Last Race of the Season

This week is one of the most bittersweet weeks of the year for me.  On the one hand, I've been training for the better part of six months or so (taking a few weeks off for that pesky April broken bone), so I'm probably in some of the best shape of the year.  It's also the week leading up to my last triathlon of the season.  Sure, there are other races I could do in October or November, but that requires travelling farther and farther at greater and greater expense. So, for the third straight year, I'll pack my bags on Saturday night, try to get a good night's sleep and get up around 4:45am on Sunday morning to drive about an hour for one of my favorite races.  All of the other races I do each year find me surrounded by friends, family, or both.  Brierman is a lonely endeavor.  It is in complete contrast to the Dewey Beach race.

At Dewey, there are over 1,000 competitors.  I usually know at least 4 or 5 of them and both of my parents usually make the trip to watch the race.  My wife is there, my kids there, my friends parents are there.  On top of that, we almost always run into other people we know at the Dewey Beach Tri.  It's usually somewhat warm at Dewey.  The race is flat (except for the occasional ocean wave).  The race is short.  At Dewey you can get by on just a single bottle of water, no energy gels, and certainly not any sort of endurance fuel.  By noon at Dewey, you're sipping cocktails, trying to keep your face from getting sunburnt, and figuring out how you're going to spend the rest of the afternoon.

I make the one hour car trip out to Greenbrier State Park, near the top of a ridge halfway between Frederick and Hagerstown, alone.  I don't expect anyone I know to be there.  It's been cold each of the past two years.  I'm usually in a sweatshirt and windpants up until the last moment possible.  The only flat part of the Brierman race is the swim.  The bike is about 22 miles of rolling hills, including one 1.5 mile stretch that just goes up and up and up.  The run is about 4 miles of thigh burning, knee crushing up and downs.  Brierman requires that you plan your nutrition.  You must take in calories or you'll run out of steam before you finish, which happens approximately 2 and a half hours after you start.  By noon at Brierman you have packed up your stuff and are usually halfway home with hopes of taking a nap on the couch while watching some NFL football.

The two races are about as opposite as you can get, and I love them both.  The festive atmosphere, short race, and after party at Dewey is always fun.  I look forward to the good times at Dewey every year.  But Brierman holds a special place in my heart.  Brierman was the first race that I did by myself and the first race that I wasn't sure I could finish.  There's a camaraderie among Brierman participants that you just don't get at a bigger race.  The participants linger around after the race and clap for the winners of the various age (and weight) groups.  But my favorite thing about Brierman is the last mile of the run.  It's all downhill.  It's the last mile that I'll race until next year.  I always hit that last mile and think "put everything you've got into this one mile and you don't have to do it again for a long time."  I fly down that last mile, legs, knees, feet, ankles be damned.  I'm REALLY looking forward to that last mile on Sunday.

Note: Last year I missed my first podium finish by 6 minutes in this race.  I raced in the Clydesdale (200+ lbs) group and finished 4th in 2:34.56.  The course is back to its original 2008 configuration this year and my goal is to set a PR on the course (which means beating 2:33.33 from 2008) and hopefully go under 2:26 which I think would be good enough for a top 3 in the Clydesdale division.  I also hope that this is my last Clydesdale race.  I'm around 208 right now and I think I'll be under 200 lbs when next year's season comes around.