Tri-Maine Series - Training & Preparation

Tri-Maine Series Races 2008

Tri-Maine has announced its race schedule for 2008.

The 2008 series begins with the PolarBear, formerly the Iron Bear, on May 3, 2008. The PolarBear is a hugely popular sprint triathlon that takes place at Bowdoin College in Brunswick. The race features a 525 yard pool swim, a 12-mile bicycle time trial and a 5K run. Tri-Maine is expecting approximately 500 competitors for this event. Registration opens on February 15, 2008.

New this year, the Belgrade Lakes Triathon replaces the Wild Bear triathlon from 2007 and 2006. Taking place on the summer solstice, June 21, 2007, The Belgrade Lakes Triathlon - or BLT as Tri-Maine refers to it - is a modified Olympic distance tri and a duathlon. The BLT tri features a .5 mile swim in beautiful Belgrade Lakes, a long, 25-mile bike time trial and a five mile run, while the BLT duathlon starts with a 2-mile run with the same bike and final 5-mile run. Tri-Maine expects 300-400 competitors in its inaugural edition. Lodging and tent campground sites are available at Camp Runoia. Registration is currently open.

The Scarborough Tri is also new to Tri-Maine in 2008. Scheduled for July 13, 2008 at 8AM, the Scarborough Tri replaces the Shipbuilders Triathlon in Bath. The Scarborough Tri is a sprint distance triathlon that begins at Scarborough Beach with a 1/3-mile swim, followed by a 15-mile bike ride and a 3-mile run. The race finishes next to the Scarborough 350th Anniversary Celebration in Memorial Park in Scarborough Town Center. Tri-Maine expects 300-400 competitors in its inaugural edition. Registration is currently open.

The Zone Urban/Epic Triathlon returns to Tri-Maine in 2008. A popular Olympic distance triathlon, the Urban Epic is held in downtown Portland, Maine and features a 1-mile swim, a 24-mile bike ride and a 10K run. The Urban Epic also boasts an Urban Festival with live music and a beer garden for this spectator-friendly event. Last year, over 300 athletes participated. This year Tri-Maine expects over 400 participants. Registration is currently open.

The Lobsterman Triathlon in Freeport, ME is Tri-Maine final event for 2008. Taking place on Saturday, September 13 in beautiful Winslow Park, the Lobsterman Triathlon is an Olympic distance event featuring a 1.5K ocean swim, a 40K bike ride and a 10K run. Some of the regions toughest triathletes contest the Lobsterman each year. The 2008 race will be no different. The Lobsterman Triathlon is open for registration now and is the only Tri-Maine event to feature an Aquabike competition (swim, bike).

All the Tri-Maine races in 2008 are sanctioned by USA Triathlon, the National Governing body of the Sport.

2007 Maine Multisport Roundtable Announced

The 2007 Maine Multisport Roundtable is set for Saturday, November 3 from 3:30 to 5:00PM. Presented by Tri-Maine Productions in association with Personal Best Multisport Coaching and the OA Centers for Orthopaedics, the Maine Multisport Roundtable is open to the public with topics addressed specifically to the needs of endurance athletes.

The subject for this year’s fall Roundtable is “Sports Injury: Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation for Multisport Athletes.” OA’s Dr. Thomas Murray, Dr. Scott Marr, Dr. Eric Hoffman and Tim Davoren, Director of Physical Therapy at OAPT will each address a topic relating to common sports injuries sustained by multisport athletes. Athletes themselves, the OA team of medical professionals brings a unique perspective to Maine Multisport Athletes. A question and answer session will follow each presentation.

The Roundtable will be held at the OA Centers for Orthopaedics’ Conference Room, 33 Sewall Street in Portland. Kurt Perham of Personal Best Multisport Coaching will moderate the Tri-Maine Productions event. RSVP to: Kurt@pbmcoaching.com.

