Pigman Sprint Triathlon

Sunday was my third race of the season, a sprint tri held in the little town of Palo, IA. I was feeling a little more rested for this race than the last one due to the HIM taper starting to cut back on my training volume. I ended up finishing with 500m swim/15.5 mile bike/5k run with a pretty good time, 1:14:25, which was good enough for 29th/657 overall and 5th/39 in my age group. Plus I shaved 45 seconds off my time on the same course last year! Here's a little glimpse inside my mind:

Pre-Race

Beep! Beep! Beep! Is that my alarm clock? Yes it is. Is it really 3:15? Yes it is. Frick!

Out of bed, clothes on. Bagel, toaster, PB, nanner. Yum. Out the door by 3:45.

It's dark. There's no one on the road. All the sane people are sleeping right now. In my younger days I might still be awake on an all night bender. Getting sleepy. Open the windows, crank the tunes, headbang a little. Deer!!! That'll wake you up.

Where are you sending me GPS lady? I think I remember how to get there. I'll trust my gut on this one. GPS off.

Okay, I'm 15 minutes early but people are showing up. How about the packet pick-up tent? Yes! Open for business. Put another piggy shirt in the closet. Race number is 232...hey that's a palindrome.

Tires pumped. Where's a nice lady with a marker? She must be new, asks if numbers are vertical or horizontal. Must. Refrain. From. Quoting. Tommy Boy. Top to bottom, left to right... a group of words together is called a sentence. Take Tylenol for any headaches... Midol for any cramps. Wow, they are really marking every limb this year.

Let's find a spot in transition. As close to the bike exit as possible. That'll work. Chat. Drink. Wetsuit half on. Mosey on down to the beach.

Warm-up

The elites are off! Man, they are fast. Fast swimmers make me jealous. This tri thing would be a whole lot easier if I was a fast swimmer.

30 minutes till my wave start, but in reality probably closer to 45 minutes. I'm in wave 8 and the time trial start is ALWAYS late. Might as well hop in the water and swim a little. That's a toasty 75 degrees. Good thing I went with the sleeveless wetsuit. 10 minutes and I'm out. Now to play the waiting game.

The wind has picked up because the buoys are curving now. Hmmm, note to self: follow them on the way out, beeline for the swim exit on the way back.

Hey, that swimmer just got attacked by a duck! Should I laugh? Yeah that's funny, haha.

Line's getting shorter. It's go time!

The Swim

I'm the 3rd one in my wave to go. Runnnnn! High knees! High knees! Dolphin dive! Swim!

See you two guys later. Arms are moving, breathing is good. Take a right around this girl. Straighten out. Left around this one. Now in the middle of these two backstrokers.

Wow, I am cruising by a lot of people. Is this what it feels like to be a swimmer? Watch out! More dodging. That's the buoy rope. Can I get by one more. Is that chop? Is it wavy? Must be. Dang wind.

Keep pushing. Hard to with all the traffic. Round the bouy. Halfway there! The smell of boat fumes under water is going to make me vomit. That would be gross.

First green cap (my wave) is trying to pass me. Quick, grab his feet! Can't, there's a girl in the way. Zig. Zag. Cripes am I swimming or playing frogger?

Just a little further. Kick it in. People are standing up around me. Should I stand up too? No, wait for your hand to hit the sand. There it is, get up! Cap, goggles off. Run it in

Hear the announcer say something along the lines of, "and our first green caps are out of the water." I'm at the front of my wave! Thank you time trial start.

Time:8:39
Pace: 1:35 / 100 yds
OA Rank: 88/657
AG Rank: 11/39

T1: 2:00

The legs don't like to move after a swim. We're racing legs, in case you hadn't heard. Go! Go!

It's a long transition area. Where's my bike? Wait for it....wait for it...there it is!

