It was a wet, cool race morning. I had slept well the night before and all pre-race prep had gone as planned.. While setting up transition it was literally pouring rain and everything was getting soaked, there was no way around it. I had to be set up and out of transition by 6:45 AM, my wave didn’t go off until 8:45 AM. I had two solid hours of time to kill. I tried to stay off my feet, dry, calm and hydrated but it was hard not to get anxious, sleepy, bored and generally nervous. I watched others exit the water and move on the bike before I had even started. The one thing I didn’t think about was all of the people that would be in front of me, and that I would have to pass throughout the course.
8:45 AM, after a nice warm-up physically and mentally, the gun goes off and I am in the mix. I had an aggressive start, charged hard for the first buoy, did a few dolphin dives and actually fell into a solid rhythm easily and kept my HR low. Probably one of the best starts I have ever had in any distance triathlon as I found myself in the lead pack. I was off in a good stride, calm and controlled. The water was relatively cool, clear, and calm. Time went by and I was feeling good, there were small rollers coming on shore that were pushing us slightly, so every so often I made sure to sight and keep the next buoy right on my right shoulder. I only drifted left once but quickly made it back on course.
I am not sure how we met up but I literally swam shoulder to shoulder with another swimmer the entire second half. We took turns surging the pace and the other would respond every time. We bumped and kicked the entire time but neither of us would go out of our way to get out of the others way. I think in the end it helped us both to hold a strong pace, keep a good line, move through the traffic in the water and get to the swim exit faster.
As I took my first steps on the beach I heard someone yell, “second white cap” (not true but it gave me motivation at the time)
I knew I had a 100 yard + run up the soft sand beach to T1. Again, the goal was to keep the HR as low as possible but keep moving quickly. Out of the water and up the beach in 29:37, feeling good.
Arriving in transition my HR had spiked with the run up the beach so I kept telling myself to take my time in transition, get my bike stuff, get my HR down and get going. Everything in transition was soaked from the rain. Out of T1 in 2:59, a bit long but I was organized, and my HR was in check. I was okay with it.
On the bike and ready to settle in. I immediately took down a Hammer Gel, sucked
down some water and double-checked all the essentials. The first twenty minutes or so I was a little nervous I was not going to feel good enough to pull off a nice bike split. My legs felt just okay, it was still raining, and the roads were slick and seemed to be a false flat. My average MPH wasn’t over 20 after 30 minutes and that was discouraging but I continued to press on. I had been passing tons of people right from the start and it continued.
Eventually I began to feel better and better. The road flattened and rolled while I increased my pace but I always kept my legs in check, holding back the biggest gear. Still passing people my confidence was much better because at a 7/10 P.E. my average MPH by 90 minutes was up somewhere around 21+. I just kept telling myself to be patient, hold back just a bit and separate the bike into two seventy five-minute halves. I went through half way right at 1:16 and change. I knew that at that pace and effort it would be easy to even or negative split the bike and still have running legs, I was feeling great. Constantly sipping from my Hammer Perpetuem, Gel, lots of water and a few supplements, I kept my nutrition right to plan and it was paying off in final hour. The legs were doing well and mentally I was in a good place too.
Mile 52. As I had been doing all day as a result of an 8:45 AM start time, I was passing lots of people. This time it was a large pack of people all coming down the final road. I make a quick glance back and saw there was a guy right on my wheel. Clearly drafting I gave him a headshake and tried to get him off my wheel. He stayed put, oh well. I kept riding and was quickly
approaching the big group of riders moving much slower. Just before I swung out to the left to make the pass the rider on my wheel got on it and flew past me, he turned and yelled “come on man” in other words saying, I sat on you’re wheel for a while, now get on mine and lets pass this group and ride into T2 strong. It was one of those split second decisions that seemed to just happen, but this is how I see it now. I was not happy he was on my wheel and I wanted to get back the effort, I didn’t like
the fact that he passed me (didn’t happen much all ride) and most importantly while all this was happening we were passing several people so in a way I had to swing out to the left also to get around everyone. Sure enough right as I swung out behind him, I heard the rumble of a motorcycle right behind me. At that point I knew who it was and got on my horse to try to pass him back quickly, to make a legal pass. Well, I obviously couldn’t do that quick enough because we were already going 26+ at this point. The USAT Race Official pointed at me, held up a red card and instructed me to stop at the next penalty tent. Blocking was the hall. I remember yelling back to him “what was I supposed to do?” He didn’t answer. Having no idea where the tent was I was scared I was going to miss it, and get DQ’ed. I had thought of just skipping the tent too, but then again, thoughts of DQ’ed.
I knew I was guilty but at the same time I was pissed about the whole situation. I was pissed at the other rider, I was pissed at the race for starting me behind 1800+ racers, I was pissed at the race official and I was pissed at myself for doing something so stupid. I thought my race was over at this point, after a great swim and bike.
