Location: Charlotte, NC
Date: September 26, 2009
Placing: 1st 45-49 Age Group (Gold Medal)
Race Photos
Results: Click Here

Somehow, I made it. We each have our own little 'circle of life' and for nearly 30 years, a big part of my circle has has gone something like this: 1. Love the long bike rides wrapped in layers of clothing and group runs with friends. 2. I gotta race. 3. I need a BIG race. 4. Stoked to fill my race calendar. 5. I can go faster. 6. "I'm king of the world". 7. What? another tempo run? 8. Is it ever gonna get cooler? 9. Just a few weeks more. 10. C'mon, you can stay fit. 11. Amen. The last race is here. 12. Let's catch a flick - I don't have to workout today. 13. Love the long bike rides wrapped in layers of clothing and group runs with friends...last week, I reached step 12. Well, sort of.

Although I still have one more event on the calendar - the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October - my multisport season is over, and focusing on just one sport is kinda like realizing you only have to take one more class to graduate...and you really just need a 'C' in the class to qualify for Boston. Well, you get the idea (not that Boston is on next year's schedule - but just in case...)

So how did I finish off my multisport season? Glad you asked. I claimed the Gold Medal in the 45-49 age division at the Duathlon Short Course World Championships. With a title that long, it has to be important. To be honest, my performance was not quite up to par. As I pointed out in my cirle of life, I had been struggling a bit the last few weeks with motivation and was spending most of my training time running and hardly any time riding or lifting (two crucial components for an aging duathlete). Turns out, all I had to do was beat a bunch of really old guys to win the title ;-p

In essence, the race itself was like any other race but because the ITU (International Triathlon Union) is in charge, there were a lot of differences surrounding the race. For starters, all the athletes had to wear an outfit with their name across their chest and butt (thank God I have both a massive chest and butt, otherwise the people behind me would probably have thought my name was ORDANEL). When mine arrived in the mail, I learned that people in the US must be giants compared to the rest of the world because my 'mediums' would have been tight on a 10-year-old boy. They might as well have sent me finger paints to paint the outfit on (to the elation of everyone - they did not do this). These state-of-the-art outfits were designed to be ultra fast in the water. Oh wait. We don't swim in a duathlon. Hmmmm, could it be that duathletes are still the ugly stepchild of the multisport world? Sorry, cheap shot. Well, at $180 - not really a "cheap" shot...

When you have a long name, you'd better have a big butt. Wow - that's a quote I'd like to be famous for.

Well, as you can see, it's getting tougher and tougher for me to fight my 'bitter old man' tendencies; after all, it is a rite of passage - like wearing black socks with bermuda shorts, no shirt and sneakers (I can't wait to show up at a race this way). So I'll just throw this one last tidbit out. This event was just a couple of hours up the road for me and it cost me nearly a quarter of my entire race budget for the year. There. Now I feel better. On to the race...

We arrived in Concord, NC on a beautiful Friday afternoon through no small miracle. We followed the directions in the race manual to a tee...and ended up in someone's driveway on a tiny back road. We know we followed the directions correctly because the address was in fact the address in the manual. Unfortunately, it was NOT the address to the race hotel. Using our navigational skillz we successfully found the hotel and registering was relatively painless. Next, we headed over to Lowes Motor Speedway - a huge NASCAR venue, which was a really cool race site. We had to rack our bikes nearly 24 hours prior to our event and with the pending rain, I made sure to 'super lube' the chain. I also took a spin around the outside of the stadium to make sure the bike was ready.

I had so little expectations for my performance that I was really relaxed - even after seeing that both the run and bike course had just short of a billion twists and turns. I got lost just looking at the map. No worries. They'll either have the course marked well...or they won't. Besides, I imagined that I could just follow the trail of bodies from all the 'wipeouts' in the rain. If Christopher Columbus had used this map to find the New World, we'd all be living in Norway.

Oh - My - God. After 30 years of racing, someone finally figured out that a 2-hour race does not have to start at 3am. Years from now, when someone sees my Gold Medal in a hermetically sealed box in the middle of the living room and says "tell me about this race". I will smile wide and begin with..."I didn't have to set my alarm." to which, I imagine I will ge the rebuttal "Liar!". I swear it's true. I got to sleep until there was no more sleep in me. The "junior" racers raced in the morning hours and that's simply how things should be. I paid my dues - it's their turn. Plus it's harder for me to get out of bed, what with the arthritis and all. I had both breakfast and lunch at normal human hours. It felt so wierd. What wasn't wierd was the rain. A steady misting/sprinkling all day. I didn't care. Some of my best races have been in wet conditions; but I hated it for Janis. She never complains but for her, it has to be a pain in the ass.