The wetsuit pops right off. That's so mush easier than my full suit. Shoes and helmet on, grab bike. Clip, clop, clip, clop to the mount line

The Bike

Pedal, pedal, here we go. Can't hammer yet, gotta negotiate traffic out for awhile. Runners (yes, there are people on the run course already. Depressing.), spectators, bikers, CARS, and a partridge in a pear tree.

There's an opening. On the left! Let's roll. Heading south now. Which way is the wind out of? Feels like a crossie, but might be kinda at my back. Oh well, enjoy it while I can.

On the left! Pass, pass, pass. Does anyone look before they start to pass. I'm getting dangerously close to the yellow line and I'm tired of yelling.

Ooh, it's the loop through Palo. Hello, Palo. Yikes! Ambulance and stretcher, that can't be good. Goodbye Palo.

Heading north again. That minivan better get a move on or I am going to have some road rage. Good, he's turning right. Good riddance. Will they ever shut down these roads for this race. They should. They won't.

Up the hill. Should I get out of the saddle? Why not, it's a sprint. Mash away my friend. And down the other side. Woooooooo!!! Why aren't you people pedaling? Don't you want to see how fast you can go? I do. Hammer, hammer.

I'm getting close to the turn around now. 180, I hate 180s, and back in business. Nice volunteers pointing out ginormous potholes. "Thanks!"

Aaack! That guy just passed me! What's the calf say? 31? Okay, but still, push it back up the hill. Back to the park, almost there. Steep hill, watch out, make the turn. Okay uphill to the end. Traffic's getting dicey. Lots of runners, lots of cars. Someone's gonna die.

Let's the get the feet out of the shoes and spin it on in. Did that chick just repass me in the last 50 feet??!! Oh! And she biffed it at the dismount line! That's gonna leave a mark. Volunteer is helping her so hop off and run it in.....and try not to laugh.

Time: 41:58
Pace: 22.2 mph
OA Rank: 29/657
AG Rank: 3/39

T2: 0:55

Zooooooom! Rack the bike. Look at all those empty racks in my section. Sweet! Shoes on, grab stuff and go!

The Run

Legs feel thick. Shorten the stride. Focus on turnover. Hit the turnover, the pace will come.

Mostly downhill the first mile. That's gonna suck coming back. Why is my breathing out of control? Settle.

Have I mentioned how much of a cluster@%*& the park is? Cars going both ways, bike coming in, runners heading both ways. Lots of weaving. Gotta be nimble while running. I'm about as graceful as a bull in a china shop.

I'm going to pass this car on the left, no room on the right. Do I say on your left to a car? Wow, that bike almost clipped me. Would've too if it weren't for my graceful nimbleness.

Hey, aid station! Not thirsty, but the water is cold on the head. Refreshing! Okay, can't be too far from the turn around. Yep, there it is ahead. Woot!

Homestretch now, gotta turn on the afterburners. There's the aid station again. I'll take a sip this time, but the rest is going on my head again. Now, run! Heard some lady yell, "Go 232! Look at that runner goooo!!!!" Thanks for the smile.

Ow, ow, ow. Can I hold this pace? You better, Sally. This hill hurts. Do I look like death like these other runners? There's the last turn. Balls out now. There's trained medical staff at the finish, right?

Sprint, sprint! Go, go! Done!

Time: 20:55
Pace: 6:44 / mile
OA rank: 41/657
AG rank: 7/39

Post-Race

Let's grab a water and walk a little. There's the food tent. Pizza, strawberries, cookies! Yum!

Let's check the results. 45 seconds faster than last year! Nice OA place, stupid fast AGers. But they're giving hardware out 5th place in my age group so I'll take it.

Waited around for awards and talked to fellow BTer Eric (ersynder3654) who kicked my butt for the 2nd straight race. Grabbed my ceramic pig and left. This race has the best hardware!

Bye, Bye May

So a few weeks ago I wrote a post about how I thought my number of long training rides had been lacking leading up to my HIM in 2 weeks. Well, since that post I think I have remedied the situation by spending a lot of time in the saddle, especially this weekend.

