NORSA's Couchman Rocks Yellow Creek Sprint

On Saturday, June 14, I (Kurt Couchman) ran the Jackie Kallal Triathlon at Yellow Creek State Park, near Indiana, PA, with the support and encouragement of my lovely wife Liz. Despite forecasts of ugly weather, the morning was perfect for a race: little wind, partly cloudy, warm but not hot.

Although I had less than the ideal amount of time to warm up, a twenty-five minute delay between being called to the starting line and the starter’s gun eliminated most benefits from warming up. The swim was half a mile, straight out and back in decently warm water with the buoys always to the right. I pushed myself a good bit harder in the swim than I should have, so I was pretty well winded by the time I got to the transition.

The bike was 9.5 miles on roads over rolling hills through forest and farm country, and those years of mountain biking certainly paid off when attacking the uphill stretches.

After getting off the bike, I had side stiches on both sides but pushed through it. The 3.5 mile run was basically straight out and back, partly curving around the lake. By this time, the sun had come out fully and it was hot. Or at least I was. And the showers afterwards were iceberg cold.

I learned a couple important lessons from this race:

1) Warming up fully makes for having a good time.
2) Swimming hard is stupid…it’s less than 1/6th of the race, and you can’t empty the tank too soon.
3) The last half mile or so of the bike is not the time to race the guy next to you…if it means you’ll get passed in the run.
4) And finally, yes, old people are fully capable of kicking my ass…so far.

I finished in 1:25:11 (4th of 14 in my age group). Full results here.

And as we left the park, the sky opened up and it started to pour.

NORSA Dominates Yorktown Sprint Triathlon

Yorktown, site of America’s final victory over tyranny and injustice in the Revolutionary War. Now Yorktown is the site of the NORSA Triathlon Team’s victory as well. On June 8, 2008, Setup Events sponsored the eighth triathlon in the Virginia Triathlon Series in Yorktown, VA, on the historic battlegrounds where Cornwallis surrendered. NORSA triathletes Steve and Tom Saffell represented the NORSA Triathlon Team in this event.

The night before the race, lodging in Richmond, VA, was provided by friend and fellow NORSA member, Andrew Latimer. Despite the all-night rap-battle dance-party that happened in the street outside Latimer’s apartment, Steve and Tom were able to get in a solid hour of sleep or two before the race. Waking up at 4:30 a.m., the racers prepped their gear and headed to Yorktown together only to arrive just in time to get their ChampionChip timers and pins for their bibs.

The race began at 7:00 a.m. with a 650 meter swim near the Coleman Bridge which spans the York river, a brackish body of water that meets the Chesapeake Bay. The swim followed the shoreline and cut back to shore where the competitors ran back to the transition area to mount their bikes and hit the bike course. The bike course followed the road alongside the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station and later went through the Colonial National Historical Park. Total mileage was 11.36 miles according to Steve’s bike computer although official race distance stated that the course was 12 miles. The race ended with a 5 kilometer run along the river’s edge with a brutal hill situated just before the halfway mark. By 8:15 a.m., the sun was a 97º slap in the face to the runners and the humidity drained their energy like salt on a slug.

Tom and Steve both finished the race, a feat accomplished by only 525 of the 600 registered racers (73 no-shows and 2 folks were unable to finish). Steve beat his previous year’s record by two minutes with a time of 1:15:06. Tom did well for his second triathlon, finishing up with a time of 2:03:50 – an admirable accomplishment considering he was forced to use the only bike he owned to complete the race which was an old, beat-up mountain bike. Check out the race results at the link provided for the website of the Yorktown Triathlon.

Yorktown Sprint Is a GO

NORSA Co-Founder Tom and NORSA Grand Ayatollah Steven were among the last 8 people to register for the Yorktown Sprint Triathlon, maintaining NORSA's presence at the race for the 2nd year in a row. Lodging for the race is being graciously provided by their mysterious friend, known only as "Latman."