Discover Presque Isle
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Last year it was sunny during the race but then rained all afternoon while we were trying to have fun in the park. This year the rain started right around when we arrived... and didn't let up until we'd left to find some warm filling food for lunch.
The start of the race was delayed by about half an hour while a thunderstorm blew through, with pretty heavy rain at times. Fortunately it let up enough for the race to get going... it would have been more than a bit annoying if they'd had to cancel. Just before we started running the first leg, down to the Perry Monument and back, I tucked the rain jacket away in my jersey pocket, thinking I might need it later. But I realized pretty quickly that I was generating enough heat that I'd be fine, and left it in the transition area for the rest of the race.
Took it easy on the first run but managed to pass half a dozen other runners, which felt good... I may not be back to running longer distances yet but I've regained enough that I can push the short stuff a bit more. The rain stayed a light drizzle, which was actually more pleasant than the heat and sun we had for the last two years.
Of course riding a bike in the rain for almost an hour isn't much fun... thankfully the roads in the park are in great condition with few holes. The amount of rain varied... there were a couple of points where it came down pretty hard and the wind was blowing, gah! And most of the trip back to Beach 11 was through an inch or so of water on the road... I thought I pushed pretty hard but my time was actually comparable to last year, and a few minutes slower than back in 2008. Still, for the weather conditions I guess I did pretty well (for me.) I was reminded that 12 1/2 miles of almost flat terrain is actually harder in some ways than a rolling course, because you never get a break. And after just about 90 minutes in the rain I was ready to be done.
Except of course I had the final run, during which the dark clouds gathered and dumped the heaviest rain of the morning on us... at times it was hard to make out the other runners on the path as much more than blurry outlines. But I definitely ran better than I would have in the heat and humidity... I was definitely motivated both the try and break 2 hours and get done as quickly as possible in hopes of finally changing into some dry clothes!
Came across the finish in 1 hr 59 min 20 sec... not a PR but substantially better than last year, when I'd torn up my knee a little over a month before the race. I'm glad I stuck it out - this was one of the wettest races I've done, but I suspect some of my trail experiences helped... the rain didn't throw me off my game nearly as much as it seemed it did for some of the other folks, rather it probably helped me run the 3rd leg faster than I would have otherwise. I definitely need to wear lighter shorts for du's - ended up with some painful chafing from running in wet heavy cycling shorts, which won't me much fun for a few days. Ann was a really good sport about sitting in the car for a 5 hour round trip and getting dragged out of bed to be at the park by 6:20 AM, then hanging around in the rain for three hours... she definitely earned her post-race brunch. And I'm hoping none of the other du's I do this year will be as wet as this one was!
JMH
2010 Event Totals
Run 159.1 mi, 37 hr 42 min
Bike 66.4 mi, 4 hr 58 min
Snowshoe 71.7 mi, 18 hr 26 min
Kayak 3.0 mi, 47 min
states visited: CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, PA, VT
