flyer

DNF?!! No Way!

I'm all tatt'd up for the event!

My simple set up at T1.

Let me say I continue to love Xterra events and Ogden has got to be one of the best of Xterras.  For anyone unfamiliar, the main event is an Olympic distance "off road" triathlon.  You need a mountain bike for the bike portion and better be ready to run uphill for the running portion.  I've done the Richmond and Kualoa Ranch versions of the same event and they've all had some good elevation gain on both the bike and run.   

The published elevation gain on the bike was 4,614 feet over 28k.  About a month ago I was concerned I was in over my head.  I got to some training albeit not as much as I'd hoped to do and didn't worry about it. On Saturday I was awoken to the fact that I was indeed over my head!

Around mile 12 of 18 heat cramps in my legs were nearly debilitating.  Not only was I forced to walk my bike up portions of the trail I had to lie down and stretch a handful of times. It was a feast of humble pie courtesy of Utah goodness.  This was the first time for me that I felt like I could really be in a DNF situation.  My hydration bottles were empty and in preparing for the race I'd obviously forgotten how debilitating dehydration could be-I didn't even think to bring Endurolytes.  Endurolytes for me are a magic "dehydration killer" fix.  I love them but hadn't used them for so long that I'd totally forgotten to carry them. This is only my second triathlon of the year and first Xterra in years.

Somehow I survived the bike, and when I rolled into T2 my legs and stopped cramping for the moment. I walk/ran through the 10k run over a period of about an hour and a half and was completely spent when I finally crossed the finish line. DNF? Not that day.

Bottom line-Xterra mountain biking/off-road triathlons are not in the same basket as the on-road aero-bar requiring, Ironman type, triathlons.  Xterras do not suffer the weak of legs.  Two days later my legs still feel the remnants of Saturday's cramping. 

By all accounts, the race is a world-class event.  Staff is super friendly and helpful (oh yea, I left my timing chip at home and they gave me a replacement but promised to track me down if I didn't turn it in later; thanks to the Household Commander for bringing it to the finish for turn-in!) and there weren't billions of attendees.  Everyone is super friendly and you're able to meet and chat with folks without feeling like a sardine packed in a can. In an era of a flooded market, Xterra's done a great job of keeping the hometown feeling in this one, something very much appreciated by this participant.  I'll be back next year but much more prepared!

New Triathlon/Multisport Watch: Suunto Spartan Trainer

After about three weeks of carrying around my Suunto Ambit because it had another broken wrist band I bought a Suunto Spartan Trainer (steel). DC Rainmaker calls it "a full triathlon watch for $279."  Of course his review is top notch and of course I read through it before making the purchase. As well as his reviews of the Spartan Ultra and Sport.  All through watches were appealing and in the end the budget model was the fit for me.  There is a fairly good price jump between the trainer and the Ultra with some fairly minor differences in my mind.

Of the extras I missed out on by buying the Trainer model, the lower quality screen graphics and inability to customize the brightness may be the most serious, although I've only had the watch for one day and am still getting used to using it.  Other differences include the mineral crystal glass versus Saphire in the Ultra model, shorter battery life in the Trainer, no touch screen with the Trainer model, and no compass feature on the Trainer.

Suunto Spartan Trainer in awesome steel

Had a great mountain biking ride with a friend a few days ago.  Not only my first MTB ride in many a moon but the first outing here in Utah.  In addition to getting some street grinding cardio conditioning in we hit a portion of the Shoreline Trail.  We're prepping up for the Xterra Pan Am Championship triathlon coming up in September.  Stoked for the off-road tri!  Xterras are always a blast. I've done Richmond and one in Hawaii and neither one disappointed so I'm stoked to be off-road with them again.

It's nice this time around that I live nearby and will be able to go pre-ride the course! Looking forward to nailing that down and going for a ride out there, will be awesome to be racing on the course having already ridden it-I've always been jealous of the folks that have been able to do that.

