Sweat Now Wine Later Review

 The Sweat Now Wine Later Race is a 2 mile kayak / 2 mile run race held at the beautiful Gervasi Vineyard in Canton, Ohio.  I have been the overall winner of this race twice and set the course record in 2019.  Because of my previous success at this race my goal was simply to win it again.  The combination of kayaking and running seems to be a good fit for my skills and abilities.   Unfortunately exactly 7 days before the race I strained my calf in a training session.  I was lucky enough to get in to see Dr. Shah at Summa the very next day to get some treatment.  I received 5 trigger point injections in my calves.  The remainder of the week before the race was about rest and recovery.  The trigger point injections helped and my calves felt much better but I wasn’t sure if I would be able to run or for how long.  My goal of winning the race quickly changed to try to finish it.  My plan was to rip through the kayak leg as fast as I could and then run as long as my calf would hold out.  I knew first sign of calf strain I would have to shut it down and walk.

The race starts with a short bus trip to a park close by.  Racers exit the bus, grab a PFD, and head to the start line.  When ready racers one by one cross the timing mat, sprint through a field about 50 yards, hop in a waiting kayak, and go.  To avoid slow kayak traffic on the narrow creek I always try to start first in my wave of racers.  I was able to do that again this year.  The water was extremely low so I knew any traffic on the creek in front of me would surely slow me down.  I got off to a clean start sprinting across the field and jumping into a waiting kayak.   As soon as I got in the kayak and started paddling I knew I had a small problem with the left foot peg.   The right one felt fine and was actually in a decent position for my height and paddling position but the left one was set extremely short and tight.  I tried a few times to try to figure out if I could find an alternative place in the kayak to position my left leg but came up empty.  In kayak racing a lot of power is generated with your legs and torso.  It is hard enough to generate power from your legs in short wide recreational kayaks because yours hips are so wide but this made it more challenging.  I tried not using the foot pegs but then I had no leverage at all to drive with my legs so I had to paddle with my left leg bent and almost sticking out of the cockpit.  I managed to make it work.

As I stated the water was very low.  If you didn’t read the creek water correctly and choose a good line you were probably going to be hung up in the shallows.  I managed to navigate the shallow creek fairly well finding that some of the best lines were directly under low lying tree branches that I had to duck under.  It wasn’t ideal but still faster than being hung up on rocks.  I didn’t have much traffic on the creek to deal with until I got to the end near the take out point.  I had caught up to several slower kayakers from the previous wave most of which were hung up on rocks.  They did help me navigate the creek as I learned not to go where they did.  At the takeout I was slowed down by a line of kayaks waiting to exit the water.   I pulled up to the bank and asked if I could go ahead as I was trying to win the race.  Everyone was okay with my request and I was only delayed shortly.   I jumped out of the kayak dropped my PFD and hit the run course.

The run course was where I knew I might have problems with my calf.  I got off to a good start and pace not feeling too fatigued from the kayak.  A half mile into the run I felt my calf starting to ache.  I wasn’t sure if I should stop and walk or keep running but decided to press on as long as I could.  I wasn’t sure how long my calf would hold on and if each stride would be my last.  At mile one I saw that I had a pretty good run split time and felt if I could just keep that pace I might have a shot to win.  At the 1.5 mile mark I was still running but a little more cautiously hoping my calf could last just a little longer.  Soon the finish line came into view and I was able to sprint the last 25 meters across the timing mats.   I was thankful my calf survived and allowed me to run the entire course.  I didn’t know my time but felt like if I was around 34 minutes I might have a chance to win.  I was surprised when I checked the results to see that I finished in 32:44.  I am the only person to complete this race in under 33 minutes and I had just done it again for the 2nd time.  At that point I realized it was likely that I would be the overall winner.   I had to wait until the additional waves behind me finished the race but when they did I was the clear winner with the 2nd place finisher coming in with a time of 35:40.  The first time I completed the course in under 33 minutes the water level was very high.  I was surprised I could do it again in such low and slow water conditions.  For the third time i was the overall winner of this race.

The race was taken over from Run Canton by the Canton Park and Recreation Department last year as the fine people at Run Canton retired from organizing races.  Canton Park and Recreation Department did an excellent job organizing the race.  I was able to meet and talk with several of their employees and they were very friendly and delightful.  All participants received short sleeve tech shirts, custom finisher medals, and $10 to spend on food or wine at Gervasi.  There were lots of great snacks at the finish line as well.  This is a fun well organized race that I would recommend to anyone looking to get into a short multi sport race.  They provide all of the kayak gear which makes it easy as fun.  I highly recommend this race!