I know this seems funny to do this for a Sprint Tri, it sounds like I had just won the IM Championships, but I am 40 and there is a lot of bravado in my speech. You can't seem weak ya know. So I am really impressed with how I did. I know I did not win, but that'll come down the road sometime ;-)
So ALL of the training is starting to show those agonizing hours in zone 2. The cases of Velcro a$$ on the trainer. The COLD COLD COLD swims in the afternoons. Most of all, ALL the FORM adjustments. in running swimming and biking. That "Economy of Motion" coined and repeated by my coach paid off well. Especially during the run. I pretty much let it all hang out during the tri. When I was finished, I wasn't dead, Kris did not have to cart me off. I did crash in the car on the way home ;-) So let me tell you the story:
It has been tight and stressful around the Miller complex. Our computer server crashed in the beginning of March and we still don't have it back up. So I was ready to run away. Kristine did not know if she was going to be able to go until Thursday, the day before. I was a bundle of nerves and nervous energy.
I kept telling myself it is only a sprint, you'll do fine. Worries in my head, how will the legs hold up, you feel really good how hard can you push yourself? Remember form and don't get caught up in the race and blow form and hurt yourself again.
In the car on the way to West Lafayette, I was rather silent. I was pretty quite at dinner only adding to a prank already in the process of being pulled, way to go @rockinmichelle!! Dinner was awesome as always I had my same Pad Thai, I really wanted a beer too.
Now I am visualizing my race. I know coach says that it is unrealistic, but if you know me I am a pretty unrealistic guy at times :-) I wanted to win. I wanted to crush the field...sweep Kris off her feet and kiss her on the podium triumphantly... Now back to reality, 500 m swim should be done in 8 minutes. The 12 mile bike should get kicked out in less than 40 minutes, and then the dreaded run, oh please let me run the run at an average of 7:30's please. I know it won't win, but I'll feel good about it.
I need distractions, I am a ball of nervous energy, why may you ask when it is only a sprint? Because this kicks off the road to Kona season. My Polar logs all show HUGE gains, but training is training and racing is, well racing. Glitch #1 - I am a stickler for routine. Right now I am out of my normal routine, so packing is a list. What did I forget, my flippin' helmet. The ONLY thing you can not race without. I still am shaking my head as I write this. Oh well off to Wal-Mart, why Wal-Mart, because I am not gonna buy an expensive helmet right now, so lets have fun. I looked at the Hello Kitty, Dora, and a few others at Kristine's request. My noggin would not even come close to fitting into one of those. I REALLY had my heart set on a Hot Wheels helmet, but once again, head to big :-(( So I grab a cheapo $20 for a spare in the future.
After a couple of more stops it is time to get to the room and I have to clean my bike. Wow is it grungie. It takes me over an hour to clean it up. It is now way past 11 and I wanted to be asleep 2 hours ago. I can't sleep, twist and turn, still a bundle of nerves and energy. Finally the alarm goes off. Get up pack the car and I am ready to race.
Have you ever attended an event that is mostly composed of locals and regulars. This is that type of event. The map on how to get there is a useful as a poster of Bieber fever, well to me anyways. I ask a student where the aquatics center is and I find transition, yea!!! Time to prep. Forgot my transition mat, dang it! I get registered and off to the pool.
I had Kris check my form as I swam 100m. She tweaked it a bit, that felt good, amazing how you forget the little things when you are all keyed up. It's also nice to have a coach tell you to remain calm, relax and hit the finer points with you just to check your mental alertness.
"Your 300m swim begins..."
"Did he just say 300m swim? I flighted myself for a 500m swim. Um...excuse me can we change our flights?"
"Yes you can."
This is where I love the tri community. Granted you have those events that every type "A" personality shows up, but not here. We all spent the next 2 minutes discussing,"Well I expect to do it in this,"
"Oh then you move ahead of me."
