Giant Eagle Multi-Sports Festival Olympic Triathlon Redux

Last Sunday was the Giant Eagle Multi-Sports Festival Olympic Triathlon.

To start, there was the 4:00 am wake up call. As I looked at facebook that morning, I was reminded that there were people just getting home from the night before.

This race was different because it was a point-to-point Olympic race, which meant I needed to have 3 transition bags packed for the race. I had a swim bag with my wetsuit, goggles, and pre-race essentials. I had a T1 bike bag with my helmet, sunglasses, and shoes. And a T2 running bag with running shoes and nutrition.

Much to Anna’s dismay, she was made official team car driver. This meant she was up at 4:45 so she could take me and PK to the start of the race and drop off our T2 bags.

(Editor’s Note: This ungodly hour would have come easier if I hadn’t had to keep telling the junior Team MoZo members to go to sleep instead of giggling about their camp out on the floor with Aunt K. Thank you again for the great hospitality and the babysitting.)

Otherwise, it was a normal race morning: banana baby food, cliff bar, banana, and sports drink. I was a little sore, so I started stretching from the minute I woke up until the swim.

Since the race was point-to-point, we had racked bikes the night before at T1 in Alum Creek. We got to transition around 5:45, which was great because we beat the shuttle buses bringing the rest of the athletes from the hotels and gave us about 20 minutes in transition with very few people and an empty port-a-pot line. The turnout for this first race was good at little less than 1000 people.

Due to the hot summer, the debate started early in the week whether the race would be wetsuit legal or not. On Saturday, the Race for the Cure female tri that day had been wetsuit legal at 77 degrees, but as we were racking our bikes that night, the water was 84 degrees. Arriving Sunday morning, the first announcement was that the water was 84.9 degrees and not wetsuit legal.

My wetsuit has become a security blanket of sorts because it adds buoyancy and speed, so I was curious how mentally I was going to handle the swim.

Another interesting pre-race announcement was that the Olympic swim had been switched to a 2-lap half mile loop due to recent deaths in the lake. WTF? Too much information. Just simply “we changed the course” would have sufficed.

I actually got a practice swim in for this race and it tuned out to be a good chance to stretch. The water was like bath water and a wetsuit would have been a complete hindrance, so mentally I was fine for the moment.

Also, the water was really shallow. At the inside line of buoys there was no point at which a person could not stand. Even at the furthest out buoys it was only about 8 feet, so it was a very comfortable swim for people who focus on the depth of the water.

The pros went off first at this race, and both men and women just flew in the water. The first male swimmer finished his mile in about 18 minutes and was so smooth. My age group wave was the 5th in the water and slightly smaller than normal with less than 40 athletes.

The swim started out a little rough, as I got off course and started swimming to middle because I had spotted the wrong buoy. Once back on course, things smoothed out and the swim went well. I was out of the water at about 26 minutes, which put me 4th out of the water for my age group.

T1 was uneventful except for a little trouble I had clicking into my pedals on my bike. Also, I did not get my goggles in their designated bag, and they now have been donated to HFP racing.

The bike was fast. It was 25 miles that appeared to have a slight roll to it, but most of the ride was downhill to downtown Columbus. I averaged over 24 mph for 25 miles and finished the bike in about 1:03. Fifteen miles of the race were straight down High Street, and were handled exceptionally well by HFP and local law enforcement.




(Editor’s note: Except early on at T2 when the professionals were coming in and couldn’t see the turn because there was one person just standing there doing nothing. The spectators were yelling at the bikers to turn, until finally somebody came up with a flag – that was waved unenthusiastically – and eventually some more cones. A couple people missed the turn and had to back track. I can tell you I would be pissed with $30,000 on the line.
Also, someone wiped out turning from High onto Nationwide and an ambulance flew past us. I kept telling myself that it was way too early to be Scott, but was nonetheless relieved to hear it was a pink helmet. Guy did end up carrying his bike the rest of the course into transition and looked like he just had major road rash on his shoulder, but sucks to be him.)

