2011 ACA Whitewater National Championships

 American Canoe Association has come back to the great Deerfield river this year to host the 2011 Whitewater National Championships. The Championships consists of 3 days of racing  involving canoes and kayaks in various distances. I registered for the sprint and long race.

white water national championships

Paddling buddy and US team wildwater kayak member Mark Wendolowski let me use his old and slightly abused Speeder. The Speeder is a fast downriver kayak, but made of plastic, it weighs almost twice as much as some of the other boats in the competition. I will have my work cut out for me to keep up with the other Kevlar and carbon glass boats

Mark paddling the Speeder

I have run fife brook countless times and maneuvered in and out and even sometimes backwards through the class 3 rapid known as the Gap. I have certainly run the river enough times to have eliminate any intimidation the rapid would muster in me. Yet as we paddled toward the start, never having used a longer boat in a class 3 rapid,  I began to feel my nerves and hips tighten up. As i approach one particular rock cropping, I tried to get comfortable and attempt an easy slot move between two rocks. Instead I got pushed by the current and pinned against a pair of rocks. With my fellow paddlers ahead of me I had to push back and forth against the rocks to get released before too much water pillowed up on the side and flip me upside down against the rocks. I got the boat out, but now my nerves grew. If this little rock is going to pin me, whats going to happen in the gap?

 The short race was a sprint in time trial fashion from just above the gap to below.  After a short minute from the start of the race, i prepared to pick my linefor the gap.  At last minute I decided to throw on my nose plugs figuring there was a good chance i would flip in the eddyline. I attacked the center line cautiously then made the right line move paddling hard and edging my boat into the eddylines. In a short time i was through. Normally as a playboater kayaker, we would spend up to an hour playing in the gap's waves and eddy lines. Today though, I was pushing for time. Racing long kayaks brings a different feel to boating, and i was loving the adrenalin mixed with the endorphins, like a red bull and vodka of drinks.


The following day came the long race. Mark was able to get some of the local "Loser Cup" paddlers to come out. The Loser Cup is another whitewater "non" race on the class 4 Dryway. Short but very technical, dangerous at times and swims can be much more painful.  With some practice, a new boat, and maybe a larger set of kahunas, i will be able to write a race  report in 2012.

The one advantage i have over the technical paddlers is a set of very large lungs and good working slowtwitch muscles. In other words, I am an endurance guy. Most of the kayakers went out fast, but over the course of the next hour and fifteen minutes, i was able to pick off paddler after paddler. I finished exhausted but in third place. Mark W finished first with a course record and local loser cup paddler and long time raft guide Mike Porter finished second.

                                                                On the Podium 3rd place


Mark Wendolowski showing how to find the right line through the Gap
 

Next years race will be held in North Carolina. Since writing the original report i have picked up a new whitewater racing boat. I wonder if a road trip this summer is in store.

Birthday Rolls!

For the first time in many years I took the summer off to prepare for my first full time teaching position. Of course, i cant prepare everyday, and as a result many, many days where spent on one of my favorite places, the Deerfield River.

Over the years I have made many great friends on the river. Nowadays, i have no problem heading to the river, sticking out a thumb, and finding a friend to paddle with. Afterwards beers are cracked open at the take out or a trip to the Mohawk pub for a BBC River Ale is used as a debriefing session.
I spent my 33rd birthday paddling the Dryway, a classic class 4 run. As tradition holds, the birthday boy must roll their boat for each year he was born. Yet these 33 rolls holds no comparison to the 60 rolls my paddling buddy Bob performed a few weeks after.  Prior to Bobs birthday paddle, Bob got caught up in rock in the gap, broke his paddle into 2, and swam through a rocky line that left him a bit 'dazed and confused'. Bob, who requires 2 hearing aids to hear on land, but cannot use them on the river and thus left virtually deaf, came back to the river with a new paddle. He rolled his boat 60 times and made a clean run through the gap. Bob earned his post paddle beer, old men do rule!

                                           Birthday Paddle 2011
                                           Surfing the new creek boat on Disappointment Wave, Dryway

2011 Patriot Half Ironman Triathlon

I had one goal for this race, to beat the Dearys. The brothers get the best and worst of me, yet its this sort of competition that brings me back to high school track days that I loved. Trash talk began in April during the Tuckerman's Inferno race when i announced that i was racing. David, the younger, said i didn't have a chance. Damn if that didn't fire me up!!!

We are all very close in abilities, David the swimmer, me the runner, and Justin, the unpredictable...As the race approached, predictions were made. Justin did not have a chance, a father of 3, Justin could not put in the training as the rest of us. The race would come down to David and me.

The Patriot half is a fantastically well organized race. I loved it. There was so much energy and excitement in the air. The day was beautiful and the water temperature was perfect. I was nervous and excited all at once.

The swim was perfect. I found a pod of wetsuits to swim with, following their draft as best as i could.. After about 40 mins i popped out of the water to realize David was right next to me. Sweet! This was apparently David's best event. I hollered over to let him know i was ahead and hurried to my bike.

