bike, my gi system was getting grouchy.  After dropping my bike and getting my run stuff on, I hit the porta potty.  Here is where my race ran downhill! After finishing my business, I reached for the TP.....and there was none! I was fortunate enough to find a couple squares discarded on a roll. Phew! Crisis avoided.

The run starts out taking you back up the hill. I knew my hamstring was still not 100% (realistically it was not quite 75%). My take e plan was to walk up the hill, run the flats, and see how it felt going back down the hill. Great plan! The run is on a lot of trails. Somewhere between mile 3 & 4, I missed a large root.  I caught it with the bottom of my shoe and tripped.  The forward lunge with my leg caused the hamstring to SCREAM at me. Shut it down! I walked the remainder of the course. I tried to enjoy the scenic views of the park. It turned into a trudge to the finish line. I thought that this was my worst 70.3. That is until I looked at my times later.

After the race, I was able to catch up with Jerry on the way back to my car. We said our congratulations and goodbyes to our teammates and headed to leave. As I was loading my bike, another athlete approached me. She had to tell me about one of my teammates (we were wearing the same kits). She had flatted toward the end of the bike. She was walking back toward transition when he stopped, helped her change the flat, and continued on the way. By the end of the story, she was in tears. She went from (assuming) a DNF to finishing her race. This act of kindness is why I love the triathlon community!

This was not my fastest 70.3, but I still had fun. I hit the shower, then we began our long trek back home.