August 4th, 2008
I won the Top Notch Triathlon for the third time on Saturday, August 2nd. The race has a very untraditional format. It starts with a 6.5 mile uphill mountain bike which is followed by a half mile swim in the ice cold echo lake, and finishes with a 2 mile run up alpine trails to the summit of Cannon Mountain.
The starting line is in the town of Franconia NH. Because I never know if the race will fit into my schedule I always register on the day its held. My procrastination puts me in the second of two wave starts. The waves go off two minutes apart. Usually this is not a problem for me because the first two and a half miles of the bike are on pavement which gives me enough time to make up the two minutes on most riders in the first wave before we hit the single track trail. Unfortunately, this year a rule change allowed cyclo-cross bikes into the race for the first time. The narrower wheels on these bikes allowed more riders to reach the woods before me. I race on a full-suspension Gary Fischer XC mt bike with slick tires. I was the first rider from my wave to make it to the woods but I had about six cyclo-cross riders to get by on the muddy single track. One of the riders fell right in front of me and took me out on a descent. I bruised my IT band pretty severely and broke the strap of my swim goggles in the crash. I made a quick recovery, cursed the cyclo-cross guy in m customary fashion, and got back on track.
Despite the fall I had the fastest ride split of the day by 1:40 seconds. I was the second person in the water and the first from my wave. The person in front of me was on team. I didn’t realize that my goggles had broken until I tried to pull them from their resting place on my chest to my face. The strap pulled out of them completely so I had to swim without them. I was essentially blind and lost my right contact while swimming with my eyes open. I popped my head out of the water frequently to see where I was going and must have looked quite foolish. I managed to get across the lake without losing my position and actually closed on the team in front of me. I swim a lot when I am rehabing injuries so I am an OK swimmer.
I was a little disconbobulated when I started the run up MT Cannon. My breathing and rhythm was thrown totally out of whack in the swim and I felt some fatigue as I started the running race. I snapped out of that fog quickly though and caught the ”first wave” team that I had been chasing about six minutes into the twenty-two minute ascent. I put a spurt in just as I passed my compettitor in an attempt to dishearten him. It worked and I ran on alone. The trail on Cannon was in the worst shape I have ever seen it. It has been raining like crazy in NH this summer so the trail was sautrated mud and scree with occasional patches of hay where the ski area was making a weak attempt at reseading with grass. It was perfect condtitions to increase my gap over the top team to about two minutes.
I set a course record at this race last year. The course was dry and fast last August. The same trail resembled a bog this year. Due to the conditions and my crash I was several minutes off of my record time. Despite this I was pleased with the performance that I put in under the unfortunate circumstances. When i wanted to go hard I could. I always plan for races to go perfectly but its important for me to experience some adversity in racing too. I hate adversity but I love overcoming it.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Hey Kris, pretty good write-up, and it was fun to see you race. I was the running leg of the team you had to pass, and I have to say, as a 17 year old, I wasn’t entirely disheartened to get caught by you. Sorry I couldn’t keep up.
My teammate also asked me to point out that you may have discounted the biking splits from the team results. Maybe it doesn’t count, but I believe (I can’t find results online yet) my teammate had you by around-about 30 seconds.
August 5th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Congrats on your finish, I would simply like to point out that there was one faster biker on the the course. No disrespect, but the biker in first, (who by the way is 18) his time was 29:18, 18 seconds faster than your (still fast) 29:36, and that’s on top of loosing his chain and crashing into the mud. You did win the individual bike by 1:40, but not the entire field of racers. Oh, and good thing you worked so hard to “dishearten” that high school senior in front of you, otherwise he might have tried to keep pace and overtake the professional athlete who is 10 years older than himself.
Again…congrats on your finish.
August 5th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
I think commentor’s egos are the number one reason it is not so much fun for athletes to blog.
Kris is an amazing athlete and person. I thank him and all the others who blog here at Fasterskier. I appreciate learning what happens during a race and what top athletes think. I am certain that other ironpeople didn’t even look at your relay team results (I know I didn’t). I look forward to seeing your results next time when you do the whole event. We appreciate your support of Franconia and the adventure race. Have fun and lighten up! I am going to continue to work on my swimming skills. I hope Kris has a chance to fourpeat and will blog again and again about his training and racing!
August 5th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
How cool is that! How many sixteen year olds can say that they were in a head to head competition with an Olympian? Of course Kris put the hammer down… that’s what top athletes do. It’s great that we can get out there and race at all levels and have fun at the same time. Hope to see you all out there next year!
August 5th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
To Nate Fuller and “Fellow Racer”: Sometimes it is not what you know and say, it’s what you know and don’t say. Perhaps it may have been better for you both to silently revel in your own performances rather than publicly correct Kris on the results. It was, after all, only a race.
Kris, you are a great athlete. Keep it up.
August 5th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
I completely agree. It’s great to have Kris in the area competing against our local athletes.
But is “I think commentor’s egos are the number one reason is is not so fun to blog” addressed at the “I put a spurt in just as I passed my compettitor in an attempt to dishearten him” or something else?
August 5th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Let’s face it, when there is a team category in a triathlon, there really are two separate events taking place on one course. As a “cat-person” (I hate to get wet) I appreciate the opportunity to enjoy events that are usually solo as part of a team, but in no way do I think that I am competing in the same event as the iron-persons. So I would side with Kris in his assessment of his biking finish place.
As for whether it is fair or not to dishearten 17-year olds, I can only wish that Olympians needed race tactics to pass me. It sounds to me as if the final racer on the winning team has a good perspective on his fine result!
I wasn’t part of this event but I look forward to “competing with” Kris in future off-season events in NH, and to seeing coverage of his ski races and results next Winter.
August 5th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
We are the commenters.
I think some comments made must take the fun out of blogging. I think the bloggers have to have pretty thick skin if they pay any attention to our comments.
I think it is important to use your true full name when writing a comment. We are a small community that deserves respect from one another. Have FUN!
August 5th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
My apologies to the biker with a faster time than mine. I only glanced at the resuts that were on the wall before leaving the Triathlon. Apparently the sheet I saw only listed the ironman athletes. My mistake. Kris
August 7th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
I did this triathlon about 12 years ago, while in my mid thirties. I came in about 25th, but remember trying (unsuccesfully) to pass (and demoralize) a teenager just ahead of me. After reading your article, I looked up my past results. Turned out the teenager was a Franconia local- some kid named Bode Miller. Now I can say I finished one place behind Bode in a race at Cannon Mt. ….no other details necessary….
(BTW Kris, I tried to leave a message on your brother’s blog so he wouldn’t feel left out, but there is a glitch in the website that won’t allow it.)