Scofield race report

[Dianna]

I'll get this one rolling.

I did the Ultimate race: 1.75 swim, 37 bike, 10 run. I was a little over-ambitious in my estimate of 4 hr 30 min finish time.

A+ I went up Friday night and camped at the venue - very awesome. My van is quite cozy and I got a good night's sleep - probably 2 hours more than if I had slept at home and got up early.

A++++ Swim: I love any course that is not an out-n-back. Point to points are awesome. At 7:15 we met at the dock for our race meeting and about 45 of us got on 6 boats for the ride to the island. I think our captain was trying to get us seasick - he couldn't drive a straight line for anything. Anyway, we got out there and they rafted up the boats (2 sets of 3), turned off the engines and told us to hop in the water. The start line was a line between the 2 sets of boats. There was quite a bit of seaweed. The water temperature was great - not too cold, just comfortable - I was one guy without a wetsuit. The water was smooth and it was easy to get a rhythm. It was a little tough to see the buoys (bigger ones would be nice) but I made it back just fine.

A Bike: The bike course was challenging. I had been told it would be work to climb to the summit - about 4 miles on the front side and about 2 miles on the back side. They didn't lie. It was so pretty up there and the temps were perfect. At the summit (9400 ft) you could see snow on the north-facing slopes. I was kind of rationing my water, because I can only carry 2 bottle and I was afraid of running out. Luckily, they had water at the turnaround and it was nice and cold. I like a good challenge and I loved having a compact crank with 11-28 in the back. I was able to spin and never really have to overload the legs. I did some standing just to change things up a bit. Still, after 37 miles on the bike, I was pretty toasted. It took a few seconds to get my legs under me - they felt like jelly - when I got back to transition.

B Run: I sat down in transition to put on my shoes - I almost never do that, but I was feeling pretty spent. Grabbed my gear and headed out of transition. Straight-away we had to head up the launch ramp and it felt really steep, so I walked to the top. Made it out onto the hiway for the run and it was pretty hot. The first aid station was maybe 1/2 mile in and they were out of Powerade, so I grabbed some water. The next water stop was at the sprint turnaround. I made it over the dam and decided it was time for a gu, so I took one with some water I was carrying. Then, powerade and water at every stop. I was afraid I might drink too much and get overloaded, but I was okay. It was really hot and I was basically toast, so I did a lot of self-talk and bargaining just to keep myself moving. I took walk breaks a the water stops and by the end, I was walking about 1 min after 5-6 minutes running. Pretty slow, but I finished. At one point, the lake looked really inviting and I seriously considered a quick dip, but stayed on the hi-way instead. B because it was an out-n-back on the hiway. Not too scenic and I was having a rough time. Next year, if I feel good, I'll probably give it an A because I'll be a happy camper.

A Finisher Medal: Ultimate racers only. Had ST logo - I decided it stands for "Super TriGirl" Yep, that's me, at least in my dreams.

I had a blast and it was a new distance, so it was a PR. Something to work for to beat next year.

C+ My performance: I knew my run was undertrained, but I thought I was well-prepared for the bike and swim. The swim was great, but the bike was tougher than I expected. Not sure if it was the altitude or just one of those days, but I know I could do better. But the + is because I stuck it out and finished and there were people behind me

Gotta love it baby!

[JodyG]

Di, you are indeed a Super TriGirl! I yelled at you as you came out of the water in great time, might I add. That island was veeeeery far away, quite impressive.

Though I'm not even close to the awesome shape you're in -- and my race was nothing compared to yours -- I also had to walk up that boat ramp from the transition area. OUCH!!!! I tried doing a slow jog, but it just wasn't there for me.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought the buoys were too small -- and I only had to sight a couple of them. The huge triangles at Echo were much better.

I stuck around for a while, but then had to leave (darn work!) so sorry that I missed you at the finish line.

Is that your longest race, or have you done Ironman or Half Irons before? Congrats on an awesome job!

[Dianna]

I've done some Half Irons, so it wasn't my longest race, but it was definitely one of the more challenging ones. I've also done some marathons. Post foot surgery number 2, this was a good test to see that I can probably do another half without the agonizing pain that marked the last several long events I did. I can handle being exhausted, but I don't like pain I can't control.

So, other than the ramp, Jody - how was your race????? Tell us more.

Marie, Dave?

[Polly]

Scofield wasn't my best race. It was only my thrid tri and my first with an open-water swim. I'll agree with Dianna that the bouys were hard to see. Water temp was nice, but I was glad for my wetsuit. I made the classic newbie mistake and went out too hard. Ugh! It was also pretty tough to swim in a straight line. I guess I need a LOT more practice out in the lake.

