Winter Triathlon National Championship-Racing Like No One is Watching

"The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement." - Helmut Schmidt

The Winter Triathlon National Championship is the first National Championship event of the season for USA Triathlon. It consisted of a 8 K Nordic ski, 16 K fat tire bike and a 5 K run.

The event was held at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis.  The event serves as the qualifier for the ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships and a chance to represent the US on Team USA.

I had to miss the race last year due to being laid off from my job.   I had to economize somewhere until I was working again.  Now working, this race was back on the calendar.

I have never been a very good Nordic skier.  I have been an alpine skier for over 40 years, but hills on Nordic skis have eluded me.  I could not do them without falling.

I've done a Nordic races as a classic skier, but I wanted to learn to skate ski. I felt I could never go to a World Championship until I mastered the technique. This year was the year I was determined.  Thanks to a lesson from two local instructors, I had down the basics. During the second lesson, I fell so many times, I though I broke my hand.  The evening after the lesson I could not move it without pain.  A little ice though and it was good as new.

I spent many hours working on my technique to Lapham Peak a local state park with a loop of man-made snow.  Sometimes I did not seem to make progress and I got discouraged. I kept at it though and headed to Minneapolis.

Race Site
Theodore Wirth Park was an impressive site for the race. I am used to nice lodges for alpine skiing, but had not seen anything like it for Nordic.   It was really impressive, with a ski and bike shop, weight room, cafeteria and on site sauna.

There are miles of trails, with the cost of a day pass at $20.

While I was there the day before the race, there was a 24 hour Nordics race in progress.   I was allowed on the course to ski and bike.  I had picked up my brand new fat tire bike that morning, but did not want to get in the way of the racers.

Course Preview
Although there was a race in progress, I went out for a ski around the course. The temperature was 41 F, so the snow was soft.  The course was one hill after another, many of them quite steep.  I was able to skate up and down without one fall.

I gave the bike a try on some flatter area that was part of the golf course. It was really icy and difficult to ride.  The predicted temperature for race morning was 21 F. I knew that meant the course would be fast for the ski and possibly icy for the bike. I was worried I was going to have trouble even finishing.

I knew at this race my goal was to gain experience and see how much I had improved. It was all about my growth as a winter athlete.  I decided not to worry about how fast anyone else was or how they were doing. This would be my race against the course. I wanted to have fun and not worry about the result. The goal was to gain some experience and let the result take care of itself.

Race Morning
Transition opened at 6 am and closed at 7 am. I like getting set up early and getting a good parking spot. That means less distance to carry equipment before and after the race.  It just took a few minutes to set up. Then I got to sit and warm up in front of a nice wood fired stove to warm up.

I got to talk to a number of the other racers. Two ladies had flown in from Oklahoma. They tried Nordic skiing for the first time the day before the race. They had never been on a fat tired bike. After weeks of Nordic practice, I felt well prepared.    I got someone to take a pre-race picture.

Ski
There were 58 racers in the championship and a number of others racing the relay.  We sell seeded. Fast in the front, racers like me toward the back. We were told to double pole to a set of orange codes. I explained to the Oklahoma ladies what that meant.
With the gun we were off. There was supposed to be a track cut for classic skiing. I tried it a couple of times and found it very shallow and very icy.

I had now trouble with the down-hills including the turns. I had some trouble going up hill. It was so slick that I lost my footing half a dozen times. Some times the falls were quite painful as fell onto knees or a hip.  Still I kept going.

The course could have been better marked    The bike and ski were on the same course, three loops for the bike and one for the ski.  The bikes tore up some of the classic tracks meaning I lost one of my guides.  I knew I took a wrong turn when bikes started coming at me.  I think I lost about 10 minutes, but still finished the ski lap under the 1 hours time goal I had set.

Bike
The bike was three laps on the same course. Lots of big hills.  The first lap went well. I only had to walk up one big hill. I wondered how my friends from Oklahoma were doing.  It was cloudy and had started to snow. The course was just beautiful. I had to be careful going down hill since the course was fast.  No falls.

When coming back through transition I saw Valarie Ferment. She runs the CMT study I am part of. I told her about the race and she came out to watch and take pictures.  She got a few of me on my new bike.

 It was a pleasant surprise to have a cheering section.  The second and third loops were much tougher. Because the faster athletes were ahead of me, the course was now pretty chewed up. That meant spinning wheels when trying to climb hills and my legs were getting tired. I was now walking all of the big hills. I got as much momentum as I could and would then get off and walk. I saw other athletes including men doing the same thing.  I again made it back to transition ahead of my estimate.

