GRTri - Olympic Distance

Woke up to pouring rain. Lovely. Sound familiar? Same race last year, same story. A soaking rain was coming down as I sat at my computer, sending out emails that our new system for work was back on-line. Nothing like a work fire the night before/morning of a race. Not sure if that helped or hurt my race, but the distraction from the rain was welcomed. Lots of text messages flying around about the weather, where we were all meeting pre-race, and whether the race would go on. Thankfully, we were house/dog-sitting for Kristin's parents who live about 5 minutes from the transition area. Nice to be able to wait out *most* of the rain there while having breakfast and drinking coffee. I finally loaded up and headed down to the race.

Timmy and the VanderWalls each pulled in and parked right behind me, perfect timing. By the time we had our stuff out of our cars, we were already soaked. Adjusted attitude: we're going to get wet anyway, don't stress about it. We stopped at the covered bridge, dried off our arms and legs, and did some impromptu body marking for the race. Pretty cool that while we were stopped, several Michigan Awesome teammates and other friends also stopped and asked to be marked, too. Nice way to boost camaraderie before the race. We got to transition and set up our stuff. I've learned to be pretty lean with what I have in my transition space, and luckily had some good bike rack-mates who alternated directions like you're supposed to. Knowing I'd likely be one of the first ones out of the water, I stressed a little less about how little room I actually had to put my stuff down. We tried to find a dry spot for our gear bags, but with the rain it was a lost cause. Our stuff would be soaked through by the end of the morning. We socialized with the other MA athletes and headed down to the water.

My goal for the swim was simple: stay with the lead group. With the collegiate conference division, there were some fast swimmers present. It presented a great opportunity to practice swimming in a group at a fast pace. The gun went off and we flew. The first 200 meters were a scrambled, grabby, bumpy mess. By the time we settled in and sorted out, we were almost to the first turn. From there, the pace quickened and the group stretched out to single file. The course measured a little long based on GPS data, but we all had to swim the same distance. I made it in just under 22 minutes for the 1500 meters (more like 1600m). [Strava Swim]

The wetsuit peelers (great perk of this race!) were really close to the water, so there was no time to pull the suit down far enough. Thankfully they were able to adapt and efficiently pull off the wetsuits for people anyway. I took advantage and my T1 times show for it, no struggling to get the suit off around my ankles while dizzily trying to stay upright. Ran the long carpet stretch to my bike rack, quickly got my shoes and helmet on, and off I went.

The ride started reasonably well. It was still sprinkling, so the visor on my helmet had to stay up. Typically I like to have some sort of eye protection, but I'd survive. A few miles in Todd Kennedy (a super fast guy) rolled past me. He was racing the aquabike due to an injury. Before I could clear the draft zone, I heard the one noise that's just dreadful on the bike: "ppppfffffffsssssssssssssssttttttt". I quickly looked down, hoping it wasn't me. Guess I was lucky, it was Todd. Sorry for the bad luck! You can't do much to help your competitors, but I wanted to make sure he had what he needed. From then on, it was pretty quiet, just focusing on keeping my head down and dodging potholes. Finally, the Jimi Minnema rocket rolled by. I managed to hold him off for the first 11 miles, not bad! From the turnaround on, it was just hammer down and try not to get caught by anyone else. I would make it, with a 23.5mph split. Not bad given the conditions!

T2 was quick. Off the bike, run to the rack, socks on, shoes on, and grab everything else. That can get put on/consumed while running. I shot out of T2 with a Berry Blast PowerGel in my had and targeted a 6:20/mi average.

That target average started to fade around 2 miles. I was not feeling it, too much standing around pre-race, maybe the work stress, definitely swimming way too fast. A couple guys blew by me like I was walking. Turns out one was a relay and the other was a collegiate racer. At that point, I figured I was still top in the 30-34 AG and fought to keep it that way. The next few miles went slowly, and I adjusted my goal to nothing slower than 6:50/mi. Shortly after the run, I saw PowerBar rep Ryan Guiliano just ripping it on the half-iron run. He was seconds from taking over the lead and wouldn't turn back. Crazy fast! With 2 miles to go, I put my head down and just suffered to the end. Finally the last stretch to the finish chute was upon me, and I strained to smile as I crossed the line.

