Mighty Moraine Man Preview

The Mighty Moraine Man multisport event is this upcoming weekend. I have athletes racing in the Aqua Bike, Sprint Triathlon, and Olympic Triathlon. It’s gonna be a very exciting weekend! I won’t personally be racing…but I’m very familiar with the area. I ride/run out there quite a bit, especially because it’s only 15 minutes from my house, and over the course of a couple hours it’s really “easy” to get some nice elevation. Okay onto the good stuff, I rode the course this morning a couple times and some tips/reminders came up that I felt were worth sharing. Have a read and please share this with other athletes who you know are racing!!

1. There seem to be NEW potholes on the course. I’ve raced in a handful of these events. They’re fantastically organized and the course is consistent. However this morning I did notice a couple new potholes. Some old potholes are repaired! But there are a couple new ones entering/leaving Transition, as well as a few other places. Thankfully, the newer potholes are all on inclines, with exception of heading back down into Transition. Something to be mindful of.
2. If you’ve NEVER raced this race before, you NEED to be careful with your bike handling. There are a lot of sharp turns that are easy to miss if you aren’t fully paying attention. At times I was going between 30-35mph around some turns that I’m familiar with, and this popped into my mind. Please be careful with your bike handling.
3. Calibrate your effort going up the hills. There are a lot of rolling hills. Be mindful of that. The “biggest” one is likely at the turnaround past the marina. But honestly it’s short enough that you can probably just give it some juice to get it over with. After a quick turnaround, you’re back to 35+mph, so be careful on that descent.
4. It was kind of buggy, to be honest. Make sure you’re wearing sunglasses on the ride and run, no doubt.

A couple race morning reminders…

1. Bring a flashlight or headlamp! When you arrive it will be dark for awhile. Plan for that!
2. Be early. This race is packed. Saw Joella this morning while riding down to transition and she had mentioned that this is a big one. So please be early.
3. Read the athlete guide. You did not get a bib in your packet because you will likely need to pick it up race morning at check-in. Plan for that.
4. Put your stickers on your bike properly. If you don’t know how, ASK SOMEONE.
5. Mark your body or have someone mark it for you. I think I heard this is happening again at this race, so when you show up, there should be some volunteers there to help you mark your age and race onto your body. In any case, ask someone for help and how to do this. Maybe even bring a sharpie to make sure you have what you need for this.
6. Prepare your transition area simply. Don’t make this complicated. Rack the bike, put your helmet/glasses on the handlebars. Place any fuel inside your helmet. Have a towel sitting out, maybe another one close by to dry off. Have socks/shoes/sneakers all close by and ready to slip on. Make sure your bib is ready to go for the run.
7. Get a race bib belt. You can get one delivered by Saturday from Amazon here Amazon Racing Bib Belt
8. Consider getting lock laces. If you DO choose to get them, run for a few minutes on Saturday in them so you know they’re good to go. This might help save some time in T2. You can get them delivered by Saturday from Amazon here Lock Laces from Amazon
9. Give yourself time to warmup in the morning if you wanna swim a bit and get loose.
10. When you get OUT of the water, unzip your wetsuit and pull it down to your waist while running to T1. Goggles off the eyes and leave them on your forehead. Get into T1 and grab some fuel while stepping out of your wetsuit! Move quickly and efficiently.
11. Make sure you’re carrying what you need on the bike. That means fuel (if you need it), water bottles, mechanical things like extra tube (or two), co2 canister with valve, bike tool and/or kit, etc. Carry it on the bike. If you DON’T know how to change your tire…that might be a problem. At the very least, even if you have never changed a tire/tube, you probably know how to, or understand how to. Have everything you need. If you find yourself on the side of the road replacing a tube, TAKE YOUR TIME. It is what it is. If it happens, don’t be flustered. Just get it done and get back to it.
12. Strap your helmet on BEFORE leaving T1.
13. Do NOT mount your bike before the mount line! When you do mount, get off to the side and let the crazy people fall over in the middle of the road. Take your time. Clip one foot in, give a push off, off you go.
14. Make sure your bike is in an appropriate gear for the bike start. The initial portion of the bike right out of T1 is uphill. Plan accordingly for that.
15. Unclip one of your feet before you get to the dismount line. Take your time and lean to that side before unclipping your other foot. Let the crazy people fall over in the middle of the road. Take your time and do this right. Not worth risking injury and the rest of your race/season by trying to do this too fast.
16. In T2, get your sneakers on and take off. Put fuel in your kit if you need to and get running.
17. Grab a water at the aid stations, if not to drink, at least to throw in your own face.

Those are the thoughts that came to mind. Although I won’t be racing, I’m going to try and bring my oldest daughter and come support a lot of you! Best of luck. Race safe and have fun! See you this weekend.

#HillPursuit