Suunto map cutout of our Shoreline Trail ride

Spudman Olympic Triathlon Mini-Review

I say mini-review because I'm not a very detail oriented, in-depth writer on these matters. This will be a write up on the race from my perspective. What I saw and how I experienced the race. Keep in mind I was a pretty quick in-and-out racer and was out to just have a good time, not out to get on the podium.  I enjoy being around other folks who lie to stay in shape, spend their money on fine exercise equipment and the take opportunity to work out in great venues.  With that in mind, here was my experience at the Burley, Idaho Spudman Triathlon.

Night Before Check-In and Race Meeting.  Check-in and pre-race meeting were standard and easy, swag bag was weak-in addition to the finisher's shirt it had one Hammer gel, one packet of Hammer electrolyte capsules (which I had never seen before, pending trial still) and some bio-gel.  I think the world has largely forgotten the art of the swag bag.  Friends of mine talked up the pre-race carb load the night before but this year it was canceled for an undisclosed reason, bummer.  It was striking how many families were camping here and in attendance.  I knew camping was allowed but was surprised at just how many folks were taking advantage of it. Maybe another year I'll do that, but it brought back memories of my very first triathlon that entailed arriving on-site very late at night, setting up a tent for a quick sleep, and rising early to get ready and stash the tent before getting in trouble for sleeping in a reserved group campsite! 

Transition area set up. T1 is 1.6k down river so the wife and I drove down and racked my Specialized Transition as to not have the hassle in the morning.  Folks were friendly and the parking lot nearby was busy and dusty.  The local sheriff's department had lights up and a crew watch over the gold mine of carbon and rubber overnight so no worries.  I elected to set up my T2 station on race morning.  Interestingly it was a free-for-all when it came to bike placement vice numbered stalls.  Luckily there were numbers on the columns and I picked one that aligned with my number for easy recall as to where I parked. 

Race Day Fun. I was a little annoyed that no official posted or publicized water temperature on race morning.  Being the one guy who had his triathlon wet suit packed by movers and in a fleeting moment chose to go with a water skiing wet suit, I was keen to leave the wet suit behind but was leery about ice cream headaches ruining my day.  I wore the suit and would leave it behind if I got to redo it, the current pushed my floating neoprene mess down the river in a decrepit 22 minutes.

No issues in the first transition area. I'd staged my hydration and gels that morning so I quickly took in a gel and washed it down before getting into a cycling rhythm.  The course was a rectangular route through country roads in farming country that I grew up with.  Some locals were out cheering from time to time and volunteers were usually the ones manning corners to make sure we turned at the right location.  No cramping and no stomach issues had me in good spirits when I came into T2.

I was careful to not take in too much hydration on the bike as I am prone to sloshy belly problems on the run.  The good news is that it paid off and I had no cramping or sloshy belly on the run. The bad news is that I ran out of energy at mile 4.  I'd planned to take in two gel packets on the bike and I only ate one (got lost in my head and forgot the plan).  I took in one as I started the run and ended up eating one more at about mile 4, where it was too late.  Most of the run was on farmer's access roads through farm fields, the rest was through local roads. Not a ton of cheering locals but there were some out chuckling at the out-of-town-crazies come to town.  Given my energy depletion, I was happy to see a fairly steep chute kicking all the runners down into the finish line on the golf course, "Yes!  I will actually be able to run through the finish line!"

Top five finishers in my age group

My stats for the day

Combat Cycling Willie Kay Style

This morning's ride included some big roots coming up through the paved path quite a few driveways with some land mines as well (rocks that would easily cause a flat). Needless to say, a decent portion of my ride was spent in a defensive position, but no worries, I knew it was going to be fairly exploratory. 