My HR would end up being over 165 average for over 2 hours, quite the high rate for me. Something to learn from as Ironman Wisconsin approaches: I have to keep my HR down on the swim. There's two ways to do that: swim harder in training and/or swim easier on race day. Taking that insight, I'll be applying that to the remaining training days!

"PowerBar Ryan" would end up winning the half and looking no worse for wear. 4:02 total time and he "jogged in" a 1:14 half marathon at the end. Congrats, Ryan, you're an inspiration! Hope you come back next year and repeat the clinic of a race you put on! Mama Hoogs also had a good race despite ear issues.




Overall, I'd end up 10th (9th if you exclude the relay that beat me), 1st in the 30-34 age group! Very happy to represent Michigan Awesome and PowerBar so well. Thanks as well to Kristin, who despite me not noticing she wasn't there until the finish, still comes out and cheers me on in the crappy weather. Turns out she was searching for Sully, who decided he wanted to try to find me at the race. She'd spent 2 hours running around in the rain looking for him. Thankfully, a nice family had taken him in from the storm and flagged her down. We returned after the race to personally thank them again and give them a gift card to a fro-yo place. So nice of them and we're glad Sully was safe!

Reeds Lake Triathlon Race Report

The final triathlon of the season already? Seems like summer just started. I was really excited to finally throw my hat into the ring on this race. The previous 3 years had been missed due to Ironman Wisconsin and I was ready to race some of the best in West Michigan.

Packed up my stuff, had my usual pre-race breakfast (Oatmeal Raisin PowerBar, banana, coffee), and headed down to the race. Kristin was kind enough to drop me off, and with only being 4 miles away, she was able to go back home and sleep more. Win.

After struggling to get my bike number on, I got set up in transition. Snagged a spot on the close end of the bike rack and was set to go for quick transitions. Strolled down to the swim start and got ready. About 3 minutes before, I realized I still had my wedding ring on. Too late, I'd have to be careful in the swim to make sure it didn't slide off in the colder water.

Photo Credit to Stellafly!

The swim went well. I failed to seed myself in the fast wave, so we got to swim through the two slower waves ahead of us. Thankfully they were small waves, but not being seeded meant more of a race against the clock than against the fast guys in our age group. Lesson learned. I was one of the first out of the water in my wave, ran up the hill to T1, and was out on the bike in no time. [Strava Swim]

This was my first time doing this race, and I was excited to slay the rolling hills on the bike course. The route goes down Fulton, which is typically a raceway of a divided highway, but the inner lanes are closed and you get to fly down without worrying (as much) about the cars that would normally be flying by at supersonic speeds. I took off onto the bike which winds around the the South and East sides of Reeds Lake before spilling onto Fulton. With relatively calm winds, it was fast riding. In no time, I was already to the turn around and on my way back. Kept the effort steady and strong on the way back and was back to T2, ready to run. Loving the new bike! [Strava Bike]

T2 was pretty quick, and off on the run. The run was lonely, not starting in the elite wave meant that I was off the front and running alone. This made keeping the tempo up was more mentally challenging, but with this being the last race of the year I was eager to put down one last solid effort. I passed through 5k just under 20 minutes, a solid pace. With another 2 miles to go, I focused on keeping my turnover up and my stride long, arms pumping. I finally started catching people from other waves, which gave me a clear boost: my last mile was the fastest of the 4.9! Across the finish line and season over, what a great race to end the year.  [Strava Run]

Photo Credit to Stellafly!

I would end up in 3rd place for 30-34 AG and 13th overall! Thanks again to Michigan Awesome and the team for all of the support and camaraderie, to PowerBar for providing the best nutrition, and to Kristin for her tireless ironmate support! It was a great year, looking forward to building on this next year...until then, keep dreaming!

Bear Lake Sprint Tri Race Report

Last weekend brought the first race of the 2015 season, after the long winter months of training I was ready to get this one done!

After waiting in line for packet-pickup, I finally was able to get into transition with 5 minutes to spare. I rushed to get my stuff ready, while negotiating with those around me who had their bikes racked incorrectly and their stuff splayed all-over. Thankfully, the sprint was the first wave and I knew I'd be one of the first out of the water. That meant I could avoid the chaos that typically comes with this territory. I had recollections of last year when I had to carry my bike over a couple bikes that some racers decided to just leave laying on the ground. Good times!