About the Maine Multisport Roundtable (MMR): the goal of the MMR is to become a twice yearly “gathering” of endurance athletes and coaches to discuss topics on all endurance subjects. The MMR is open to all Maine athletes with a focus on endurance sports (triathletes, cyclist, runners, Nordic skiers, etc). The panel and the subject will change at each “gathering”; the goal of the moderator is to keep the presenters and the audience within the scope of the subject for that given MMR.

Lobsterman Triathlon 2007 Results

Lobsterman Triathlon 2007 Results: Tri-Maine race leader Kurt Perham took the overall win today in the 2007 Lobsterman Triathlon with a winning time of 2:04:33. Perham bested his results over last year's Lobsterman by over 2 minutes on a rain soaked course in scenic Freeport. For Perham, the race was equalized on the bike when he caught second place finisher Milos Janicek of Boston, who was ahead of Perham by a minute coming out of the water. Perham won the race on the run, where he put another minute into Janicek. With his victory today, Perham has cemented the overall title for the Tri-Maine Series Races. Congratulations to Kurt!

Catherine Sterling of Kents Hill, ME edged out the 2006 Lobsterman winner, Kim Webster, by a mere 12 seconds with a winning time of 2:11:00. Sterling was out of the water 2 minutes more quickly than Webster, who closed the gap by a minute coming off the bike and drew within 12 seconds of Sterling on the 10K run. Great race!

Tri-Maine women's leader, Erin Brennan, finished first in her age group (40-44) and 3rd overall among the women with a time of 2:20:37.

OA's very own Dr. Scott Marr finished 30th overall with an impressive time of 2:16:57. Dr. Marr was 3rd overall on the 40K bicycle course.

And Angela Bancroft, featured in this blog earlier this summer, finished first in her age group (35-39) and 62nd overall with a time of 2:24:02. In a quick email exchange with OA, Angela summed up the day pretty well, "It was quite a day out there!!! Lots of fun and challenging! The cold rain made our hands and feet numb which made the
transitions the trickiest part of the day!!! I could Not manipulate my hands to shift, put on a hat or tie my shoes!! Guess those things will improve with experience. I will Never skip the speed laces the next time it rains!" Way to be tough! Great job Angela!

Lobsterman Triathlon 2007 Results (Top 20 + notables)

1 KURT PERHAM BRUNSWICK ME 2:04:33
2 MILOS JANICEK BOSTON MA 2:05:09
3 ROB MCCULLOCH OTTAWA ON 2:05:48
4 MATT BRIGGS CONCORD MA 2:06:07
5 JONATHAN MCCALL SHREWSBURY MA 2:07:17
6 JAMES YOUNG OTTAWA ON 2:07:33
7 THOMAS MCWALTERS THORNDIKE ME 2:08:18
8 DOUG PRESLEY ARLINGTON MA 2:09:01
9 SHAWN BERRY CARIBOU ME 2:09:46
10 STEVE KIMBALL BOLTON MA 2:10:16
11 ROBERT MAHONEY MANCHESTER ME 2:10:53
12 STEPHEN REED LOUDON NH 2:10:53
13 CATHERINE STERLING KENT HILL ME 2:11:00
14 KIM WEBSTER FRAMINGHAM MA 2:11:12
15 TIM DOWNES CENTERVILLE MA 2:11:20
16 PAUL KNEPLEY WAYNE PA 2:11:53
17 BRIAN HANAK ROXBURY MA 2:11:59
18 STEPHEN FLYNN FREDERICTON NB 2:12:07
19 DAVID SINCLAIR WAITSFIELD VT 2:12:24
43 ERIN BRENNAN PORTLAND ME 2:20:37
20 GARY DAVID STOW MA 2:12:34
30 D. SCOTT MARR FALMOUTH ME 2:16:57
62 ANGELA BANCROFT PARIS ME 2:24:02

For complete Lobsteman Triathlon 2007 Results, click here.

Lobsterman Triathlon

The Lobsterman Triathlon is the 7th featured event in the 2007 Tri-Maine race series calendar. With 650 individual triathletes representing 20 states and several Canadian provinces, the 2007 Lobsterman Triathlon is the largest triathlon in Maine and one of the largest multisport events in New England. Featuring an Olympic distance triathlon as well as an aqua-bike (swim, bike, call it a day), the Lobsterman Tri attracts elite athletes from around New England.

