USAT Mid-Atlantic Season Preview

So, how’s your winter going? If you’re anything like most triathletes in our part of the country, you’re probably working your way towards your early season fitness, slowly chipping off whatever is left of your Holiday feasting, and thinking about what your “A” races are going to be this summer…

…Or if you’re like me your wondering “How the #$*%! Did it get to be freaking FEBRUARY already? I’ve got this, like, portable wetsuit I’ve been wearing since December that won’t go anywhere, the springs in my scale must be rusted in place, and when I run up anything steeper than a speed bump, my Heart Rate Monitor reads ‘EJECT!’”

Don’t worry if you’re somewhere in-between these two points; Consummate Beer drinker and sometime Pro Triathlete Karen Smyers says feeling like this is acceptable for this time of year. We’re all in the same boat, and we’re all working in the same direction towards being better, stronger, faster, thinner, and funner. (Okay, that last one is just mine, and even if it’s not a real word, it’s what I want to do as a backup if that thinner thing doesn’t come around, okay?)

For those of you that don’t know me (which most likely is everyone else other than my mother reading this rabble) my name is Bob Mina, and I’m a 30-year-old Age Grouper from Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. I’ve been racing triathlon since 1996, and like most of you I’m hopelessly addicted to the multisport lifestyle. Along the way I’ve gathered a few Ironman finishes, one deep in the field (yet very proud) finish at USAT Nationals, and enough bonks and implosions to qualify for Federal Disaster Assistance as a walking Energy Crisis. I’m married to Super Wife and Ironmate Extraordinaire Lynda, and as far as I can tell, we have no children.

Have you put your calendar together for your 2002 season? If not, allow me to be your monthly guide to what’s coming up in the Mid-Atlantic Region. While I haven’t done every race there is out there, I can say I’ve experienced most of them…and if not, well, I’m sure I can bribe it out of someone who has in time to make my deadline.

Each month I’ll provide as much information, advice, and experience based…umm, experience type smart stuff (Translation: The Mistakes I’ve Made That You Don’t Have To) to give you the best picture I can of what you’re getting yourself into for that month.

So what can you look forward to in each issue? Here are the events I’ve got on my tentative to-do list:

1. The Traverse Duathlon – April. Flat, Flat, Fast, Flat, and Fast. Have you raced Blackwater before? Imagine that race without the currents and wet start to the bike, and you’ve pretty much got it.

2. The Columbia Triathlon – May. As far as I’m concerned, the Granddaddy of all Olympic Distance races in the country. The total opposite of Traverse and Blackwater’s flatness, you’re either heading up or down at all times (with the exception of the swim), and after all that climbing you finish with the world’s longest Earthen dam crossing; 200 yards in measurement, 2 km in feel…but leading to the best finish line out there.

3. The Blackwater Eagleman – June. See Traverse (above). Add swim, potential currents, and the summer wind that always seems to come crashing in. The only non-IM length World Championship qualifier in the Northeast US, the field here is First Class, deep, and as fast as a cheetah. For all 70.3 miles of this day, if the sun is out? Bring on the SPF 30 and don’t ever stop.

4. Tupper Lake Tinman – July. The site of USA Triathlon Long-Course Nationals in 2000 and 2001, this race is one of the oldest Half Ironman Triathlons in the county. After some sleepy years in the mid-90’s, the return of Tupper Lake has been fueled by nearby Ironman USA in Lake Placid, and the efforts of Ironman North America staff to link the events together with the “Last Train to Lake Placid” qualifying spots to IM-USA for those that dare. It’s a race on great roads in a beautiful part of the country – and since it’s on a Saturday, you get to sleep in and go out for pancakes on Sunday!

5. The Wilkes-Barre Triathlon – August. Entering it’s 21st year of existence, Wilkes-Barre has seen it all: Hawaii slots, ITU points, and some of the best pro’s in the country duking it out in the shadows of the endless ridges and hills. The course brings on another fine dose of rolling hills for those that like that sort of thing, and a challenging and unique run through the fields of Penn State University’s Lehman campus. The unique two-transition area format is a bit unnerving to see at first, but the race directors have been doing this for so long that you don’t even give it a second thought on race-day.

6. The Harry Potter Triathlon – September. (Okay, okay – it’s really the Lancaster Area Family YMCA Triathlon, but if you’ve been reading the press lately…you know which race I’m talking about.) Come one! Come all! Bring out your brooms, capes, magic wands, and magic dust! Assuming that the local Fire-Police don’t hire an exorcist and curse all those clad in Tri Suits this should be a very unusual year for this race, also entering it’s 20th consecutive year on the local calendar. Olympic distance, very much non-flat, and sure to be silly this time around.

So that’s it! Is that all? Certainly not. I don’t run a limited dictatorship here, so if you have a race you’d like to see profiled, drop me a line. I can call Race Directors, canvas prior participants, and like the good folks at Arthur Andersen: If I don’t know quite what to say, I’ll be sure to make up something really, really good.

Happy Training!

Bob

Bob Mina is also the monthly columnist for Xtri.com – The Home of Draft Free Triathlon Coverage on the web. If you were offended, bored, or put off by any of the above material, whatever you do don’t go to http://www.xtri.com and click on the link for “Hurricane Bob” on or about the last Tuesday of every month. He can also be reached at bob@bobmina.com - complaints are welcome; compliments are encouraged.