Last Saturday I got in another race, and boy was it a fun experience. I had a lot of energy race week leading up to Saturday morning. I was looking to go out and get at it. However, all week it had been scheduled to have some rain race morning. No big deal. But boy did things change once race day finally rolled around.
My brother and a friend of mine all planned to race, those two doing the sprint and me doing the Olympic, and when we woke up that morning, we weren't to happy with what we saw outside and on the radar for the day coming up. Rain. Rain. And more rain. The ground was already soaked, as well as the roads. So we packed up anyway and got some rain gear set so we could try to keep stuff dry as we were out on the course and coming back into transition.
The drive over to the course we got hit with a few hard splashes of rain that made us even more apprehensive. Mostly about the bike, mind you. Swimming in the rain doesn't change anything, and running isn't bad either. I acutally kind of like it sometimes. However, when we got to transition to check-in and get setup, things were clearing and there was no more rain. Transition was wet, but it was ok. Just meant we had to be careful running through to not slip on the grass.
About 6:15 we all headed down for some swim warmup in the small quarry where the race was being held. I swam about 200m or so to loosen up and stretch out. I felt pretty good. having had limited amount of time out in open water this season, I was anxious to get started. I felt comfortable and relaxed in my wetsuit. So I got back up on shore and waited for all the srint distance waves to go. Which seemed opposite of normal, but since the Olympic distance race was a 3-lap course, the race director made a good decision to have the Olympic go later to not over crowd the small swim course.
After watching my friend and brother get out of the water, I made my way over to the start with the other Elite athletes. Yes, I signed up for the Elite wave. For a few reasons. One, I really wanted to push myself. In the swim I wanted clean water and feet to try to draft off of. I knew I'd be towards the tail end. Especially in the Elite wave of the swim group. Another was to be the first wave and get back to work as soon as I could once the race was over. And finally to be out on the bike course with less people to worry about passing. Also, I'm pretty fast. Not quite podium fast, but we're getting there!
So the gun went off for the swim, and the elite wave was off. A guy who frequents the shop was in the elite wave as well and we were side by side for the first few hundred meters until I saw the first turn buoy. I pushed a little to clear space so we wouldn't be on top of each other at the turn and we'd have the shortest routes possible around it. I like him, so I figured I don't want to chop up his rhythm if I didn't have to. And he's bigger than me, so I was thinking he'd just swim over me if he really wanted to.
I caught some feet coming off the buoy and tried to draft them in. I was able to hold on until about 50m left in the first lap. I let them go and worked my way in solo. Got up out of the water, did my turn around the tree (which was the indicator to go around with the timing pad to track each lap), and was back in. I was feeling so good that I sprinted around the tree and back in the water. Then I realized how quickly running in water zaps my energy, so I was a little out of breath for the first 50m of lap 2. A mistake I wouldn't make for lap 3. Lap 2 went well, too. I had some good clean water to swim in and started to catch some of the alter waves that had gone off while I was out on the first lap. It felt good not being passed by anyone and to do the passing. Then on lap 3 I pushed pretty hard and got up and out quickly into transition.
Swim Time: 26:50/1,500m (1:38/100yd, 1:47/100m) Pretty good for me
Transition one was fun. I got out of the water and to my bike pretty quick. Looked at my aero helmet which I had set upside down on my bars and saw a puddle of water in it. Great. I dumped it quick and reached for my shoes. My socks were soaked, so I said forget it. Oh yea, I forgot to mention it started pouring during the swim. Anyway, I got my gear on, soaking wet and was off.
I had borrowed a set of Zipp 808s from the Trek Store (where I work) to see how they worked for me. I felt pretty cool just rolling up in those, let alone racing with them. The bike started out nice. Not much wind, but a little to notice with such deep rims. I thought the weather was going to clear. That changed really quick. Within the first 5 miles the rain started up again and I took off my glasses to help me see better since they were fogging up. It was a good idea at first. But after I started hitting speeds of 25mph +, I needed them on. I did a couple hills and thought I could tough it out.
The first lap of the course went well. Even without the glasses. When I hit the KOM (king of the mountain hill) I did everything I could to stay within myself and stick to my race plan and efforts. Though trying to be the fasted time up the hill plagued my mind. But I knew I wasn't the fastest biker out there by any means, so I stayed conservative and kept thinking about the hilly 10k run I had coming up.
Lap 2 of the bike course was a little smoother, even though now it had become crowded with the rest of the AG athletes. Most of which were just trying to stay upright with the pouring rain. Having a lap under my belt I was confident in the turns as well as how to handle the wheels I was on. Carbon brake pads aren't quite as reliable as aluminum/rubber. But I learned quickly hot to work them on the first few hills.
I came in nearly catching a couple other Elite guys on the bike.
Bike: 1:18:49 (19.2mph or so) Not bad for such a rainy and hilly course.
Finally, the run. I got off the bike feeling pretty good and ready to rock. My legs were turning over well and I checked my pace after about 100m and was sitting right under 7min/mi. Perfect. I'll slowly pickup as I go. Wrong. Within the first mile there are two tough hills, back to back. So my pace dropped to 7:30 on the way up, but then back down again below 7 on the way down then hit mile 1 at the bottom of the second hill. From there the rest of the course is relatively flat which works better than hills at the end. At least I think. And that was lap one... of 3.
Lap 2 I started eyeing who to pick off. I had one other Elite athlete within site so my goal was to pick him off. And I did by the middle of lap 2 and I was hoping he didn't have a kick. I also saw another Elite coming up on me ever so slowly through the first two laps as I could see him when I rounded corners. That stayed in the back of my mind as I entered lap 3.
I took the first hill conservatively and avoided letting my legs lock up. Almost stopping to walk to keep from doing that. Success. Back down the hill and I had a couple hundred meters on him still, while picking off age groupers as I went along. I pushed the 2nd hill to try to play a little mind game with him to think I was kicking early and see if he bit. I didn't notice any change, so I assumed he thought I wasn't going to hold it or he wouldn't catch me.
Right around the 1 mile left mark I started thinking about my brother Jake, who passed away nearly 2 years ago now and things just went numb and I kicked it into overdrive towards the finish. A small uphill roll and it was all downhill. BAM! My left leg turned into a brick and I instinctively reached for my GU and slammed it down. Eased up for 30 seconds and it started to come back and I was able to still finish strong.
Run: 41:47 (6:44/mi pace) Right where I wanted it. I was hoping to break 40min, but with that hilly of a course, this was definitely a victory in my eyes for myself.
The race was over as I screamed down the finishing chute and was relieved to be done. But also very happy with my efforts. I really enjoyed the race. Though not all my best times, I think it was one of my most thoughful and calculated races I have done. Especially on the bike to avoid crashing or going overboard to kill some of the hills.
I took 14th overall of about 215 in the Olympic race and was very pleased with that. I've got some improvements to make, as always, but can see where my racing mentality is going. I'm starting to feel very confident in all 3 criteria of the race, as well and being comfortable going harder in both the swim and bike. Where I usually stay a little conservative as I'm so worried about crashing out energy-wise on the run.
Looking forward to my next race!
Dave
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