Pineview Reservoir near my new digs, cycled near/beside here today

On Saturday I'll go participate in the Spudman Olympic distance Triathlon in Burley, Idaho.  It's near my home town and this is the first chance I've had to go give it a run. I'm curious whether or not I'll see some old-time but not forgotten familiar faces.  Also excited to swim in a downriver venue but not excited to swim in my water skiing wetsuit.  The triathlon wetsuit got packed before I realized it and it was not to be easily found...that's the moving life.

Spudman course below, I don't know if I've ever seen a bike course so square.  I hope it really is fairly flat as I'm realizing how I'm not ready for hills in a big way.

So anyway, while today's ~20-mile ride was a good effort, I haven't forgotten that I'm racing soon and plan to start a focused taper after Wednesday.  I'll get a jog in tonight and a swim in the morning and then take it fairly easy with some easy running and cycling trips between Wed and Friday night when I rack the bike.

Visited Salt Lake Running Company (awesome running store, this was my first visit) yesterday and was able to pick up some tri-shorts (yep, mine all got packed with the movers) and some gels. Realized today I need to pick up another water bottle so I can have one with water on the bike and one with a sport drink. Recommendations?  I haven't been training with one so I'll probably fall back on the ol' Gatorade or Powerade to keep it simple. 

Train On! In Search of Shin Splints

Our family has arrived at our new outdoor sports mecca home, Ogden, Utah. But let's keep that outdoor meccaness a secret, don't want to overflow the area. 

On the road I swam in the Snake River in Jackson Hole, Wyoming (if you count white water rafting as swimming-best I could do this time on the road with the family), I've cycled in Burlington, South Dakota just east of the Badlands National park, and run in Casper, Wyoming.

Anyhow, I've done what I could while on the road, about 2400 miles from east to west. Yesterday I did my first cycling ride here in the new territory.  I started off optimistic, seceded to safety and lived to fight another day.

My other Suunto Ambit band broke, so I threw it in the bag on my bike, this morning I ran with it in my hand, in the gym I set it down and worked out w/ the heart rate monitor on...whatever. I need to upgrade but hard to justify the moola for the Garmin Fenix I want, will bite the bullet soon after I exhaust my extra Ambit bands on hand. 

Graph of my uphill run, ~600 ft ascent, love having hills near home!

Seven Days until Spudman!!  The Spudman will be my first tri this year and I didn't do any last year so I'm excited for an event! It sounds like my dad will accompany and watch all of us crazies so it will be fun to see his reaction and perspective.  I think my kids will sleep in that day.

Trek West Post I

Triathlon training is already somewhat intensive, requiring two-a-days and access to bikes and pools (running shoes are easy).  This is all just fine when you're hunkered in at home with gym access but I'm beginning a multi-day trip west during which I MUST STILL TRAIN for a triathlon coming up in just 17 days.

The good: I get to exercise in new exciting places. Like Central Park in New York.  That was a great run!

The bad: it's harder than I thought it would be. Third day out and I haven't broken out the portable bike trainer. Plan to do it tonight but I'm working on some work that has to be done. Competing priorities are rough!  Finding pool access takes work...I was going to do it in Cincinnati as I'm sure availability is plentiful but chose to run instead. Solid choice as my running is sucking right now and the swim I have to do is downriver.

Pics and more thoughts to follow.

Difficulty, Obstacles, and Snowboarding. Only dreaming of Triathlons still.

My Son and I recently had a great trip to Snowbasin, Utah.  I hate to talk too much about it because it's a great mountain and great mountains shouldn't be over-run.  Had we shown up one week earlier or one week later I think we would have had some great powder days, but as it was we enjoyed two perfect bluebird days in spring skiing conditions.  Yep, even got a little suntan out of the trip.  

As my title denotes, I've been having quite a rough time getting any triathlon training in, just too much going on in life.  We're getting ready to move out west which requires a lot of paperwork at a 60 hour work week and painting the house, prepping the house for staging on the market, etc.  So it's busy at our house! 