I mowed down a PB&J PowerBar and we headed down to the lake for a warm-up swim. The cold was a bit shocking on your face but tolerable. Back to the beach for the start, and off we went. After the first buoy, I was in 2nd and quickly making up time on first. I made the decision to sit in and draft vs. taking the lead, which helped me have more gas for the rest of the race. [swim GPS data here]

Out of the water in 2nd and out of transition in 2nd, but pulled ahead as two others struggled with their bike shoes. The lead didn't last very long, and the race turned into chasing and being chased. I focused on keeping my head down to stay aerodynamic, ignored my legs telling my brain that the pace wasn't sustainable, and pushed forward. Over Blockhouse hill I just spun up, and once crested put in some solid pedal strokes to get my speed back up. On the way back down the second time, I hit 44+ mph. Definitely made up time there, but not enough. More hammering on the way back, limiting the damage to about 90 seconds. Still a lot over 20k, but a big improvement from previous years. [bike GPS here]

Into T2, the assistant race director tried to send me back out on my bike. I'm pretty sure I look like I know what I am doing, but maybe not? I threw on my Sacuony A6s and flew out of T2. Kristin was right there with a split for me, what an awesome ironmate! "90 seconds down in 2nd place, just have a good run and enjoy" she said. Ha! I've seen bigger implosions on the run than that, so I took off gunning for it.

After a half mile at an unsustainable pace and seemingly no progress on the gap, I pulled back a little. I didn't want to give 3rd place a shot at me, so set the goal to hold 6:20/mi or better. I got lots of cheers from the Michigan Awesome team, great to be racing with them again! Also, thanks to Jimi Minnema for the personal shout out, congrats on your Oly win! I would end up pulling about 20 more seconds back on the run and was glad I kept pushing. The 3rd place guy was putting time on me, too. Always nice to bag a sub 20' 5k on your first race of the season. Second overall and in the money (albeit not enough to cover the entry fee, but that's not why I race!) [run GPS here]

Overall, a great race. We would end up talking with Kyle, overall winner, for a while during the 3 hour wait for awards. He and his girlfriend were very friendly, hopefully we get to rematch at TC tri in August! Thanks to Michigan Awesome, PowerBar, and Kristin for all of their support.

One last thing: a cool Strava feature is the FlyBys, where you can view other Strava users' activity nearby yours. It is fun to watch the race play out over the course of a few seconds. Just click on FlyBys under the title of the activity. Here's the flyby for the bike leg.

Traverse City Triathlon (Bowers Harbor, MI) - My first OVERALL WIN!!!

Okay, so I already ruined the surprise ending, but I've been racing triathlons for 8 years and I finally won one! Kristin and I mulled over going to this race, another weekend out of town right after Milwaukee and Kristin to Washington D.C. But, after some unfortunate tire issues on Kristin's car, we packed up mine and headed north. After meeting the Ashworths and the VanderWalls for dinner, we settled in at the hotel and "unpacked" for what would be a quick stay. Kristin ran over to Culvers and got us ice cream, it was great. I scrutinized the need for an entire pint, but after housing more than my fair share, I was glad she got it. It was a stressful day, we needed to splurge a bit!

The alarm came early. We made a split second decision to chance having time to come back after the race (thankfully!), leaving most of our stuff in the room. The breakfast was great (both before the race and after!). We made it to Bowers Harbor with plenty of time and I quickly setup. Kristin took off running, which was great because it was cold and she wanted to get her miles in.

We hit the water a few minutes before the start to discover that it was pretty
cold. There were a few guys in speedos, kudos to them. The horn went off and everyone took off. I played it smart and paced myself, found some open water, and just cruised through. For yet another race, Timmy and I came out of the water right next to each other after not intentionally doing so. Not a bad swim. [Strava GPS file]

T1 was a bit tough, I was cold and a little dizzy from the swim. Once I had my wetsuit off, it was pretty quick out. Struggled with clipping in my shoes out the gate, but thankfully that wouldn't come back to haunt me.

