So as you may know, the race on Saturday was my first Olympic distance race. I'll admit I was a little worried about it. I wasn't sure how I was going to do with the longer distances and the last thing I want to do is break half way through and not be able to finish. On top of this, if I could survive an Olympic race, I knew I was at least one step closer to finishing the Patriot's Half. So I was in Lurray all by myself, which by the way is an interesting experience. Finding yourself in a place that's sort of in the middle of no where and slightly isolated by yourself with crappy cell phone reception is a very... ummm... strange experience. Well, anyways, enough about that. The night before I had a HUGE dinner. Crab salad, blue cheese burger (cooked medium of course), fries, bread, bread pudding. I'm used to pigging out the night before races and Friday night was no different. I sort of feel like if I go to bed feeling full and good, I'll wake up feeling full and good. Plus, this way there's no worry of being calorie deficient, which would be strike number 1 for a longer race.
The swim was 1500 meters in Lake Arrowhead (I don't think it's a natural lake). They had a 750 meter triangle loop and we swam 2 laps around it. I felt fine with the swim, and actually didn't do half bad. I think I was 58th out of 35o people at 29 minutes. That's OK, I guess. The bad part is that the 3 guys ahead of me in my age group all swam 22 minutes. So I was 7 minutes back before I even got on the bike. So with that being said, I'm really happy that I did so well on the swim compared to everyone else, but unfortunately feeling good doesn't win races. I think my plan from now on will be to just do some 100-200 splits on a certain time to work on keeping pace for longer distances. The best part about the swim was that I never ran out of breath and I really never thought about quitting. My horrible experience from Giant Acorn is well in the past.
After the fun in the water, the run to T1 was quite long. It was on sand, over grass, up stars and through trees. Once I made to my bike, the transition was, umm, OK. I know I've been faster. Comparatively I was 45th fastest. That's good for me, but I need to find a faster way to get on my heart rate monitor and race top when I'm soaking wet. So once all that was figured out I was out on the trail. I felt good, and knew that I had it in me to power through 25 miles of beautiful roads at the foothills of the mountains. This was the most scenic and most interesting course I've ever ridden on. It was absolutely breath taking. There were fields, mountains, old barns, rivers, hills... it was amazing. It was also very dynamic. One minute you were on a flat, then it was a massive climb (which by the way I blew by people on), then it was a huge downhill (I actually hit 45 mph at one point), then flat again. The bike course looked like a lollipop, and we did 2 laps around the outer loop. The nice part about this was the 3 mile long gradual climb on the back side of the outer loop. Man it was awesome. HAHA. Holy crap. It honestly looked flat, or even down hill a little bit. But when I was struggling to do 16 mph, and I was passing people, I got the hint really quick that it wasn't flat. The second time around it wasn't nearly as bad since I knew what to expect and had some idea how long it was supposed to last. After the second loop they had us coming back towards the lake, but... first we took a quick detour. They brought us up the steepest hill I've ever ridden on my tri bike. I've hit some comparable hills, but on my road bike. Climbing on a tri bike just isn't as smooth. OK, I will say one thing about this hill so you can get a nice friendly mental picture. I was going 8 mph, max, and I passed 4 people on this hill. I honestly thing some of the back of the pack people probably had to walk their bikes up it. It was intense and cruel in some ways as well. And on the way into T2, before the bike dismount, the really scary looking guy with the US Coast Guard uniform on with the badass bike coming in right next to me damn near smashed his face. I don't know what he did, I don't know why he did it, but out of no where I heard a loud noise and I look to my left and this guy is on his front wheel and his rear wheel is quickly coming from behind. Sort of like when you were a kid and you hit a huge hole on your Huffy and you flipped over the handle bars and you thought it was going to hurt but when you got up you were OK. Just like that, except his bike was really expensive and his feet were firmly attached to his pedals. Bad news. He must have jammed on his front break, for whatever reason. Needless to say, I was a little worried considering he was 3 or 4 feet to my left. He made to the run with out any scratches, luckily. OK, so 20th fastest bike with a time of 1:15. A little longer than I had liked, but the course was a bit hilly, so I'll take it and go with it.
T2 was fast. I got in with my bike, racked it and then put my shoes on, and for a second stopped and felt like I was forgetting something. Once my head kicked in I should be running I was out the door. For some reason, running 6 miles after all of this was a little worrisome. I wasn't sure how I'd feel at mile 4 or even at mile 2. I knew it was going to be tough. I did the smartest thing I could do. I caught up with a guy I passed on the bike at the very end, and stuck with him. The run was hilly also, but not as bad as the bike. I was able to pull out a 45 min 10K. Not too much to be said about the run. I mean, what do you want me to say? I ran.... for 6.2 miles.... I had on my running shoes? Haha. It was good times. I didn't crack and managed to pass a bunch of people too. The idea of running 13 miles is looking more and more reasonable every day.
Nutrition wise this race was great. I sucked down as much water and Heed as possible. I used 2 gels on the bike. One at mile 8, and one at mile 20. Then on the run at mile 3ish I had another one. Before the race I did the usual, bagel, banana, and Gatorade. Right before the swim I did have some shot blocks (basically gels in the form of gummies). I had enough energy to make it home, and then to VA beach, so I guess I did something right.So... here's the exciting part. For my first Olympic race, I was 40th overall. I'm very very pleased with this. I was 4th in my age group, and it's only because they beat me on the swim, I beat them all on the bike and we were fairly close on the run. Close enough that the swim is what dealt out the awards that day. The good thing, I know now exactly what I need to work on.
The beach was amazing. I didn't do anything. I did a little surfing, but other than that, I didn't do anything, except, eat sleep and lay around. It was great. OK, I did run a few times, but it was only so I could say I ran on the beach. I didn't even put on my HRM. It was great. I feel relaxed and ready to go. Honestly I'm really glad to be starting school today, because it sort of shifts my schedule back into place and hopefully I'll have some more time in the mornings to train.
Thanks for reading guys. Swimming tonight, downtown hopefully. Hope you enjoyed the report and pictures.Listening to: Nothing
Feeling: Tan
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