Pumpkinman 2011 - Day One: The Race

Pumpkinman Sprint Triathlon
September 10, 2011

Results
Swim - 6:14 (4th)
Hill Climb Challenge - 1:06 (16th)
T1 - :47
Total T1 w/ Hill Climb - 1:54 (6th)
Bike - 37:40, 22.3mph (7th)
T2 - 29.9 (1st)
Run - 18:01, 6:00/mi (6th)
TOTAL - 1:04:19
PLACE - 4th Elite Male, 4th Overall

The story behind the results


As far as I'm concerned, Pumpkinman is the best event around. The venue is amazing, the volunteers are incredible, and I don't think you'll find a better race director than Kat Donatello. Everything about this event is first-class. If you haven't been to this race before, you need to sign up for 2012 and experience triathlon at its best.

As is the case every year, Pumpkinman coincided with our move back to the Ogunquit apartment for the winter. It's awful timing, but that's life. Fortunately, Eileen and I are now on par with professional moving companies and it was relatively painless this time around. Seven moves in just over two and a half years teaches you how to get into and out of apartments rather efficiently. By Thursday things were done and we'd been back to school for a few days so I was able to spend all of Friday thinking about the race. Surprisingly, I wasn't nervous at all in the days leading up to the event. Maybe it was just that other things had consumed my time and energy. Or it could have just been my familiarity with the race and everything that comes along with it. Either way, in a year when I've found myself really nervous leading into each of my races, it was nice to feel relaxed and confident.

Pumpkinman is the one race a year where I enter as an Elite. That meant there was a chance I'd leave Spring Hill with a check today. Having previewed the start list ahead of time I knew the chances were slim, but I've walked away with cash before so it was possible it'd happen again. Money aside, I just wanted to race well against some solid competition.

The day got off to a good start during the swim. There wasn't much to it, really. Got to the first turn buoy in 4th and stayed there until we got out of the water. Somewhere along the way I swallowed about a third of the water in Knights Pond, but I didn't let a little thing like that get in the way of a good swim. By the time we exited the water I was about 10 seconds back of the leader, Mike Caiazzo. That was pretty much irrelevant, though, as I knew he would take off on the bike and then extend his lead over me during the run. But I was the second guy out of the water and in a good position for the rest of the race.

For those that have not visited Spring Hill, there is a MASSIVE hill between the pond and the parking lot. And it's one of those hills that just gets steeper with every step. It's a cool feature for the race (and the restaurant). Running up it - though - not so much fun.

As I made my way onto the bike course, I was passed by Matthew Russell and settled into third place for the elite men and 4th overall as Catherine Sterling (2nd overall at the 2011 USAT AG National Championships behind only a former Olympian) was still a few hundred yards ahead. I knew I wouldn't see Matt again until the finish - the guy is a beast on the bike and run. I guess that's what it takes to be USA Duathlon National Champion and to qualify for Kona as a pro after only learning to swim a year or two ago. As a side note, I was probably going 25mph when Matt passed me and it looked (and felt) as though I was stopped on the side of the road.

As the first few miles passed, I reeled in Catherine and eventually made the pass. Until then I'd been expecting Owen Lisa to be coming by at any time to take over third place. For quite awhile it didn't happen and I started to think I had a shot at the podium. When he did catch up and pass, I maintained contact for as long as possible. I knew he was a strong runner, but I wanted to stay close incase he struggled at all during the run. I was pretty successful with this and had a good ride. I find it to be a challenging course and made sure I didn't burn up my legs before even getting out onto the run. And I did a decent job of remaining in the picture for most of the ride and entered the second transition down about a minute.

I was in and out of the second transition in no time. I had the fastest transition of the day at just under 30 seconds and was determined to run down Owen, or at least give it a shot. Jeff Donatello was yelling something to me while I was transitioning and it seemed like a good time to say something witty, but putting together complete thoughts when you're hypoxic isn't easy. I think I came back with something clever, but it could just as easily have been me mumbling incoherent thoughts.