The bike course was good but I was glad I'd done a lot of rides up Emigration; it seemed a bit hilly to me. I don't remember any really steep areas on the sprint course, but it was never really flat either.

The ramp at the start of the run just about made me cry; tried to keep my pace going, but ended up walking the last half or so knowing that I'd need to save a little energy for the rest of the run. I did have just enough at the finish line to sprint out a girl from a different tri clup.

Overall, I thought the race was well organized and really appreciated the enthusiastic volunteers and noisy crowd. After the race I looked for a Desert Sharks tent, but wasn't able to find one. I only saw one sharks jersey as the owner was just finishing, I did my best to yell tired but heartfelt encouragement. "Go Sharks!"

Congrats on finishing the Ultimate, Dianna. That swim looked dang long!

Polly

[DavidWilkes]

Man, I had a great time. Great race too.. my first Olympic.

Swim - Like you said - the water was great. At the starting line, I tried to get a good position, and tried following some feet, but couldn't find any that had a good pace for me.. either too fast or too slow. I felt like there were two packs of swimmers - the fast guys, and the rest of us. I was behind the fast pack, but since I tried to get out of the starting line hard, I was in front of the rest of the pack.. I felt like a lone swimmer most the time, and I didn't draft at all. The loops were fine, and I love open water swims, I found my rhythm, and felt like I swam hard. I wish the swims were longer because its my strongest event.

Transition - It was ok, I had a pretty good bike position, pretty close to the bike mount area... As I came out to the mount area, I got one foot in, but then had to kind of hop up to a flat area where the port-a-pottys were to be able to get the other foot in completely and then make it up the hill.

Bike - I loved it. I had forgotten how many miles they olympic distance was, so I was just cruising.. having a great time. The road was rough in spots, but still great. I had my aerodrink set up and one water bottle with accelerade, and a few gu's in the bento box. I didn't come close to drinking all of it, and only had a half of one of the gu's.. so I poured my water bottle out on the way back.. thinking that might save me some weight? Anyway, on the way back, there was some great downhill, and got up to almost 40 mph. On the way back, the sprint bikers were on they're way out and so there was some great encouragement yelled back and forth between them and I. During the entire ride back I found a new energy and was pedaling hard the whole way.

Transition - It was pretty fast for me, I just slipped on my shoes and was out the door.

Run - I was following the girl that ended up winning the oly distance, and I tried to stay with her coming out of the transition and up onto the road ... that lasted for about 1/2 mile.. and then she was gone. It took me maybe 1.5 miles to get my legs going, but once they did, I felt great. I got water at most stations, just to get my mouth wet and pour it on my head.

Finish line - It was fun. There were some great cheerers which helped me sprint to the finish.

As for my first olympic distance - It was really great. I think this is the distance for me, and I'm happy about that because I'm signed up for the Jordanelle oly distance... so I'm pumped, and I want to try to train hard for it.

I came in 6th in my age group (20-29). I was curious as to why they didn't do the "normal" age groups that I'm used to?

Di - I think I yelled at you when you were up on the road approaching the first aid station - I said, "Let's go Desert Shark!" Then I realized that might have been you because it was definitely an Ultimate course runner. I had sunglasses on.. Was it you?

EDIT: My times:
Swim: 00:25:00
T1: 00:01:46
Bike: 01:14:53
T2: 00:00:55
Run: 00:47:20
Total: 02:29:55.3
Time behind 1st place (3 time scofield tri champ): +00:26:35.7

[JodyG]

To sum up Scofield in movie-poster-like phrases:

"Like getting beat up by a beautiful woman -- painful, yet pretty."

"A conflicting blend of pleasure and brutality for the senses. Your eyes can't help but be awed by the gorgeous mountain scenery, especially that amazingly beautiful and towering green sports-drink bottle balloon at the finish line."

"This high-altitude race literally takes your breath away! I kept hoping an oxygen mask would fall down from the upper compartment."

OK, you get the point. For me, this was a fun race in an awesome setting, but it was definitely a butt-kicker!

Pre-race: Will somebody kick my big ol' booty - and I mean real hard - if I work until almost midnight, then put together my transition pack and then go to sleep for 3-4 hours and then make a nearly 2-hour drive to get to the race again? I pretty much did the same thing for Echo, and it just isn't smart.

Set-up: Got marked and was bummed out to learn that we didn't get race bibs. I LOVE RACE BIBS! Seriously, I want to keep them all and make a big scrapbook of race bibs. Wow, the part about the scrapbooking makes me sound like my mom and wife.

The next thing I noticed was a steep hill coming out of transition. It kind of resembled Mount St. Hell that I live on, and got me nervous about the bike before the race. Maybe that was good, cause I stopped worrying about the swim!

