I drove to the race site from my parents house Sunday morning, the perks of a late race start and race day packet pickup... I didn't have to pay for a hotel. Rolled into the race site around 6:30 and had plenty of time to get packet pick-up, make sure my bike was set up and ready to roll, and warm up before the 8:30 start. A few members had some technical difficulties so I helped get their bikes fixed and ready to roll. After 20 minutes or so of warming up it was time to hit the start line.
The swim start was low key, after doing Steelhead, and then Hy-Vee the swim starts can really amp you up and get your heart racing. Even if you're FEELING calm. This was a welcome change, maybe it's from racing 3 times in the last 6 weeks, or just the smaller venue but I felt quietly confident at the start. I know I'm not a fish, but I can swim well enough to keep myself as a factor for the age group/ overall awards. The start was nice, gradual depth change, unlike Hy-Vee which was a straight drop off. I got a few dolphin dives in before getting into a elevated race pace to the first turn. The first buoy wasn't too far out, maybe 100m or so. Like most races a group of faster swimmers hit the first turn before me, it happens so frequently I didn't fret. I made a push as they passed me but to no avail, I was mostly alone. The way they set up the buoys made it hard to get good sighting done, small basketball sized buoys between the larger turn buoys make it impossible to go the line they set up for you. I decided to just swim straight to the larger buoys, they were all I could see. In what seemed way too soon I was on the final stretch. I knew this would be a fast swim time, whether accurate or not. Due to the awkward buoy placement I ended up out of the water in the top 7, I thought more people got ahead of me than that. The chaos of swim starts always make it seem like there's a stampede of swimmers passing you, no matter how many of them there actually are.
Swim: 19:32- probably 3-4 min off or 200-350 yards short.
Transition 1: The normal issues, wetsuit doesn't like my cankles. Made it out of there though! 1:22
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| Bike Elevation Profile |
Through the last 2-3 min of the swim I was already thinking about the first climb out of transition, it's a detour around the old dam overflow, short and steep and no sooner do you go up it than back down. Then you're going up and over that damn dam. My plan was to keep it calm until out of the park, which is the second steep pitch on the elevation profile. I started to put the pressure on the pedals and worked up past one of the Triclones who dominated a 17:30 swim. Just as I passed him I passed another person who would end up being the primary source of motivation throughout the rest of the race. Luckily most of the course were rolling hills where we could pick up speed down hill and maintain through the first half of the uphill. With the power meter you can see that you're really recovering even when pedaling as hard as possible downhill. You're simply not able to put the power out on steep descents, no matter the gear/cadence. Everyone I passed on the first half of the course was standing on the uphills, I tried to maintain a cadence of at least 85 RPM and didn't worry a bout getting to the top. Luckily we had two out and back sections where I could see how far back/ how far in front I was of those behind me. There were two people well ahead of me early on, I knew it would take a miracle for me to catch them. I set my sights on locking in third place, and I could see I was gaining time on fourth after just five miles into the bike.
This was one of the first races where I felt like I was RACING, mainly because it was a smaller field and we all started together. I could see where I was in relation to the others and push accordingly, I didn't worry about being at my goal watts (which I ended above anyway), I worried about burying the guy behind me! What a great feeling, to use the tools I worked so hard to build, and not worry about following the plan to a "T." Another perk of short course racing I suppose.
Through the end of the front half of the course, before the turn around to head home I focused on gaining time on people downhill, and maintaining my strength uphill. I did something I don't usually do and looked back quite a few times up the hills. I know you lose time doing this, but it was like watching a clip from Rudy, or Rocky running up those damn steps it just made me stand up and mash those damn pedals. The last turn around came around and I realized fourth had made up some time on me, I was determined to hit the hills on the way back harder up, and make up some time. I ended up putting 30-40 seconds into him in the back half of the course. This was HUGE, I wouldn't have been able to finish as well with out it (more later). I hit some high speeds down the corners and handled the bike well around some of the corners which is where I think I made most of my time back. Once we merged with the sprint race, it was great having the people to pick off on the way back to the park.
T2: Quick and slick, right through I felt comfortable and ready to run I had a good plan to execute.
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| Run Course Profile, starting from right to left (and back). |
The run is my forte, maybe not my "strength" anymore but I'm so comfortable on my feet. I fill my mind with the effort, the form, and monitoring how I feel. The first mile is ridiculous, it's steep it's long, and it hurts like hell. With the added energy from close competition I told myself FOLLOW THE PLAN, I knew he was coming but the first half of the course was mine. I took it at my pace fast but controlled. The first mile ticked off in 6:55, my breathing was calm and my form was under control. We had a slight downhill to work with through the second mile and I let my legs do their thing, upping the cadence without thinking much about it. Just before the turn around, my team mate in second said "Keep your distance." At this point I hadn't really thought about my pursuer, maybe I was a bit over confident of my lead off the bike but I wasn't necessarily concerned but ready. Just as I made my way around the turn around cone I saw him, we were basically running together for the last quarter mile or so on the downhill you see to the left of the course profile. Wow he was sneaky.