The bike was a chance to see how the new bike climbed. With over 500' of vertical in 12.4 miles, it is a pretty hilly course. I set off and claimed the lead after a couple miles. As soon as I had done so, we turned a corner and started uphill. I made a rash decision to downshift on my front chainring, did so too quickly, and my chain dropped. My attempt to get it back on without stopping was unsuccessful, so I hopped off to remedy the situation. I discovered that my chain had wrapped around the speedfin/brake bolt underneath, hence not being able to shift it back on to the chainring. After what seemed like minutes (probably only 30 seconds), I had the chain back on. Unfortunately, I had lost the lead again and would need to make up precious time. Timmy is a faster runner and I needed to build a decent buffer against him, and other fast runners in the field. I quickly pulled the lead back and rode with a vengeance. Into T2 in the lead, but with Olympic athletes ahead of me, I wasn't 100% certain. [Strava GPS file]

T2 was fast. Happy that I managed to get out in under 40 seconds. Thankfully after proactively, yet harshly, asking random people standing in the way of the bike rack to move (they didn't appear to be racing so I don't know what they were doing?), I had a clear shot and was on my way.

Out on to the run course, it was time to find out if my extra effort on the bike would help or hurt me. I settled into a rhythm and was happy to see less than 6:30/mi pace. My heart rate was reasonable to boot, so I pressed on. There's one out-and-back section on which to gauge your competitors. Initially, it appeared I had about 45 seconds with a [Michigan Awesome] teammate charging hard. This kept me honest and driving forward. The run course winds through a nature trail featuring not less than 3 downed trees and winding, sandy singletrack. Nice touch, thankfully I knew this ahead of time. From here out it was running scared, waiting for footsteps. When I hit mile three, I couldn't see anyone behind me. I opened up my stride anyway and pushed to the finish. With little pomp and circumstance, I crossed the line in first! About 30 seconds later, and within 2 minutes, a bunch of athletes and teammates finished.  [Strava GPS file]

It was fun to win overall. We love the TC area and this was a great race. Nice morale boost after a rough/tough race at AG Nationals. Put it on the list for next year. We hauled back to the hotel, showered, and back up to collect awards. This time, with a little more gusto, I was announced as the winner by name. I was also mentioned in the news that evening, though Timmy still takes that title after having won and been interviewed at last year's race! Here's the link to the news page, and a mention by the TC Record Eagle.

A huge thanks to Kristin for supporting me one last time this year. To [Michigan Awesome] and PowerBar, thanks for the support as well! One more race this triathlon season, Reeds Lake. Hope to see you there.  Keep dreaming!

USAT AG National Championships - Olympic Distance

Last weekend brought us to Milwaukee, WI for the 2014 USAT Age Group National Championships. Timmy and Molly so graciously offered to drive us as Timmy was also racing and we had arranged to share a condo close to the race site. It may have been that Timmy didn't want his bike to have to ride on the outside of the car if I drove...but it was appreciated nonetheless!

We headed to WI Friday morning in order to make it to the race site for packet pick-up and mandatory bike check-in. Relatively smooth sailing thanks to a borrowed iPass (thanks Mom and Dad!). Everything with the race venue was easy and quick, and we were on our way to get situated at the condo in no time. The condo was stunning, we had views of Lake Michigan, immaculate decorations, and convenient location. We would end up walking everywhere. We all met up with my folks for dinner and had a few beers to unwind/calm the pre-race nerves. I was especially nervous with having ridden in the car for a long time with a race the next day. Seems that when that happens I always have issues with cramps and can't finish (Riverbank 2013, Hoogie Birthday Brick, etc.). Thankfully, with some ART and careful foam rolling, I managed to avoid any issues. Thanks to Dr. Ronda at Dynamic Family Chiropractic in Grandville, MI for the treatment!

Race morning came quickly. We had to go down to transition to set up the rest of our gear, look over our bikes, etc. before 7:30, but didn't race until 9:30. So Timmy and I walked back to the condo again. Pre-race breakfast was usual: banana, coffee, and a PowerBar. We applied our race numbers which were in the form of temporary tattoos. Kind of a nice perk of such a big race, except we didn't bring baby oil to help remove them afterwards. I still have some marking left. We headed back to the race venue, this time to race.