While I'm only registered for one triathlon so far (the Spudman in Burley, Idaho!) I recently perused more local events and hope to sign up for one, maybe two events that will be in June.  I'm looking at the General Smallwood Olympic Distance triathlon at General Smallwood State Park and the Rock Hall Triathlon.  I've done them both and like the Rock Hall the most.  It's closest, there's a great pizza for post-race munchies, and a scenic bike ride.  The run is a loop through an historic neighborhood and I like to think General Washington had stomped through some of those same neighborhoods back in the day. 

I do prefer the Smallwood swim over the Rock Hall swim, I think it's just one loop in a larger area while the Rock Hall swim is two loops.  I've only done the Smallwood tri once, and the time I did it was raining at the start.  I think I was colder out of the water and wasn't anticipating it being so warm but was delightfully surprised.  And yep, I was in a wetsuit, it was legal that day.  There was tons of rain on the ground.  Coming out of the swim the rain had relaxed but a handful of folks regrettably kept their wetsuits on during the bike.  Poor souls that didn't know any better.  They were seen later with the suits halfway off while riding their bikes.  Would have loved to hear their thoughts at that point in time.  

   

View of the Sisters at Snowbasin

Father and Son at the Lodge

I was grateful for the time I got to spend with my son out in
this beautiful area.  Snowbasin is a great resort and is owned
by the same folks that run Sun Valley, one of my favorite places to board when I was a kid.  I'll be back for sure and will be curious to see what it's like in the summer (they purpose mountain biking trails, we'll see).  If you haven't guessed it by now we'll be moving to the area this summer.  I can't express how excited I am to be in the area-I simply love the chances I'll have to get back into the outdoor lifestyle that I love so much. This was just one weekend I had to enjoy with my son but I hope to have a lot more with him and my other boys.  Hopefully, they'll come to enjoy the outdoors as much as I do. 

Snowday!

Work called it a snow day and it looked
completely dry until about 0900.

Suunto Ambit

Today was a great day off! I love it when it's easy to hit the gym in the morning for some tri training.  The plan was to get the workout in and then head to work even though we'd closed-the roads were dry, I wasn't keen on losing a day of work. When I came out of the gym though-I was pleased to see heavy snow rolling in.  Plenty of businesses were closed to include my Local Smoothie Shop (LSS).  My future home, however, got 8 inches of snow and didn't even have the standard two-hour delay we've become so accustomed to here in MD, I can't wait to get there and enjoy the snowboarding!! 

Enjoying the slopes in PA @7Springs

While it was good to get to the gym my workout sucked.  I did ~25 minutes of strength training on the weights-chest and tris, to include some pushups and sit-ups.  After that, I hit the treadmill for what was going to be a hard quarter mile interval workout but energy levels were lowly and I just overall felt lousy.  I bailed before I got too light headed.  Can't believe how crummy it is trying to get back in shape.  Last year I didn't do any triathlons and we're coming up to March already, I've got to get in shape now! 

Using Used Gear

Posting a picture of the little cubby hole I use for riding here inside my house. I love riding on the trainer when the weather outside isn't comfy for training. Don't get me wrong, I can be as robust as the next guy but let's face it, one needs some decent gear to survive a decent ride in the cold weather. The reality is that I've got to put my money in other places than against great riding gear right now. Sooo, I enjoy riding indoors for now. Luckily I've got some workouts saved from my Ironman training days and so I just rely on those to start getting myself in shape for the triathlon season. It's not a smart trainer, that's for sure, so I'm not able to use the great new apps like Zwift. Alas, all I have is my Suunto Ambit which is no longer in production! That may be but it still gives me my HR.

So that brings us to my conundrum-the band on my Ambit is tearing again. I've owned the watch for over 5 years and this is the second time that the band is tearing. I haven't looked but could probably find a replacement. The last time I did that it cost me $60, that will buy me almost two simple Timex Ironman watches (which also have a band issue...but I digress). So I started looking to used gear available because I'd love to upgrade vice buying a new set of bands.

