From: gilsonm@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com
Newsgroups: rec.sport.triathlon
Subject: RACE REPORT: Muncie Endurathon
Date: 1 Sep 92 12:39:54 EST

Muncie Endurathon, Muncie, Indiana, 30 Aug 1992 - 1/2 IRONMAN

In last year's Endurathon, I had a bad day.  In the swim, I had
my watch (which happened to be a pulse monitor) torn from my wrist, was 
nearly neutered when passing a breast-stroker, and jammed a finger.
Before getting on the bike, I slipped in the transition area, breaking
my ankle.  Once on the bike course, I had several mechanical problems
as a direct result on my accident in the transition area, requiring
several stops for repairs.  It took about 4 miles into the run to 
realize there was something seriously wrong with my ankle.  And the
temperature was in 90+.  So I assumed that this would be a better
year.

Packet pickup was on Saturday only, followed by mandatory course talks.
Failure to go to a course talk meant a 10 minute time penalty.  The meeting
was somewhat worthwhile since there was a last minute bike course change.
There was a carbo-dinner later in the afternoon, which I did not attend.

Race morning was cold (mid-50s), overcast, and windy.  Not a good
start.  I got lucky on the draw of transition spots, getting a spot
on the end where you entered from the end of the swim and bike
courses.  Transition spots were assigned with name tags showing where
you were allowed to rack your bike and only 7 bikes per rack, so there
was plenty of room.  Transition security was good.  Last year, you could
not remove your bike from the transition area after checking in, so I
warmed up before checking in.

After getting set up, I took the bus down to the swim start.  They supplied
you with an extra bag in which to stash stuff for return after the race 
from the swim start, allowing you to retain warmup gear, etc. until the
last moment.  This is also where body marking was done, and done efficiently.
Even though there were lots of porta-johns, there where long lines to use
them before entering the water.

Unlike previous years, wave starts were used for the swim.  Three waves of
200+ people, which resulted in a lot less jostling on the swim.  The first
wave started promptly at 7:30, with the others spaced five minutes apart.
I was in the second wave and found a good starting spot off to one side
and was hardly bumped in the entire swim.  That was the good part.  The
bad part was swimming directly into the wind (now 25-30 mph) and waves,
which seemed enormous.  At least the water temp felt close to the advertised
78-80F.  At the .3 mile mark, we turned left to parallel the shore and had
the wind coming at 45 degrees.  Sighting the buoys, which were large and
spaced about 150 meters apart, was very difficult with all the waves.  
I set a PW (personal worst) by 15 minutes, and was more than 20 minutes slower
than my average time for that distance.  I was so glad to finally be out
of the water, I almost knelt and kissed the ground.

The first transition went badly.  I nearly mounted the bike in my running 
shoes.  I successfully exited the transition area (you have to run your bike
out to the road) without any broken bones, so I was still pretty optimistic.

The bike course is _slightly_ rolling over sometimes rough country roads.
Unfortunately, the wind was such that you had a tailwind or sort of a 
tailwind for less than 20 of the 56 miles.  For the remainder of the
course, it was pretty much either 45 degrees to one side or a full
headwind.  I think I averaged 20+ mph, far short of my goal of 23+.  

The second transition went very smoothly and I was finally running.  The
wind was beginning to die down to 15-20 mph and it was finally in the
70s.  I felt good for about 7 miles, but experienced something weird for
the next 6: my wind was good, my heart rate acceptable, but my quads were
on fire!  The last six miles was a death march.  Any opinions on what 
this is?  

The overall winner's time was about ten minutes slower than last year.
In addition to the regular IQ spots, four other lottery spots were given
away in a random drawing.  Over $5000 in merchandise was given away.
I left during the awards ceremony and post-race dinner, having had other 
commitments.

Other stuff: plenty of aid stations on bike and run, loaded with food,
drink, ice, etc.  Lots of food after the race.  Finishers received a
wooden plaque, which was nicer than last year's.  You get triaged as
you cross the finish line, but the med tent was relatively quiet due
to the cool temperatures.  Didn't see any drafting; saw lots of draft
marshalls.  In fact, one draft marshall told me I should pass or drop
back (I thought I was ~3 bike lengths back already).  

Even though I'm disappointed with my time, I'll be back.  The race is 
one of the best organized, has lots of friendly volunteers, and costs
the same as the BLTS championship (another good race, but overpriced
at less than half the distance).