2009 SWIM 08:40 T1 0:57 BIKE 45:20 T2 1:03 RUN 21:15 TOTAL 1:17:13
Last year I remember looking out over the water and thinking about how far it looked. I swam the course the night before and it really calmed some of my fears. The distance did not look so far this time – I am amazed at how different my perspectives are a year later. I swam the course again this year and was about 2 minutes faster than last year.
I slept well the night before the race – I had almost no pre-race anxieties. I can get a little worked up prior to races but I did not feel any of the pressure for this race. I had clear cut goals – I just wanted to hammer the entire race – DON’T HOLD BACK! This is a time trial start. Robin, my closest rival, would start 40 seconds behind me – I did not want to see Robin at all!
SWIM: I jumped in the water 12 minutes after the start of the race. I picked the ‘left lane’ and just cruised through the swim. I was just using the people that I was passing to sight off of – I probably went a little too wide but the swim just clicked. I was swimming efficiently, fast and feeling good. I could have / should have pushed the swim a little faster but I was still more than 2 minutes faster than last year. I swam at my ‘one’ speed and was comfortable. When I swam the course the night before I was actually 5 seconds faster.
T1 was short and sweet with no incidences. Jumping on the bike there is a large hill immediately out of transition. I just stood up in the pedals and powered right up – no big deal. I passed a few people that were struggling. The first half of this bike course is VERY challenging. A big hill once you leave the park. Last year I dropped down to my lower crank and my highest gear and just spun up the hill – it was hard. Last year I got blown away by Mike L. and Chris – they just powered up the hill and left me in the dust. Not this time – I stood up in the cranks and took the hill – I would do that for all of the hills. I was not going to hold anything back – I was redlining the entire bike. On the down hills I was flying – there were a couple of occasions where I was spinning out – no more gears to grab. Post race I noticed that I topped out at 42 MPH! I did not let up the entire bike – I flew into transition and my legs were shaking. I was only passed twice during the bike leg – and one of them I passed back. Unfortunately one of them was in my age group.
I fumbled for a few seconds trying to get my running shoes on - I was having trouble balancing on one leg. I charged out of T2 with a goal of not letting my run pace lag. My heart rate was in zone 4 and I was not going to let it drop. I passed a couple of people early in the run and then two guys in my age group came by me – the first one had started about a minute fifteen in front of me – I had to keep him in site – the other was running much faster than me and had started after me – no hope there. The run really came down to me just trying to hang on at the intensity that I was running. I was getting hot and the run was getting hard – I am not sure why this flat 5k is so hard – it must be the hills on the bike. I ended up losing ground to both of the age group runners. Heading back up the levy with about a half mile to three quarters of a mile to go Robin comes by me. He taps me on the back and tells me to pick it up – I dig deep and try to stay on his heels. I remember that I have 40 seconds on him – with my bonky mind I think I just have to keep with in 40 seeconds of him – how wrong could I be? I NEEDED to beat him by 40 seconds. This is not going to happen. Robin finished 11 seconds ahead of me at the line for a total time of 51 seconds in front of me. However, I really appreciate Robin – he forced me to run better and harder at the end of the race – I love the competition.
I ended up meeting or almost meeting all of my goals for the race:
Swim a good race – better, faster, stronger – DONE - better by 2:12
Bike a hard race – DON’T LET UP – DONE – better by 2:21
Run a better than 7:00 minute pace – ALMOST – my watch indicated a 6:53 but race results showed a 7:03 – STILL – better by 1:11
Finish faster than last year by 5 + minutes – DONE – better by 6:05Last year I finished 36th overall - this year 24th.
Beat Robin - Not a good goal - I can only control myself - CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR – DEFEATED BY 0:51 seconds
CHEESY VIDEO - (Jodie took the photos and the video clips)
Nice work man....reaching "A" goals are good.
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