Last year, Andrew Boone of Cambridge, MA won the elite men's classification with a winning time of 1:57:54, while Kim Webster of Framingham, MA took the women's title for the 2006 Lobsterman. Webster is returning to defend her title this year. Boone is not.

Kurt Perham, who finished fifth in the 2006 edition of the Lobsterman, is the only triathlete from the 2006 Lobsterman's top 5 returning in 2007. Perham currently leads the Tri-Maine Series race competition having won the Wild Bear, Ship Builders and the inaugural edition of the Urban Epic Triathlon in August.

The Tri-Maine race leader will have plenty of competition though at the 2007 Lobsterman. The Northeast Collegiate Triathlon Conference (NECTC) has designated the Lobsterman Tri as one of their official race events for 2007. The NECTC was formed in 2006 to provide an organized series of collegiate triathlon races for northeast schools. NECTC teams include Harvard, Boston University, West Point, Yale and MIT among others. (You can bet the MIT triathletes will have the aerodynamics down!). With fast young college kids participating, the winning time is again likely to be below two hours at this year's Lobsterman. (OA's very own Dr. Scott Marr and Dr. Eric Hoffman are also registered participants at this year's Lobsterman, so Perham had better watch out!)

Earlier today, OA spoke to race organizer, Will Thomas of Tri-Maine Production about the Lobsterman. Besides the competitive field, OA wanted to know what made the Lobsterman truly unique. "Definitely, the venue," says Thomas. "The venue is spectacular. Winslow Park in Freeport serves as the transition area, start and stop. The park features a beach, an open field, water on three sides - it's ideal for a triathlon. The protected cove is a perfect place for spectators to watch the 1.5K swim. The bike features a lollipop loop that is exactly 40K over rolling terrain, and the run is exactly 10K. The parking is abundant and easy to reach. The Lobsterman Triathlon is a great, end of the season attraction for triathletes and spectators looking for a last hurrah."

Taking place this Saturday, September 15, the Lobsterman Triathlon begins with an ocean swim at 11:00am to coincide with the tides in Freeport, Maine at Winslow Park. Enjoy the race and check back here later for results.

Pumpkinman Triathlon Results

The Pumpkinman Triathlon - an affiliate race of the Tri-Maine Series – was won by Cumberland's Mike Caiazzo in a time of 1:08:09. Aaron Coleman and Kurt Perham, the overall Tri-Maine race leader, finished second and third with times of 1:13:27. and 1:13:42 respectively.

Among female racers, Mary Miller of Elliot was the winner of the inaugural edition of the Pumpkinman Triathlon with results of 1:18:21, followed by Catherine Sterling of Kents Hill at 1:20:35 and Jessica Broderick of Middlebury, CT at 1:21:18.

Full Pumpkinman Triathlon results can be located here.

Swim Technique and Volume Are Key for Triathletes

A standing joke among triathletes goes something like this:
Q. What do you call the first triathlete out of the water?
A. Loser.

And while it is true that triathletes are unlikely to win a triathlon during the swim leg of the competition, it is equally true that a triathlon can be lost in the water. In the inaugural edition of the Zone Urban Epic, for example, the race winner finished the ocean swim in a respectable 22nd position. For Kurt Perham, the Urban Epic was won on the bike, but clearly, he did not lose much time in the swim, finishing only 3:05 slower than the first swimmer out of the water, who finished 74th overall. The overall winner for the woman's competition was 3rd out of the water, where Katie Payson put over 5 minutes into her closest competitor, Erin Brennan. Despite a faster bike ride, Brennan was not able to bridge the gap. In her words, "It's one thing to catch Katie, it's another to pass her!"

Both swim technique and swim volume tend to among the top limiters for triathletes, who as a group, seem to prefer biking and running over the water sport. But as summer fades and the days grow shorter, time spent in the pool perfecting technique and building volume can be the keys to a successful competitive season next year.