Where does everyone else shop for lightly used triathlon, multi-sport, or outdoor gear? I've used Backcountry which isn't a site for used gear but they've got good gear for all things outdoors at decent prices. But I then went to Geartrade who had a Garmin Fenix 3 for $216. I thought that was a pretty good price. They also had a Suunto Spartan Ultra for $231. I then read DC Rainmaker's review and steered clear. At the end of the day, I really just want something that's going to do its job when I swim, bike, or run and I honestly can't handle a device just inexplicably not working. Call me a snob but when a device was built for a single purpose, like tracking workouts, I really just want it to do that. That may be a gross oversimplification, I understand there are many complexities that go into building these computer watches, but when I have one that's over 5 years old and does the job solidly, I think I can place my expectations for the same on current gear.

Triathlon can be an expensive sport when you're buying new gear. So I'd encourage all to look to buy used if possible. I bought my original Ambit used and it's been a solid performer all these years. Heaven knows all us triathletes love to see the data when we swim, bike, and run, so let me know which ones you like best and why and how you got a bargain price on it.

Cheers-

Snowboarding is Multisport

This last week I got to experience the best multisport activity there is-snowboarding. So it would have been better if I would have been able to hike more (like at Silverton, Colorado-some day I'll go). But hey, I'll take what I can get. I mapped a couple runs out on my Suunto Ambit, which I'm trying to add the snowboard sport but can't figure out how to synch it.

I spent a little over a day supervising a group of Boy Scouts and getting a few turns in between monitoring kids. Friday night was quite icy as they'd had 50 degree temperatures with rain during the week and then temperatures dropped on Friday. They groomed and blew snow all night so conditions on Saturday were much better. In the afternoon a friend and I found some great runs and had a blast.

Well it wasn't a triathlon but it was activity on the snow board, which is not the easiest to find out east. Check out my Suunto feed for some details on the runs. It was in hike mode so not ideal stats but the map is a little fun to look at.

Got a good cycling work out in this evening on the trainer, trying to keep the training sturdy so I can get somewhat prepped for the tri season, we'll see how it goes. Stay tuned.

Life Sport Balance

To carry out life as a triathlete you have to maintain balance. Triathlon is three sports in one-swim, bike, run. This is no surprise but life is the same way, and for a middle-aged man with kids and a wife at home balance is a must. And it's not easy. This week my life was not in balance.

Work and studies swallowed my life this week. Being up until 2 a.m. on two occasions resulted in a late wake up on Friday and a rush to get out the door to our camping weekend on Friday. That's where the snowball fight picture came from. I loved the time with my son this weekend but wish I wasn't so rushed and wished I could have planned better. Lack of that resulted in the degradation of my spirituality. Just how that happened is another discussion for another venue, but the point is-balance matters. Spend too much time in the pool when training for a triathlon and your bike time degrades resulting in a slower overall time in an Ironman. Spend too much time at work and your family, spirituality or physical health degrades and results in a weakened overall self. We should all try to avoid that.

Over time I've come to the realization that my best self REQUIRES physical exercise and movement. It's kept my self alive in austere environments and during extended periods of time away from my family. During hard times when life seemed so difficult and lacking in meaning, triathlon and physical exercises have made the most sense in my life. Conducting such activity allows me to clear my mind and make sense of the other things in life that are important but not the center of my normal best fitting self.

I was glad to conduct some exercise after getting back from the camping-it felt great and was mind clearing. I did about 40 minutes on the bike trainer and it felt great. Helps me get stoked for the coming triathlon season!

Hope ya'll are doing well and we'll see you out there.

