Coming off a very disappointing (and learning experience) race at Rev3 Knoxville I really wanted to put together a solid race at the first Fleet Feet Race team event of the year at Lake Guntersville Olympic Distance. Have to admit my racing confidence took a hit at Rev3 - not being on the age group or overall podium was well below expectations for the race. This was a local race so nice to not have to travel and race with alot of local tri peeps... and high expectations for a good placement :-)
Right after Rev3 I acquired a bug that has been with me since (it's dying a very slow death). Energy levels were okay for training but throat soreness and congestion have not been fun. I was also away on travel the entire week, not ideal but such is life. I got in a solid 14 hour training week after Rev3 and then we changed my race prep the week of the race - a bit more volume to keep me a little more fresh. Thursday before the race I woke up barely able to talk and a horrible cough, not good. Tried to rest as much as possible Thursday and Friday but new there was no way I was going to be 100% for Saturday's race.
Race morning: woke up with a heavy head and still a cough but feeling a bit better than Friday. Good breakfast and then off to the race site. Got transition area squared away and then off for a warm-up run - first pick-up was okay, second pick-up (whoa) heart rate spiked immediately but atleast my legs felt good. Finished up and went down for swim warm-up - good turnover but body was feeling very lethargic. Got out of the water in a coughing fit as Kristin shakes her head - know she wanted to tell me I had no business racing today :-) Took a 5 hour energy and half an EFS liquid shot, threw on the wetsuit and down to swim start.
Swim: Water temp was a nice 75 degrees. My biggest concern was keeping my cough under control during the swim. I knew I could put up a decent time since I had pre-swam the course the weekend before. We lined up and I was in the middle of the start line. BOOM!! Off to the first buoy. Pace felt good but I looked up and realized I made a tactical area with my start position which added an extra 50-100M for me compared to the guys you started on the inside. Continue to stay on pace and push up to the first turn buoy, passed a few guys and new I was out front with a few other guys. Rest of the swim was uneventful but seemed a bit long. 3rd out of the water (very pumped about this) with a time of 29:05 (What the...) After the race we found out a buoy had drifted and the course was 2000M. Whew, very good idea of where I'm at for upcoming 70.3s. Felt okay at this point... 5:30 down from 1st and 2nd place.
Bike: Grabbed my bike out of transition and I was off. I knew in advance that the bike course was a bit hilly (1200 ft of gain over 40K). Headed out of transition and heart rate immediately skyrocketed (not good). Then took a sip of my water/EFS at mile 3 and got into a coughing fit and then BLAH - lost my cookies. The coughing continued throughout the ride so just tried to "lock it up" and get it done. Headwind all the way out and at the turn I figured I was about 4-6 minutes down on the 2 lead guys so decided I needed to push the pace a bit more and try to close the gap. Chased by a few dogs at mile 11 did not help my heart rate issue. Came into T2 feeling pretty wiped out and heard rumors previously that the run course was "very tough" - well, that was an understatement. Fastest bike split of the day averaging 23 MPH. Ended putting 3:30 into the 2nd place guy, nothing into 1st place.
Run: Honestly, did not enjoy the race past this point. I didn't feel well and knew the run course was not going to be fun. The entire course was up and down every quarter mile, frickin brutal!!! Hands down the toughest run courese I've been on. I could see the 2nd place athlete headed out on the run course as I came into T2 so I knew I had a chance to catch him if I could throw down a solid run. Came out of T2 2 minutes down. Tried to get my legs the first few miles but 3 hills in a row didn't really help. I kept thinking these hills need to stop at some point. Nope, got worse. More hills on loose gravel and then rocks. I was putting a little time into 2nd place but really struggling to keep my heart rate down on the climbs. At the turn I was probably 45 seconds back. I ended up just picking a steady pacing and going hoping he would blow up on the hills. No dice. Closed another 20 seconds or so and could see 2nd place with about 1 mile to go but no flat space to really put down the hammer and close the gap and ended up losing out on second by 26 seconds. Was glad just to finish but a little disappointed that I wasn't able to run down 2nd place since I've been running quite well this season.
Overall, very very happy with 3rd overall on a tough course battling bug. Really enjoyed the local event with a bunch of friends. RD did a great job and had a good showing for this first year event. Now, time to focus on getting over this bug and getting ready 70.3 racing and Syracuse IM 70.3 on June 24th.
No comments:
Post a Comment