Duathlon in Hingham (Wompatuck State Park)

This is this Sunday at 9am!!!

Last year Anne (my wife) and I competed against each other. This was a lot of fun but this year we may team up with Anne running and me biking. Not sure though.

Richard reports that the course is a bit simpler this year with a single loop for the ride, that’s a good thing! They also have a clinic on Saturday Oct 1 at 9:00 AM; the race is also at 9:00 AM Sunday.

Wompatuck State Park is in Hingham. Aside from the fact that it is a duathlon (run, bike, run) it is similar to the Hale race. Also there is no kids' event and very few spectators ... just lots of adult racers. To give you some idea of how they compare, last year I did Hale in 70 minutes and Wompatuck in 100 minutes, even though I placed BETTER in the Wompatuck race for my gender/age. http://www.jenifund.org/race2html

Winter Outings?

I don't know if this is official yet but.... There has been some talk about Hale having outings on the second and fourth Wednesday evenings of each month. These would probably be from 6 to 7:30 and would go through the winter. This would be open to the public. Outings would vary and would be events like hiking and snowshoeing in Hale Reservation. I'll post more info as I get it. If you have interest or ideas regarding this please post a comment!!

Hale Lessons Learned

I learned a few lessons this year that will help in the future. Here they are:

1) SWIM FASTER! Being able to do the ride fast doesn't matter as much if you are not a fast swimmer, since you will be forced to slow at each turn, hill, and rough patch in the trail by struggling bikers. I think a faster swim would have set me up for a faster and less crowded ride. I could not have swum any faster than I did but NEXT YEAR I'll train more in that area.

2) You can minimize #1 a bit by leaving room between you and person in front of you as you approach an uphill. This gives them time to pull to the side if they fall off)

3) While cranking up a very steep hill in very low gear the person behind you who has dismounted and is pushing their bike will easily pass you. (yes Richard told me this in training and I ignored it, unfortunately)

4) Thinking that you only need a water bottle at the transition area to just drink during transitions is a mistake. I thought 'why carry this heavy water when I keep coming back here anyway?' I got very thirsty during the bike ride and would have benefited from one big gulp of water on my second loop around Strawberry Hill. Getting thirsty slows you down for while, even after you drink water.

Hale Tri Results

Here is the Firm results page.

Congratulations to our own Richard Thomas (leftmost below) for winning the Men's 40-44 and coming in a whopping 5 minutes ahead of the second place person!









and our thanks to Eric Arnold and the Hale people for doing a great job again this year!

Bike Racks

Since I had to buy a bike rack recently I'm sharing my research. For trunk mounted racks that hold 3 bikes I narrowed it down to a $39 Bell rack and $117 Thule rack. Thule is a good brand name and the arms on the Thule can fold down while the rack is on the car, so you don't need to take it off the car when you are not using it.

UPDATE 9/25: I ended up getting the Thule 962xt Speedway 3 Bike rack and it works very well on my Subaru Forester. It looks good, fits tight, and the sway bars keep the bike pedals from scratching my car. But it does not work on my Honda Minivan at all. The van's rear hatch has a flimsy plastic top edge and window glass side edges. This is preventing me from attaching the strap hooks. I know a guy who got the Bell and he is happy with it. He says it DOES fold up while still on the car if you have a trunk-style car. I wish I'd gotten the Bell but it's not worth the hassle of sending the Thule back.

Winter Swimming

There was some discussion recently about where around here can one swim in the winter.

The Fitness Center at the Dedham Place Hilton does offer membership fees for non-guests.
Daily: $10 per visit (though sometimes may only charge $5 for kids)
Monthly: $49 US Dollars Down and $29.99 US Dollars per month
Yearly: $328 US Dollars for one
Fitness Center 781-407-1688
UPDATE 10/8: Max and I went there to check it out. The guy at the desk gave us towels and only charged us $5 each. It's a reasonably clean L-shaped pool. The long part of the L is for laps but it is only two lanes wide and about 30' long. Pretty small. There is a hot tub next to the pool, and a medium sized hotel gym too, though I do not know if that is included in the above costs.


The Caritas (formerly Rama) gym in Norwood also has a pool. Not sure what the rates are.

You can get a 10 visit swim pass for about $80 at The Vanderbilt Club (formerly Mad Maggie's), which is off Route 1 just south of Dean St (next to the Gymnastics Academy of Boston). It is a 25 yard pool which is open air in the summer, which is very nice...

(My thanks to Jordan for most of this info)

UPDATE 10/3: There are some swim, run, and even OPEN SWIM clinics in Weymouth this winter and spring. http://caansports.com/index.html

UPDATE 3/2006: Juju's place in Dedham is good. I usually go to the Wang (Chinatown) YMCA it has a huge pool and is never really crowded. You may have to split a lane at peak lunchtime hour but no circles.

Hale Race Training Update for Tuesday 9/13!

Due to limited daylight, for Tuesday September 13th training the time has been changed to 6:00 and the venue has been changed to North Beach. Drive up Carby St and park at Cat Rock parking lot and walk to the beach. Try to get there before six if you intend to swim.

This will be a swim/bike/run of shorter distances than the race. This is the last training session before the big event!

Hale Triathlon Training Sessions

On Sunday, September 18, Hale Reservation will be hosting the 2nd annual Kids 2 Camp Triathlon and Festival. In order to help beginning and experienced racers prepare, Hale will be hosting Thursday evening training sessions beginning on July 28 which will be lead by experienced bikers, runners, and swimmers who are familiar with the Hale trails and waters. These training sessions will be offered free of charge and each evening event will begin at 6:30pm at Hale’s Membership Beach.

• July 28th - Trail Run 1½ -2 miles or 3-4 miles
  
• August 4th - Mountain Bike Ride - 1 hour ride
  
• August 11th - Swim at Membership Beach
  
• August 18th - Trail Run 1½ miles & Swim at Membership
  
• August 25rd - Mountain Bike Ride & Trail Run
  
• September 1st - Swim, Bike, Run (short distances)
  
• September 8th - Swim, Bike, Run (close to full distances)
  
• Tuesday, September 13th - Swim, Bike Run (medium distances)

This summer over 4,400 children from all over Eastern Massachusetts will visit one of several day camps at Hale Reservation. Without financial assistance, many if these children would not be able to attend camp. Kids 2 Camp raises much needed funds to support these children. For more information on the triathlon or on any programs at Hale Reservation, please visit www.halereservation.org or call 781-326-1770. This event is sponsored in part by Dedham Institute for Savings.