Sunday June 5th - It was perfect weather for a season opener, though some might call it hot. But my perfect bubble was about to take a hit right at the starting line. Both my good training buddy Karl A. and I were put in the wrong wave (a sprint wave - which started long after the last Olympic wave) so by the time we hit the water we were in for a mad game of catch up!
The bonus to early season racing is typically no seaweed which rang true today. But it was the throngs of scissor kicks I dreaded wading through. I was able to manage only being slight grazed once or twice and it was out of the water in a blisteringly so-so time for me of 24 minutes, but having caught two waves.
I was determined to pull out a steady run, which is my strongest leg of the three, so getting into a high cadence turnover as quickly as possible has become my mantra. The heat was going to be the biggest factor now. One thing with coming from behind is you are always getting energy from passing people, the down side is you feel like your going faster than you actually are. Here is where that pain threshold needs to be welcomed and overcome, a difficult task but one that if not accomplished I'll be laying in bed tonight regretting.
I'm feeling good but not quite feeling strong. Everyone's cheering me on as I pass by, "nice pace", "go get'em", "good work", but that extra gear is just not happening. I don't fight it, just keep pushing what you can and if you feel good then pick it up.
The last mile is always a welcome one for obvious reasons; food, see the family cheering me on, and of course to be done. So I pick it up enough to feel I'm tapping my reserves. Then for last 400 and I hear a good friend Matt Haugen yell "one more lap around the track - kick it in" and that's what I needed, a little slap in the back of the head.
I don't quite go into 5th gear which I'll later regret as I miss an overall place by 2 seconds but more importantly I miss third place in my age group by 20 seconds! I could have made that up easily had I just pushed it a little more on the run!!! I'll not forget that come the next race. Good effort all around and I'm happy with my time considering I didn't have anyone pushing me but myself.
Rank Swim 100yd Trn.1 Rank Bike Rate Trn.2 Rank Run Pace Finish
93 24:32 1:33 2:07 58 1:07:09 22.8 1:11 14 38:24 6:11 2:13:20
Guess what I'll be thinking about as I lay in bed tonight... 20 seconds.
Good times,
~A
