I want to write about this while it's still fresh in my memory:
Race 1:
It was cold and wet, thankfully it was short too.
Good quick swim for me, the water temp felt like it was in the mid to high 60's and cooled off a little near the exit, The bike was fairly strong, it was a bit cold because I was wet but 11 minutes of that wasn't too bad. The run was fairly strong and comfortable. Not a particularly fast performance for me but still good and I was happy with it. I wasn't as winded on the run as I had been in previous years so I finished strong.
Race 2:
It was cold.
The water seemed to be a little colder than Friday evening and dropped a few degrees at the swim exit. It was a fairly strong swim for me despite having to swim through people on my second loop. I was able to pick up the pace when needed and settle back in when things cleared up. Overall I thought it was good.
This was only the second time I've worn a coat on my bike since I started racing in 2003 and I know it was the right choice. My ride was strong, maybe too strong as I didn't follow my power plan like I should have but I felt set up for the run.
This run went exactly as planned, 26 minutes out and 24 minutes back for a 50 min run. I felt a little flat in the beginning but strong coming back down the hill. I was happy with this effort. Like others my feet were numb when I came off the bike, I couldn't feel anything from heel to toe. I got the feeling back about 4 miles into the 6.55 mile run.
Race 3:
It was cold but not as cold as the morning race was.
Since the bike portion was first and it was sunny I did not need a coat. Instead I wore arm-warmers/ knee-warmers and was perfectly comfortable. I was a little more conservative on this ride, maybe too conservative but again I was set up for a good run afterwards. Something I had done for this race was that I used an 11-32 cassette and never had to stand the entire race. I even spun up Thompson Hill and did not stand. The gear gave me the ability to keep my legs moving at a fast enough cadence to produce power efficiently. I think that was one of the keys to a good performance
The swim afterwards was cold but about the same as the morning. A volunteer was right at my transition spot to help me put my wetsuit on and did a terrific job. The swim went without a hitch, I was comfortable and OK with my time. The field was spread out quite a bit so I had plenty of room to swim and not bump into anyone.
The run went as planned and better than I thought it would. I wanted to run a 50 again this time, something I've never done before, and was pleasantly surprised. I felt strong from the start and short stepped so I wouldn't go too fast. At the turn around I was at 25:45, so :15 ahead of the morning run, ran strong back up the hill and down to the finish for a time a few seconds over 50 again. I still held back on the downhill because I knew I had to race again on Sunday.
Race 4:
It was cold...again...really cold...did I mention it was cold?
The water felt like it had dropped a few degrees at the start while the exit felt like it dropped 10 degrees. I'm guessing it was low 60's at the start and low 50's at the finish. It was very noticeable in the last 300 meters, like someone dumped a bunch of ice in the lake. Still with that, I swam well and was happy with the effort. I came out of the water under 28 minutes so it may have been a little short. Swimming though the people on the second lap was rougher than it was on Saturday but still OK. There seemed to be a lot of people struggling on that swim.
I felt flat on the bike but rode according to my plan, conservative on the climbs (just under 220 watts), bombed the downhills and brisk on the flats. Brisk was subjective as I felt anywhere from 160 to 170 watts would be in the right range. I got hooked up with a pro woman for the flat loop and just stayed 5 meters behind her for most of it. She gapped me on the first climb on Route 125 but I caught her on the decent (cuz of my decending skills), climbed 3 stage hill with her and rolled into T2 a few miles later. I felt a little flat for that ride and was a little disappointed in my performance but after looking at the results I noticed that I had the 11th fastest solo time so I guess I should be happy about that. All that really mattered is that I set myself up for a good run. In hindsight, looking over my data it appears to me that I paced the bike exactly as I should have and maybe my original expectations were too high.
I had done everything I thought I could have to set myself up for a good run, that is where the race is won or lost and since I'm not a great runner, I would need an extraordinary performance from myself to have any chance of placing well. The best I had ever ran there is a 1:52:xx so realistically I figured a 1:50 was a good goal. The plan was to run 55's for each loop but honestly expected to run a 55 and then hope to hold it. I started off easy, not really short stepping but comfortable, trying to keep the perceived effort down. The uphills on the way out didn't seem so hard this year and I got through them with no issues. At the first turn around I was at 28 minutes, doing math in my head I figured that was a good place to be if not a little behind and I had to run 27 on the way back to make my first goal of 55 minutes. At the second turn around I was at 54:45 so I was practically right on schedule and felt very good. At the third turn around I was at 1:22:30 (27:45 and right on schedule) where slightly afterwards I caught Jim while he was walking. He was way up in the standings on me so I tapped him on the back and said run with me. I really didn't expect him to last any more than a minute or so but I needed a boost from anything if I had any chance of catching Eric F (which was a real long shot). Jim ran up the last climb with me and then got a lot of energy to ran 6 min/miles for the 3 miles back down the hill and left me way behind. I don't know where that came from but good for him.
My run down the hill went good, I just ran on the edge of throwing up the whole way and probably passed 75 people, some on the first loop and some on their second. I finished strong for a 1:47:40 (25:05) which was well ahead of my goal of 1:50. Because of that bike/run combination I moved up from 7th to 5th in Masters, 14th overall, the best I've ever done.
I had done everything I thought I could have to set myself up for a good run, that is where the race is won or lost and since I'm not a great runner, I would need an extraordinary performance from myself to have any chance of placing well. The best I had ever ran there is a 1:52:xx so realistically I figured a 1:50 was a good goal. The plan was to run 55's for each loop but honestly expected to run a 55 and then hope to hold it. I started off easy, not really short stepping but comfortable, trying to keep the perceived effort down. The uphills on the way out didn't seem so hard this year and I got through them with no issues. At the first turn around I was at 28 minutes, doing math in my head I figured that was a good place to be if not a little behind and I had to run 27 on the way back to make my first goal of 55 minutes. At the second turn around I was at 54:45 so I was practically right on schedule and felt very good. At the third turn around I was at 1:22:30 (27:45 and right on schedule) where slightly afterwards I caught Jim while he was walking. He was way up in the standings on me so I tapped him on the back and said run with me. I really didn't expect him to last any more than a minute or so but I needed a boost from anything if I had any chance of catching Eric F (which was a real long shot). Jim ran up the last climb with me and then got a lot of energy to ran 6 min/miles for the 3 miles back down the hill and left me way behind. I don't know where that came from but good for him.
My run down the hill went good, I just ran on the edge of throwing up the whole way and probably passed 75 people, some on the first loop and some on their second. I finished strong for a 1:47:40 (25:05) which was well ahead of my goal of 1:50. Because of that bike/run combination I moved up from 7th to 5th in Masters, 14th overall, the best I've ever done.