The long transition area -- with sprinters on one side and ultimate arse-kickers and Olympic studs on the other -- was fine. I just never know whether to be close to the swim or the bike exit. Guess it really doesn't matter, but it always gives me something to think about it besides: "How many of these athletes with fancy handlebars will be driving home by the time I cross the finish line?"

Swim: "Sprint triathletes, there will be a mandatory meeting in 5 minutes!" the dude with the megaphone boomed. Two minutes later, I wander down to the water only to find out that that meeting was about done. Everybody was cheering for the Ultimate athletes and the Oly racers out of the water -- including Di, who probably lost hearing out of one ear because of my yelling -- so the uncool sprint kids in the back couldn't hear anything anyway.

I think the guy at the mandatory meeting said: "If you think you'll feel like crying during the swim, just wait until you see the 90-degree cliff you have to climb to get up to the road (insert evil laugh)!!!"

For the second straight race, I peed in my wetsuit. I probably shouldn't admit that until I take the rental back. I'll clean it first, promise. It came with a tear in the wrist, so I figure we're even anyway.

Overall, the swim was OK. The orange buoys kept seeming to get smaller the longer I swam. Not sure if that was because I accidentally shifted into reverse or because this lake has a weird tide. Again, steering straight is not my forte. The boat rangers actually pulled me over and had me try to swim a straight line, say the alphabet and breath into a little gadget.

Just under an eternity and just over 19 minutes later, I stumbled out of the water. My family yelled at me -- hearing my son scream "Wahoo, Daddy!" always gives me an incredible boost -- as I entered the transition area. I think one of the volunteers was yelling at me to get out of the way of the incoming athletes, too.

My suit came off nice and easy -- perhaps aided by they lubricating pee-pee, which I might market FYI -- and I headed out to Mini Mount St. Hell. I hopped on my bike, started pedaling and my shoelace got eaten up by the chain! So, I retied my shoes, wondering why I still haven't looked at those fancy shoelaceless things people rave about, and hopped back on.

I felt good about my bike ride. My tire didn't try to wobble off the bike like last week at Echo and it wasn't rubbing the brake, either, so that was a bonus. I passed some people, got passed by more, and pushed it pretty hard most of the way. On the bike, I really enjoyed the scenery. Scofield is beautiful; I'd never been there before.

Transition Part Deux: I got rid of my bike helmet and considered eating one of my Pina Colada Shot Bloks, but I was worried the ranger might pull me over again and if my breath smelled like Pina Colada then I might really get in trouble. So I just drank a bit of water and headed down the hill.

Run: Did I say down the hill? Yeah, that was down one hill to get up the other one. I almost went back to my transition area to see if I'd remembered my rock-climbing gear, but didn't. Everybody was walking up the hill, but I thought I'd show them. I was gonna jog the whole way up! Jog, jog, ouch, jog.....step.....OWWWW!.......jog......half-stumble.......SCRAPBOOKING MOMMY!!!!!!! .... walk, walk, walk. I was very proud that I didn't walk any of the 5Ks in my first three triathlons, but I decided that not crying out loud would be the pride I'd hang on my hat for this race. I just had to walk up that hill to get to the road. No shame, lotsa pain.

I looked at my watch and saw that this was probably my best time in a triathlon to this point so far. I also thought it might take me at least that long -- one hour and four minutes is what the timer was saying -- to get back to the finish line, I was in that much hurt. What a baby I am! Wait, did I just talk like Yoda?

Anyway, I just kept trudging along, slowly but joggingly on the course, getting encouragement from some pretty amazing people, including a twentysomething dude who told me that I owned the course! From some cowbell ringers, love those! And from an amazing woman in pink who wore a lifejacket on the swim and who seemed to be smiling the whole entire way she raced on her old cruiser bike. I wish I would have found her after and thanked her for the inspiration. There were lots of others who gave me motivational boosts on the course that, as I happily learned, I OWN!!!!

I didn't think I'd make the race without walking (post-hell hill, that is), but I managed to keep moving my stubby legs. A girl toward the end suggested I keep them extended if I can. I think that was her nice way of saying, "YOU OBVIOUSLY DON'T KNOW HOW TO RUN CORRECTLY!!!!" It helped, so I thank her, too.

Just to add some more "assault to injury" we had to come up a slight hill to get to the HUGE BLOW-UP SPORTS DRINK BOTTLE! That last climb prevented me from sprinting to the finish. I even got passed up by a lady with about 25 yards to go. She obviously didn't get the memo that I, as in me not you!, own this course. I actually ended up PR'ing in my run, which is crazy. Slow and crazy.

