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 Swim
Comments: Almost immediately after the start, I just didn't feel 'right'. I had an extremely hard time getting into a good rhythm. I just didn't have any focus whatsoever, and found myself repeatedly stopping to calm myself down. I'm not sure what the problem was - I just couldn't get my stroke, breathing, and mind in synch. Maybe it was the altitude (3000 ft), maybe it was my relaxed approach, or maybe I was just having a bad physcial day. Before I knew it, the rest of my wave was way out in front and I was back with the stragglers. It seemed like the 'race' part of my day was already over 15 minutes in. As I approached the first turnaround, I finally started to pull it together, but even when I did, I was going way off course. I checked the time after the first loop and saw 23 minutes - disastrous. The second loop felt much better, but I still wasn't pressing. I was still going off course, but not stopping as often. I felt like I was making much better time, but when I approached the exit, I was at 46 minutes. Dang! It wasn't much faster than the first. I was discouraged and mad at myself. What would you do differently?: Pull it together earlier, and not be afraid to push it in the water. I should have at least given chase and tried to close the gap between me and my wave.  Transition 1
Comments: I was angry with myself during the transition. I had dug myself a huge hole on the swim and was trying to regroup. I couldn't get my wetsuit off or my gloves on and my frustration with them didn't help. What would you do differently?: Calm down and move methodically. My mental state only made things worse.  Bike
Comments: Having been down the road before of having a lousy swim, the good news is that there are usually plenty of people to pass on the bike. Surprisingly, I wasn't picking people off as much as usual. I knew there was a large hill about three miles in, and I was bracing myself for it, but the folks in front of me were maintaining their position on me. I wasn't closing on people like I am used to doing. I arrived at the base of the hill. It is about a mile long, averages about 4-5% grade, and has some steeper sections to it. On paper, it doesn't look too bad. In person, it was no joke, at least to me on this particular day. Thankfully, I had switched to an 11-28 cassette for the occasion, and I benefitted from the extra gear. I ground my way to the top, but it felt harder than I was expecting. To add to my annoyance, every time I went down on my aerobars, my aerobottle was pressing either the lap or stop button on my Garmin (which I turn to the inside of my wrist on the bike so I can see it when I am down in the bars). The lap button was one thing, but at some point, the stop button was pressed, so the ride data ended up being useless. In addition, my Infinit hadn't dissolvved properly, so there was a plug of powder jammed into the bottom of my straw. I drank the Nuun that I had in the other container, and picked up some Gatorade from an aid station, but I don't think it was enough, either hydration or nutrition wise. The rest of the way on the out was uneventful aside from seeing Sterling on his way back. The road was very bumpy at times, and I never felt like I got settled in. I think I mentally checked out after the swim and didn't have it in me to make a lot of effort chasing down the field. The bike is usually easier for me, and for some reason, I was struggling. I turned around and started back. There weren't a lot of people right in front of me to chase, and it was difficult to focus on pressing the pace. I had lost any hope of posting a good time, so I caved into 'just get through it' mode. The field was thinned out as I rolled into transition. It was a pretty course, and I seemed to have a good bit of it to myself. What would you do differently?: Mental focus, mental focus, mental focus. Transition 2
Comments: Uneventful transition, albeit a bit slow. Mentally gone, six miles ahead, and the heat was picking up. Just get through it.  Run
Comments: I'm not a good enough runner to have a strong run when my mind and motivation are failing, and this one was no exception. I started off okay, but in retrospect, the first mile was mostly downhill. Each mile felt like an eternity, and I had to walk some sections, especially on uphills. The other folks on the course were great - we were encouraging each other and trying to help one another finish the day. I saw Sterling again between miles 2 and 3. He was on his way back and only had a couple of miles to go. I was taking Gatorade at every aid station and dumping some cold water over my head. The damage was already done, but I was still trying to mitigate it. The aid stations were well stocked and well manned, and the volunteers were great. Each mile felt like a little bit of an accomplishment. I actually had my second best mile split in the final mile - be thaankful for small victories, I guess. I finally rumbled back up the hill and across the line after a very disappointing morning. What would you do differently?: Be more disciplined earlier in the race. This was an accumulation of mistakes. Post race
Warm down: I collected my medal and water bottle after saying hello to Jenna and Barkley. I saw Sterling in the finisher's area and we talked for a bit. He ended up taking third in our division. I am extremely happy for him. It was really cool to see someone from my mentor group on the podium. We got everything packed up and got ready to go back to the hotel. What limited your ability to perform faster: My mental and physical games were both off. However, I can't help but think that if I had been able to pull myself out of the tank mentally, my body may have followed. Event comments: My frustrations with my performance aside, this was a great race and a great trip. BBSC did their usual fantastic job with race organization and put on a wonderful event in a beautiful venue. Jenna, Barkley, and I had a fantastic time on this trip, which is the most important thing. The area was gorgeous and the people were all very nice to us. After a season where I did a little better with each race, I guess I was due to take a step backward and have an off day. Last updated: 2010-12-01 12:00 AM
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United States
BBSC Endurance Sports
80F / 27C
Sunny
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = Clydesdales 40+
Age Group Rank = 0/
We left for Utah early on Friday morning and drove through the morning and part of the afternoon. We arrived in St. George at around 2:00 and checked into the race when check in opened (in the process, I met Sterling, who was part of my mentor group last year) and then the hotel. We were running early, so we took some time to drive to Zion National Park and look around a bit and get some pictures. We stopped for dinner on the way back to the hotel and finally got settled in at around 8:30. That resulted in us being on the road for 12 1/2 hours the day before the race. We're glad we did it, though, because the area was really beautiful and we got to explore it a little. Trying to do it after the race on Saturday would have been too much to take on. We had been worried about Barkley being up to the trip with all of the time in the car and being out all day on Saturday, but she always travels well and surprises us. She's a trooper.
The event was starting later than normal (9:00am wave start), so we had a pretty casual time of things in the morning. We took advantage of the hotel's complimentary breakfast and hit the road. The park was only about six miles from the hotel, so we were close and made it to the site in plenty of time. The race director was kind enough to provide us with a special needs parking pass due to Barkley's advanced age and inability to walk the mile or so from regular parking to transition (and for this, we are eternally grateful), so we got to drive right to the transition area. This proximity made event day for us, since Barkley wouldn't have to walk too far, and Jenna could take her back the car for rest as needed.
I set up my transition area and still had about an hour and a half before my wave was to start, so we relaxed and took a few pictures while we waited.
I had taken a fairly relaxed approach to training prior to the race, since my higher priority races had already taken place. I had been doing total conditioning workouts in the two weeks leading up to the race and only getting occasional s/b/r workouts in. Nonetheless, I felt physically ready for a good race.
It was finally time to go down to the swim start. I found Sterling and waited with him to get into the water. When I jumped in, it felt a little chilly at first, but not too cold.