We had some gorgeous weather here so that made the decision to get on the bike that much easier. Saturday's ride was an 80 miler that I only enjoyed maybe 40 miles of. The official plan was to be out the door by 7 in the morning so I would finish up at 11, just as the winds were starting to pick up. Well, I was lazy and possibly sleeping off a little bit of a hangover so my day didn't get started until around 9 instead. This meant I was fighting a headwind the almost the entire way back and it thoroughly trashed my legs. I literally was running on empty by the time I made it home. I was supposed to run later in the afternoon, but even after a solid nap my legs wanted nothing to do with it so I bailed and ran Sunday morning instead.

Sunday afternoon was a relaxing one. We had a family golf outing and grill-out, which was a lot of fun, despite my poor golf game. I never realized how good of a core workout golfing 18 holes was. Man, I was sore this morning!

I took another ride this afternoon, this time a 70 miler. I settled on the 70 miles because that would put me at over 600 for the month of May, a feat I have only done once before. The ride itself was so much better than Saturday's. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and spent some time exploring a few new roads. New scenery sure does make the time pass quickly. And, in contrast to the Saturday ride, I had plenty of juice left in the tank to push it hard the last 20 miles home.

There's nothing quite like a solid training weekend to get the confidence soaring for the upcoming HIM. Now that I sit back and think about it, it has been a pretty solid month of training. Here's what my totals look like:

Bike:	30h 41m 26s - 601.07 Mi
Run:	13h 47m 03s - 107.68 Mi
Swim:	10h 56m 43s - 37486.81 Yd

The taper has started for the run and in another week I will be in full-on taper mode as I get ready for Liberty. I am really looking forward to this race because right now I feel that I will go under 5 hours at that one. It's really just a matter of how far under.

Bluff Creek Sprint Triathlon

Last Sunday I participated in my second triathlon of the season, a local sprint tri held in my neck of the woods. While the weather wasn't optimal for racing (ie. lots of wind), the results were good. I ended up finishing the 500m swim/15 mile bike/5k run in 1:14:53, which was good enough for 9th place overall and 3rd in my age group. Here's how things went down on race day:

Thankfully the race wasn't too far away so I was able to sleep in until 5. Ate some breakfast and was out the door by 5:30. I got to the race site and there was a bug infestation! As soon as I got out of my car I was swarmed. No amount of swatting kept them away so I got my bike ready as quick as I could and speedwalked to transition. Note to self: bug repellent in the transition bag would be a key addition.

I snagged a decent spot in transition, got set up, and then proceeded to chat the rest of the time away with some friends until it was time to board the bus to the beach. I got into the water beforehand and swam a few hundred yards. They said the water was 60 that morning, but I don't believe them. 65 probably. Everything felt pretty good so I didn't do too much more than that. I swam back in and found a few more friends from our training group to chat with before the start.

The Swim: Oh Billy, here we go! Run in, couple of dolphin dives, and I'm on my way. A little crowded, lots of contact, but for the most part I feel like I'm swimming real well. Took a pretty good straight line alongside the buoys. I didn't have to sight too much. I figured as long as the water was still frothing all around me from all of the other swimmers I couldn't be too far off. Just before the turn in to the boat ramp I got stuck behind a couple of guys moving a little slower but we were so close to the end that I just hung back and drafted on in. No sense trying to pass in the last 50 yards.

I hit the boat ramp and it was a little slick. Luckily there were a couple of volunteers there helping pull people out. Thanks for the lift, dude! Time for the loooong run to transition. Seriously, it was a good 30-40s worth of running. I passed a couple of people along the way too! I was more than pleased with that swim effort. Shaved over 2 whole freaking minutes off of last year's time!!! It's great to see all that off season work pay off.

Swim time: 8:36
Swim pace: 1:34/100yds
OA Rank: 26/225
AG Rank: 7/21

T1: 1:15. Aside from the wetsuit really getting stuck on the ankles this wasn't too bad. I did waste a lot of time getting my feet free though.

