Cassadagaman: The Final Countdown

 Did you think I forgot this little gem?  No way!  For posterity's sake, this race report is way out of order, but I'm saving it to align with the race because - well, its my blog  - and the story is best told in some sort of order, as Cassadaga was intended as World's prep.  We already know how that story shook out (next time I should just insert myself in the middle of a tropical storm and call it a day, right?) but hey, this is a fun story to tell, so grab yourself some coffee and lets rock!

Backing up to five weeks ago....

Last year, in the year of no races, I did Cassadagaman as a "what the hell" race.  I signed up 5 days before, had done one long ride, no expectations, and in the midst of trying to out-bad decision one another, the Outlaw and I did the race "for fun".  Cause who doesn't like Placid like elevation gain for the sheer heck of a training day?  Sign me up!  The race was awesome - I certainly didn't have the fitness to race it, but I finished respectably and had a great time.

Fast forward to this year - the year for Ironman Mont Tremblant and Barrelman!  Oh wait- nope- that didn't happen.  With Canada still inaccessible, I signed up for C man again because I wanted to race, dammit.  Then, in June, by the force of who knows the hell what (lower standards, shhh) Ironman decided I was quick enough to represent at World's 70.3, which just happened to be a mere 13 days after the hilly ass half Ironman I had just signed up for. I debated not doing Worlds but as my super intelligent and awesome husband put it "You don't just turn down a World's slot.  You're going". (Damn I knew I married that guy for a reason). 

Smart decisions for Cassadagaman included:  deferral to 2022 (yep, this was totally an option) or Aquabike (again, a totally on the table option).

Since when am I smart?  Not only did I stay registered, I also decided to race a formula 1 du and an Olympic triathlon two weeks beforehand, so Cassadagaman would be the third race in so many weeks with a World 70.3 race less than two weeks later.  Perfect.

Um, so with that in mind (no, my coach wasn't a fan, in case you're still debating his wisdom - keep in mind, he's much smarter than me) I promised to just train the day and NOT race it (unless, of course, I was in a position to podium.  Which, since there was a podium, I was rightfully dubious of).  The day before the race, I headed down to Cassadaga to pick up my packet, drive the bike course (I was a little fuzzy about the hills and looking for some World's assurance, as the Cassadaga bike course was 3700 ft and Worlds was rumored to be 3900 (foreshadow - it was)).  The hills didn't look horrible, but as always, they look much more doable from a car!  Post packet pick up, I headed down to PA, where the Outlaw lives, for a little hang out time - since I barely get to see him, it was a double win to be able to hang out pre race (of course he was racing, too!) and also have lodging closer so I didn't have to get up and drive 2.5 hours in the am!

We played around at open water swim (I got some super, um, helpful tips at getting faster, which is always helpful the day before a race), did a little race stalking, carbed our faces off, and in general, had a great time catching up.  I'd love to say we crashed early, but in a fit of nerves, I think we were still awake at midnight chatting about the race (he had designs to do well - like - really well - whereas I just wanted to finish under 6 hours and possibly beat my old time of 5:55). 

Either way, race morning dawned at o dark thirty, and we were off!  It was actually COLD out, and I was legit worried about the beginning of the bike - with temps in the low fifties, it was ideal running weather but the first ten miles of the bike would be iffy, especially with my sleeveless tri kit.  Welp, I suppose...roll with it!  We got to the race, took care of transition-y stuff, and I got to catch up with some of my local C man faves - Chris, Mindy, Blair, and of course, the whole Ohio tri team!  I was definitely pre race nervous, but my plan was pretty simple - swim easy, bike easy, and run/walk the run - running the flats and walking the hills.  My soft goal was a 5:45 - 37 minute swim, 3:10 bike, and 1:55 run - which would give me a pretty good idea as to what to expect for worlds (spoiler alert - no it wouldn't).

