The Festival of Flowers Race Report

Ok, it has been a while since I have sat down to write up a race report.  Back in the day (a few weeks ago) I travelled a long, long way (an hour and a half up the road) to a distant land (Greenwood) to embark on a great adventure (I had a race).

The Festival of Flowers is an Olympic distance event hosted every year at lake Greenwood, and it is a USAT National Qualifier.  I was really looking forward to the opportunity to see how I would fare in a race that was going to draw some of the strongest competitors around.  I had raced on part of the course before, during the SC Half Iron which is held at the same location, and it is a bit more hilly than the course at Langley Pond.  I figured that if I was doing well I could break 2:30 this time around, so I made that my goal.  I was shooting for a 27 minute swim (no wetsuits allowed), giving myself three minutes on the transitions, 1:10 on the bike, and a 50 minute run.

My dad and I rode the course the day before, and biked the run portion together.  By the way, anybody visiting Greenwood for one of the two races should really look at staying at the Hampton Inn, they usually get the staff in early to set up and open the breakfast area!  The bike course has just a few light hills, they are sustained effort without a significant downhill afterwards, so it is really a course of consistency.  I planned on pushing just a bit harder on the uphills, but could not really hammer on them or else I would have nothing for the flats!  The run was a simple, one-loop 10k with the same properties; consistent but not difficult climbs that really just meant you were running a sustained effort.

Race morning brought a lot of early morning wind, which was stirring the water up and making for a significant amount of chop.  Now, I am a strong swimmer, but I can really say that I would rather have a current than chop.  The current just slows you down or makes you change course, the chop is constantly in your face making you miss breaths, and as a result altering your stroke and body position as you try to get your head farther out of the water for a clean breath.  The first leg of the race was also going to be right into the morning sun, which was beaming quite nicely into our eyes, made me glad for the tint on my swim goggles.

Race start went quite well, although there were one or two people who seemed insistent on swimming in total body contact.  I have never had anybody so insistently try to swim in exactly my space (not just the same line, but exactly my space) for fifty or more meters, it was like playing bumper cars with the little kids who don’t ram you but just kind of push and rub, making both of you go slower.  I just kept swimming my line, when I could see the bouys through the sun, and eventually he fell off behind me.  I would like to say that was due to pace, but more likely it was because he eventually put his head in my right arm pit and caught a solid elbow, which I think just hit the top of his head more than anything sensitive like a nose or goggles.

The swim was pretty rough, and apparrently most people were complaining about the conditions.  Actually, a lot of people were saying that they had a bad race, which probably stemmed from having to expend a lot of energy on the swim.  I ended up choosing a wide right line for the second leg, letting the current push me into the bouy. and finished the swim in 29:50.  While that was behind what I was anticipating, I knew I had posted a relatively good swim for the day.

Within the first mile of the bike I saw my friend Anthony Buzetti walking his bike back.  He is recovering from a hip injury just like mine that has severely limited his running, but he has been making up for it by hammering on the bike.  Today Anthony was racing as part of a relay team, and his swimmer had finished ahead of me.  I stopped to offer him a spare tube, but he was using tubulars instead of clinchers and there was nothing that could be done.  He told me that he thought his day was probably over and sent me off with a, as is typical of Anthony, very sincere “have a great race”.  So I started biting into the ride, determined to have that great race.  Severe and steady for 24 miles, I did not feel like I had all the power in my legs I would like, but I was in a solid place to keep working at the pace.  I averaged 21.5 mph for the ride, finishing in 1:07:04.

Out on the run I had to smile inwardly a bit, as experience had shown me that the first mile is a long uphill which appears to be rather flat and I could tell others were struggling to run their goal paces and were close to overload.  Nearing the two mile mark I heard a familiar voice shouting a “Way to go Cameron!”  I looked to my left real quick and who do I see riding by but Anthony, back in the race and smiling!  I did not know what had happened at that point, but I was glad to see him getting to enjoy his day, and that provided a nice boost to the mind with four miles left.  The rest of the run clicked by smoothly, again without a feeling of deep power in my legs that I would have liked to have had, but steady.  I finished the run in 49:02 for a total time of 2:28:12.  I met my goal, and had a solid race, finishing just 5:17 from qualifying for Nationals.

As for Anthony, get this: Shortly after I saw him, a race official rode up and learned of his dilemma.  The official said he could help out as long as he did not actually progress Anthony any further along the course.  So he got a lift back to the TA for his keys, then to his car to get his spare set of wheels for training (look real close in the photo), then swapped over his rear wheel, and finally got back to the point where he had gotten the flat.  He lost 22 minutes, and if you were to subtract that from his actual time would put him around the 55 minute mark, putting Anthony’s pace around 26 mph!

The less I have to do, the more I want to do

Have you ever noticed that when you have less stuff to do, you actually end up getting more done?  I mean really, when I don’t have school work to do I get all the little projects done around the house that have been bugging me for the last eight months, and then end up having time left over.  If I didn’t use this time for working out, I would totally be into some sort of cause.  Oh wait, just checked my blogroll, I already have a cause!