On the entertaining side, I rode near a guy dressed as Aquaman for his kids, which was funny and had to be hot with race temps in the high 80’s. I was further helped out on the ride by my cheering section of Morgan and Zoe, Mom and Dad, Sister and Brother-in-law, and PK’s family.

T2 was great practice for the Full Rev as our run stuff was hanging on hooks by numbers in a tent, which you had to find and then change. I was able to handle T2 in under a minute, probably helped by the fact that I forgot my race belt

The run was hot, but I felt good. I wore my racing flats and went sock free for the second time. I started to get blisters at about 4.5 miles, but overall the sockless run went well. I was able to average 7:00/miles or a little under for the 10k run. Once again the family was a big help as I got to the finishing chute and finished off with a strong last mile. I came out of the run with two major blisters on my arches, but they have subsided already.




My final time was 2:14 and change which was good for 5th in my age group. I was al little annoyed with myself as there was only 45 seconds between 3rd and 5th and I felt I could have made that up on the course and wish I would have pushed harder.



Overall, HFP did a great job with the race and I would recommend it next year.

Plus, there is something for everyone with a 5k, sprint tri, super sprint for women, duathlon, and aquabike.

No racing this week. I need to have a big training week.

(Editor’s Note: For those that may or may not have caught my facebook post while we waited for Scott’s gear to make its way from Alum Creek…There was a female athlete waiting in the same area - obviously a professional – and a spectator was asking her a lot of questions about her EXTREMELY expensive looking bike. He wondered why she didn’t have a speedometer/odometer and how did she know if she was going fast enough. “If someone is in front of me…I’m not going fast enough.” A pretty ballsy quote. Until we looked at the race photos and she’s the one breaking the tape at the finish line. She can be as ballsy as she wants.)

Picture Pages..Picture Pages...Bay Village Tri

This the Huntington Beach/Bay Village Tri via a photo essay by my two youngest fans....

(Dad and the other dads stewing before the race.)

(First Wave into the water...Dad is in the next wave... what should we do?)

(Good time for pre-swim donut...Zoe)

(Dad's wave swimming out to the first buoy)

(Dad out of the water...4th out of the water and off to the bike)

(Good time for breafast for photographer number 2)

(Oops that donut was just too good and Dad zipps by with a good bike... there is his wheel)
(Dad coming up the hill on the run)

(Dad gives us a wave on the way into the finish)

Overall: Dad finished the race in 1:05:57 good for 2nd/32 in his age group and 11th out 292. On to another race, a new essay and, of course, another donut.

Thanks to my youngest fans for the support and pictures.

Training Milestone

Well, this weekend was my first 100 mile ride. I came off the bike feeling good and felt like I could go out for a run. It took about 5 hours 20 minutes to complete the training session. The best part of the ride was the comfortable numbness that came over my whole body while riding. I generally do not where an Ipod on my rides anymore, except for sometimes on long rides. Although, since this ride was going on roads I was not familiar with I did not where it. However, this provides for a lot of time to be introspective and on rides this long maybe too much. So, the best part is part of the ride is where everything is more like a low buzz and your just pedaling.

Otherwise, I had a good 14 mile run on Saturday and my run is progressing well. As for Monday, I think I will take a recovery day, and let my legs rest for a day and prepare for another big week. This Sunday is the Bay Village Tri, which is always a fun race loaded with familiar faces.

One tip I have from the 100 mile ride in 90 degrees is to use extra sun block or this will happen:

Lakeview Park Summer Triathlon Race Recap

5:15 am came early on race day morning.

The night before, Anna and I had gone out with friends until after eleven. I was fairly responsible and only had 3-4 beers over the course of the evening and mixed in some water. After going over my transition bag and getting the kids resettled in bed for the night, it was well after midnight by the time my head hit the pillow. Not necessarily the best pre-race night, but it was only a sprint race, so what was there to worry about.

It was a normal race morning with part of a Cliff Bar, some banana baby food for breakfast, and couple trips to bathroom. Picked up PK on time and was off to the race, which was just a couple towns over. I snuck a peak at the lake before I left for the race and it was like glass. I was still a little tired and my stomach was a little upset.