We geared up for the swim and wished fellow GH alum, Anne Clancy, good luck, and walked down to the swim start. A few minutes to warm up and make sure my wetsuit was situated and into the starting pen. Once the gun went off it was clear what kind of talent had come to race. Usually Tim and I are straight off the front, this time it felt like I was going backwards. Here's where I made my first mistake of the day: I tried to keep up with the chaos. As a result, spiked my heart rate. Even at the Olympic distance that seems to be an issue as I hadn't trained with such a high heart rate for that long. I settled down as well as I could, tried to find some open water to swim but it was chaos. Guys were criss-crossing all over, it felt more like water polo than a triathlon swim. Thankfully that could be handled. When I stepped up the ramp out of the water, I looked up to see Timmy a step in front of me. Crazy, after not knowing where he was for 22 minutes, we are right together. [strava file]

While running into T1, I switched my watch to biking and noticed my heart rate was 174. This was after trying to swim easy. I slowed to a jog to catch my breath. Finding my bike was easy, since Tim was racked literally right next to me. We were assigned race numbers 1 apart from each other. I grabbed my gear as quickly as possible and ran off with my bike. One thing I need to master is the flying mount, where your shoes are already attached to your bike. This would probably save 30 seconds or so.

On to the bike, it was evident that the course was going to be fast (and that my new bike was fast!). On the first uphill stretch I was still rolling over 20mph. On way back the speeds were pushing 30mph! I hammered pretty hard but tried to keep my heart rate under 170. It was still too high for what I had trained with, but there was hope that I could remediate the earlier spike. The course was pretty bumpy (every seam in the concrete rattled your bottles, windy (there were times I had to get out of the aero bars just to keep things going straight), but scenic (lots of Lake Michigan views). Didn't see much drafting, which was good. Heading back into T2 I tried to pull back on the effort but I spent too much pushing the pace. A quick flying dismount (leaving shoes on the bike), and into T2. My bike split would end up being a PR by a LONG shot. 24mph average, covering the 24.8 miles in 1:02! [strava file]

The run into T2 was a struggle. I could tell that on the new bike that I use my hamstrings far more than I am used to. It was going to be a rough run. I managed to get out of T2 in a respectable time and headed out on to the run. Usually I would soak up the spectator support but this time I was grumpy and hurting. I'm bummed about that.

The run course is pretty great. Lots of Lake Michigan views and very flat. I enjoyed the first 1.5 miles. Then things derailed. I took my PowerGel at mile 1, hoping to get a boost. But it wasn't nutrition or energy levels. My heart rate was seemingly maxed out and I couldn't catch my breath. It was clear that I would have to struggle to finish. After seeing Kristin the second time, I said "this hurts like hell!", to which she said something like "don't tell me that!" and "stay strong!". I walked the next aid station, thinking that I might be able to catch my breath and recover a bit. It helped for a moment, but soon I was back to max. I held onto a 7 min/mi average to the turnaround at 4 miles, but from there to the finish it was one streetlight to the next. My mental strength was gone. I kept thinking about how far we came for this race, that it was only X number of minutes left, but never have I fought the will to give up so much. I finally saw the finish straight and tried to pick up speed, smile down the chute, and cross the line. The 44 minute 10k was one of my slowest, if not my slowest, in an Olympic distance race. [strava file]

One disappointing of note about the race itself, which was very well run otherwise, was the post-race athlete food. Bean salad, cold pulled pork and cold corn on the cob are not what I want after slaying myself for 2+ hours. Oh well, there were lots of great food options in town and we'd sample many as we strolled around that afternoon, enjoying local beers and as many patios as we could find!

In all, it was a good weekend. I learned a lot about execution and focusing on a race plan. Clearly I went out too hard and paid for it later on. I have a couple more races this season to perfect the race strategy and execution: Traverse City Tri - 8/17 and Reeds Lake Tri - 9/6 in East Grand Rapids. I can't wait!

A special thanks again to Tim and Molly, to Kristin for her endless ironmate support, my folks for the iPass and the support (my mom had a PR race, too, congrats!!!), and to PowerBar for fueling the journey.

Keep dreaming!

Tri del Sol Race Report

A little late, but better late than never!

This was my first time racing TDS, located at Camp Manitou-Lin  in Middleville, MI. Overall, the experience was pretty good. I was looking forward to getting in the mix with the local talent and trying out a new race.

Race morning was per usual, coffee, Oatmeal Raisin PowerBar, and a banana. Off to the race.

When we arrived, we were a little thrown off. This was not your typical race venue, lots of sandy gravel driveways to walk down. It was a typical camp setting. Some of said sand and gravel stuck to the wet tires on my bike, which I had to wipe off by hand as I forgot my towel for transition. It was layered on so thick that my wheels would not spin very well as they were now rubbing against my bike frame. Small issue, but always interesting to see what new kinks get thrown at you after years of racing.



