Corporate Challenge 2014 - Bike & Run Race Report

The Indiana Sports Corporation organizes a Corporate Challenge each year where companies compete in a wide variety of events ranging from traditional sporting challenges through "school sports day" type events (tug of war etc) to traditional Indiana past times (corn hole etc).  Each event is a team effort being scored in a similar way to Cross Country racing based on individual finishing ranks.  I haven't been able to participate in previous years due to other racing commitments including the Mill Race Marathon last year.  2014 was different, and I was asked to represent Cummins in both the cycling (time trial) and running (10k).

Bike - Time Trial - P2 overall - 13:46 - Strava Data Link via Gamin FR910XT

The cycling event was hosted at the Major Taylor Velodrome in Indianapolis on Saturday 20 October 2014.  It was a 6.2 mile time trial with many of the roads being familiar from the Tri-Indy course.  For the team scoring, the best 5 times including one female athlete counted and we had exactly that, 4 men (Glen Alden, Spencer Dell, Josh Knight, Tim Proctor) and 1 woman (Melissa Morelli).  

Glen Alden; Melissa Morelli; Josh Knight; Spencer Dell; Tim Proctor

The team had been selected by captain, Andy Messer who wasn't able to compete this year, based on a qualification event in Columbus a few weeks prior.  The Cummins team has won the Time Trial event in numerous  years passed, so the pressure was on but we were confident of having some of the fastest riders in the field.

Given such a short distance, it's actually hard to judge the effort required - quite a lot more than "threshold" but too much and it's easy to blow-up before the finish.  Warming up thoroughly and effectively would also be key to come out of the start able to push hard immediately.  Glen and I rode a few laps of the Marion College Cyclocross course which is a permanent feature in the grounds of the velodrome at this time of year, it was good to ride instead of just sitting on a trainer, but the course demanded a lot of short sharp bursts which aren't what's needed on a time trial effort - so after getting the blood flowing, it was back to the pop-up and on the trainer for a methodical warm up.

Warming up? More info...

Warming up before the race

My problem for this race was knowing what the target race effort ought to be - 10 miles is about the shortest race I've ever competed in regularly and clearly I would need to be going harder than that with an expected time of under 14 mins.  I think I went a bit too hard on the trainer and didn't allow enough time between finishing my warm up and going to the start because as soon as I set off I could feel the fatigue in my legs - it was going to be a long & painful 14 minutes of racing!

Every time I felt myself settling into a rhythm, I stood up & sprinted for a short burst to up the speed and effort.  I stood up & sprinted out of each corner, I tried to stay one gear higher than I felt comfortable, forcing the cadence to keep the speed high.  I passed the 1 mile to go sign and my vision was slightly blurred, always a sign that things are on the edge, the thought of one more mile was a bit of a blow psychologically, but I knew there was a downhill run in to the finish, I found some additional effort to find the velodrome in sight below me.  I managed a small bit of recovery on the hill and then was able to sprint after the turn into the parking lot for the finish line.

Spencer rolled in just a few seconds after me with Glen close behind.  Josh and Melissa had opted for earlier start times so we didn't know how any of us had done until we regrouped back at the pop-up.  Personal timing only told us it was really close between Spencer, Josh and me so after getting changed, we headed over to the official timing stand for the results.

The team had a great result - we took 2nd, 3rd and 4th overall (Tim, Josh (by only 0.2 secs), Spencer); Glen got 12th overall and Melissa was 9th placed woman.  Despite not getting the overall victory, the points we secured gave Cummins a comfortable win in the Time Trial and the overall lead in the Championship going into the running & other events the next weekend...

Official results for the bike

Run - 10k - P4 overall - 34:54 (PR) - Strava Data via Garmin FR910XT

One week after the bike events, the Corporate Challenge moved to the iconic setting of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 10k and 5k run, 5k walk and other events such as tug of war, basketball shoot out etc.

I was running in the first event, the 10k race, which started at 8am.  This meant an early start from Columbus to get there in time for a warm up run, collect my shirt and bib and be ready for the start - however, the organizers had underestimated the number of participants, or perhaps their enthusiasm to arrive early, so as I turned onto Georgetown a couple of miles from the designated parking lot, I hit a traffic line that was nearly stationary and panic started to mount!