A few things happened inside my head just then, first I was worried. However brief the feeling was, it happened. One of the benefits of racing so frequently the last few weeks is that I knew what lie ahead. That feeling only stuck in my head for a fraction of a second, and then I was determined to beat him. This was MY third place, I did not pummle myself on that bike course to come out off the podium. We made our way up the hill that we had just glided down so effortlessly (now working from left to right on the course profile above). The last 5k of this course were the most technical, and tactical minutes of racing I have ever done. He made the first move up the hill, I knew the key to winning this race was being calm no matter what happened.
I remembered an article I read about Simon Whitfield, on the mind games that go on while racing. He talked about how he was at his limit completely redlining and someone came up to him contesting for the lead. (If I remember correctly, it was the olympics but I couldn't find the article) He said he did his best to hide his fatigue. After the race the other guy (who I think was Hunter Kemper) said something to the effect of I thought I could take Whitfield, then when I passed him he went with me and unzipped his top cool as a cucumber and I thought to myself this guy is here unzipping his top and I'm busting my ass to try and pass him!
This story resonated in my head as he passed me. I tied an imaginary lasso around him and never let him more than three feet away from me as we worked up the hill. I could tell he was pushing, his form was proper, knee drive strong, arms in control with no wasted movement, eyes forward never looking back or down. As I latched on to him I had my quite confidence about me, I even smiled "I love this sport" I thought. Once we crested the hill I worked the downhill, I picked up my pace sharply and accelerated. No questions about my motives here I wanted to pound his legs with the hammer that is down hill running. If you're form is off you end up doing more damage than up hills, I focused on quick touches and touching the ground underneath me never infront of me. I didn't need to look back to know he matched my acceleration, his footsteps matched mine like two metronomes. We stayed together at low 5 min/mile pace to the bottom of the hill. He took the lead back up the next hill, and held it until just before the 5.5 mile mark. On the uphill section from mile 4.25 to mile 4.75 he got a lead of about 20-30 yards. Now that doesn't seem like a lot, but when running side by side or hip to hip for the last 2 miles it seemed like he had it in the bag, and I'm sure that he thought the same. I'll be honest I almost settled for fourth, the thought crossed my mind only briefly and then I decided that I had to try. I couldn't let myself down again by settling for less, like Hy-Vee just two weeks earlier.
I began to reel him back in on the uphill from mile 5. I was smoothly navigating the competitors that we passed, hiding behind them so that he wouldn't see me if he looked back. I could tell the distance between us was decreasing, slowly, but surely. Just before the crest of the climb at mile 5.5 I passed him. I wasn't going much faster than him as I approached, but just as I went around him I kicked up the pace. We started the decent. You can see from the profile that the gradient got steeper and steeper as we went, my initial move was at about 5:30 pace. We dropped pace as we went, but he was still there with plenty of room to be a threat. Just before the descent dropped pitched downward again I made another push that honestly, I didn't think I had in me. I knew it was necessary, but I just didn't know if I could go any faster. I was just throwing my legs in front of me hoping they held under my weight barreling down this hill. We were going under 4:30 pace at this point, I hadn't run this fast since JULY. One thing between me and the finish line was a 90 degree turn that pitched downward even more. I briefly thought that my feet might slide right out from underneath me from the momentum I was carrying. We hit 3:57 pace but I had a gap, I looked back once with 150m to go and saw I had a good 5sec gap. I was so excited I couldn't feel my legs hurting any more, the turnover was still fast through the finish line but it felt easy. 3rd place, secured.
Run: 38:40
This is the feeling you chase when you race, running on pure adrenaline and pushing the limits of things you hadn't even imagined. If someone had told me at the start that I'd have to run the last mile and a half at under 5:15 min/mile pace for the podium, I'd probably melt out of my wetsuit. Or maybe not wait until the swim warm up to pee my pants. So many people say this, but it takes an experience like this to really understand it, to live the metaphor. We race to surprise ourselves, to exceed what we think is possible. For some people that's finishing, and honestly that's more daunting to me than hitting some pace. At any rate that's why we're here, to test our limits, to honor a charity, or a family member. There are so many reasons but exceeding your expectations is what the core of it all is.
I had a two hour drive back to Ames after the race and I was so happy with my heart. I wanted to race again the next weekend, twice if I could. I wanted to continue an already long season, longer... an October 70.3 maybe? I had made my mind up a 5k next weekend was just what I needed. Once I got home I shared my race story with my coach and discussed future plans. She made me realize how irrational I was being. I'd been racing every month since April, and every 2 weeks for the last month and a half. Yeah a 5k was just what the doctor ordered.
I instantly changed my mind and realized that I was being greedy, I don't want to lose what I worked so hard for this season! I want more, I want to race someone down in the last half mile, I want to float along at sub 6 pace and set new PR's, I want to set a new FTP, I want to pound my self into the dirt and get back up 5 minutes later completely satisfied with myself.
With endurance racing there are always trade offs, the want is what drives us what gets us through those long winter months. We can't have it all. Patience is more important in endurance sports than waiting for your coffee to cool. There is a trade off each time you dig deep in that pain account, your balance goes down. You have to spend it wisely, otherwise when you really need it... say during the 2013 70.3 world championships you might just overdraft.
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