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 Swim
Comments: I lucked out and ended up starting first after a 2 minute break. The pool was clear for 2-3 lanes in front of me, so I was able to focus on good form, fast turns, and keeping the folks starting behind me in my wake. I did the first 50-100 pretty easy because I have a tendency to just bury myself early and then I'm left sucking wind. I flip turned on the standard end, but I did an open turn on the end of the lane where we went under the lane line. The whole swim was pretty uneventful, and I never felt fatigued or out of breath. Saying that, I probably should have pushed just a little harder, but I think starting off a little easy helped out in the long run. I haven't been swimming a ton lately, but the flip turns have helped me a bit. This is my fastest race time in a 300 yard swim. I still need to work on trying to get another 10-15 seconds off my 100 time, though. After climbing out of the pool I ran out the door, up the stairs, and to my bike in T1. What would you do differently?: Swim a little harder!  Transition 1
Comments: This was a PR T1 for me, but I'm still 20 seconds longer than the fastest guys. I need to look not putting on my shoes in transition and switch to putting the shoes on my bike. It is nice to just clip in and go, though.  Bike
Comments: After getting clipped in out of T1 there is a climb up to Rodgers road. I was passed right here while tooling around getting settled in. After making the turn I locked in and put the hammer down on a long downhill stretch. I passed the buy back, got up in 53x11, hunkered down, and spun out until I just had to coast down the hill. The air was cool, but it felt good, and the short break allowed me to catch my breath. After a couple of very fast downhills the road is rolling to the first turn. On one of the short, steep climbs I was passed again, but I wouldn't catch him again. I was able to keep him 50-150 feet out in front of me for the rest of the ride, though. Coming into the first turn I caught and passed the first few riders. After making a good turn I hammered out the short hill section going by the gold course. A car passed me here, but stayed behind the rider in front of me who was riding a bit out in the road (2 lane). The guys I was chasing got around him, but I was catching him fast and got worried about wasting time behind the car. In a split second decision I saw a window and dropped the hammer to pass the car on the right, swoop left, pass the other rider, and then slide back to the right. It all happened in a flash, and once the road widened the car passed and went on without issue. I made a good climb before the turn onto 98 - halfway down. Once on 98 I saw a big string of bikes about a quarter mile in front of me. The guy I was chasing was a ways out by now - maybe 150-200 feet, but he was still my carrot. I knew the big climb was coming, so I just focused on keeping my cadence up and making the legs burn. I caught the gaggle of cyclists just as I hit the bottom of the climb, so I geared down and churned a nice, fast cadence all the way up with out toasting my legs. I passed 6-8 riders here, but I was able to crest the climb feeling pretty good. As I turned onto the final road I focused on my carrot who was still ~150 feet or so in front of me. This section is slightly downhill to flat, so I was able to get in a fast rythym where I was making great time. I passed a few riders and was catching the guy in front of me. The final few uphills stunted my gains, but by the time I turned back towards T2 I was within 50 feet. I got out of my shoes quickly and made a good stop coming into T2. I was shooting to go sub 29 and was really hoping for 28, so I was pleasantly surprised when my wife told me my time. Given a true course length of 10.2 miles this was a PR pace for me. What would you do differently?: Push more watts! Transition 2
Comments: A fast T2 for me. I was able to unclip my helmet while running in, so once I racked my bike it was helmet off, shoes on, race belt and glasses on while running out. I could maybe be just a bit faster, but this was a pretty good turn for me.  Run
Comments: Although this is a hilly course I was really shooting to run sub 23 minutes given all my run training this year. Althought it would have been nice to go faster, the hills really suck away my speed. The whole first mile is pretty much uphill the whole way, but after the first turn there is a little bit of a break. I really dislike the gravel portion of this run, and this year I almost bought it running down the steep hill to the second turn. The shade is nice, but the footing is very sketcy. This is one area I wish setup would change up this race. I was feeling okay coming off the gravel, but once I grabbed some water at the aid station I felt energized, so I kicked it up a notch with the mindset of holding a stiff pace all the way to the finish. I ran down the final hill and up the chute to the finish with all I had. As I crossed the finish I was shocked to see a finish time of 57 minutes! Afterwards I was happy to have my first 22 minute tri 5K. What would you do differently?: Nothing Post race