The Greater Portland area offers many Masters Swimming programs where qualified coaches lead structured swimming programs. For example, Kerry Kertes leads a Masters Swim Group in Cape Elizabeth at the Don Richards Pool. Beginning on September 24, Kerry's classes always begin with an assessment of swimmers followed by 4 to 6 weeks of technique work. Once the technique has been honed, the winter and early spring sessions add both volume and speed work designed to help athletes become stronger swimmers.

Other Masters Swimming programs throughout Maine can be located at the Maine Masters Swim Club web site. Consider joining a Masters Swim program. The fall and winter is an excellent time to improve your swim stroke, maintain your aerobic engine and began to prepare for the 2008 season.

Erin Brennan: "No Junk Miles"

Erin Brennan leads the Tri-Maine race series women's competition. Interestingly, the former runner turned triathlete also leads the Maine Time Trial Series women's bicycle race.

“I tried to be a runner, but I was not very good,” says the humble Brennan, who recently completed the Urban Epic 10K in a speedy 43:20, only 15 seconds slower than her nemesis and Urban Epic winner, Katie Payson. “I got injured running so I started riding the bike. A couple of friends convinced me to try triathlon, but I really sucked, so I started working harder.”

Hard work, a supportive family and a focused training program are the keys to Brennan’s remarkable success as a triathlete and a cyclist. Brennan trains and races only eight hours each week. “People told me I could do a lot better than I was doing. So, I began to do more focused workouts. I established goals for myself and developed a plan. I did more speed work. Every workout now has a goal. I don’t have much time, so I do a lot of hard efforts. There are no junk miles.”

Erin’s real breakthrough came in 2000 when preparing for her first Ironman. Her goal at the time was simply to finish the race. Her coach told her that if she focused, she could break 11 hours. “Steve helped me take my training to the next level and to believe in myself,” says Brennan referring to Cumberland-based coach Steve Fluet. “I learned that every workout has a purpose. There is no time to waste.”

Brennan continues to perfect her workouts and tests her skills almost weekly in bicycle time trial events and triathlons. “You don't have to over train. In fact, it’s pretty much impossible with a family relationship,” say Brennan who at 42 is married with two children and holds down a full-time job. “You have to know what training is really important and what races are really important.”

The feisty Tri-Maine race leader offers four tips for aspiring triathletes: “(1) Marry a supportive spouse. Successful racing is all about family support. If I did not have it, I could not win. (2) Eat well by taking in proper nutrition. The old adage ‘garbage in, garbage out’ applies here. (3) Make the workouts count. And (4) know when to be selfish - be disciplined and stick to your training regimen.”

As OA spoke to Brennan, she had her sights set squarely on the Camden Maine Sports Triathlon. In Camden Brennan would once again compete against Katie Payson, a former World Champion triathlete. At the Urban Epic, the race was won in the swim, where Katie put just over five minutes into Erin, who came roaring back on the bike gaining back almost four minutes on her rival. “The swim in Camden is very short (.5 miles). If I can stay with her in the water, there is a chance I can win on the bike. To catch Katie is one thing, to pass her is quite another.”

Race results from the Camden Maine Sports Triathlon show that Brennan almost achieved her objective. She finished the race second among women at 2:16:55, losing just 56 seconds to her rival, Katie Payson. Erin will get another chance at Katie in the upcoming Lobsterman Triathlon, but not before she defends her lead in the Maine Time Trial Series in Camden again next weekend!

Bicycle Tires Are a Drag

Your bike tires may be costing you time, lots of time.

“Come on,” you say, “a bike tire is a bike tire, right?”

Or “I paid $50 per tire for my Continental Force and Force Attack tires. The bike shop said they were the fastest. They are fastest, right?”

