{"id":945,"date":"2023-07-09T19:12:19","date_gmt":"2023-07-09T19:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racereportblog.com\/2023\/07\/09\/litchfield-hills-triathlon-july-8-2023\/"},"modified":"2025-02-25T20:46:11","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T20:46:11","slug":"litchfield-hills-triathlon-july-8-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racereportblog.com\/?p=945","title":{"rendered":"Litchfield Hills Triathlon – July 8, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Got up at 3:15 a.m. to leave at 4:15 to arrive at West Hartford, Connecticut by 6 a.m. (Surprise: Litchfield is only 1:30 drive from home, but Litchfield Hills<\/em><\/strong> are 1:45 hour away\u2026.) Had prepared EVERYTHING the night before, and had time for 5-10 minutes of PT for the bursitis in my hips just before driving. Had considered sleeping in, not feeling ready or pumped up for this race, but as long as I was awake and as long as I was driving\u2026 might as well do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nice, friendly people volunteering and racing. \u201cGeneral seating\u201d on grabbing a place to rack the bike, but found a place on two slots from the end of the row (easy to find) and near a garbage can and fence (easy to leave my oversized gear bag).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Race Director Mark Wilson preaching to the choir before the race began\u2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The swim: Lots of jostling – only three mass wave starts (men under 40, men over 40 and over, women and relay teams – remember this detail for the end of the blog\u2026) – so it was hard to find clean water. On the other hand, easy to draft off someone the first loop (out of the water to run across the beach after the first loop was challenging \u2014 hard to walk let alone run!) and beginning of the second loop. Finally got into a rhythm and enjoyed the water (short sleeve wetsuit was fine, won\u2019t ever listen to that stupid Monster Lake fisherman\u2019s website about water temperatures for various lakes – they had reported 64 degrees!). But whenever I relaxed I had to remember to stay smooth but work harder, this is a race! Apparently I didn\u2019t remember enough: my speed dropped from 1:48 min\/100 yds to 2:05, ultimately averaging to 1:54 min\/100. (Coach Steve had predicted 1:55. The guy\u2019s good with numbers…). Finished the 0.9 mile swim in 31:25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transition 1 included a long run along a rocky dirt path. I tried to take off my wetsuit sitting down on the bench where I had left my shoes. Big mistake: gotta stand up and step on the suit leg I\u2019m removing. Not sure how much time that cost. And then run\/walking the 1\/4 mile to transition (heart rate through the roof \/ walk to get HR under control\u2026). T1 in 6:18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bike, as advertised, started with screaming downhills and rolling hills for the first 15 miles, then up! up! up! for the remaining 10. My 5-mile intervals told the story: 21.6 mph, 25.7 mph (!), 19.2, 18.4\u2026 then 12.3 mph for the last ascent. Got into leap-frogging with Doug Casey, nice guy I had met on the line to the outhouses before the race: I repeatedly passed him on the flats and downhills (reaching, um, 49 mph, which I only learned after the race, fortunately), he passed me on the uphills, and as noted, the ride ended going uphill\u2026 Truly sharing the road with traffic – van turned right slightly ahead of me! Big trucks slowing down in the middle of the route!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good news is bursitis in my hip scarcely flared up (apparently PT is helping) but adductors felt tired early on, and my wattage\/speed dropped towards the end even at moments of flat road. 1,340 feet of elevation over the 24.8 mile (40 km) course. Finished in 1:14:36; average speed: 18.9 mph, avg. power: 197 watts. Not bad on a tough course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
All I want to do is FINISH, take home my participant\u2019s medal, and sleep\u2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Run (walk!) on the grass to transition, and probably would have been faster changing to running gear if I hadn\u2019t been panting so much. Some mixed feelings when I saw a guy who had passed me on the bike with \u201c62 [years old]\u201d on his calf getting into transition a few feet ahead of me\u2026. Maybe I\u2019m chasing him, maybe he\u2019s chasing me\u2026 T1 in 2:21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hard to rev up and get moving into the run, and knew it would be rough: the race ended mostly uphill. Even when we started running the early downhills I knew this was going to be another race like Kingston\u2019s last year, where I felt I had to earn each and every mile. Really, ideal weather \u2014 warm but almost entirely shaded. Rest stops every mile had \u201cbarrels\u201d to dispense into cups \u2014 not enough volunteers, I guess, to hand out the water. Off in the distance was Doug (who kept and increased the lead he took on the bike; let it go, he\u2019s not my age group) and then he was gone\u2026 Another guy way ahead I thought was in my age group seemed too far to catch as well. Oh, well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Doug Casey took 3rd for his 55-59 Age Group \u2014 a most gracious bunny to chase, even if I couldn\u2019t catch him.