Over 30 years, I've raced through a lot of different weather conditions. On these days, the most important thing is what you wear (or don't wear). If you dress correctly, you don't even notice the impact the weather is having on you. For instance, I know it rained all day at Ironman Wisconsin but I don't ever remember getting wet. If you dress poorly, you might not realize it until late in the game - like when it comes time to unbuckle your helmet and your hands are so frozen that you can't operate them (Powerman Alabama '07). There was little fear of getting too cold today, but with the weather, I went the extra mile to lube myself up with Body Glide and Vaseline. Water = blisters. I was so lubed up that if Janis had hugged me, I would have shot out of her arms like a wet bar of soap. It feels a little funny, but you get used to it

Any day is a beautiful day for a race...it's just that some are 'less beautiful' than others.

I was in the 4th of 5 waves and would be starting with all the men ages 35-49. The older men and all the women were starting ahead of us and the 'young' men were behind us. The rain continued as the athletes warmed up in the infield of the track and I jogged a bit with fellow G'Vegas resident Gail Kattouf. Gail is a phenomenal athlete and I anticipated that she would actually place in the top 5 overall (regardless of age group). We wished each other good luck and then lined up across the width of the track for the start. I watched Gail's group take off and 10 minutes later, it was my turn. I glanced around me to see and hear the athletes from so many different countries. I thought about how we are all really the same no matter where we're from. We race. That's what we do. The gun sounded and that's what we did.

Lead, follow or get out of the way.

Immediately, I found myself surrounded - and at the same time, falling behind. This was a far cry from Nationals where I was racing only with my age group and American athletes. I kept having to remind myself that many of the runners ahead of me would be 5 or 10 years younger. The first run was 2 laps of a 5k course. Lots of turns and plenty of hills. The first mile snaked all through the infield on what could be described as a 'go-cart' track. As ususal, I over extended myself simply because I thought that if a couple of dozen runners are ahead of me, I must be going slow. I realized how hard I had started when we dove down a bit into the tunnel that goes under the track and then had to climb up the tunnel to the outside world. The climb was so steep that a wheelchair athlete was turned backwards and inching their way up the incline. I was passed by several runners and struggled to get out of oxygen debt. I managed to finally gain composure as I re-entered the track near the end of the first lap.

On lap 2 of the run, I found myself felling stronger now that I had settled into a more even tempo and I passed a few runners back. At mile 4, we doubled back on ourselves and I could see 2 of the best US athletes over the age of 45 - John McGovern and Jeff Terry. It sure made it easy to identify people with their names on their uniforms. Both athletes were probably a minute ahead of me. I found myself running near another American named Riley and the two of us helped each other set a tempo for the last couple of miles. Running back through the tunnel was almost painful it was such a steep little descent; I thought for sure someone would trip and fall here. Riley and I entered transition together and exchanged a couple of quick words of encouragement. A quick glance at the watch revealed that I was not running slow at all - everyone else was freakin' flying! My 5:36 pace looked like I was a mall walker

Ahh, the bike. I had hardly been riding the last few weeks trying to get over the 'end of the season' motivational hump. But really, I've been riding for 30 years. I think riding a bike is more natural for me than walking. Riley and I darted out of transition together and we started by doing some short, quick turns in the infield. I felt like he was practically coming to a stop and as soon as I had room, I bolted around him. It was like a sudden rush coming back to me, my years of doing semi-pro bike racing in the rain. It was an absolute blast pushing the limits of my bike in every turn. I may not have been my fittest on the bike today, but I sure made up time using my "skillz". It may well have been the most fun I've had on my bike all year. YEE-HAAAAAA.

Knowing the limits of your machine is a huge plus on a day like today. My bike and I had a lot of fun out there.

I caught both Jeff Terry and John McGovern and felt great. I could tell I was missing some power but I was still moving well. With just a few miles to go, I was caught by 3 riders - the 2 eventually overall winners and Casey Williams - last year's Master Duathlete of the Year. I stayed relatively close as they pulled away ever so slightly. I had them all in sight as we entered the Speedway and took a lap of track. As I approached the turn into transition, I pulled both feet out of my shoes, and slammed the bike to a perfect stop. My first thought was "try to unbuckle your helmet to make sure your hands aren't too cold". They weren't...and I did.

