The plan for this week was to take it easy on the training. I was planning on riding everyday into raceday while getting a couple of runs in. I got back to Conway on Tuesday evening and on Wednesday the weather was not great. For the first time in a long time, it was time to hit the trainer. I was hoping to get 1.5 hrs in, but after an hour I was ready to get to stop. I did get a good run in that morning. On Thursday, I wanted to get some speed in and decided to ride down Old Military to the Lollie Bottoms and back home. The ride would be around 25 miles with a nice flat section. I went with the race setup of wheels and bottle to get a feeling for the tri-bike since it had been a couple weeks since I've ridden it. I was happy with the ride. I did feel a little sluggish in the legs, but nothing bad. Friday I went down to LR to ride with a friend and we put in around 25 miles along the River Trail. Nothing hard and just a couple of small efforts. Finally on Saturday, I went for a 10 mile ride around the neighborhood to keep the legs loose.
The weather heading into race day looked interesting. The weather on Saturday was windy and raining in the morning with the temperatures barely reaching 65 by that afternoon. The forecast for Sunday was calling for something similar except maybe a little less rain. The pre-race plan was to go with a potluck dinner that All in Multisport was throwing. I brought some ham and turkey pinwheels. Diner offered some pasta salad, potato salad, chicken salad sandwich, some fruit, and brownies. A decent pre-race meal offering.
I was able to get bed around 9:30 for my 5:00 am wake up call. I didn't sleep all that well, maybe a little pre-race jitters. Well 5 am came and I was up and getting ready. Sure enough the rain had arrived, but looked like it would quit around 8 am. Just in time, for the bike start! Transition was mud hole from the previous race and all the rain. I setup my bike and shoes. I went to calibrate my power meter and sure enough the battery was dead! I knew I should have changed it the day before. Lesson learned!
After setup, I went somewhere to get out of the rain. I put on my wetsuit early because it was a great way to keep warm! I waited around with some people I knew and as 7:30 approached it was time to race.
Swim
This the part that always get me in a race. The format for the start was a time trail start with someone going every 3 seconds. My time came and off I went. It took me about 10 minutes to get comfortable in the water. I was telling myself to relax and just swim and by the time I got to the first turn I finally relaxed! At this point, I wasn't sure what my time would be, but I settled in and swam. I got the the finish looked at my watch and it was a 32:55. I was happy with that considering how long it took me to get comfortable.
2014 - 32:55
2012 - 37:55 non-wetsuit
2011 - 36:23 wet suit
Transition was a tough choice to put your shoes on and run through the mud or put them on on the sidewalk near the mount line. I went with putting them on in transition and washing my feet off through the giant puddle outside of transition. I would that it worked out pretty well. I carried my bike however.
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Bike
Now was the time to put the hammer down! I had been hoping to pace off power, but without that I would go back to the old standard of feel. The wind for the race was coming out of the NE. I knew the first 14 miles would be fast, so I was trying to push the pace as much as possible. When I got to the 14 mile mark to turn back north, it was slow down time. The wind was in your face for the final 10 miles. I was pushing around 23 mph and then at the turn, it was down to 18/19/20. I was working to keep those speeds. The only thing about the bike is that it was also cold, but I was surprised how well I was able to pace even not being able to feel my feet and my hands! I also realized about half way through the bike that I was missing my timing chip!
2014 - 1:08:45
2012 - 1:08:23
2011 - 1:11:05
Transition was a tough choice again. I got into transition and found my chip and put it back on. I then stood there thinking about what to do about my shoes and socks. I couldn't decide what to do. Put shoes on in transition and hope the mud comes off or put them on outside. I went with put them on outside. I ran with shoes in hand to the curb and threw them on. It did take me a minute because my feet and hands were still cold from the bike.
Run
Now it was onto the run. This would be the first time that I ran sockless. The first mile went by pretty well. I was feeling good and settled into a nice pace. I had to stop and tie my shoe again, but overall I was around 8:27 including putting on my shoes and the stopping to tie one. The second mile was really good. I was pacing around 7:29 at that point and feeling great. Into the third mile, both shoes came untied. I reached down tied them again and off I went. 3rd mile was 7:56. By the time, I got to the turn around I knew I would be able to push the pace back into the finish. Mile 4 went by at 7:31, mile 5 7:13, and mile 6 at 7:03. This was actually my first race that I've been able to negitive split a 10k. I charged into the finish with a 6:31 final .2. My 10k for this race was a great run. It was my best 10k I've run in awhile tri or open. Without the transition outside of transtion I ran 46:08 only 40 seconds off my best! Overall my run was 47:28.
2014 - 47:28
2012 - 53:10
2011 - 52:14
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Overall time - 2:34:16 a PR for this distance and this race. I could have probably go under 2:30 if not for the muddy transition. I felt like a rookie in transition. I was happy with this as way to the start the tri season. I learned a couple of lessons and I'm ready to tackle the rest of the year!
2014 - 2:34:16
2012 - 2:41:37
2011 - 2:42:44
Week 10 miles -
Bike - 155.5 miles
Run - 15.1 miles
Swim - 3800 yards including 1500 meter swim
A good "rest week". Only 3 weeks till Ride the Rockies!
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