Swim - 35:02/1:50/100yd

Pre swim, I got in the briefest of warm ups then climbed ashore to hang with Joe, a new tri buddy I met at the ROC tri.  I was a frozen mess and despite my best efforts (I really didn't make any) he didn't share his coffee or hoodie with me, so I despondently headed back in the water a few minutes prior to my wave send off.  I was in the water with about 60 other women, mugging for the drone the RD sent off, when the gun sounded - well, lets race!  The swim for this race is held in a wonderful little lake with almost no chop, the only drawback was the last 700yds were in direct sunlight.  I kept the swim super smooth and easy and debated lots of little life topics while enjoying myself immensely.  I made contact a few times but found no feet to draft off, though one gentleman tried to take me down a few times, I'm not easily flappable in the water and swam wide to get around him.  After what seemed like no time at all, I saw the shore and exited the swim in just over 35 minutes, which was not too darn bad for me!

Bike: 3:10/17.5 mph

As I exited T1, I somehow got caught in a little group at the bike mount - I moved over to the side and coolly mounted my bike with the skill set of a highly advanced triathlete got my wet tri shorts caught in the seat of my bike and almost fell over.  Oh WTF.  I unclipped, hiked up my shorts, and was off. The course is a two looper, so I wanted to put out an even effort, and was aiming for 1:35 per loop.  The first five miles of the course were  rollers, then a decent climb, screaming descent, and nice fast riding until mile 10.  I managed part one rather well - oh, it was so nice spinning in aero - and flipped it into the small ring early for the first climb.  I was only paying attention to effort, and the first hill was smooth and manageable.  I again forgot the importance of the descent, but managed it decently, with minimal brake feathering (yep, this is on the list of things to work on for 2022!) and really enjoyed the next 8 miles of flat and downhill, until the next ascent smacked me in the face.  OMG.  I think the combo of the steep climb and the lack of using my legs really was a double whammy and I started to doubt my ability a little bit here - I was in my granny gear and wanted an even easier gear, which I searched for in vain....no dice.  Thankfully, I'm stubborn as hell, so we settled for going about 10 until I crested the hill and resumed actually going somewhere.  This continued basically for the next 7-8 miles, and as I hit the last major hill, I saw some girl bite it on a ridiculously steep section.  

Oh hell.  About a half a mile up, two guys were cheering everyone on and I yelled out (gasping, going 5mph in my granny gear) that there was someone that need help.  They laughed at me and I yelled louder "I'M NOT KIDDING" - they probably thought I was psycho- hope she was ok.  After all that drama, I also finally hit sweet, sweet downhill, and took full advantage.  About mile 20 I saw an Ide jersey zoom by me and yelled out "Go Jeff!" (note - Jeff is my buddy Joe's friend, and has absolutely no idea who I am.  This would change over the next few hours, as it usually does during a race).  I enjoyed the hell out of the next few zoomy miles, with the caveat of one intersection that was actually busy as hell where we had to cross that was unmanned, and I had to stop for (note, this was not normal and post race I cleared it up with the RD, it was a miscommunication, which can happen).  With that bit of fun over, we swung out to the main road where the last 5 miles of the loop were uphill (of course).  At this point, I passed Jeff and yelled out something resembling encouragement, and then we leap frogged for a bit.  I found out this was his first ever tri (he's a badass) and relayed that if he beat me, I would never hear the end of it.  Apparently he was having some equipment issues with his bike, and ended up having to spend some time at special needs to fix it (bummer).  With that little bit of banter done, I finished up loop one in 1:34, right on schedule.  

Loop two was pretty uneventful - same lather, rinse, repeat of loop one, though I swear the hills were bigger (I don't know how the RD does it, but he does!).  At mile 40, I went to power into my big ring and somehow cross chained like a dumbass and locked my chain up.  Spent a few minutes fixing it and cursing, and of course, this was when Jeff zoomed by me again (mission- catch this random person I literally just met an hour ago - and I did on the last uphill, lol).  With that in mind, I hopped back on my bike, hit the gas, and was off! I wrapped up the ride in 3:10, for a pretty perfect even split if you count the time I spent on the side of the road.  Sweet.  While this broke no speed records, I was perfectly happy with it - my average power was 130 watts, which is an easy spin for me, and with 3700 feet elevation gain, this was a total win.