Warm down: Walked it off for a bit, then had a few snacks at the post race food table. Once cooled off I went to put up my gear, take it back to the truck, and then wait around (shortly) for the awards. What limited your ability to perform faster: Weight and training. Event comments: This was a PR race for me, and I was happy that I went faster than I was hoping to. Coming in I was shooting to 59 minutes or better, and I thought I had a far shot to go sub 58. I was happy to win M30-34, but looking at the results it seems like luck since most of the other AG winners (20-24, 25-29, 35-39, etc) were 53-55 minutes. My run training has definitely helped, and my bike tweaks and improvements are very noticeable. Although I was over 4 minutes faster than last year (which was almost 4 minutes faster than 2011), my overall placement has remained about the same over the past 3 years - everyone else is getting faster, too!! I did miss a top 10 by a mere :30, so I'll have that as motivation for next time! This is a still a fun, challenging, local race for me. I really like the bike course, and the swim facility is top notch. I do wish Setup would scrap the gravel portion of the run, though. There's always next year! Last updated: 2013-04-11 12:00 AM
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Set Up Events
55F / 13C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 17/122
Age Group = M30-34
Age Group Rank = 1/7
As usual, I pre-staged and organized all of my gear the night before. I tweaked on my bike just a smidge to adjust by bars a bit and took the time to go over all the bolt torques. On Thursday night I switched over to the race wheel setup. I had been training since December with this race and Riverwood cicled as the races I wanted to do well at in the spring.
My #1 cheerleader and I woke up at 6am to get ready, eat, get packed into the truck, and drive to the race. Pre-race weight was 212. I had my usual oatmeal, OJ, and banana. I took 2 slices of PB toast for the road, but I ended up not eating much of it. I loaded up the truck and we left around 6:45 for the short drive to Rolesville. We got to the site a bit after 7 and parked at the bank. I collected all my gear and walked it all down to the transition area.
I picked up my packet and chip and went back to setup my transition spot. The rack seemed a little tight and it turned out there was an extra bike incorrectly racked, so it was removed. Due to my size (and seat height) I can't rack my bike normally - the seat won't go under the cross bar. Because of this I have to rack it nose first, and without being on an end spot it can be a little unstable. Trying to be fair to everyone else already there I always offer to take the innermost (worst) rack spot since it offers me an end spot. A bike was racked opposite me that was just in the way, so after looking/asking around for the owner I just scooted it down about 8-10 inches and proceeded finishing seting up my area. Once done I went to go get marked up and to grab a bottle of water for my bike bottle. I got back to finish up my transition spot and head in when I noticed a guy looking at the bike I had slid down. I asked if it was his, and he said yes. He seemed to notice the move, so I apologized and told him I had slid his bike down a bit since I like to be on the end, the rack was tight, etc., and I hoped it was ok. He said ok, but then a few seconds later asked "how many of these have you done?" I didn't quite understand what he was asking (races/this race?), so I just replied "A few". He then answers back that he wants me to know that "touching someone else's gear can result in disqualification." After letting it stew for about 2 seconds I kind of shrugged and fired back (in a bit of a tone, I'm sure) "Sorry dude, but if you want to go talk to the RD we can do it". In the end cooler heads prevailed, and my wife rode me for snapping back. I guess I was just a little edgy, and the comment caught me off guard. Later on inside we chatted before the race, and we ended up chatting after the race, shaking hands, and burying the hatchet.
After getting everything all set up in transition I headed inside to warm up in the pool. I did a few laps, stretched out well, and took one last nature break before getting in line for the start.