Well, not according to Tri-Maine race leader, Kurt Perham, they are not. Perham is nearly obsessed with what he refers to as “free speed.” From fast transitions to perfecting bicycle aerodynamics, Kurt is always on the hunt for an edge. In a recent interview with OA, the race leader and multi-sport coach shared with us the fact that we could replace our Continentals with a set of Michelin Pro Race 2s and save ourselves both time and money. A set of Pro Races 2s can be purchased on line for $30 less than you can buy the Continentals, and they will save you as much as a two minutes over a 40K bike course like Urban Epic or Lobsterman.

How is this so? Kurt shared with OA a presentation he developed with his colleague, Rick Ashburn, on bicycle tire drag. The discussion is a little technical but well worth the read.

“A pneumatic (air-filled) tire has a flat spot where it touches the ground - the contact patch. About half of a rider’s weight is on each tire, making an oval flat spot a little less than one square inch in size. As the tire rolls forward, the leading edge of the contact patch moves around the tire. Some rubber from the tire that began its life round becomes bent and flattened. As that spot on the tire leaves the back end of the contact patch, it bends back into its favored round shape. That bending and un-bending action doesn't happen freely - it involves friction within the tire. That little bit of friction, happening constantly and rapidly, adds up and slows the bike down.

Now, before you go thinking that pumping the tire up really hard will reduce this drag, you need to consider bumps in the road. While it is true that high-pressure tires can minimize the bending and unbending friction, they do so at the cost of bouncing over tiny bumps in the road instead of "squishing" over them. Every bumpy bounce causes the bike to divert some of its kinetic energy into an up-and-down direction instead of forward, and that energy is effectively lost. So, a nicely rolling tire needs to strike a balance between being pumped up enough to minimize the contact patch drag, and not so much as to have it losing speed to the tiny constant bumps encountered on normal asphalt.

The answer to this little optimization problem is found by tire testing. Cutting to the chase, the answer is: For racing on normal public roads, you should pump your tires to between 100 and 120 pounds. Just because the tire might have "190psi" printed on the side of it doesn't mean you should do it! That is a maximum number printed for your protection, and would apply only if you were racing on a track.

There is an equation for calculating the drag that the tires impart to the bike. For our purposes, it is convenient to express that drag force in terms of watts:

Watts to overcome tire drag = Crr*M*g*V, where

Crr = Coefficient of Rolling Resistance (determined by testing the tire)
M = Mass of bike plus rider
g = The gravitational constant, 9.8m/s^2 (remember high school physics!)
V = The ground speed of the bike.

Since M is nearly fixed, and g is most certainly fixed, you can see that tire drag varies directly with Crr and with bike speed. If you go twice as fast, you use up twice as many watts overcoming tire drag. Since you want to go as fast as you can, the sole variable left under your control is the Crr of your tires.

The Crr of a name-brand racing tire will range from 0.004 to 0.007. At a glance, those numbers look like they are close together, and you can buy highly regarded and expensive tires at both ends of that spectrum. However, let's do a little math

Crr = 0.004 or 0.007
M = 66 kilograms
g = 9.8m/s^2
V = 8.94 m/s (20 mph)

Rolling along at IM bike pace, I am expending either 23.12 watts or 40.48 watts to overcome tire drag. Which would you prefer? This difference of 17.36 watts represents - are you sitting down - about 2.5 minutes in an 40K bike race!”

Check this link for a listing of Crr for brand names bicycle tires.

Urban Epic Triathlon Race Results

Tri-Maine race leader Kurt Perham crushed the field in the inaugural edition of the Zone Urban/Epic Triathlon with a winning time of 2:14:54, almost seven minutes ahead of second place finisher, Griffin Weiler at 2:21:23, and Sam Evans-Brown in third at 2:22:00. Perham was the only participant to complete the 40K bike course in less than 1 hour, and he had the fastest transition times of all the top participants.

Katie Payson lead the women's field with a time of 2:29:45, just ahead of the Tri-Maine women's race leader, Erin Brennan at 2:31:31 and Carrie McCusker at 2:33:54.