Run: 1:54 (8:40/mile)

Here was the deal with the run.  I promised on everything sacred to me that I WOULD NOT race the run unless I was in a place to podium.  Which, of course, I had no idea if I was or not - I passed a few women on the bike but mostly rode with men (typical).  Either way, my goal was to run comfortably, not race, and walk all the hills.  The first four miles of the course are pretty fast, and I was averaging about an 8:00-8:15 mile.  At the first aid station I was asked if I was a relay, which I found odd, and I replied I was doing the whole thing.  About mile 2, I connected with a dude named Mike, who I ran the next 3 miles with.  I saw my friend Blair, who was in the lead at that point (and like, 4 miles ahead of me) and cheered her on.  At the first turnaround, I lost Mike, who was a bit fast for me, and had counted the women ahead of me - there were 4.  Oh cool!

I thought one of them might be catchable, but I was in a good spot, and had no designs to race for fourth.  I kept up my run/walk for the first major uphill, and joked with every person I possibly could (yes, we all know I throw a party on the course.  No, I'm not changing) The course was super chat friendly, with three out and backs, perfect for me!  At mile 6, a woman flew by me, going super fast uphill, and biffed her water hand off, snapping at the volunteer.  Woah, what the hell.  Bless the volunteer, who chased after her to give her water.  I contemplated trying to catch her for a minute, but hell, no thank you.  I resumed my happy race, seeing both Mike and Jeff at all the turnarounds and cheering them on, yelling (what tired me perceived to be encouragement, anyways) throwing witty remarks out.  Halfway through, I was averaging 8:40s, right on my time goal for 5:45.  I took in nutrition at miles 5 and 10 and with 5k to go, I passed one woman, back in 5th place.  Mile 10 was the last big uphill and I saw another guy and woman killing themselves to get up it.  I implemented my run/walk, and as I crested the hill, I passed the dude, and on the other side, the woman.  

I yelled out encouragement and she yelled back "I'm dying, you look great!".  So...4th place?  Well now.  That's pretty cool.  At this point I knew the first two women were way ahead of me, and I had no idea where the grumpy woman from mile 6 was, but hey, with less than 2 miles to go, I would be darned if the woman I just passed was gonna catch me.  

I passed mile 11 in 1:38, and picked it up for the next mile to hit an 8:00 pace for the mile.  The same volunteer that saw me on the way out yelled out "You go girl, you look better at mile 12 than 1!" and I grinned and tossed back a joke.  I felt amazing.  I kept it up, and about mile 12.5 I saw the same dude I had been running with, Mike, and passed him easily, yelling out encouragement, and he laughed and replied something about wisely saving my energy, as I grinned and pushed the pace down to 7:30s.  And OMG, I saw her.  Mile 6 lady.  Could I?  I stepped up the gas a bit more and with a quarter mile to go, zoomed past her as she yelled out "Oh FUCK!" (I kept my game face on, guys, but I probably smiled a little bit).  With that done, I zoomed into the finishers chute for a time of 5:44, a sub 7:00 final .2 mile segment, and a grin all over my face.

Post Race

So - I *thought* I came in 3rd female, which blew my little mind, with the concept of the podium AND awards ceremony.  I was wrong.  I came in SECOND WOMAN!  The other woman I saw was part of a relay, and the only female that beat me was Blair, by 28 minutes, and lets be real, she's practically a pro, so I was pretty tickled pink.  Post race I hung out with Joe, who put up with my smelly butt and made decent amounts of fun at me (he fits right in) and we waited for Jeff to finish, which he did in stellar fashion!  We then connected with the Outlaw, WHO WON THE RACE (go Ryan!) and got food and....well...ya know.

We did the thing.

                             Check out that gorgeous podium, folks.  Holy cats. It freaking happened.

What a race.  As always, it brought a great time, plenty of smiles, laughter, and a real home town small race awesome personal touch.  And with that, I was off and back to the mart tapering for 70.3....worlds!  

Just kidding.  I totally did a bandit Sprint tri the next day.

When I will I ever learn (never).