Cheers-

Why I Run

Running is simple. All you need to run is your health, your legs, some shoes (debatable), and some gumption. It's waking up and getting moving. Today I ran intervals-talk about a progressive manifestation of gumption. I remember sitting on the bed after waking up pondering if getting older really does have an effect on the difficulty of getting moving in the morning. I knew today was an interval day and I was excited about it. I briefly considered doing the workout outside-checked the weather and decided that intervals in 21 degrees F wasn't my bag-off to the gym I went.

I like to ease into my interval workouts-safer for the muscles that way and it allows me to set up my music listening gear. I haven't upgraded to blue tooth headphones yet so I've got to plug in my headphones and select my audio. For intervals I usually choose something that gets an emotional response-today it was classic metal. Metallica is perfect for running intervals.

Running gives me a sense of accomplishment. I'm not the best at my job. I'm not the most effective, not the most efficient, and not the most knowledgeable. But I sure do care a lot, a try hard, and certainly put in more hours than my share (I'm salaried and don't do it for the cash). After hours or days at work feeling less than satisfied with the guy in the mirror it feels good to be able to do something right! I understand that running is simple to do right but I still feel a bit accomplished. Physical exercise does that for me. Yep, that's the endorphins that all the docs talk about I'm sure. Anyway, I'm thankful to have a healthy body that allows me to run five miles without much difficulty.

Running enables me to do other great sports and hobbies like snowboarding, triathlon, hiking with my kids and scouts, and scuba diving. I love doing all of those things and love going to triathlon races. I'm a lower middle of pack guy but love being out there with other like minded folks. I love going to running races also. I aspire to one day participate in European sky racing competitions-those look like soooo much fun! Being in amazing country and traversing by foot through it. One day I'll be able to go do that.

Anyone can run and the benefits are well researched and documented. So just go out there and do it. If you want to race and get competitive there are tons of resources out there for you. Start listening to podcast are connecting via social media. Anyone can do it anywhere, even in big cities, I've done that too. Take care ya'll and hope you keep getting faster and going further.

Multisport Product News-Running Shoes and Triathlon Watches

So they've put "guide rails" on the Brooks GTS 19. I've been wearing the Brooks GTS running shoe for about 13 years now I think and hope this isn't a big change. Every time I buy a new pair it feels like I'm coming home, I love buying new running shoes. But as I went to their site I was curious what these limited edition runners would be. I'm not impressed by the pictured design, it looks like a digital camouflage which I don't have the palette for. I'll likely buy another pair or two of the 18s and stick with those until a respectable new design comes out. But I may go try on a pair of these new 19s to see what's up w/ that guide rail. Gotta make sure my feet aren't going to get lost in there I guess.

Suunto is having a fairly hefty sale. I've never seen the scale to which they are discounting their products right now. I currently wear an original Suunto Ambit. I love it but I'm a pretty simple guy. The thing is over 6 years old and ran for 13 hours straight once during my Ironman distance race in 2014. It does all I need for triathlon-tracks swim distance, running and biking stats of course, and I synch it with a wire (old fashioned I know) to Suunto's online workout tracker-Movescount which feeds to my Map My Run account. I've often thought it will be nice to upgrade to blue tooth synching capability and with this big sale it may be the right time.

Suunto's website shows the Spartan Ultra at a 45% discount, $411.95 from $749! That being said the webpage as of right now also notes it is out of stock. The Spartan Sport model, however, appears to be in stock and priced at a 30% discount at $349.30 from $499. Their site touts a current sale from 20-70% off. I'm not a staunch Suunto page stalker but the discount seems large and makes me a bit suspicious I hate to say. Perhaps DC Rainmaker can shed some light on the situation and let us know whether or not Suunto is gearing up to release a whole new line. Regardless of my suspicions I've loved using my Ambit for triathlon, hiking, running, cycling, swimming, and just as an all-around tough watch that certainly takes all I can dish out. So I wouldn't mind upgrading to a new Suunto complete with a color touch screen, wrist heart rate monitor, and blue tooth synchronization capabilities.