We got to the race about 7:05 and the parking was packed already, considering registration and transition opened at 7:00. We ended up parking at the back, made our way over to transition, and got decent spots on the racks. I had a fairly easy time getting registered and body-marked for the race.

Looking at my watch, I could tell I was running slightly behind. It was a little bit after 7:30 and I was just setting up transition. While getting set up, I changed routine and decided to eat a gel about fifteen minutes before the start. I think this may have been a mistake.

We got down to the water about 5 minutes before the race (not ideal), but we were able to get in the lake and swim a few strokes before the start of the race.
When this race was originally set up, the 35-39 age group was going out on its own. But on race day, the age groups were combined and everyone 39 and under was in the first wave off the beach. On this small course, this was way too many people.

The plan was to sprint to the first buoy, get ahead of the pack and have a relatively clear swim down the backstretch. Unfortunately, I did not commit as much as I should have and I got pinched in the first turn; then pushed into a break wall. I swam most of the backstretch dodging sunken boulders and wondering, as always, why the hell I was doing this to myself. Much to my surprise, I came out of the water number one for my age group, even though the swim felt less than impressive.

However, as I exited the water I realized I had a problem. The zipper on my wetsuit was stuck and I could not get it unstuck as I ran to transition. Officially, I was now panicking a little – yanking and grabbing at my neck. I was finally able to free the zipper, but I had lost decent amount of time. During this zipper fiasco, I watched a number of guys run out of transition ahead of me.


(I am in the guy in center struggling with his wetsuit)


On the bike, I was feeling some burn in my legs and I strangely had some cotton mouth. Maybe from the gel?...I don’t know. The whole bike/cotton mouth continually returned, except for about the last 3 miles. I had a solid bike – able to maintain a 23.5 mph average through the course and the one climb was strong. There were some good bikers on course ahead of me, but I felt like I was improving my position. Coming into T2 there weren’t many bikes racked yet, which gave me a boost. I came off the bike in 4th place for my age group.

I threw on my racing flats and I was out of T2. The run felt good and so did my Achilles. It took me a while to catch my breath out of T2, and my legs were a little tired as it was my third straight day of running. Overall, I ran a good pace at 6:58/miles and was able to run a solid course.

After it was all said done, I finished in 1:09, which was good enough for 4th in the age group and 15th/200(approx) overall.

It was a little disappointing that I came out of the water in 1st and virtually lost 3 spots in transition. But it was good to get out and race and push my legs a bit.

Editor’s Note: Team MoZo did not represent at this race. Instead (at about the time Scott was finishing the race) we were at the bakery, buying donuts in our pajamas. Morgan’s first question when he got home…“Did you get a medal?”…because we are all about setting high expectations. None of this “participation” crap.

Late Week Training and the Tour

I finished off the week with a 10 mile run. It is good to be back in the double digits. I felt good and my ankle felt strong.


I also got an open water swim in with PK this morning. The lake was like glass just a slight ripple and the water temp was in the mid 60’s. The conditions made for a good 1.5 mile swim. I wanted to swim longer, but I did not want to over swim today.


I followed the swim with a 4 mile run in my racing flats. I thought these shoes may have played a part in my injured Achilles, but the shoes felt good today and my Achilles does not feel the worse for wear. I’ll see how the Achilles feels when I race in the shoes tomorrow morning.


Forgot to mention in my last post that I am sucked in to the Tour de France and it’s only the first week. I will admit that I really have only become a fan since I have started riding in last few years, but now I DVR every stage and watch the races from start to finish.

This week's story has been tale of crashes and tole it has taken on the Americans. Along with the surprising slow start of Contador. I am a Andy Schleck and George Hincapie fan so I am excited to see the battles in the mountain stages. Contador and Schleck are both beasts in the mountains, so it should make for a good battle, especially with Contador having to come from behind. It is simply amazing to watch these athletes work.


I will check in later with race reports from both the Tour and my own.

Weeks in Review

First things first, the boot is off and I am running again.