The Top 25 finishers of the Urban Epic are as follows:
1 73 KURT PERHAM BRUNSWICK ME 2:14:54
2 263 GRIFFIN WEILER BOALSBURG PA 2:21:23
3 109 SAM EVANS-BROWN PORTLAND ME 2:22:00
4 191 ROBERT MAHONEY MANCHESTER ME 2:22:10
5 197 OWEN MCGONAGLE BOSTON MA 2:22:51
6 327 MATT BOOBOR PLYMOUTH NH 2:23:50
7 147 JOHN FLANAGAN COHASSET MA 2:23:58
8 295 PETER WEILER BOALSBURG PA 2:25:37
9 85 RANDALL WOODS PORTLAND ME 2:25:43
10 28 JOSEPH CORCORAN CAMBRIDGE MA 2:26:39
11 280 JIMMY BUNNELL DUXBURY MA 2:27:02
12 260 ROB SMITH CUMBERLAND FORESID ME 2:27:21
13 230 CATHARINE PAYSON CAPE ELIZABETH ME 2:29:45
14 176 STUART OLSEN NEWBURYPORT ME 2:30:27
15 110 JON MCGONAGLE PORTLAND ME 2:30:29 2
16 82 IAN SIMON SOMERVILLE MA 2:30:50
17 229 ERIN BRENNAN PORTLAND ME 2:31:31
18 71 DAVID GAUTHIER STOUGHTON MA 2:31:46
19 37 THOMAS HEDSTROM CAMDEN ME 2:32:24
20 192 GREG GOODHUE SIDNEY ME 2:32:27
21 79 DOUGLAS DELAPP MYSTIC CT 2:32:33
22 103 GRADY JACKSON CAPE ELIZABETH ME 2:32:49
23 87 JEFFREY ARONIS WALTHAM MA 2:33:53
24 212 CARRIE MCCUSKER CAPE ELIZABETH ME 2:33:54
25 268 RICK DURGIN WESTBROOK ME 2:34:04

For the complete results and story visit MaineToday.com

Congrulations to all Urban Epic race participants.

Urban Epic Personal Safety Considerations

by Scott Marr, M.D.

The Urban Epic Triathlon presents triathletes with a number of special challenges.

First, the Urban Epic features an open water swim in Portland's Casco Bay. Current temperatures in Casco Bay are approximately 62 degrees Fahrenheit. Without a full body wet suit, even an active triathlete could expect to become hypothermic within 10 to 15 minutes. To avoid hypothermia, a full body wet suit is absolutely essential. Tri-Maine Productions will also be providing participants with race caps, which all participants are required to wear to keep the body warm.

Waves averaging 2-3 feet, crosscurrents and ocean "chop" can make the swim even more challenging. Keeping a straight line with a focused destination will minimize your time in the water and the chance of becoming hypothermic. The risk of taking in some unwanted seawater is also a risk. Triathletes exiting the water to the mini-transition area may want to have some drinking water available to rinse out the mouth and take on some fluid, as salt-water intake can hasten dehydration.

The Urban Epic is unique among triathlons in that it features a mini-transition area prior to T1. Triathletes will need to strip from their wet suits, put on a pair of running shoes and sprint 1/2 mile to T1. To avoid blood rushing to the head, triathletes are advised to sit down in the mini-transition area to put on their shoes, rather than bending over to tie up the laces. Athletes may lose a small amount of time, but this will minimize potential problems from fainting.

The early part of the bike course runs through a densely populated area of Portland. People and cars will be on the road, so triathletes will want to ride defensively during the early part of the course. The same is true for the latter part of the course as participants return to the city.

Since most triathletes will be out on the course beyond two hours, proper nutrition and hydration will also be critical to an injury-free race. Both the bike course and the run course offer little tree cover or shade. If it is a sunny, warm day, then dehydration is definitely a factor. Athletes should plan to hydrate well before the race begins, avoiding too much in the way of diuretics like coffee. Thereafter, athletes should plan to take in between 24 oz and 32 oz of fluid per hour of racing. So, an athlete expecting to complete the course in 2.5 hours, should plan to drink 60 to 80oz of fluid.

