Short version:
400yd swim/14.7mile bike/4.1mile run
Swim 6:30 (last 7:15) ? 0:45 improvement
T1 2:44 (last 3:38) ? 0:54 improvement
Bike 43:35 (last 51:45) ? 8:10 improvement
T2 1:39 (last 3:12) ? 1:33 improvement
Run 53:59 (last 49:52) ? 4:09 DECLINE (lost 8:30 to stretching)
Total: 1:48:30 (last 1:55:41) ? 7:11 improvement

Bagel w/ Peanut butter + banana and diet coke

Long version:
Early up, reasonable sleep. Legs were a tiny by stiff from yesterdays 2.5hr ride + .5hr run but very quickly worked themselves out.

Regular Breakfast and morning routine.

The swim was in a quarry, which is really more like a family activity pool. Most of it is not deep and in years past there have been sections as shallow as 18?. 400y

They close Transition at 6am but race doesn?t start until 6:30 and I ?thought? I was starting at 7:30 (really 6:40). So I was running in the grass (no shoes due to Transition closed) and TRYING to make my shin cramp so I could spend time loosening it up. I knew I did not succeed, but I had no choice once I did the math and figured out 6:40, I had to bolt to get in line. Oh well? I am mad at myself for misplanning this, I should have arrived even early, so I had time to do a proper run warmup. I KNOW better I just blew it.

Gel right before start. The swim was pretty solid, I felt fine, I just went for it. I sighted properly and except for getting caught up in a few groups a few times, I was able to make good progress. I alternated run/swim in one 50ft section and ran only in another 20ft section ? HR skyrocketed every time I went vertical, so second lap I stayed down as long as I could. 6:30 time, last year 7:15. Solid.

T1 was solid, I was able to run but I was gasping for air. HR didn?t get under control until I sat to get my socks on. Time: 2:44

The bike was pretty painful at first. My legs were just trashed from yesterday, it felt like, and I felt like they were immediately filled with lactic acid they burned (2 fairly steep but short hills really early on). I just tried to spin as much as I could. HR was again spazzing. Soon enough I got to the flats and got into my max gear and let loose. The course is, overall, pretty flat. Winds were not too noticeable (around 3-5 I think) and I was in Aero and in max gear for huge chunks. I saw 23-25mph during those sections. The hills really roasted my legs. And these hills were not real hills, they were little baby hills. This was unusual, I think they were just still not fully recovered. Oh well, it?s a C race, I just tried to burn through them and keep as much speed as I could. The entire bike was like this with my legs going from a dull ache to a burning and back. I just stayed in the zone, head down, and rode. I got passed by maybe a handful, and passed untold people. Very pleased about the bike, it was a pleasant surprise. Traditionally, this race I have a bad bike. Not sure why, just do. So if today was ?BAD? I?m gonna have a spiffy season I spent probably the last 35% of the race chasing a very large guy who passed me. I couldn?t have that! I?m the only big guy passing people!!! So I spent a lot of time focusing on his back and managed to reel him in by the end with a little extra surge. 2xgel total on bike, one early one late. The only downside is my rabbit didn?t do so good on dismount and 2ft from the line he veers over into my way, I yell ?DDUUUUUUUDDDDEEEEE, NOOOOOOOO? (ok, it seemed like slowmo) and he ended up dumping his bike right in front of me. With a little luck or skill or both, I managed to miss him by a millimeter and get off my bike and ran past. He popped right up and was right behind me, so seems like no damage. Time: Time: 43:35 just over 20mph avg (I am surprised it?s this low, I expected a higher average, the darn hills..)

T2 was solid. Way better than past T2?s. I was in, out, and gone. This is rare for me, I?ve not practiced this physically, but I spent a fair amount of time mentally rehearsing it. Looks like it paid off. No stupid moves. I grabbed my ?Stick? because the primary fear for this (and any race) is what my shin is going to do to me. Time: 1:39

Run was solid for 3min, then by 5min I could barely walk so time to stretch ? at this point my foot shut down. I spent 4min trying my best and was using ?the stick? to work it out. That bought me 2min or relief. Tried again on a railing, lost another 2min stretching. Ended up that was not enough but it bought me 3min running. Tried a different tact and tried running REALLY REALLY slow? that didn?t work either. 1min more lost. Very annoyed at this point, good race getting tanked by the run. Negative thoughts. Tried to banish them, got out there. Finally got to a bridge with some railings at the perfect height around 1.5miles. I stayed for a good 3min and some REALLY painful stretches at that point. I drank. I ate another gel. Started out. That really helped, I was able to get a slow run then medium run and although it was really tight and hurt a little I could manage. Finally around 2miles the pain went away POOF. All at once. And I picked it up. A teammate of mine ran with me for ½ mile and I sent him on his way (his first race ever, I think he needed to be reminded it GAME ON time, no need to socialize). I was able to hold a very sold pace from there out through to the finish. FINALLY Aerobic was a limiter and not the shin.
Splits ?
Mile 1 - 14:12
Mile 2 ? 15:02
Mile 3 - 11:34
Mile 4.1 - 13:11 (10:38 pace)

A total estimated 0:08:30 was lost due to stretching. Arg.

Total: 1:48:30

I finished strong, but clearly had a lot left in the tank. I don?t feel I pushed nearly to my ability on the run. And mentally, I had to really work to stay upbeat because I did WORSE on the run this year than prior, when my fitness is so much stronger. Clearly, I need to work harder at solving this shin thing. Without it, I could easily have landed a 10:30-11:00/min average. That would have landed me around 44min and a 5-6min improvement. Maybe better, as I mentally was trying to regroup after mile 2.

One cool thing is Mike (xflbk432) was there to spectate and got some pictures and meet up after the race. I got to introduce him to some of the guys from my Tri club/team all of whom were decked out in our new trishirts. There was a solid showing from our group, including a couple of hardware winners.

I?m not going to tell one of my buddies that mplatzke bumped him down the ratings though! Each year this buddy has improved him time considerably. Each year he is getting FURTHER from nabbing any hardware! The winner did a crazy 1:02 or something. My buddy did a 1:14 (last year 1:19 I think) and this year he ended up 9th in AG. Ouch, rough crowd! This race is run-biased with a slightly longer run than normal (and totally flat), but it also has a pretty flat bike ? which results in fast times. Due to my bad math Mike (xflbk432) didn?t get there in time to see me start or finish the swim or start the bike, but I heard him coming in from the bike and on the run he snapped a picture. Hopefully he?ll post the pictures once he gets home. Didn?t get to meet up with mplatzke, next time though!

Overall, a good race with a bad run simple as that. Nice swim improvement was mostly tactical than swim improvement. I got off course last year. The bike was a darn solid improvement, pleased there. T1/T2 were good incremental improvements. The run was limited by the shin, the run itself- once I could run, was solid enough to be pleased.

We hung out to watch a few buds get hardware and a couple others land some raffle swag. Headed home for a nap!



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