This went really well until mom and dad show up. Not my mom and dad mind you, but the uber competitive I have to give my child a leg up mom and dad. Right behind them is a 10 to 12 year old little girl and they put her in the sub 5 minute flight. Um I think, this is gonna be interesting, I am gonna get my swim butt kicked by a 10 year old. Oh well, worse things have happened. But have you ever gotten the feeling that something isn't right and it is about to go wrong? Mom rubbed me the wrong way. She stood in front of me talking the entire time talking, directing and demanding.
Just enough time left to do a little yoga open up the hips and shoulders and ready to rock and roll. We are ready to start. It is a time trial start, off goes the starters, all school sponsored athletes. These guys mean business. Oh there goes the little girl, the guy in front of me, and SPLASH I am in the water. They staggered us about 10 seconds apart. I was on top of the guy in front of me and the little girl by 25 meters. I am in full on competition mode, but I have several thoughts going through my head as I approach these two. The guy I could care less about, sorry dude, don't know you, don't care, not gonna dunk you or anything, just pass you, but the little girl...hum. They are literally dead even, the pool is wide enough to go three abreast. So I start the pass, just as I pull away there is the wall, touch and I am off. I look back just for a second to make sure I did not disturb her rhythm or worse yet unintentionally dunk her. She's ok so I am back on my game. Time to pick off the next guy. I pass 2 or three more swimmers, in 300 meters, kind ridiculous I think, but I did have one guy catch me in the end. Off to T1.
We had to run down the sidewalk about 150 yards then we had another 250 yards to transition. As I approach my bike I start to feel the cold. I left my running jacket there just in case, boy am I glad I did. That first 2 miles was flippin' COLD. Here is the surprise. The course was pretty flat, but had several what I would consider significant hills. Although no more than .75 to 1 mile long, they were fairly steep. I hadn't anticipated these, but I was happy to see them. I LOVE hills. I can actually climb for a big guy and descents are the bomb. Someday I may lay down some flesh on a road, but road rash beats hitting a tree any day :-) So speedy 20 somethings and hills, going up or down did not mix. I caught and passed a bunch of people on the roads. I passed a pack of riders on a downhill with a 90 degree turn at the bottom. Funny watching some of the younger athletes take the corner ahead of me I noticed they all sat up and slowed to take the corner. The old guy will show'em how to stay low :-) A couple of Team Michigan caught me on the flats and took off, until a significant hill loomed a head of us. We were about 7 or 8 miles into the ride at this point. All I gotta say is thanks coach for the hill repeats, Hanging Rock Hill in Madison was about to pay off. Caught and passed them both on that hill never to be seen again. The rest of the ride was actually pretty and uneventful until about 2 miles out when Tony, a guy I had met in transition, comes just blistering by. Big ole snot bubble hangin' off his schnoz. Dude is working hard. I decide to try to hang onto his wheel to the finish, not happening, he just slowly pulled away.
He beat me to T2 by about 30 seconds. I only notice because I know he is in my age group. Shed the jacket, flip on the shoes and out for what I consider to be my weakest event. I have no idea where I am at so the tendency to just run crazy is there. I am still worried about injury because form and me are new friends, not longtime bosom buddies. So once again I relied on coaches words of wisdom,"Light, fast feet, pop pop pop!!!" Kristine's words of wisdom, "Don't shuffle, legs up high knees, lean into the run." Going out I had two young pups pass me and I passed a couple more. I pretty much ran by myself the entire way. Then towards the end in the last half of a mile, a couple more runners pass me. That was a little frustrating. I know I need to become a stronger runner with a kick at the end. Kris said I looked fresh, I felt fresh and actually felt sorry that the event was over.
In the aftermath I have to say I am impressed with myself. I actually ran it in sub 7's. That is WORLD's better than where I was last year at this time. My bike went up 3mph and the swim was strong with only a momentary let down in form. That is the last sprint of the season. Next up Louisville marathon then a couple of OD's and in June Eagleman. Stay tuned.
A Hello Kitty helmet would have been priceless! Nice job on the race! Keep up the good work, it seems to be paying off.
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