I rode hard, but pissed into T2. I was worried I had missed the penalty tent, and again I got caught up in traffic on the final road into transition having to slow down. Finally I saw the tent right outside of transition. At least at this point I knew I wasn’t going to get DQ’ed. As I approached the tent I was yelling to the volunteer, “I just got a red card and was told to come here, what do I do?” She quickly handed me a stopwatch and told me to give it back to her when it read four minutes. Again, I was
pissed, but had to stay calm, try to relax, hydrate, stretch and make the most of my time in penalty.
I was off the bike and in Penalty Tent in 2:30:12. Standing there I had to sign and initial some paperwork. Then the volunteer pointed me to the head Race Official and asked if I wanted to talk to him. I did. I told him the situation and my concerns and he gave me some political cookie cutter answer about how the pro’s do this for money and that we can’t get in their way, he also said he appreciated the feedback and that I was calm with him and not an “asshole like most other people who get sent to the penalty tent”. Four minutes in the tent were up and I was free to go into transition at 3:34:12…Official bike split.
In transition I didn’t have to worry about keeping my HR down, as I was completely rested, although the run down to the end of the long transition area did take a minute. I already had my helmet and shoes off, I threw on my soaked socks, laced up my shoes, clipped my number belt and was off. Threw T2 and running in 2:45. Again, maybe a bit long.
My legs felt awesome. I was encouraged, but I was questioning to myself, was it from the rest or did I hold back on the bike just enough to have good legs. I guess I’ll never know. Either way I was running strong to start. But I knew my race plan was
to keep the first two miles completely in check. I had to show a lot of patience to keep these miles controlled and relatively slow even if they came easy. Through one mile and one of the bigger hills on course, I split 6:45. Oops. Mile two had to be slower or I would never hold pace the entire run. I continued to feel good; mile two was a bit slower but not much (7:07). Again I felt strong and I was okay with my first two miles being a bit fast and off plan.
Sure enough I quickly went from trying to keep my speed in check to trying to keep my speed up. Each of the first four mile-splits went up several seconds and I knew that wasn’t good (3-7:09, 4-7:22). By this time I knew I needed energy and took down my Hammer Gel and Endurolytes three miles early at mile four. A few minutes later I was able to settle into a little groove and run strong while keeping my HR in check. That was my main focus the entire run. My legs were not the issue, it was my HR that needed to be controlled, otherwise I would pop and never come down.
The two-loop course was flat to rolling with three good hills, a few downhill sections and little shade over all. By this time in the afternoon it had gotten sunny and warm. The middle few miles went something like this:
5-7:15, 6-7:47, 7-7:10, 8-7:38, 9-7:25, 10-7:07, 11-8:03, 12-7:13
My pace was hardly consistent but the hills had something to do with it. I made up some time on the downhills and recovered quickly from the up hills, but either way I was in considerable pain by the final 10k.
I was fighting a constant battle to convince myself to push through the pain and run hard at that point. A few times I caught myself running too easy, not because I had to, but because I chose to, to avoid the pain. It was a weird feeling, totally able to run hard in significant but manageable pain, but at times choosing to back off to avoid (but prolong) the pain. It happened almost unconsciously. The final few miles were a constant internal battle like that.
I pushed on through the last miles (still passing hoards of slower running people) and got a small spark of energy running down hill the final mile into the finish. I ran as hard as I could, but still having to maintain my HR the entire time. I knew if I let it spike, I would never recover and hit the wall, even this late in the race. Looking back I am sure I flirted with that line the entire run. I was also probably very dehydrated by the end, which didn’t help. I ran as hard as I could into the c
hute and crossed the line. Like they all do, it felt good to be done. I crossed the line for a run split of 1:36:15, right at 7:20 pace. Official finish time 4:45:48. My watch finish time, minus penalty, 4:41:48.
Triathlon is an individual sport. I have always known this but this particular race threw it in my face. There is a dynamic between yourself and other racers, one that is shared but still so individual. I lived that this race. I got lucky and swam with a partner who forced me to keep pace. I was greedy and tried to use the same help on the bike and got called out for it big time. And while running I ended up alone again, seemingly the only person out there pushing the run. With no one to pace with or keep up with, I ran my own miles and was forced to do it alone while playing mind games with in my head. I might as well been on a thirteen mile tempo training run.
It was an interesting day to say the least. I sure learned a lot, overcame a lot and definitely hurt a lot. And still, even counting my four-minute penalty I managed a 70.3 PR by almost five minutes, not counting the penalty almost ten minutes! Still no Clearwater spot, which was the pie in the sky goal, but that’s okay, I am happy to relinquish those spots to those in my AG going 4:20 and under…wow. I guess I’ll keep chipping away my time, try to stay out of trouble on the bike, and see what happens in Cedar Point six short weeks from now.
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