Run
The run was on most of the ski and bike lap. A bail out during the last part to make it a 5 K run. This would be a trail run on the same course. I was just trying to find a firm surface to run on. If I had known it was going to be a trail run on snow I would have brought my yak tracks.  I did the best I could with the hills.  I  fell when I stepped into a large gap I did not see due to the flat light. I was passed by a guy that told me I was half way.  I walked a few times going up hill.  Soon I was on my way to the finish line.

Award Ceremony

As I was coming into transition I saw my friends from Oklahoma going out for one of the bike loops. That meant I was not going to finish last.  They had someone else with them.. They would end up finishing an hour after me.

The awards ceremony was just starting when I  finished. The best I had hoped for was 3rd place. The winner of the entire women's race Jan Gunther was from my age group. Her sister also in the age group is almost as fast.  There were 14 women in the race and four were in my age group. Some women were national champions just by finishing.  One of the Oklahoma ladies was the only one in her age group. All she had to do was finish to be a national champion.

This was the toughest race I have ever done. It was physically demanding. I was happy to finish.  I placed 3rd and qualified for the World Championship and a place on Team USA.

Best of all my skiing has improved so much I feel I can go to the World Championship and handle the skiing. I think I can now handle local Nordic races. I am looking forward to adding a few next winter.

I have lots of room for improvement in my skiing, biking and trail running. I am excited by how much I have improved and looking forward to next season. I am strongly thinking of going to the World Championships. It will depend on the time and location. Because now I am looking at doing the para-Nordic championships next year. They will be held in Upper Michigan.

*************************

Chris Wodke

Founder & Manager Team CMT

www.run4cmt.com

Chris is a triathlete and long distance runner. She is a three time participant of the Boston Marathon.  In 2012 she finished 2nd at Boston in the Mobility Impaired Division. She was on the course in 2013 when the bombs exploded.

She has appeared three times at the Paratriathlon National Triathlon Sprint Championship. She was the 2012 and 2014 National Champion Paratriathlon Open Division Champion.

In 2014 she was the PC Open Champion at the Duathlon National Championship and at the Aqua bike National Championship in 2016. She represented Team USA at the Aquathon ITU World Championship in Chicago in 2015i, Cozumel in 2016 and Denmark in 2018. In 2018 finishing 5^th in the 60 to 64 age group.  In 2019 she place 3rd in her age group at the Wnter Triathlon National Championship.

 In 2014 she represented the U.S. as a paratriathlete at the Pan-American Triathlon Championship in Dallas, Texas.  She has won state championships in cycling and triathlon as a senior Olympian. In 2017 she placed 2^nd in her age group at the Winter Triathlon National Championship, earning a spot on Team USA for the World Championship.

She travels around the country raising awareness of CMT.

She is the author of the book, “Running for My Life” that details her experience as a CMT affected athlete and the book “Soup Sundays, A Journey Toward Healthy Eating”.

http://www.henschelhausbooks.com/catalog/memoir-biography/215-running-for-my-life-winning-for-cmt-9781595982827.html

You may visit her author page at:
http://www.amazon.com/Christine-Wodke/e/B00IJ02HX6

Team CMT is a group of athletes and supporters working to raise awareness and to find a cure for CMT. We have 218 members in 39 states. We also have members in Australia, England, Scotland, Canada, Vietnam, Turkey, Finland, France, Ireland, Poland, Iran, Norway and Sweden. If you wish to join us visit our web site; www.run4cmt.com or www.hnf-cure.org

CMT or Charcot-Marie-Tooth is the most commonly inherited peripheral neuropathy. It affects over 155,000 Americans (as many as MS).  It is a disease of the nerves that control the muscles. It is slowly progressive, causing loss of normal function and or sensation in the lower legs/feet and arms/hands.

Symptoms include; muscle wasting in the lower legs and feet leading to foot drop, poor balance and gait problems Atrophy in the hands causes difficulty with manual dexterity.

Structural foot deformities such as high arches and hammer toes are common.

Poor tolerance for cool or cold temperatures and many people have chronically cold hands and feet.

Additional symptoms may include fatigue, sleep apnea, breathing difficulties and hearing loss.

Additional Link

Follow CMT affected Paratriathlete Timmy Dixon
http://cmtamputee.wordpress.com/

Follow CMT Author Chris Steinke
https://cmtandmesite.wordpress.com/2017/01/30/what-is-charcot-marie-tooth-disease/

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