the Way of the Turtle

TRAVELLIN' TURTLE, Part 6 -
Season of the SnōShū 2009 - Race #13
Pineland Farms Winter Triathlon
4 km snowshoe/ 10 km bike / 6 km XC ski
Sunday, March 1, 2009

2009 Pineland Farms Winter Tri results

The drive from Freeport to Pineland Farms started out on a nerve-wracking note when the directions I downloaded didn't seem to be taking me to the road I needed to be on... in the end I found my way to the road I needed and had a pretty uneventful drive. Ended up really happy I'd picked up my race packet the day before, because that meant I could go right to the race site and get one of the rapidly disappearing parking spots.

Made several trips to get my gear over to my spot in the transition area, then spent half an hour or so wandering back and forth, trying to stay warm (it was grey, cold, and breezy... not nearly as nice as yesterday's weather!) The snow was fairly deep but had a hard icy crust on top - for the most part I was able to walk around on it without breaking through. Gave a few tips about racking bikes and so on to some multisport newbies (scary thought, that I'm becoming a grizzled veteran of the race scene...) and then finally the RD called us all together for the pre-race briefing. Looking around and listening to the chatter, it was clear I was one of the most experienced snowshoe runners there.

And finally - it was time to run! The 4k snowshoe leg took us out on a groomed intermediate XC ski trail... overall some of the easiest snowshoe running I've done this season, and if not for the fact that I had two more legs to do, I probably would have really pushed it and come in with a phenomenal (for me) time. As it was, I pushed but tried to make sure I'd having something left in my legs for the rest of the race. After crossing the field that the transition area was in, we headed down a long hill on the main Pineland Farms campus; I passed a couple of runners on the downhill, mainly because my Dion snowshoes are well designed for running downhill. Of course, the problem with a downhill early on in a loop course is all the climbing that's sure to come later, and this was no exception... headed back up with a mix of walking and running, gradually making my way back through the edge of the campus and then across the field back to transition in 29 min 33 sec.

Transition was slow going, between changing from snowshoes to riding shoes and making sure I had warm enough clothes for the ride ahead. I think it was a good 5 minutes before I finally made it out to the road and got on my bike to start riding... definitely something to work on if I do this race again. The bike leg started out easy, with a nice downhill, but then got considerably tougher - lots of climbing, with the last two miles almost entirely uphill and heading into the wind. Aargh. I'm sure it didn't help that I haven't put in more than 30 miles since November and I haven't done any real climbing in an even longer time. So the ride went slower than I'd hoped - about 38 min before I was back on the dirt road to transition.

Another slow transition, as I changed into my ski gear and walked my skis out of the transition area where I could clip in and head on out... very slowly. The trail initially reminded me of skiing over at canoe meadows a few weeks ago - it was tough staying on track because the groomed surface was frozen over. But once I turned into the woods I hopped into the traditional nordic tracks alongside the trail and crawled along as the skate skiers (and even a few nordic skiers) blasted by me.

The ski leg had two parts - a novice trail with a loop off onto an intermediate trail about halfway along the way. It became clear very quickly that I'm a pretty poor skier even for a novice... downhills and curves are my downfall, quite literally in the case of curving downhills! I fell four or five times in the first mile, including a couple of spots where I ditched because I was going down a hill and got going too fast. I ended up glad I'd worn a pair of windpants over my tights - they gave a little extra cushioning whenever I hit the ground.

I briefly considered DNFing when I came to the turnoff for the intermediate loop - but then I decided I'd come too far to quit, but that I also wasn't risking my neck any more than I already had. So whenever I hit a downhill that I thought was beyond my abilities (ie. pretty much all downhills) I unclipped and walked to the bottom. I did force myself to stay on the skis for all the climbs, even though I crept up some of the hills at a snail's pace. But eventually I found my way back to the novice trail, and a last slow mile or so through the woods and back to the field. A short jaunt across the field and I was crossing the finish line, after about 62 minutes of skiing (I later found out that the fast folks did the skiing loop in 16-17 minutes... I really suck on skis.) My total time for the race - 2 hrs 19 minutes. Better than I expected (I thought it would take me 2 1/2 hours) but with a lot of room for improvement if I ever do this one again.

They had everything pretty much broken down by the time I came in - only my gear and bike and one other racer's gear was still there. As I was walking from the finish to my car I tripped on a rut and ended up in the mud... bleah. Brushed myself off, then made several trips back and forth to get my gear to the car. Packed everything away and then headed over to the YMCA to change clothes in the locker room - a definite plus when faced with a 5 hour drive home.

All in all, I had a pretty good time at this one... I enjoyed the snowshoe running and riding, though I could probably do better if I actually prepared for it. The skiing was a bit demoralizing, since I showed how much my skills in that area suck - if I do this one again, some lessons may be in order. And I would definitely consider doing it again... other than the long haul to get there and back, a little multisport was a nice change of pace from a primarily snowshoeing winter.

JMH

2009 Event Totals
Run
Bike 6.2 mi, 39 min
Snowshoe 47.7 mi, 11 hr 26 min
XC Ski 3.3 mi, 1 hr 2 min

states visited: MA, ME, NY, VT