The Bike: To sum up the ride in one word: Wind. From some accounts you would have thought that a tornado had rolled through, but in reality we faced a steady wind in the low 20s with gusts near 30 mph. Sucky for sure, but it was compounded by the fact it was an out and back course with a pure tailwind to start and an epic 7.5 miles back into it to end things.

Heading out of the park I passed about 3 people struggling to get into their shoes. That always makes me smile. After that I settled in and enjoyed the speedy wind-aided trip out to the turn around. Before I got there I counted about 6 people ahead of me which is right where I expected to be. The 180 turn was interesting. I took it a little fast, skidded the rear wheel a little, but managed to stay on the road.

Holy mother of God! That's a stiff wind! I thought I could stay in the big ring, but quickly reassessed that decision. Things absolutely slowed to a crawl. I'm glad I don't have a bike computer because if I had known my speed it would have been even more demoralizing.

But I fought through. I kept my eyes on the guys ahead of me and tried to catch up. One of the guys I had passed earlier repassed me. A few minutes later I retook him. We did the leapfrog thing all the way back, each of us taking a 2-3 minute legal pull at the front, before the other would take over. It was a long haul back, but I made it eventually even though I think I lost a spot or two during that stretch.

With the exception of the Pigman long course last year, this may have been the most relieved I have ever been to get off my bike so transition was a welcome sight. It was still a good ride all things considered. My split was 3 minutes slower than last year, but I think times were down all across the board for everyone.

Bike time: 42:50
Bike Pace: 21.01 mph
OA rank: 11/225
AG rank: 4/21

T2: 0:38. Nice flying dismount and then a quick in and out. I knocked my glasses off taking off my helmet, which may have cost a few seconds, but really not too bad.

The Run: The legs did not want to turn over right away. They're usually not that cranky coming off the bike but it took me over half the run to get settled and into a groove. Starting out, I just set my sights on the guys ahead of me and and ran as best I could. Unfortunately I wasn't gaining any ground. Hit the turnaround and kept moving. I had a pretty good lead on the guy behind me so I wasn't too worried. Was a split second away from dumping a cup of gatorade on my head at the aid station. That could have been ugly. Maybe I need to yell "water" a little louder. The rest of the run was uneventful back to the finish. I wish I could have pushed a little harder during this run, but I didn't really have that extra gear I needed today to close the gap on anyone.

Run time: 21:33
Run pace: 6:56/mile
OA rank: 21/225
AG rank: 5/21

This was another good race put on by our local crew. I was hoping to move up a couple of spots in the overall from last year, but all in all I'm not too disappointed. I'll take a top ten finish in ANY race. I think regardless of whatever happened later in the race I'd have to consider this a personal victory based solely on the swim improvement. I'm still smiling about that.

I'ts Beginning to Feel Like Tri Season!

I know I have already completed a tri this season, but after coming back to some very April-like weather it hadn't really started feeling like tri season yet. Well, the weather has turned around and I have a race in 5 days.

I've managed to get in some good quality training the last week. And not just quality, but the long stuff I need to get in to build my confidence for the upcoming HIM. Both my long run (13 miles) and long ride (65 miles) went off without a hitch and I felt great both during and afterward. All my other workouts went well too, and I even got in a little more open water practice during our last group workout of the year.

I'm not sure exactly how I am going to attack training this weekend though. I have a sprint tri on Sunday. I really don't want to do my long ride on Saturday as scheduled, but we shall see. Perhaps I do a shorter ride and run and then tack on some bonus bike mileage Sunday after the race. I'm sure I'll figure something out.

The weather is going to be warm Sunday, a high of 87, but with the 8am start and the shortness of the course I should miss the majority of it. Not sure if I should set any goals for Sunday or not, but after looking at last year's time I think I could feasibly shave off 1-2 minutes, maybe more if everything comes together. The good news is, I'm feeling strong in all 3 events right now, which greatly improves the odds of things going well.

For now, I'm just happy the sun is out and there are plenty of races around the corner!