I changed into my new racing flats whilst sitting in the traffic and resolved that my warm up would be the run from the car to the Cummins tent to pick up my shirt & bib number!  So much for the calculated & methodical warm up routine, sometimes you just have to go with what you've got!

Having looked at the results from last years event, I knew it was a fast field at the front, and I felt a bit self conscious lining up on the front row alongside some obviously serious runners - so it was a surprise to find myself in a completely uncontested 3rd place as the race got underway.  The two leaders went through the first mile in close to 5 mins dead, my first mile was 5:26 which I knew was too hot to sustain for the full duration of the race.  I was convinced there were other people who should be running similar times to me so I resolved to slow down a bit, catch my breath and then use the motivation of running with others to force the pace in the later stages of the race.  This seemed to work pretty well.  Just as we came to mile 2 (5:46), I was caught - I thought there would be a bunch but it turned out to be just 2 other competitors so I latched on to them at what felt like a manageable pace with plenty of space between us back to 6th place it seemed that this was the race for 3rd, 4th and 5th.

From mile 2 to mile 4 we were running on the main speedway track - it's a huge and imposing venue that seems to take forever to run around!  During the drag along the back straightaway, our group of 3 was reduced to 2.  I started to worry about holding on to the 3rd place battle but as we turned off the main race track to the infield course I was able to find a bit more drive out of each of the corners and close up the gap, eventually taking 3rd place just before the 5 mile mark.  The final mile was a miserable winding labyrinth through the garage complex before we emerged at the 6 mile marker with only one turn remaining to the finish.  After pushing hard in the 5th mile and maintaining a surge after each of the many, many corners, I just didn't have a sprint left for the line so my partner for most of the race was able to ease away from me in the final minute and cross the line 4 secs ahead of me.

My time of 34:54 was about 30 secs faster than I had hoped for and given the winding, technical course, I was really pleased to set a new PR.

Everyone in the Cummins team (5 places scored including at least 1 female) improved their times from last year and we were able to contribute to yet another overall Cummins victory in the Corporate Challenge.

My race splits worked out like this:

Mile 1 - 5:26 (too fast!)

Mile 2 - 5:46 (waiting for someone to catch me)

Mile 3 - 5:41 (running as 3rd, 4th, 5th)

Mile 4 - 5:34 (stretching it out, dropping 5th place)

Mile 5 - 5:35

Mile 6 - 5:35 (the twisty nature means the time doesn't do justice to the effort involved!)

0.2 Mile - 5:26 (push for the finish line!)

Overall - 5:37/mile

Official results for the run

Cross is here - OVCX Race 1 - Brookside - 14 Sept 2014 - Race Report

Elite Men - 11th place overall; 4th place Masters 35+ - Strava Data via Garmin Edge

In the Pain Cave... Photo Credit - Kent Baumgardt

The first race of the OVCX championship is always a big event, there were over 500 people racing bikes in one or more categories throughout the day.  The first race location rotates between the regular venues and this year, Brookside hosted the start of the season.  The warm weather and sunshine was a strange experience as traditionally this event has been towards the end of the season and last year fell in mid-December as the finale.  Gone were the snow and icy mud, multiple layers, embrocation cream and danger of frost bite, exchanged for a dusty dry course and the need for sun screen!  The Brookside steps, a broken, uneven climb remained as the one constant, menacing reminder of past encounters.

The Brookside Steps - Photo Credit - Kent Baungardt

There was a good representation from the Bicycle Station team and as I arrived, with Jake and Amanda Virostko, team mates Jeff Fetterer and Dylan Wick were already on the course in the Cat 3 race.  I was able to pre-ride a lap with Jake between races and then watch the 50+ and Elite Junior field, had another ride around the course before warming up properly on the trainer whilst the Women's 1/2/3 race took place.

Calm Before the Storm - Photo Credit - Kent Baungardt

The Elite Men's race had a strong field and as I lined up on the 2nd row of the grid behind Spencer Petrov, I knew that it would be a good day if I broke into the top 10 after 60 minutes of racing.

The start was a brutally long pavement sprint up an increasing gradient and as usual it was explosive right from the whistle.  My improved starting for this year definitely helped, but I still found myself being swamped as the field galloped away from the start.  With the long grade taxing everyones legs I managed to regain quite a few places before we jumped onto the grass and headed to the first off camber right hand bend.  About a third of the way into the first lap, a spectator yelled out that the group I was with was "top 15".  It was a relief to know I wasn't further down the field and I could still see most of the lead group as we completed the first lap and in particular a group of 4 riders about 10 secs ahead of me included Eric Anderson, Rob Kendall and Freddy Rose - all racers that normally beat me so I knew if I could stay in sight of them I would be at least be pleased with my performance.