I moved ahead on the bike maintaining a solid 22mph avg pace. I was feeling good and ready to put the hammer down on the brothers. Though, at about mile 45 my hip started tweaking. Having only 5 weeks to train on the new tri specific bike, I wonder if my joints had the opportunity to fully adjust to the new bike. Regardless, I finished well ahead of the brothers and in 50th place overall. They were just entering the transition as i was cruising onto my strongest event, the run. I felt good, time to close the deal.

Maybe my over confidence got the best of me. Maybe it was poor nutrition, hammering the bike too hard, a new bike or a lack of mental toughness, regardless, by mile 6, my goals begin to crumble. My legs cramped, really cramped. My left knee, the one that went through a cash years ago and since then has been symptomatic began to give out. I was dehydrated in the now hot sun. My legs and mind were toast. In my 15 years of racing, I walked for the 2nd time ever in a race(the first due to a massive sprained ankle on a 20 mile trail race). The next 7 miles was torturous, physically and mentally. Geoff Rose, ultra endurance runner extraordinaire, talks about succeeding in endurance races by surviving the low point that happens in every endurance race. I felt like I barely survived. The physical part was hard enough, but mentally, i gave up on running. It was the low point i have not gone through in some time.

Needless to say the Dearys caught up and passed me. Justin took first of the three of us in just over 5 hours. the brother with the least training, but then again that is why we call him the "unpredictable". David, was not too far behind Justin. I came in around 5 hours and 30 minutes.

It took some time to recover, but now as i write this, my mind has forgotten the pain and discomfort of the run. With pain gone and redemption in mind, I will be signing up for the 2012 race. I just hope I can bring back the Deary brothers for a rematch.

Ludlow Triathlon

Year in Review...June Ludlow Tri

I am a very lucky guy to  reside on the shores of a little pond that I can swim and kayak. With that in mind, when the firmman organizers come to little Ludlow every year to set up the large orange buoys that designate the annual Luldow Tri Course, I cant just sit back at home and watch the fun.

The ludlow tri includes a 1/2 mile swim, 20 mile bike, and 4 mile run. The swim is hectic, the bike a bit hilly, and the run blazing fast. I love this tri, and not just because i can swim home.

I finished first in my division. Rumor has it that i also qualified for the championship race in Burlington later in
the year, but unfortunately the race conflicted with Josh Billings and will choose the later.

 

                                                      

Harpoon 5 Miler

2011 Race review...  Harpoon 5 Miler

"Sure you've run some races, but i bet you never danced after a race". Lish said it well. The Harpoon 5 miler is a must do race! For $40, you get 3 free beers, a race tee shirt, Bertuchis catering, Sausages Guys sausages,  and an urge to dance in your gym shorts!


Family, friends, friends of friends all came together to run a little, and drink more. For me this was the first race my brother and i raced together in. The McCarthy's rocked out! Older bro placed 592 out of 3300 while i was able to use my chicken legs to finish in the top 10. Team V, (what the V stands for is still up for debate, but for now we will refer to as Very Fast) finished 11th out of the 150 teams.


Team V and friends results
7       2/624 M3039 28:16 28:16 5:40 John McCarthy 32 M 922
49     23/624 M3039 31:17 31:11 6:15 Joseph Langan 36 M 815
142   54/565 M2129 36:26 33:17 6:40 Adam Szymkowicz 27 M 3668

370   53/986  F2129   36:23   35:41   7:09 Christin Christoph     28 F   3666
438   59/986 F2129 36:57 36:15 7:15 Adriane Boscardin 27 F 3664

592   186/624 M3039 39:17 37:30 7:30 Bob McCarthy 36 M 923
701   220/624 M3039 40:01 38:15 7:39 Darren Bourque 35 M 131
749   230/624 M3039 39:15 38:32 7:43 Daniel Walker 31 M 3669
932   151/986 F2129 42:43 39:34 7:55 Caitlin Brome 26 F 3665

1350 172/705 F3039 42:37 41:54 8:23 Lisha Storey 30 F 3667
1716 438/624 M3039 45:25 43:37 8:44 Steve Cosgrove 36 M 284


Harpoon organized a great race and a better party. There was about 10 draft stations offering fresh Harpoon beer to all the runners. In addition, age group winners( which i was lucky enough to be one,  won additional beer. I will take a case of UFO over a trophy any day!

Team V

                                                                      McCarthy Brothers

Play that Funky Music

2011 Wildcat Wildfire Pentathlon

The wildcat pentathlon is the little brother of the more prestigious pentathlon, Tuckerman's Inferno. As such, we have  sarcastically dubbed the wildcat, wildkitten (meow....as my Irish friend and rival Joe would mock). Yet, this race is still no day in the park.

The wildcat race begins with a 6 mile road race, which transitions to an 8 mile downriver kayak with class 2 rapids, followed with a 20 mile 2000ft elevation gain bike up towards Mt Washington, continued with another 2 mile hike and another 1500 ft elevation gain up Wildcat Mountain, and finished with a usually not so smooth downhill ski to the lodge. This is a classic solo style adventure race.