Week of June 20:

Doctor’s appointment was on Monday and I was cleared to run. Truth to be told, I ran twice before the appointment. I was able to get in two runs this week and each were a little over 7 miles with no pain or swelling. I have switched running shoes to Asics Gel Nimbus, and so far I am happy. Two other high points were a 65 mile ride and 2.5 mile swim.

I was also able to get my in wetsuit on and do an open water swim . I had forgotten how much work open water is…so it was good to get out in the lake and get a solid 45minute swim under my belt.

Week of June 27:

I was able to run 3 times this week and all the runs were between 7-8 miles. I am also still putting in solid long swims. A side effect of the injury has been that my swim stroke has improved and relaxed. The high point of this week was a 75 mile ride, which I will officially say is long time on a bike. I did this ride on my road bike as opposed to my TT bike, and I kept the pace at about 19-21mph.

Also , I had a chance to get another open water swim. It was much smoother this time, but no matter the number of times I practice, I think it will always freak me out a bit.

Week of July 4th:

I was able to run 8 miles on the 4th, which I was psyched about as my legs were shot from the 75 miles the day before. Tuesday I really suffered in the pool, but I swam 2.4 miles. I think the overindulgence of every type of food on the 4th and too many days without break were starting to catch up with me.

Overall: A month ago I had written off the Ironman/Full distance triathlon, but now two weeks after my last appointment I am thinking I may make a run for it. It all depends on how my run shapes up as I progress. I will definitely run the Half at Cedar Point and I have already spoken to registration about upgrading about a month out to the Full. As a side note, I am running a sprint tri this weekend and looking forward to some racing.

REPORT FROM THE 4077

The road to recovery is probably much easier if you are a patient that listens to your doctors.

My doctor’s suggestion: I should be swimming and follow the instructions of my last blog entry.

Unofficial report: I have been swimming since the 4th day after my Achilles was booted. I could not resist. It was like a drug addict going cold turkey. I was feaning and swimming was a must. The good news is, the pain is gone.

In fact, about a week after the boot, I could actually see my Achilles again and I was walking down the stairs pain free.

Last week, I got back on my bike for the first time in three weeks. I was freaked out the whole time, thinking that I was going to reinjure myself. With every tweak or twinge, my mind was racing. I was able to ride 30 miles and get off the bike without pain.

So fast forward to this week, where I have been swimming and biking more regularly. I was ready to go out on Saturday and test myself with a longer ride. I wanted to ride at least 50 miles. I woke without pain in my ankle and the weather was great.
The ride was going swell for the first twenty-four miles. I had made my way out to Vermillion and was feeling strong and relatively fast.

On mile 25 I descended a hill and started climbing an overpass. As I approached the top I saw an expansion joint, but I had no time to react and before I knew it I was flying upside down through the air with my bike over my head still connected to my feet. That is worst feeling in the world – knowing you are just along for the ride.
Then came the pavement with my hip first and then my elbow and then my head. Then came the sliding down the concrete.

After the initial agony, I cursed out the sport and said I was done with the whole thing. Yes, I looked like a crazy person yelling at my bike on the side of the road.

In classic Scott fashion, I did not have any ID with me, had left my cell phone at home, and was now laying on the road in Vermillion. I gathered myself and got my bike together. It initially appeared I had been battered worse than my bike, so I decided to keep riding further west for a couple miles.

I then tried to shift my small ring of gears and noticed that I had snapped the shifter when I hit the pavement. Mind you, it was snapped clean off and it was solid alloy. I must have hit harder than I thought.

So after about 28 miles, I turned around and headed home. Looking down, I noticed my elbow and my knee were now bleeding from the road rash. I also knew my hip was a road rash mess.

I made it home on two gears and in good time. So 55 miles later, except for the crash, it was a great ride and I had no pain in my Achilles.

Although, I have begun to question whether someone is trying to tell me something or least whether there are such things as signs?

Editor’s Note: He somehow neglected to mention that he went out on another ride yesterday evening. Since he had immediately taken his race bike to the bike hospital, he was on his road bike. That left our bedroom a bike-free zone. I took a little time out of my busy schedule to appreciate the beauty.