At 60 minutes, the race has the chance to develop some real phases of action, as opposed to being just a mad dash.  For me this race was in 3 parts, at first, I was shocked at the pace, and effort required to stay with the people around me.  This lasted about 3 of the 10 laps making me wonder how I was ever going to last the rest of the time.

Phase 1 - Wondering how I'm going to hold on for 60 mins - Photo Credit - Kent Baungardt

The second phase was marked by people around me and ahead of me who had gone out too hard starting to fade and drop back, my pace didn't change much but I started to feel more in control of things and started to believe I could hold the effort through the end of the race.  It's around this time that they start counting down laps - whilst cyclocross is a time limit race, after the first laps are complete, the officials assess the pace of the leader & determine the number of laps to complete the race at or around the target duration.  When you're already feeling exhausted, it's psychologically tough to see "5 to go" and this is definitely a factor in people starting to crash.  Rob Kendal had a really bad lap (with "5 to go") and he dropped off the Anderson / Rose group, I caught & passed him.  Normally in a race like this, that's it - you fade and there's no coming back so I was pretty amazed to find Rob coming back by me a lap later and then start to ride back up to the group ahead.

This marked the start of the 3rd & final phase of the race for me - I tried as hard as I could to go with Rob and whilst I didn't "stick on his wheel" he did help me pull up to the group of Rose, Anderson and Kendall.  This final part was really about believing I could chase and race with this group of riders that I've previously considered "untouchables" - out of my league.  It became clear that Eric Anderson was fading as Freddy and Rob kept the pressure on with 2 to go.  I was riding on my own but catching up, the frequent switchbacks providing excellent visual cues to judge the time gap.

With 1 to go, it's all or nothing, time to ramp up the effort for the final lap.  I caught & passed Eric Anderson (first time ever in a cross race) about a third of the way into the final lap and had my eyes on Freddy Rose, continuing to close the gap.  Through a slow technical section before the high speed finish to the lap I got off line lapping a slower rider and that opened up the gap too much, Freddy made a very clean and fast run through the barriers for the final time and whilst I made a ceremonial sprint on the pavement section, he was too far ahead to think about catching before the line.

I wound up 11th overall (just as I thought, tough to break into the top 10) but with some encouraging signs from my performance. It was also great to get the first race over - I know that my preparation hadn't been ideal and the fact had been weighing on my mind.  Racing for 60 minutes with some of the best riders in the mid West is a pretty daunting proposition but with the race done, it's somewhat off the pedestal I had built for it - sure it's hard, but I can do it and be happy with the results.  This is the start of "racing to get stronger" for me, I need to build up the volume and intensity of my training during the week and make a conscious plan for some peak in performance vs just training through the whole season.

Here are my race diary notes:

OVCX#1 - Brookside - 14-Sept-2014 dry, rain on Thursday - muddy in a couple of places - tacky, not slippy

A bike - Boone

Tufo Flexus Primus 30psi F&R - glued 12-Sept 2014 (new glue after Lionheart CX)
Last years wheels
PDM-540 pedals worked well
Really powerful brakes - some pulsing from glue on the rim?
Di2 worked well

Saddle is a bit bent after crash at Lionheart CX

 

B bike - Crockett
Tufo dry plus 30psi F&R - glued 06-Sept-2014
New China wheels
Left pedal better - cleaned & lubed since last race
Brakes not great - didn't ride, can't comment if there is any improvement but no changes made since last week

Pre-ride - rode 1 lap at 12:45; rode 2 laps at 1:45; half a lap at 2:45; Race start 3:00pm

Race - grid 13th - middle of 2nd row - behind Dillman (I think) - 60 min race

Start - quite good - but still felt like I got swamped in the initial dash from the line.  Managed to pass significant people on the way up the paved hill (long, long drag to the grass).

First couple of laps two people came past me, could still see the Knapp group ahead and Kendall / Rose / Anderson stayed within sight (10-15 secs ahead)

Middle of the race, felt OK - people started coming back to me - the Kendall / Rose / Anderson group stayed in sight - race data showed I was matching them lap for lap.