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I just tried to maintain my speed and ended up picking off the younger runners who were within reach, counting those who passed me and those I passed \u2014 netting out at 11 racers. (I could not<\/em><\/strong> catch that young woman with the pony tail for the life of me, but that big guy who took a break at every water stop finally lost his mojo at mile 5\u2026).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once I realized that however hard I ran, my ranking at the end of the race was likely already sealed, it was hard to push harder. The temptation to take it easy on the uphills was tremendous, but this was MY race, going as fast as I was able, checking in and feeling whether I could push harder, just focus on that nearby mailbox, now the tree a little farther down the road, OMG I\u2019m at mile 5 and what feels like immediately after I turn the corner and for once the Finish Line appears earlier than I expected. (And my Garmin says I was right: the run is only 5.6 miles, not 6.2.) Finished in 47:20, which apparently translated to 8:31 min\/mile. (Steve had predicted 8:30\u2026 Damn, he\u2019s good.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bottom line: 2:42:12, 2\/13 for Age Group, 48\/179 OA. Not my fastest, but not my slowest either, and felt fine for this challenging course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Second Place for Age Group<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But especially humbling: First place overall was my<\/em><\/strong> age group – 64-year old, legendary Bill Schumann in 2:11:43 (!), beating 2nd place (30-34 AG) by one second!<\/em><\/strong> The guy who came in second didn\u2019t even know he hadn\u2019t won until after he finished \u2014 because Bill had been in the second wave<\/em><\/strong> of men who started the swim 3 minutes after the younger men\u2019s first wave! And if that weren\u2019t humbling enough, Rick Klutey, the guy who took first place for our 60-64 age group (since overall podium finishers don\u2019t also win their age groups), finished 7th overall in 2:18:15. Yes, 1st place AG was 24 minutes ahead of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Among the participants: training buddy and neighbor Jason Poure, here relaxing after the race <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Well, the metrics didn\u2019t matter to me during the race, and I\u2019ll stand by my new attitude: did the best I could on that day, felt strong, and enjoyed most of the race. \u201cWho could ask for anything more?\u201d Other than asking for\u2026 beer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Southern Tier, my favorite brand, was a sponsor. Even if they handed out flavors I had never contemplated, any race that serves beer at then Finish Line is a damn good race. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Got up at 3:15 a.m. to leave at 4:15 to arrive at West Hartford, Connecticut by 6 a.m. (Surprise: Litchfield is only 1:30 drive from home, but Litchfield Hills are 1:45 hour away\u2026.) Had prepared EVERYTHING the night before, and had time for 5-10 minutes of PT for the bursitis in my hips just before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":937,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2023-races"],"yoast_head":"\nLitchfield Hills Triathlon - July 8, 2023 - Race Report Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/racereportblog.com\/?p=945\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Litchfield Hills Triathlon - July 8, 2023 - Race Report Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Got up at 3:15 a.m. to leave at 4:15 to arrive at West Hartford, Connecticut by 6 a.m. (Surprise: Litchfield is only 1:30 drive from home, but Litchfield Hills are 1:45 hour away\u2026.) Had prepared EVERYTHING the night before, and had time for 5-10 minutes of PT for the bursitis in my hips just before […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/racereportblog.com\/?p=945\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Race Report Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-09T19:12:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-25T20:46:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mktriguy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mktriguy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/racereportblog.com\\\/?p=945#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/racereportblog.com\\\/?p=945\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"mktriguy\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/racereportblog-1017a59.ingress-baronn.ewp.live\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/381524143ffecd8f8bcf50b786f0c737\"},\"headline\":\"Litchfield Hills Triathlon – July 8, 2023\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-09T19:12:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-25T20:46:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/racereportblog.com\\\/?p=945\"},\"wordCount\":1210,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/racereportblog.com\\\/?p=945#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"2023 Races\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/racereportblog.com\\\/?p=945\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/racereportblog.com\\\/?p=945\",\"name\":\"Litchfield Hills Triathlon - 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