I don't think I've ever won anything at a triathlon before, certainly not at a race this big, not to mention the short distances I didn' have big hopes for this race, but I managed to grab 2nd in my age group and 25th overall.
The weather held out and didn't produce any rain, in fact at times it was very sunny and felt hot.
The race featured Jarrod Shoemaker (Pro/ITU/U23 World Champion), who was just looking out over the water taking in the sights as he passed me by from the out and back run, cruising along at a 5min/mile pace.
This race for me is a big disadvantage because of the long swim. I did go into the race thinking I would try to swim hard and follow with a fast bike. I sprinted at the beginning of the swim and got into a decent pack which I held onto throughout the swim. A few times I had to sprint to stay in the paceline, which was just fine with me, since we were moving at a good pace (and I wasn't leading). I am getting better at taking a breath every four strokes on the sprint, which is helping me a lot. Also, I stop kicking to preserve the legs for later in the race. I didn't start kicking until the end, where I opened back up and sprinted in. Probably my best swim at a tri to date and felt really fresh going into T1. I had a good bike. I rode hard, but I got passed by my AG competitor at shoreline drive and I really needed to stay with him. I am kicking myself because I know I could have stayed with him - I just needed to ride harder. I could see him throughout the run, but could not reel him in, despite a hard charge the last two miles. I felt hot on the run and really didn't have a fast run, but I'll take it. I think it is all a result of the heavy training the last few weeks, with many hours on the bike. The most important race is July 22.
Some fast times the next day at the 1/2 iron race. Almost all of my team mates had PRs. My biggest AG competitor for Lake Placid (that guy from Quebec) put in some blazing splits and won the AG with no competition. It's motivating me to reanalyze what I need to do for Placid. I'm not concerned with the swim, but I need to get faster on the bike and still have a great marathon.
Anyway, a light couple of days and back to it tomorrow. Here's the splits from the race:
Swim (1mile) - 24:52, Bike (27+mile) -1:15:03, Run (10K) - 40:24, Total - 2:23:00
3 comments:
Congratulations on your AG place and top 25! Sounds like that tough training is starting to pay off.
Thanks Mark. I think I'm starting to figure this sport out.
What is going on with you? You are on FIRE!
-John
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