Kendall had a bad lap & I passed him, but he recovered & bridged back up to Rose / Anderson

Anderson started to fade & dropped off the group, I took time on him with 1 to go & passed on the final lap

Psychological barrier of racing with & passing Anderson, like Messer last year.

Felt good, final lap was faster than average lap time.

Got baulked by Cat 3 lapped rider on the last turn before the fast run to the barriers.  May have been able to catch Freddy Rose if that hadn't happened.

Cross is Coming... Lionheart CX Race Report

It's the night before the first Cross race in the OVCX championship and I know I've not prepared the way I had planned.  A sinus infection, antibiotics and a hectic work & social schedule combined to limit the time I have spent on the bike ahead of the first race.

However, not deterred by this and in a vain attempt to over compensate, I had a two race Sunday last weekend.  In the morning, I joined Quaff ON! team mates Jane Moisica and Danny Fisher at Tri32 Indy, an Olympic distance triathlon, where we had been challenged by two teams representing Tatum's Bags of Fun.  In the afternoon I took part in Lionheart CX, a non-OVCX cross race organized as a fundraiser for the Lionheart youth development program in Cincinnati.

Lionheart CX - Men's cat 1/2/3 Race - p20 overall; p9 35+ masters - Strava Data (partial)

This was a pre-season Cyclocross race and a great chance to refresh in my mind everything about racing and to check out my new Trek Boone cross bike in a real race ahead of the OVCX championship.

We drove to Cincinnati as a family and I was dropped off at the race venue, Kings CX, with my two bikes and race kit whilst they all went to Ikea - on the drive over, I realized I hadn't picked up my helmet so the first job after registration was to find someone that could lend me one for my race... not an auspicious start.  Fortunately, the friendly faces of Ty and Lilly Peck were there and Lilly loaned me her helmet so I was good to race!

Last season a consistent weakness was my starts and I'd been practicing them at home - I checked out the start and found a similar stretch of grass and made a couple of practice runs, after the Time Trial in the morning, my legs definitely felt heavy but I was pleased that I still felt pretty strong.

I was staged 7th on the front row of 9 racers with a total field of about 40, at the whistle I buried it with my head down and was surprised to see only one person ahead of me, Spencer Petrov who is really in a class of his own.  This was shortly followed by arriving at the first corner a lot faster than any of my practice laps, my bike handling skills got an abrupt wake up as Spencer proceeded to ride away from the rest of us.

Over the first lap, 2 or 3 people came past me including John Gatch who had only just finished racing the Masters race - this was a bit of a relief as I could follow some lines from more experienced racers.  I settled into about 5th place feeling pretty comfortable with the effort to hold this position, but as we entered a right hand bend on the 3rd lap I found myself suddenly on the floor rolling with my bike bouncing beside me, I had no idea what had happened.  When I got back to my feet, the wheels on my bike wouldn't rotate and I realized that both front and rear tires had rolled off the rim, since it wouldn't roll I had to shoulder it for the long run to the pits for my spare bike.  We hadn't long passed the pits so I had just about a half a lap, 0.7 miles, to run with my bike, people continually passing me - most offered some encouragement for my predicament.  When I reached the pit, Ty Peck already had my spare bike (Trek Crocket)  ready for a fast hand over and I was able to quickly jump on and start chasing back into the race.  There was no way I was going to make it to the front again, so this was now a hard training effort - I rode the sand pit every lap although it was faster to run it.  As a new rider became visible ahead of me, I focused on chasing them down & passing as quickly as I could.

In the end I finished 20th overall and 9th in the 40+ Masters category which was still satisfying since I'd been almost dead last after the tires came off.

After the race I was grateful for the advice of John Gatch, long time cyclocrosser who recommends re-gluing tires each season - the tires that failed were glued last year and when I looked at the rims it was clear that a season of cross with repeated cleaning & cold weather had made the glue brittle where it failed.