I knew I needed to catch Owen by the start of the third mile if I had any chance at earning a spot on the podium. I figured if I got to him by then, that meant I was running really well and he was struggling a bit. That, in combination with the hills you go up during the final stretch of the course, was the only way to make it happen today. I ran as hard as I possibly could and felt very strong. And I could see Owen almost the entire way, just a little further up the road than I was. It was pretty much like looking at a check that's just too far away to reach. But I never gave up trying and ran hard all the way to the finish. I knew I'd done well and figured the run split had to be my fastest of the year. Sure enough, it was at just one second over 18 minutes.

After the finish and a few quick words with Eileen and my mom, Owen, Matt and I headed out to cool down. Honestly, these guys are two of the nicest people I've ever met at a race. I've come to find that many of the people you see at the front of races are pretty nice, but both of these guys were very cool and really down to earth. Matt answered every question we had about life as a pro and both shared many insights on training and racing. It was nice to have some good conversation during the post race run.

When we returned we gathered our things in transition and took a few pictures with people who asked for them. I can honestly say that's a first at a triathlon for me! Then, shortly after, the most exciting and terrifying part of the day happened. Brace yourself: I saw a SNAKE! For most, this probably wouldn't be a big deal. For me, it was pretty much a life-or-death scenario. I was walking my bike to the car (minding my own business, I might add...) so I could go back to the post-race festivities without carrying a bunch of stuff around when it happened. There, hiding in the grass, waited the most terrifying foot-long snake you can imagine.  He wen't right, I went left. Then he swerved back to the left and I turned and ran uphill. I stopped and turned to make sure he wasn't chasing me. He wasn't. Yet. Not wanting to take chances I sprinted back up the path as fast as I could. Apparently I still had some energy left over and hadn't raced hard enough, because I was moving way faster (in sandals, with a bike and really heavy bag) during this episode then at any point during the race itself. Later I'd go back and conquer my fears (with a body guard. AKA - Eileen). Even though she stood in the middle of the path and assured me I was safe, I didn't take any chances. My second fastest round of running for the day took place as I stormed down the hill and into the grass parking lot (which, as far as I'm concerned, is not a safe area snake-wise. So the bike was put on the car rather hastily and my stuff was just tossed in the backseat before I dove in myself and drove away.

Ok, back to the serious business...well the race business, because as far as I was concerned that was by far the most serious thing that happened all morning!

I've raced well at Pumpkinman both of the last two years. In 2009 I went 1:08:19. In 2010 I dropped down to 1:06:39. Today things got even better as I knocked off another 2:20 and went 1:04:19. Today was perfect. Things had gone really well the last two years and I left each time very satisfied with my results. I'd been inside of the top 10 on both occasions and considered those races as a few of my best. Dropping another 2:20 today was unexpected. I knew I'd be faster, but never did I consider improving this much from year to year. Today, I feel like I took things to a different level with my racing. All of my training came together well and things just clicked. Now I just hope that this level of performance becomes the standard and the expectation when I show up to race.

Though my 2011 Pumpkinman experience is not yet over (there will be a volunteer report tomorrow), I'd like to thank Kat, Jeff and everyone else that makes this race happen. If I tried to explain my true feelings about this event and the people behind it, I'd come off sounding cliche and over-dramatic. So I'll leave it at this - Kat is the best race director I've ever seen. She and Jeff put on a flawless race. It is simply the best event I've ever been a part of. Thank you for everything you've done for me personally, for the sport, and for the community. They do a great deal of good for so many people and cannot be thanked enough. So, one more time, THANK YOU!

I'll be back tomorrow with more from the Pumpkinman Triathlon Festival as I change up roles and volunteer. This year I'll be doing much more than I normally do. Can't wait for the experience and to report back with a detailed behind-the-scenes look at New England's best event.