Between school work and trying to combine all my errands into one trip the other day, I noticed that the price of gas has dropped recently.  Every time this happens my rear end starts to pucker, and I’ll tell you why.  It is just the oil company’s way of taking a deep breath in to blow out all of our candles before they dig into the birthday cake that is your (and, more importantly to me, my) wallet.  Too many times recently has the cost of a gallon gone down ten cents only to rocket back up a quarter next week.

Furthermore, here’s another disgusting concept.  The only time this country (as a whole, I will get to this later) begins to do anything remotely resembling a good thing for the planet is when gasoline starts to actually burn a hole in our wallets.  The use of hybrid cars jumped drastically when gas prices started to reach the ionosphere.  But really, was the development of these hybrids not actually fueled by the rising gas prices themselves?  I doubt that it was a completely selfless act; after all, the manufacturers with the best hybrids are carving out a nice little market share.  Don’t think the country’s motivation is purely economical?  Two words: “Kyoto Accord” – look it up.

Found it yet?  You won’t find it in US policy, since we didn’t adopt it.  We are the only developed nation which attended the coucil on global climate change in Kyoto and refused to sign the Accord.  By the way, did I mention that we are also, by far, the number one carbon emission producing country per capita in the world?  In english that means that nobody in the world pollutes more than the American citizen.  Now, I really don’t mean to hit everybody, because it’s really not everybody’s fault.  Okay, actually it is, but there are a few people who are in a perfect position to change things but won’t.  First off, let’s talk about automobiles.  Sure the new hybrids are cutting our use of gas by about 40%, but only for the people who actually buy one!  Hybrids make up a small amount of the automotive populus, but everybody who lives in a house with electricity could make a huge difference if one thing were to happen.  Here is a big hot topic when it comes to the environment: Alternative Energy.  If a few big companies (the power conglomerates) were to drop one significant chunk of change on some hydroelectric dams then everybody who they serve would be running their day to day activities nearly emission free.  Sure it would be an expense up front, but they would save money in the long run by not having to buy oil to burn for electricity!

Now, I assumed at the start of this that you knew why stopping global warming is important.  If not, read the links.

Of course, we live in a world where the fat cats lay off good people because they don’t want to pay an employee’s salary while they go cruising around the world on their new yacht for two years. 

Ok, now I am done ranting.

See, the less I have to do, the more I want to take on some new project.  Oh yeah, and things are going well otherwise.

State Treasurer trafficking Cocaine, and I am finally dating someone

Yeah, so I found out today that our state treasurer for the past while has been indicted on charges of distributing cocaine.  Most people would find this news shocking/appalling/funny or otherwise moving (at least in some direction).  I personally find the fact that I heard it from my girlfriend more moving.

Just in case you didn’t catch it the first time, I will repeat myself:  “I heard it from my girlfriend” and one more time if you are still having trouble believing your eyes, this time with only the really good parts included: “my girlfriend”.  That’s right, Hell hath frozen over and I not only got a date, but managed to get her to stick around for a while.  If you are a regular follower of my blog (snicker, snicker.  I don’t think such a thing exists) then you will probably immediately be able to guess about how long we have been dating.

Of course, if you are really into following my blog you would chide me about not updating it and suggest that we must have been dating for a year or so.  It has actually been a month, so I blame my extended single status up to this point on too much school work, just like everything else.  Anyways, her name is Caroline and she is wonderful!  She is very smart, being a law student and all.  I would say quite attractive, but I will let a picture speak for itself.  Things are very nice now, I tend to be pretty picky when it comes to the girls I date, so it is good to know someone out there can live up to my expectations.

Well, I am off for the night, it is late.

Standing on the edge

Have you ever had the feeling that you are standing on the edge of something, something that could be great but you are not sure if you want to take the next step?  It could be the greatest thing you have ever done, it could be a disaster.  It could all work out, it could fall apart.  It’s a chance to do something with your life that you have always wanted to do, to make a difference; a difference to yourself, one other person, or to many.  But it would be so easy to just stay right where you are; after all, where you are is safe, and you know exactly what is coming next.

Have you ever felt like this about a lot of things at once?  Have you ever worried that making one choice may preclude you from others?  Then, even if you have the utmost confidence that you could succeed in which ever direction you chose to progress, there is the added problem of choosing the right path.  How do you follow your heart when it’s pointing in different directions?

Anyway, that has been my mindset recently, but it is not really a bad thing.  I can see a lot of good coming from any path I choose, it is just a matter of spending some quality time thinking about things.  Other than that, I have a lot of things to post about, and I will try to squeeze in a bunch of small posts next week.  Not that anybody really seems to read or enjoy my blog, but maby this will keep my mom from calling and leaving “shug” messages.

Ok, out for now to think.