Oh well. My wife was there taking pictures and I was hoping my son would come race across with me, but he was off visiting a Port-A-Potty with a nice blonde lady who offered to take him so my wife could capture my glorious moment of crossing the blessed finish line. YEAH!!!

One thing I've noticed about triathlons -- and I've done four this summer -- is that they make oranges taste like manna from heaven. The cold water and sports drinks were heaven-sent, too. And speaking of heavenly food ---- HOLY GRUB!!!!! That post-race meal was so AMAZING! Mo, you make a mean, mean, mean BBQ beef sandwich. That was awesome.

Next year I will learn how to swim straight, pee even more in my wetsuit so it comes off really, really fast, I will train like a Tour de France cyclist (perhaps even using some doping techniques), and run, run, run uphills, down hills, like Rocky Balboa, and run some more so I can get to the BBQ trailer, er, finish line even faster!!!!

Wow, that report literally took me longer to write than doing the Scofield Triathlon took me to complete yesterday!

[HeatherT]

Congrats to all! Jody, you have convinced me that I need to stop being a chicken and do one of these open water races. Thanks for the motivation. - HeatherT

[Age]

Sounds like everyone hade a great time. The Ultimate course sounds like a blast. I always love those love/hate relationships with a race course. Its like Saint George, after its done it hurts so good. I was actually at Scofield this weekend on our family reunion and we decided to do our own little family fun tri on the other side of the lake. We did a super sprint 300 yrd swim, 6 mile bike and 1.5 mile run for the beginners and a 600 yrd swim, 13 mile bike and 3.2 mile run for the vetran. It was a blast. I noticed Scofield dam was down to one lane with signal lights controlling the flow of traffic. How did that affect the race?

[Dianna]

Age Wrote:I noticed Scofield dam was down to one lane with signal lights controlling the flow of traffic. How did that affect the race?

The dam wasn't a problem as far as traffic goes. They turned off the lights at 8am and had people stopping traffic. No cars allowed on the dam if there was a bike on the dam. Perfect. They did a great job with safety and traffic control - very impressive.

To Jody - way to inspired HeatherT. HeatherT, get signed up for an OW - you can do it - and join the club for some easy-going OW swimming.

To everyone who shouted "Go Di" or Go Sharkie" - I did hear you. If I didn't smile on the outside, I was smiling on the inside

[JodyG]

Heather, thanks for the kind words. I was very frightened of the open water swims, but they really have been fun. Frustrating at times, but fun - and fulfilling. I'm glad you've made the commitment.

Which one ya gonna do?

I'm bummed out that my next OWS won't be until September because a darn wedding will sideline me for Jordanelle.

[GregS]

Congratulations all! I bagged out, feeling that I wasn't recovered enough to do the ultimate distance 10-mile run after IMCdA. So, I opted for the Big Cottonwood Canyon Hill Climb close to my house -- a good workout with much faster hill climbers than me and no pounding. Your posts make Scofield sound really darned challenging but fun. The RDs will let me use this year's entry fee for next year and, so, I hope to see everyone there next year.

Cheers.

[JenLeath]

JodyG Wrote:Heather, thanks for the kind words. I was very frightened of the open water swims, but they really have been fun. Frustrating at times, but fun - and fulfilling. I'm glad you've made the commitment.

Which one ya gonna do?

I'm bummed out that my next OWS won't be until September because a darn wedding will sideline me for Jordanelle.

Which one are you doing in September? I signed up for Jordanelle last week. Heather, Jordanelle was my first in 05, it is a great race.

Jen

[JodyG]

I'm still trying to decide between Bear Lake or the Ogden Valley Equalizer, probably the latter. I'd love to do Kokopelli, but it's too far away (darn gas moolah!).

I was intimidated by Jordanelle until I found out that you don't have to jog 1/2 mile to get from the lake to the transition area anymore. They apparently paved down to that point. I really wish my sis-in-law would've consulted with me about her pending nuptials!

[JenLeath]

I did Ogden last year, it was one of my favorite races. I really like biking around Pineview. Jodi P did Bear Lake last year, maybe she'll chime in.
Uh Oh, you're hooked. When you're offended that you might miss a race for someone elses plans , you know your in trouble. Welcome to the club
Jen L

[HeatherT]

JodyG Wrote:Heather, thanks for the kind words. I was very frightened of the open water swims, but they really have been fun. Frustrating at times, but fun - and fulfilling. I'm glad you've made the commitment.

Which one ya gonna do?

I'm bummed out that my next OWS won't be until September because a darn wedding will sideline me for Jordanelle.

I am planning on doing Jordanelle. - HeatherT