I came up Friday to test run the river. There was much debate over if the river was running high or low. I found it to be just right! My west side boat exceed, with a whole cut out of the right butt check pad to prevent dead leg, cut through the rapids beautifully.. I even, not quite on purpose, performed quite a boof on a spillover rock with all of my boats 19 feet getting somewhat air born .

Saturday morning was bustling with energy. Crystal and I left the condo by 6:00 to get all the gear set up. We squeezed the kayak between a little evergreen and another kayak at the put in, laying out my paddle, skirt, helmet, a jacket, and some booties. Over to the take out we set up the bike and left a bin with packets of gu, my cleats, a towel, and gloves. Finally we headed to the start to begin the run. It was 27degres. Brrrr.

I ran next to Joe most of the race. Joe was pushing the pace early. Knowing I had a long race ahead, I tried to relax and have some small talk with my Irish friend. Joe, breathing heavy, was not so amused, and politely told me that he doesn’t talk while racing. Later, over a beer, I know that what he meant to say was “shut the hell up John, I’m running”!!!

I pulled away in the kayak leg. This is where having the right boat can pay off big time dividends in the race. My West Side Exceed is perfect for these conditions. Straight forward whitewater with lots of flatwater sections in-between. Good secondary stability, closed cockpit, and super long. This boat takes skill to keep up, but if you can handle it, its one of the fastest in these conditions. Over 20 people dumped in the river that day, but I stayed up with one of the fastest times.

I have three words to explain the cycling; cold, wet, and cramped. I couldn’t quite get my legs at full speed, as my left hamstring kept on pulling. Yet that didn’t matter as I got to about mile 14, and I saw my wife in the car sitting in the middle of the road. Next to her, a large, beautiful, brown moose!

My apparent natural expression as i noticed the size of the Moose

I couldn’t decide if I should ride between the car and the moose to get a closer look or around to the other side of the car. My decision was made as I got closer to the animal and she looked up and we exchanged glances. Her eye seemed as big as my hand. She was large and there was no barrier between us. I was going around the car!



On the way up to Pinkham Notch



As i pulled into the hike transition, my heart dropped...there was no one there. Where was Crystal??? Than from the corner of my eye, i see her running toward me with my all my ski gear. I do have the best support crew.

On my way up, a competitor tossed me a few cliff shots....a good reminder of the sportsmanship in such an event!  

The rest of the race seems now in reflection quite uneventful. I hiked, I cramped, I skied, I finished. I still cant quite fathom skiing down Left Gully with the amount of cramping that went through the legs during the hike and ski portion of wildcat.

 The wildkitten is a fantastic race, and I would encourage anyone to give it a go. My sights are now set on the oldest brother, the tuckermans inferno! 

What makes this race really special are the friends that come together to live, breath, challenge each other and themselves...and to have a beer with after the race!

2010 Josh Billings Triathlon

This is not your standard triathlon. No swim, bike, run, but a bike(peloton style), kayak, run. .

This tri has a big time race feel. For several weeks before hand, cyclists where out training on the bike route, kayakers and canoers practicing their strokes on the Stockbridge bowl, and runners, well, running. I drove down to do like the rest, train on the course. What i found was a town full of energy. Great Barringon, Stockbridge, and the neighboring communities gave an impression of a North Conway,NH or Lake Placid. Roof racks, fit people, and talk about the upcoming race filled the air. 1200 people where expected to show for the country's second oldest triathlon of this kind.

I did a decent job preparing for the race. I knew it would come to the bike ride and getting into the pack early on. The bike race hits a hill early on, mile 1 or 2, and many experience cyclists know, that hill will determine the rest of your bike race. Hit the hill hard, get into a group, and you find yourself in a good paceline for the rest of the race. Bonk on the first hill, miss the paceline, and you will either lose 10 minutes as you fall into the second peloton, or exert all your energy riding by yourself.



I missed the first major group as i had a hard time positioning myself at the front of the start (note to self next year), but kept to a group not too far behind. All in all, i only lost five minutes from the first group.



The kayak is where i was able to pull away. Though I have been suffering from "Dead Leg" , temporary paralysis of my leg from sitting on a nerve the wrong way, big blue was good to me and my leg was fine. I finished with one of the fastest kayak times of all racers, including teams.

The run the other hand was brutal. Possibly the slowest run in quite some time. The run course is a hilly 6.2 mile course. At mile 3, i was plagued with muscle cramps. I had to stop and message my legs. Running is generally my strongest leg, but on that race day, i was humbled. What could have i done different, more electrolytes, more gu, ...i found myself very frustrated as i jogged forward.

In spite of the challenging run, i still finished well, placing second in the ironman kayak division. I won a nice Josh Billings Mug that was filled with a tasty Oktoberfest later that night.

....and i could not have done so well in the race without my champion support crew. Notice the "helper" race number