Back in the Saddle

Alright, I've been out of the blogging business for a spell but I'm coming back on now. I'll try and follow in the footsteps of a great one and entertain my energies despite the less than perfect outcomes. She does the same and low and behold much of her efforts turn out pretty darn good. We'll call it practice in multiple fields.

No races are on my radar at this point in time but they will be coming. There's a relocation in my future that I'm particularly excited about and I believe there will be many available venues for me to choose from, one of which has been on the radar for years. I've got a triathlon in mind and probably at least one fall run that draws a pretty big crowd and sounds amazing. More to follow (MTF) on that.

I've also got a web tool in mind for future build out. Not necessarily a unique idea but a new way of doing things that will prove a useful tool to at least me and perhaps one or two other blokes nearby.

Here's a picture from Earligh Heights, they've got a bike stop pit stop which I think is great. I'm going to miss good ideas and public action results like that when we move. Cheers all-

Race Report

Today was a rough one at the Diamond in the Rough International Triathlon, but it was a blast and an absolute pleasure to complete. Overall Time: 3:02:49, one minute slower than the Rock Hall International in May. Swim Split:38:46 Bike Split: 1:33 Run Split: 44:45 Waking up late I rushed out of the house after quickly cooking up my steel cut oatmeal and throwing gear in the car as I checked it off my list. Should have added my nutrition to that list because once I started setting up in T1 I realized I had no nutrition at all-just two water bottles for the bike: one bottle of Gatorade and one bottle of water. I'm running late so brush it off and get set up-all ready for the swim now. The swim was a simple one lap one miler and sighting was easy with the large orange and yellow buoys. I'm a slow swimmer so intentionally placed myself towards the back of the pack to avoid getting run over. While Piranha Sports allows wet suits at all their races, the water was 77 F, too warm for my blood to wear a wet suit. Plenty of people did and probably had a bit of an advantage but I was out to have a good time, not vie for a podium slot.

Part of the reason I arrived sans comida is my previously designed plan to bring real & solid food as opposed to my long course gel nutrition. Well-I forgot to add all that to the list, so armed with my salt tabs, bottle of Gatorade, and bottle of water I'm off. It's a hilly course, nothing like Jeju and Korea in general but enough that people were talking about it at the finish. Views were good and there was an overall altitude gain of about 300 feet, mostly climbing the first half and coming down on the back side. The race crew did a great job of marking off street damage with orange paint and it helped a lot. I nearly hit 40 mph coming down the last hill and was hanging on for my life, super fun. I attribute my slower bike time here (17 minutes) to the hills and my lack of nutrition, but I was really hoping to not have stomach problems on the run. I stopped putting fluids in at about 30 minutes out but could tell I was dehydrated now, so I accepted the cold water from the aid station and cooled off a little bit. Turns out I had only two salt capsules on the bike but I used them both, I don't think I realized how warm it was until I started the run. I was dehydrated a little and I knew it before I got off the bike. I felt the cramps coming on at about mile .75. I'd taken another salt tab right when I got off the bike and I took another one when I felt the cramping start. At 1.75 miles I had to stop, sit down and stretch and eat two more salt tabs. No stomach problems though!! At around mile 2.2 the sodium seemed to be finding its way to my legs and cramping had subsided. Aid stations had both Gatorade and water and they were stationed about every mile. The route went right along the Susquehanna River in Perryville, MD and there was a large VA complex that we ran by. Seemed like an odd place for one but the water front was nice. Senior Citizens handled the manning of most of the aid stations and a local motorcycle club, perhaps comprised of vets, were manning the bike route warning of sharp corners and stopping traffic. They did a great job and I was compelled to thank them all. We all know these races don't happen without volunteers so my hats off to them. Just after mile 3 I had a resurgence of cramping in my quads but it never rose again enough to slow me down. I finished with some soreness but none the worse for wear. It felt great to finish and I'd definitely do another Piranha Sports Race.