It was good to have tested everything about racing cross before the championship races started I'd learned the following:

• Remember your helmet!
• Check out the first corners at full-on race speed
• Re-glue tires before the season starts

Here's my race diary notes from the event:

Lionheart CX - Sun 07-Sept-2014 - dry hard pack, dusty, some wind

A bike - Boone
Tufo Flexus Primus 25psi F&R - glued Sept 2013
Last years wheels
PDM-540 pedals worked well
Really powerful brakes
Di2 worked well

B bike - Crockett
Tufo dry plus 30psi F&R - glued 06-Sept-2014
New China wheels
Left pedal hard to enter
Brakes not great

Race - Call up #7 - front row (grid x 9)

Forgot helmet, Lilly loaned me gets. Ty Peck, Lilly and her mum helped me out with somewhere to hang out whilst Clare went to Ikea.
Great start 2nd behind Spencer Petrov
Dropped to 5th by time I wrecked - Petrov - ?? - Freddie Rose - John Gatch
Wind picked up from the camels towards the club house
Wrecked 2.5 laps
Rode 4 laps on B bike
Garmin didn't work all the time
LH pedal on B bike needs to be loser

Cross is Coming.... Tri 32 Indy Race Report

It's the night before the first Cross race in the OVCX championship and I know I've not prepared the way I had planned.  A sinus infection, antibiotics and a hectic work & social schedule combined to limit the time I have spent on the bike ahead of the first race.

However, not deterred by this and in a vain attempt to over compensate, I had a two race Sunday last weekend.  In the morning, I joined Quaff ON! team mates Jane Moisica and Danny Fisher at Tri32 Indy, an Olympic distance triathlon, where we had been challenged by two teams representing Tatum's Bags of Fun.  In the afternoon I took part in Lionheart CX, a non-OVCX cross race organized as a fundraiser for the Lionheart youth development program in Cincinnati.

Tri32 Indy - Bike section 40km 1:03:33 (2nd fastest time) - Strava Data

It was a perfect morning for racing, after a hot week the forecast was for highs in the mid 70's and as Danny and I arrived at Eagle Creek Reservoir it was a cool 52.  Team Triathlons are, strangely, lonely affairs, after we checked-in, Jane got ready for her swim, Danny went on a warm up run and I set up my bike trainer to warm up each of us doing our own thing in preparation for our part in the race.

My race started when Jane ran up the hill from the lake - she'd done a great job setting 9th fastest time overall for the swim, 3rd of the relay teams to hand over. The bike course looked quite complicated on the maps with two pivot points and lots of turns, however, because the relay team start had been staggered by 3 mins, there were other bikes out ahead of me which I could follow - this was especially useful as the course marking wasn't great in places and we were racing into a rising sun at times making visibility a challenge.  After a drop down to the Eagle Creek Reservoir dam and a climb back up the other side, the course was very flat and fast.  I quickly settled into my rhythm and started passing people, chasing down the first of the two team competitors within the first 5 miles.  I caught the remaining team just before the first pivot at 11 miles into the 25 mile course - so now we were in the lead.  With Danny's running yet to come I knew there was no need to build a huge buffer, but racing is racing and so far it was feeling good!  I do enjoy courses with turn around points because you can see exactly where you are relative to the leaders - I was 5th bike at this point and everyone ahead of me had started the race 3 minutes before Jane's swim.

By the time we reached the 2nd pivot, I was 4th and close to the 3rd placed rider.  With a small increase in effort I passed him then settled back down to my pace - after a couple of miles he passed me back.  It was clear we were evenly matched and in a non drafting race, it's really hard to ride so close to another competitor.  I was also aware that we had a big lead in the team race and racing with other people in the solo event was going to impact the results - a bit of drafting and a rabbit to chase makes a huge difference.  Since I had another race in the afternoon, this seemed like a good time to back off & consolidate the team lead instead of racing hard and interfering with the solo race - it's clear from the Strava data at about 18 miles I dropped the effort level with a corresponding drop in heart rate.

I rolled into transition 4th on the road and handed over to Danny - the overall leader in the solo race was several minutes ahead of us and I wondered if Danny would catch him in the 10km run.  In the end the gap was just too big, Danny ran a superb 31:49 and we finished 2nd overall despite the 3 minute offset at the start - our overall time of 2:01:23 was the fastest race time of the day.

After a short cool down jog with Danny, we had to pack up and head back to Columbus so that I could gather my Cyclocross gear, and my family, for the trip to Cincinatti and race number 2 for the day.  This meant we couldn't stick around for the results and awards, but Jane was there to pick up the hardware!

This was a fun event - doing only 1 leg of a triathlon always makes me feel a but inadequate when others are doing the whole thing, but we played to our strengths as Team Quaff ON! and the friendly rivalry with the Tatum's Bags of Fun teams made the event even more fun.  Hopefully we can grow the number of teams for next year....