Athlete Race Recap: Bass Lake Yosemite Triathlon, Silver Serpent Multisport Festival, & Rock Hall Triathlons

‍Bass Lake Triathlon

Susan Doberneck kicked off her triathlon season on Saturday, June 1, 2024 with the Bass Lake Yosemite Triathlon in Bass Lake, California!

The Bass Lake Yosemite Triathlon accurately claims to be one of the most challenging and beautiful triathlon courses in the United States.  The race takes place in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains and the 40-kilometer bike course of the Olympic Distance race (which is what Susan did) has 2,200 feet of elevation and the 10-kilometer run course has 450 feet of elevation gain.

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We have been working on building Susan’s strength and confidence while riding hills this season.  She was a little wary of this course, but I encouraged her to remember all of the work she’s put in and how strong she actually is.  Susan conquered the bike course (she reported that it was even tougher than she anticipated) and then successfully deployed a run/walk strategy on the run that allowed her to cross the finish line with a smile and in first place in her age group!

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While the race itself took quite a bit out of Susan, she recovered well and was back to her normal training within 48 hours of the race.  This is a great measure of fitness gains.  All too often, athletes want to measure their progress by the time on a finish line clock.  It’s important to remember that finish times are not everything and that some of the most meaningful things in endurance sports cannot be tangibly measured.  

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Susan’s finish time on Saturday was not a personal best time for the Olympic distance of triathlon.  However, the fact that Susan was uninjured and was able to resume her normal training after the race is a bit of an intangible that shows us that she’s gaining fitness and strength.  This was a great kickoff to her triathlon season.

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Great job, Susan!

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Silver Serpent Multisport Festival

David Tuminaro raced at the Silver Serpent Multisport Festival in Silver Lake, New York on Saturday, June 1, 2024 and Sunday, June 2, 2024.  Yes, you read that right: He raced on two consecutive days!

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On Saturday, June 1, 2024, David ran the Silver Serpent 5K with his three children.  His son ran ahead on his own and finished in a blazing fast 25:30.  David and his two daughters ran together at his youngest daughter’s pace, and the three of them finished together in 37 minutes.  All four of them had a wonderful time doing the race together and celebrated with ice cream afterwards!

On Sunday, June 2, 2024, David raced the Intermediate Triathlon as a C-Race.  His A-Race is in approximately two months and we knew that this would be a good opportunity to test out things for his A-Race, including gear, fueling, hydration, and pacing strategies.

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David had a solid swim, but unfortunately made one of the classic mistakes that all of us experienced endurance athletes have made at least once in our endurance sports careers: He went out too hard too early in the race.  (Specifically, he did this on the bike, though it can happen in any leg of a triathlon.)  This cost him not only on the second half of the bike, but on the run.  Despite this, he adapted the adversity he was facing and managed to cross the finish line upright and uninjured.

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While David was disappointed with his performance, this race gave him a lot of valuable insights into what he would benefit most from working on as we continue to build toward his A-Race.  Much like Susan, he recovered extremely well and was able to resume normal training the following day.  So despite the race performance not being what he wanted, we do have evidence that all of the hard work he’s been putting in in training is working and that he has increased his fitness and strength.

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Well done, David!

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Rock Hall Triathlons

Carolyn Classen continued her triathlon season with the Rock Hall Triathlons on Saturday, June 1, 2024 and Sunday, June 2, 2024.  Yes, like David, Carolyn raced two days in a row!  She raced the Olympic Distance Triathlon on Saturday and the Sprint Distance Triathlon on Sunday.

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Saturday’s Olympic Distance race went well, and Caorlyn felt strong through the swim and the bike.  While in Transition 2, Carolyn forgot her handheld that contained her liquid fueling.  Fortunately, she came prepared and had backup nutrition in her triathlon kit that she was able to use on the run.  She was able to increase her effort over the course to finish strong and in first place in her age group!

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Sunday’s Sprint Distance race was always going to be a bit of a challenge for Carolyn with the accumulated fatigue from the race the day before in play.  In addition to the accumulated fatigue, course conditions were a bit tougher on Sunday; there was a decent wind, which made water conditions very choppy.  Fortunately, Carolyn’s experience and training helped her take on these conditions and swim well while remaining on-course!  The bike course went really well, and Carolyn deployed a solid fueling and hydration plan that set her up well for the run.  Her run pace was actually faster on Sunday than it had been on Saturday!  Once again, she finished on the top of the podium in first place in her age group!

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Carolyn was really happy with how she felt and performed on both days and in both races.  While she did have a good “official” result timing-wise in each race, she was most proud of how she executed each race and how strong she felt during them.  I cannot understand how valuable these intangibles are, especially for athletes as they spend longer in endurance sports.

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Great job, Carolyn!  

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