The drive down to Cedarville was early- I was up at 1:50 AM and got to the race site at 6, but I felt great. The drive was easy and relaxing & traffic free. Packet pick-up was straight forward. One touch I liked is the race numbers were event branded - no individual names, but had the event logo which will go nicely on my pain cave number wall. Getting my bike racked was also easy since every spot was pre numbered. I really like that since it helps to ensure everyone racks the opposite directions- of course there are some people who like to rack via handle bars instead of seats. But it allowed for easy gear layout. As I completed my layout, I noticed the wind started picking up a bit- not severe, but certainly windy & greater than the original forecast of 6mph winds. I also randomly ran into Ginny- which was great that we got a chance to chat pre race.
The Race Director did a good job keeping time and before long I was getting into my wetsuit. I made a tactical decision that was very smart- I wore my neoprene booties. The water temp was about 68- so definitely not too cold, however we had to stand around for 45 minutes due to the sprint folks going first and the wave start for my group so having the extra warmth helped my toes stay less numb (more on numb toes later.)
The swim was a two loop .8 mile lake swim. The loops were a box with left turns. I like left turns since I default breath on my left side. I have been working on bi lateral breathing this year and am pretty good at it, but when I Need to breathe- left is the side I go to. The start was in water- about 4 feet deep and a murky mucky bottom- the booties were nice here too. Quickly I settled into a nice groove although there was a fair amount of bumping - especially at the turn buoys. I started to pass a lot of the 39 and under wave on the second lap along with some of slower women who were on their first lap so the last two turns into the finish were washer machine time for sure. When I reached the ladder to climb out of the water I looked down at my Garmin- 21:30 for the .8 mile swim. I was very happy with the time since I swam at IM pace (everything leads to IMLP) so looking at this time and extrapolating out to the full 2.4 miles- about 1:05ish. Ideally I will swim about 1 HR at LP, but 1:05 works too. My official time was 23:10- there was a Long run to transition. Having the booties on was a win again.
My T1 was pretty crappy again- 1:56. The downside of the booties is they are a bit of pain to get off especially with cold fingers. And I put on gloves. I was going to wear arm sleeves but they did not want to cooperate so I decided to skip them- was a good idea. The run out to the bike mount line was about 150 yards past the exit of the transition area- over a gravelly access road. I elected to go sockless and did a flying mount. Good call, but I had to run a bit longer since I stayed in the grass instead of the gravel. But mounting went fine and I was quickly out on the bike.
The bike course was a two 20 mile loop out and back course. So 10 miles turn around, and repeat. The course was flat with only some very minor elevation changes. However it was WINDY. The first out was a mix of right side cross and head winds. But I hammered and felt very strong. I stayed big ring 17-13 pretty much the entire 40 (well ended up 41 miles). Cadence was low 90's Avg power 254 and HR 152. So while I was hammering I was below FTP and AT- win!
Here is the strava file http://app.strava.com/activities/52582443#
The good news on the bike is there was not much drafting, except for two guys who I passed early on the outbound first loop and then saw them in draft as I passed them again on the inbound second loop. And as for the wind, the only time I got a bit of relief was on the inbound of the first loop, I picked up a tail wind for about 2 miles- AVG speed about 30 mph. However that tailwind did not materialize on the second loop (the head and crosswinds however did...)
Lastly on the bike, I raced for the first time with my custom Infinit blend- and really felt strong. The folks at Infinit create a custom nutrition blend you drink that has your carbs, protein, electrolytes and amino acids based on your distance, weight, BF%, sweat rate, flavor profile etc. So one race in and I am happy- I felt especially good at the finish line- where I have had issues in the past.
My bike split was 1:48.22 and this included the long run from the mount line to Transition on both the start and finish of the bike. However from the mount line to mount line, my time was 1:46:36 or 23.1 MPH. The run to transition counts in my final time and everyone had to run that, but actual riding time/distance - I hammered. And speaking of the trip back to the TA for T2 I did leave my bike shoes on since my feet were very numb from the cold and I knew the run was over the gravel road- it was a good call.
T2 was a bit better- I did have to take off my bike shoes which is abnormal for me and I learned that putting on my running shoes with gloves still on is not as fast as naked fingers- the gloves got a bit stuck. I should have taken them off as I really didn't need them on the run. T2 time was 1:11. Lastly I did wear my fuel belt 2 bottle hydration belt. Normally for a run under 10 miles I wouldn't bring anything, but I wanted to test the Infinit run solution- which is a bit different compared to my bike and I will use the hydration belt at Rev3 Quassy and IMLP so it made sense. Good call as I felt great on the run.
As I started out of transition for the 8.9 mile run, my feet were numb bricks. My legs felt great but my feet were just heavy. However I knew that they would feel better soon so I concentrated on getting my stride set and running strong. The course was a 4.4 mile out and back- flat, but also very windy. I passed one guy at mile 1 and two more guys at mile 4.2. At the turn around I was in 13th place but figured I might finish higher since most of the guys were likely in the 39 and under AG. I was passed by one other guy on the run at mile 6.5 so I crossed the line in 14th overall. But because I started 5 minutes behind the younger guys, my place overall was 12th. As for the run itself- WOW I felt great and ran consistent between 6:30 and a 6:50 pace- Avg was a 6:40 which for a roughly 9 mile run following the bike was phenomenal for me. And I didn't fade or feel like I had nothing left at the finish line. I definitely could have kept this pace for a couple of miles further. Now this is not my IMLP run pace- that is going to be around 8:15-8:30 And the bike pace will be around 20.5-21 MPH. But given the conditions I executed to plan and felt great.
My finishing time was 3:14:12 based on a 59:31 8.8 mile official (closer to 9 on my garmin) run. 12th place overall and 1st in the 40-44 AG. Technically it was 2nd but the overall race winner was also in my AG.
Here is the link the race results: http://www.piranha-sports.com/Results/EntryDetail.aspx?RegistrationID=68476
Post race I got to see Ginny finish- who finished 4th Overall for the women! Great job! I also ate a couple of sandwiches (which I have never been able to do immediately after a race- maybe the Infinit is going to be a hit for IMLP) and relaxed before the awards ceremony. The Pirana Sports folks had a guy playing some music on his guitar and it was very relaxed sitting finally in the warm sun! Ginny and I chatted a bit- we are both racing IMLP and doing the Spinervals LP camp which should be a lot of challenging fun.
Lastly this is a race I would highly recommend to a wide variety of triathletes. Newbies- the sprint distance is a great course- it is flat and on limited use roads with police protection at intersections. And for people looking to step up to the 70.3 distance- it is long enough across each discipline to give you an idea of what a 70.3 is like. And for me as a build towards IMLP- it was great to race for 3 hours to stress all of the systems and focus on pacing & nutrition. Even though it is in the middle of nowhere I will likely race it again in 2013.
And just a plug- spinervals works folks. Here is a link to find out more. www.spinervals.com
I am lighter, stronger & faster across all three disciplines this year and I know it is based on my training that started last December with the Spinervals 32 day challenge. My results so far are proving that Coach Troy and the Spinervals DVD's & training plans will make you a better racer. I have raced 12 times so far this year across a variety of distances and types of racing and have 7 podiums including 1 overall win and 4 AG wins. Yes I have put in the hard work, but the training philosophy is the back bone.
Finally next week is a free weekend (well not really but I am not racing) Saturday is my youngest daughter's first communion and Sunday is Mothers Day. So my next race is JerseyMan classic- the tri that started it all for me.