The swim course was not very well explained, but the lake was warm, smooth, and clear. Pretty nice. I finally felt comfortable in my Roka Maverick wetsuit. Despite skipping swim sessions for the better part of 5 weeks, I had a great swim. I did almost swim into the dock at the swim exit, as the buoys from the camp funneled you into it. The swim was well short of 1500m, probably 300-400 yards worth, so the times are misleading.

Out of the water as one of the lead athletes and on to the bike as quickly as possible. I got into a rhythm fairly early on, but my legs were screaming. I knew the front half of the race was set on a gradual uphill, followed by one "big" climb. Hills have started to become a strength, but I was not feeling confident. Doubts come easy and often, especially when you are on the road by yourself for an hour. Finally I caught one of the faster swimmers and snapped out of the mental funk I had just been in. Full-gas into the finish as the course merged back in with the Sprint distance race. It became clear as we approached the end that the bike would also be short, by about 1.5 miles. I passed a fellow [Michigan Awesome] teammate (nice racing, Ross!), a MSU Tri Team athlete, and rolled into transition in 3rd place overall. Not bad considering Alex (Cat 1 road racer), and Jimi (pro triathlete) were the two ahead of me. It would turn out that I had the third fastest bike split to the same two. Very happy with that!

T2 was a blur, I remember not drinking enough on the bike so I ripped my bottle off and took a huge pull from it. Bad planning, but with all of the sprint athletes on the bike course I didn't want to risk getting tangled up. Out of T2 in 3rd.

On to the run, I got passed by Sparty (Todd B.) about 10 steps in. He was flying. I pushed hard through the first miles, legs screaming. Once we turned from the sprint course it was very lonely, and the short steep hills did nothing but damage to my pace. About 1/2 mile from the turnaround I saw the leaders fly by the other direction. I was quickly warned that there was a rapidly approaching competitor. I tried to pick up the pace but it was clear that was only going to delay the inevitable. He was running sub-6 min/mi. I was barely running sub-7. After shout-outs to Ross, Timmy, Taylor, and Kevin on the way back, we were back onto the Sprint course. I pushed it home and again realized the course was going to be short. Instead of 6.2mi, we ended up with 5.95mi. Still pretty fast running though, especially given the hills and trail running (a few bloodied athletes along the way!). I cruised into the finish in 5th overall, 2nd in my AG (though we raced 25-29 due to lack of age-up rule).

Despite the all-around short course, it was a good experience. I had a great bike split and finally felt comfortable in my new wetsuit!

A local group, Stellafly, took some awesome pictures. Credit to them for most of the images used here. Thanks to Powerbar, Michigan Awesome, and my lovely ironmate (and now WIFE) Kristin for the support!

On to USAT Age Group Nationals in Milwaukee on August 9th. Keep dreaming!

Grand Rapids Tri 70.3/USAT Long-course Nationals

How lucky are you when the USAT selects a home-town race to be the national championships and ITU world championship qualifier? Pretty lucky.

A busy pre-race week meant not a lot of recovery and rest, but I made the most of the downtime and wore my NormaTec "space boots" as much as possible. I snuck a few easy workouts in, including a couple swims, and felt ready to go. On Thursday evening, I took my TT bike out for a couple sharp efforts. A mile from home, I snapped the internally routed cable that shifts the front gears. Luckily my LBS, Village Bike, was still open. I've been spending some time there lately with a few mechanical issues and they remembered my name, and that I had this big race coming up on Sunday. The guys were quick to open up the head mechanic's schedule so he could get it fixed on Friday, giving me a day of cushion. Thanks again, guys! Packet pickup at Amway was a breeze. Great organization.

I also ordered a set of Reynolds 81 clincher wheels from Nashbar. They were over 50% off with an additional 15% off, and through eBates, a 3.5% rebate. Pretty solid deal! Of course, I then paid for rush shipping so I could break them in at the race on Sunday. Thanks to Timmy, I had some solid tips on valve extenders and was able to get the wheels set up and tried out before the race. If you are working with deep wheels and need some pointers, check out http://www.slowtwitch.com/Tech/Valve_Extender_How-To_3007.html.

On to the race...

