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Race Result

Racer: Jeroen van Ek
Race: Cape Henlopen Triathlon
Date: Sunday, October 10, 2004
Location: Lewes, DE
Race Type: Triathlon - Sprint
Age Group: Male 35 - 39
Time: 1:32:43
Overall Place: 189 / 336
Age Group Place: 16 / 24
Comment: Great venue, 2 out of 3 legs ain't bad. pop goes the kneezel



Race Report:



2nd Annual - Cape Henlopen Triathlon and Duathlon

Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 9:00 am
Sprint Distance: TRI: Swim = 1/4 mile; Bike = 15.3 miles; Run = 3.1 miles


What: A scenic sprintish tri and du event, also the USA Clydesdale & Filly Racing Federation Triathlon- Sprint National Championship
Where: Lewes, Cape Henlopen Park on the Atlantic coast
When: Sunday October 10, 2004
Who: me and some 400 others in the tri: 412 Triathlon Entrants, 105 Duathlon Entrants
Why: last race of the season; see how/if the leg would hold and a chance to romp in the waves…


Short version: Great scenery, fun race, fun swim, solid and good bike, pop goes the kneezel in the run…. Ouch. I’ll be back!

RR:

Pre-Race:

I had torqued my IT band on the RATS ride the week before this race. Re-assembling my bike after my Houston race at 2AM in the morning proved not to be a good thing. Rode 25 miles with the saddle ½ inch too low. When the knee starting hurting I adjusted but the damage was done. Limited myself to another 30 mile ride during the week and no running just to be sure (ok I hate running…but it was for the best…really)

Race:

Piranha mentions it many times on their web site: book early since it is Columbus Day weekend. Well guess what? They are right. Everything was booked solid so the plan was easy: get up at 4 to be there by 7 for registration. Traffic is surprisingly light at 4:30 AM Sunday morning on the beltway and cruised up to Lewes in less than 3 hours (the fog was a nice touch). Registered and checked out the competition as they all arrived nice and rested from their comfy beds…

Swim

The swim is a beach start with a 1/4 mile swim parallel to the coast. You walk up the beach to the start and swim with the current. The current was quite strong so they started us well up stream from the first buoy which was about 75 yds out. The first wave (elite as well as all Clydes and Fillies) managed to go 50-50, meaning that about half of them cut it too close and missed the first buoy or had to adjust their lines significantly to make it. Lesson learned. As my second wave lined up, I chose a nice aggressive diagonal line which I thought would maximize the current forces. I ran through the surf and "dolphined" my way through the breakers (Baywatch theme in the background…not) and made it to the first course marker right on course! Wow, looks like sighting was going fine despite the smallish waves. Headed for the first buoy and turned for the coast. Yeah only too bad for me since there were some 4 more buoys to go. Slight detour. Course correction made and a decent enough swim. Nice crowd cheering us on as we exited and plowed up through the dunes to T1. Note: that run is longer than you think in the sand. Swim seemed a bit on the long side but current made up for a lot.

Bike:

Hopped on the bike and prepared to hammer the course. Slight problem: I had only read about the course and since it was pretty much dark when I arrived, no time for a preview. No matter, on with the bike. Turns out the course is pretty flat and laid out in a lollypop shape. Wind is definitely a factor. The format had the Clydes out in front of us which gave me nice ‘targets’ to keep me focused. Passed a quite a few riders but had the top female catch me some 30 mins into the bike. In typical guy fashion, I tried to match her speed but she and her disc wheel were moving at least 2 mph too fast. Much respect. Spent most of the race by myself battling the wind in true triathlete style. Knee held up great through the first half of the race. Tried pushing the 11 or the 12 and felt a twinge so I stayed in the 13/14 range most of the time. Ride felt good and there were not too many bikes racked when I came in (lets keep the MOP perspective here folks : for me that means far less than 100 bikes were in…putting me in the top 1/4 of the race).

Run:

My running had been improving all year after a series of injuries had kept me back through the Reston race. My last race in Houston also included a 5K and I had been able to push it fairly easily. The plan was to attack this 5K and see where I would end up. The run course is a nicely paved path through the park’s dunes; great scenery! My legs changed gears fairly well and I was off for my romp in the dunes. Mile 1 already gave an indication that this would not be the day to emulate Kenyans for me (slow tired old Kenyans that is). The first part of the course features some slight inclines and I was hoping to negative split the run. However at mile 1 someone stuck a sharp knife in my IT band and my right knee ceased operations. No slowing to a jog..just outright stop right now or I fall off. I figured this is my last race so suck it up and run through it. No such luck, the leg would not bear weight. Bummer (FCC adjusted comment). I kept trying to run and kept feeling the pain. It became a bit of an experiment as I wondered just what was messed up in the knee. As I was being passed left and right (I figure about 100 or so passed me…ugh) I got some encouragement from a huge Clyde:” C’mon little buddy, you can do it”. Ok I’m not that little but this guy was huge and his words hit home. I limp jogged to the finish.

Post:
So my run was disappointing but I had a good bike and decent enough swim. 2 out of 3, not bad. Met up with fellow RAT Doug Steele at the finish – congrats on his top 10 finish and age group hardware. We chatted about the race – he’s originally from the area and knows the territory well. Doug mentioned how the wind on the cornfield section made it hard to stick to his 30 mph…yeah it was hard for me to hit 30 mph on that section too ;-) Doug hammered the bike with the 4th time overall…
Drove back on cruise control since my right leg was pretty useless on the accelerator. A shower, some Advil, pizza and beer made it all better (who knew Carpool was open till 2 on Sundays?)… for now anyways.

This is a fun race with great scenery within commuting distance from the DC area. I’ll be back next year and recommend you check it out as well.