Devil's Challenge Triathlon - Triathlon

Swim was only 400. Didn't really want to use the wetsuit, but with the cold conditions out of the water, thought it best to stay warm beforehand. Also, race had posted water temp as 65 two days earlier, well above any air temps since then, so figured it would have dropped some.

Sandy beach for start and finish, but just enough rocks in it to make running very difficult for me. Ended up walking a lot where others could run. Started in the elite wave. Didn't want to ride around loads of people on a hillier course.

Just swam when the water was deep enough. Waves weren't big yet. Just enough to tap your head and to make you pay attention when breathing. Next to no contact from other people. Felt better swimming than I have recently. Still wish I could have gone faster.

Had a longer walk around to T1. Tried running, but paved surface was too rough. Probably should have chanced stepping out and going on the grass. Lots of people putting on extra stuff. I skipped anything extra. Only had warmer than normal socks and had taped the vent holes of my shoes. Knew the big hill was ~2.5 miles away, which would be like 5 minutes. After that it would be fine. Took a few seconds to wipe a little more dry anyway.

Bike performance was made a bit more interesting as a local bike place had put up prizes for fastest bike splits. Overall, age group, and for the exact middle. Thought I had a good chance with this as I've placed well at a number of their events before and there wouldn't be the depth today as many A races were around this time. Did recognize a few faster guys though.

Not sure where I came out of the water, but way too many in front after T1. One I knew for sure to watch was superrunner Adam Olson. He's still rather quick before the run and was already ahead of me here. Made my way out on the park road, moving along, but not pushing too much. Trying to work my way into the race more over the first 5 minutes or so instead of just hammering. Probably lost a little bike fitness this summer, have a new powermeter that seems to read just a little lower I'm getting used to, and also getting used to being so far over again on the new tri bike (vs road bike for earlier season).

Steadily picked it up some on the more open roads, getting around most of the people ahead. Picked it up a little more across the 113 road, which is about where the hill started and kept strong and steady pressure going up. Actually able to keep aero for a lot of it, but did take advantage to come out at times for a break. Some top and bottom sections weren't as steep as they looked on the map, so actual hill parts were more like 2 miles instead of 3 and rose up 400-some ft in that time. Working well, but not gut busting hard to do. Plenty of gears with the 28t on the back.

Close to the turn-around started seeing how many and who all was ahead. Saw 3 guys, with Adam being one of them. Made up some ground, but still a ways ahead. Not sure I could catch him and the first place guy. Did manage to get by one other to move into 3rd.

Was up around 40 mph for most of the downhill. Held aero for the most part. Bike handled it well with a little cross wind on the deep front wheel. I kept up pedaling with this until reaching the mid-40's. Also moved to the horns at this time, but still ducked low. A lot more people were on the other side and not all of them realize where the center of the road is without the line, or what it's like descending at these speeds. Nice little break after some faster spinning had loosened the legs up some from the climbing.

Kept the power on strong after the descent. Remembered the bike split prize and still thought I might gain ground on the first two, though I couldn't see them yet. Got onto a little longer straight away and thought I could just see Adam up ahead. Pushed a little harder as I figured the rest on the descent would help give the energy for it. Overall power was a touch lower than I had planned. Worked the last few hills, drawing him in a little closer. Couldn't find him on the winding descent into the park. Loved it with all the turns, but couldn't fully go into it with the new bike and some bumps throwing off balance occasionally.

Came up to T2 with some people cheering. Got up to my spot and saw Adam going out. No other bikes were in, and wondering what happened to the other guy.

Ended up at 308 AP/ 319 NP and thought I had a good shot at taking the split.

Keep working on staying smooth. Pedal stroke tends to get choppy at times when pushing harder. Inefficient use of energy even though power values may seem fine. Also train to hurt a little more. HR says I have more to give.

Changed quick and got out to the run. Like having the 3-sums. Very easy to get into and am running very well with them. Didn't play with the belt so much and just snapped it on. Watch had some trouble finding the signal again.

Still need tri bike shoes.

Didn't feel too bad coming off the bike, but wasn't sure how well I'd do. Knew the rest of us were going for 2nd (or 3rd yet?) as Adam is a 16:xx runner off the bike (!!!). I mostly ran off feel and hoped it would be ok. Kept checking pace to see how things were going. The more gradual downhills of this course seemed to help find my foot speed more quickly. On some of the longer sections I could see a couple guys a little ways back, but with a chance to catch up if I didn't have much today. Mostly I just really did not want to get into a sprint at the end.

Just kept going what I felt ok pushing, holding form and keeping feet like. All the repetition pace work seems to have been helping as I saw 5:xx on pretty much all of the down hill sections. And I'm leaning into things better too. At about 1.25 miles in saw the lead bike coming up the hill and Adam just behind. Think we were going the same speed and I was at 5:40. Saw no one else on the course until after the turn-around, so I really was in second. Saw the other two guys coming up behind me. Not great at guessing gap times yet, but probably just over :30?

Just kept running my game and hoping for the best. Fortunately for me (and infuriating for anyone else) is how I tend to negative split these runs like crazy as I shed the bike legs over several miles. Inside the last mile kept telling myself it was 4 minutes or so, just like some intervals I did the other day. I can hold that. Then 2 minutes. Then I could see the finish without anyone else behind. Still kept it strong because it's the finish and that's what you do. Ended up splitting within seconds of 7:00, 6:30, and 6:00.

A few seconds to catch my breath and was fine, so need to relearn how to push the run as well. Next two guys were over :30 back and ready to die. Adam ended up splitting 16:23 and won by near 4 minutes.

Keep up the run training and learn to push harder again. Wouldn't have mattered today, but might later on.

Hung around the finish for a bit with the other guys in the wave as they finished up. Some of them didn't really know what to expect on the course. The guy who had been leading and vanished actually went off course very late in the bike. I thought it was easy to see with all the cones, but those confused him and he turned in and off too early. Race puts up maps on their site and emails them, also has them posted on site, so harder to feel bad for him after taking the time to do so myself.

Got some food, liked that they had lots of cookies available. Had to wait a long time for the last biker to get in for T2 to open up. Temps were up some, but still not that warm. Breeze still there. Mostly just kept moving. Volunteers pulled out the aluminum foil space blankets. Hardly did anything for me, but kept it on to at least make them feel better. Nice to see the pro and the coach from before make their way over to see how things went.

Time ended up holding for 2nd overall and did get the fastest bike split for the $100 prize.


Love this course and will always keep this one in mind for an end of season race. Only questionable part is that chance of rain goes up some as we get into autumn around here. Couple that with the lower temps and it'll be best to wait for last minute sign-up and hope it's ok.