Finishing the bike leg on Lowes Motor Speedway, I get ready to transition to the run

Just then a volunteer yelled at me "your shoe!". I assume he didn't realize that I had intentionally left my shoes on my bike but something made me look back. There was my shoe about 50 feet behind me lying on the road. I debated for an instant before I continued on my mission. It wasn't until about 5 minutes into my second run that I pondered the fact that leaving my shoe behind could be construed in the rules as 'abondoning equipment' even though the shoe was physically inside the transition area. But that was 5 mintues from now. Right now, I had something else on my mind as an official stepped towards me holding up a yellow card. I looked at him and said "What?".

He told me to stop immediately and buckle my helmet. I did as he said but not before muttering about not even being on the bike. It's a rule I was not aware of - although it is apparently a rule (helmet must be buckled until you rack your bike. Since it was a warning, there would be no penalty but this made me as mad as I have ever been. Why, you ask? Because Janis and I are huge proponents of wearing helmets and we get severely angered when we see people riding around before and after the race without wearing them...and THIS IS ALSO A RULE - but nobody has EVER been penalized for this. Amazing. I'm running into the transition area off of my bike and they think it's more important for me to have my helmet buckled NOW! And not as I ride into the transition area with 2, 10-pound bags of gear hanging all over me an hour before the race. Un-freakin-believable.

I wish I could say that I channeled my anger into a great second run but it wasn't so. I exited the transition area almost side-by-side with Casey. I felt quite sluggish and spent the entire 3.1 miles playing accordion with Casey. For nearly 20 minutes I could almost reach out and grab him - and yet I could never catch him. By the finish, he had gained only 8 seconds on me. Fortunately for me, Casey is in the 40-44 age group. Hmph...young pup. With so many people on the course - and having started with several age gorups together, it was nearly impossible to tell where I was at the finish in relation to my competition. Something told me I was 3rd...

I don't care what country you are from - or what language you speak. We all understand 'FINISH'.

It was only after standing around chatting with Gail, Casey and some of the other athletes that the realization set in that it was still raining...and my body temperature was dropping. By the time I grabbed the riding shoe I lost and my bike from transition, I was shaking and my lips were blue. I made Janis drive back to the hotel with the heat blasting. Unlike most of my races, my initial reactions today were less about my placing and more about how much fun I had on the bike course and reflecting on my up and down season as a whole.

I learned a few hours later that I was just hallucinating when I thought there were other 45+ athletes ahead of me...I had won the Gold for my age group. I was elated to see my multisport season end on a high note; it made me almost wish the season would keep going...almost.

Race Notes:
* After spending Friday night in a 'non-smoking' room at an off-brand hotel - where the overposering smell of air freshener was a poor attempt to cover up the the smell of smoke - Janis and I vowed that it's Holiday Inn or Marriott from now on (our 2 usual hotels).
* I had a bit of an 'incident' at the awards ceremony. Guests were not allowed in to see the ceremony unless they paid $35 to partake of the lunch buffet. That's extortion. Period. So I asked for my medal (as did another athlete who had 5 family members with him...that's $175 just for his family to see him win a medal). The two of us were leaving when Skip Gilbert (the President of the US Triathlon Assoc.) grabbed us and told us he would take of it for us. Janis and I had the money - that's not the point I told him. He told us that the UTI was in charge and it was their rule. This is the second time I've dealt with Skip Gilbert and I've got to say, he's truly a stand-up guy and I'm glad he's running this sport in the US.
* I had an awesome first run...and yet, even with all my time off the bike, my bike split (13th fastest overall) still outperformed my run splits.
* Rick Kattouf - the husband of Gail Kattouf, who is also from Greenville and took second overall amateur woman - was there to cheer his wife on. He cheered me on as well...from everywhere. Seriously. It was like something out of an eerie movie. He would be at the side of the road cheering and five minutes later, seemingly miles away, there he would be again. Thanks, Rick...but that was eerie.
* I was sad to see my neighbor, teammate and training partner Dan Moss having to skip this event due to injury. Dan had a good shot at placing highly overall.
* At the awards ceremony - when the Italians found out that both Gail and I were Italian heritage, it was like they had known us all their lives - we were like family. It made us proud - and certainly answered a lot of questions about where I get my outgoing, loud and carefree traits from.
* I don't care who you are - racing your bike around a huge NASCAR motor speedway is cool. Way cool.
* Next year is Janis' and my 10th anniversary over Labor Day weekend and we are looking to travel somewhere new and different. On a completely seperate note, next year's Duathlon World Chamionships will take place in Edinburgh, Scotland over Labor Day weekend. That's somewhere new and different. I'm just sayin'...

As always, a super-special thanks goes out to all my sponsors especially Go Tri Sports, Fleet Feet, Rudy Project, NutraFit

This ends my multisport season but I have one big event left - the Marine Corps Marathon on October 25th. I'll be trying a little experiment at this marathon so stayed tuned