Woke up to pouring rain. Lovely. Had coffee, grabbed my transition bag and a rain coat, and headed out for the race with my ironmate. We got about a block from the athlete drop-off before giving up and parking. I pulled my gear out and rode my bike to transition (with my helmet on). Set up in transition was interesting with the rain. Everything except for my running shoes would be soaked (I only had 1 plastic bag), but since I would be wet from the swim it didn't really matter. We didn't have a ton of time before the race, but a bunch of [Michigan Awesome] teammates had gathered while we were putting on our wetsuits. It was cool to chat with them a bit.

Nutrition - pre-race: Oatmeal raisin PowerBar, banana; bike: 4 PowerGels mixed in 40oz of water; run: 3 PowerGels (could have used a 4th). For those of you who race triathlons and don't already do this - gels mix in water very well, especially the PowerBar ones. You get all of the benefit of the gel without the hassle of opening it while biking, and can meter the intake vs. committing to an entire gel at once.

Swim - I actually had my goggles with me at the start. I didn't intend on using them but accidentally grabbed them. I looked for Kristin but couldn't find her through the crowd of neoprene clad athletes. So I wore them. and disliked it. I did a horrible job sighting. It was a pretty calm and relaxed swim otherwise, which would pay dividends later in the race. Ironically, Tim and I would pop out of the water at the exact same time, just over 30 minutes. The race results counted the time spent with the wetsuit "peelers" in the swim, so my T1 looks fast and my swim looks [very] slow for me. [Strava Swim]

T1 - fast due to the strippe...I mean "peelers". Long run in bike shoes, but thankfully a local carpet store sponsored the race with a lot of outdoor carpet and it was a little less of an annoyance.

Bike - time to try out the new wheels! The roads were wet but it had stopped raining. I had intentions of averaging 22.4mph, which would split a 2:30 for the bike. The first 5 miles clicked off well above that yet my heart rate was well below my limit. The course is pancake flat with the exception of 3-5 miles of hills on the out and back, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. 5 more fast miles, and another. Hit the hills and cruised right on through. We quickly got to the turn around (the 2-3 guys who were about 1 minute apart, not drafting!) and had a chance to count how many people were ahead. I was sitting in the top 20 for my wave. Pretty solid. Halfway split was well under 1:15. My fear was that we were getting pushed by a tailwind and that it would be a battle getting back. Aside from the 5 or so miles back North, the wind was calm. The roads started to dry and my average speed kept increasing. I flew past the Olympic distance turn around and started passing a lot of people, and knew I was almost done. The last 5 miles to T2 were tough as my legs started to tighten up. I kept standing up on the small downhills to stretch out, which seemed to help. Average speed: 23.3mph. Best bike split by a long shot. [Strava Bike]

T2 - Pretty quick other than putting dry socks on wet feet...I also paused to stretch out, then was on my way. Jokingly, I had talked to Timmy about being into T2 under 3 hours, yet here I was, OUT of T2 in under 3 hours!

Run - Here's where the mental games begin. I knew I could PR with a 1:44 half marathon. That would have been a success. But I was having the race of my life and wanted to go for it. Decided that I would try to go out and hold 7 minute miles for as long as I could. That would put me in spitting distance of going sub 4:30, which I wouldn't have fathomed being possible. I guess I didn't set my goals high enough, I had originally targeted sub 4:40. The first few miles ticked off pretty quickly. Then the hills started. I managed keep my average where I wanted but the two hills on the first lap sapped my legs pretty hard. I could feel my stride shortening (more than it already is). At the end of the first lap I had my average, but the splits would start to slow from there as I went back over the hills. Finally, I was on my way back in the final 3 miles. Pushing the tempo to try to close quickly and get close to 4:30, but my legs wouldn't go any faster. It was cool to see all of the [Michigan Awesome] team out on course, cheering each other on as we passed. I closed with a 7:22 mile for an official 7:08/mi pace, a half-marathon PR in the 1:33s! [Strava Run]

When I crossed the finish line, I was ecstatic to see and a finish time of 4:32:29! Woah! An 11 minute PR and a spot to represent Team USA at ITU World Championships in Sweden next summer! This is arguably was the best race of my life. The disciplined efforts over the last 2 years have really paid off, stoking the fire that is the Kona dream.

Thanks again to [Michigan Awesome], PowerBar, my friends, family, Kristin, all of the volunteers and spectators for making such a great race possible. Keep Dreaming!