Likewise with nutrition - athletes should come to the Urban Epic well nourished with muscle glycogen stores full. Participants should then plan to consume between 250-300 calories per hour in the form of carbohydrate for the race to provide the body with adequate fuel to finish the race strong. Less than 250 calories per hour and the athlete risks bonking. More than 300 calories and the athlete risks gastrointestinal discomfort.

Being mindful of the challenges presented by the Urban Epic racecourse will enable participants to complete the course safely and quickly. In the event that you do experience problems, OA medical staff will be on site to assist triathletes. Look for OA medical staff at the transition area and along the course.

Be safe and have a great race!

Dr. Marr practices Sports Medicine at the OA Sports Medicine Center. He is a Fellow in the American College of Sports Medicine and currently serves as the Team Physician for the University of New England and Windham High School. Dr. Marr has a special interest in endurance athletics including performance physiology and injury prevention. He is the current Medical Director of the Tri-Maine triathlon race series.

Tri-Maine Series Race Standings

Prior to the inaugural edition of the Urban Epic Triathlon in Portland on August 18, Kurt Perham leads the both the men's competition and the overall competition, while Erin Brennan leads the women's competition.

Here's the top 10 triathletes in the Tri-Maine Series race standings:

1. Kurt Perham
2. Sean Teel
3. Charles Carter
4. Rob Smith
5. Matthew LeBrun
6. Greg Goodhue
7. Robert Turner
8. Shawn Berry
9. Marcus Deck
10. Erin Brennan

Kurt Perham, Rob Smith, Robert Turner, Greg Goodhue and Erin Brennan are all registered from the Urban Epic this weekend. Look for the leaderboard to change on Saturday!

Urban Epic: Course Assessment

OA spoke to Tri-Maine race series leader Kurt Perham about the unique challenges faced by triathletes in the first edition of the Zone Urban Epic Triathlon taking place this weekend in Portland.

Earlier this week, Kurt completed a practice run of the Urban Epic course, and he told OA that the swim course could be a little challenging. At 1.2+ miles, the open water swim in Casco Bay is longer than most Olympic Distance triathlons. And while the current created by the Presumpscott River at low tide will increase speeds towards the end, it will still swim longer than the typical .93 mile Olympic Distance course. Kurt estimates that a strong swimmer will finish in the Urban Epic swim in the 25-27 minute range, compared with 20-21 for a typical shorter course. The open water, the current and the ocean chop will also make the swim more challening, especially for those that do not have their open water skills refined. Swimming straight and drafting effectively will play important roles. And newbies will have to overcome the inherent fears of swimming in the ocean. A wet suite and a Tri-Maine series cap will be mandatory attire for the cold open water swim.

Largely, however, Kurt thinks that the Urban Epic will play out similar to other international distance races, except for the inclusion of the mini-transition area. Swimmers will exit the water into a mini-transition area where they will dump their wet suits and put on a pair of running shoes. They will run up hill about 1/2 mile before entering T1 for the transition to the bike. Kurt thinks that the mini-transition might actually help get blood into the legs so that triathletes can rider harder on the bike from the get-go.

Kurt says that the bike route is quite fast except for Walnut and Fox Streets on the way out and on the way back. Walnut Street, in particular, is very steep and runs through a residential area. The rest of the ride is very fast thereafter except for the return up Fox and Walnut Streets. "That will leave a little sting in the legs after 24 miles on the bike."

From T2 the 10K run course of Urban Epic heads straight back up the Fore Street Hill towards the Eastern Prom. So it starts out tough, but Kurt says its really "pretty easy" until the 4.5 to 5.0 mile mark where there is another big hill that race organizer Tri-Maine seems to have added just to make the course more challenging. Thereafter, the Urban Epic 10K race course runs through the Red Bull arch and drops back down to the bike path and the finish line.

What's it going to take to win the inaugural edition of the Zone Urban Epic Triathlon? Kurt says, "Go real fast." And fast, he does go. He completed the Shipbuilders Triathlon in late June in 2:05, but he says not to expect a PR given the swim and the hills. He says to look for a winning time in the neighborhood of 2:10.

We'll see on Saturday...