We'll start with some crazy news: The race started on time.
My Super 8 Motel alarm clock woke me up at 4:30am and the howling winds creeping through the cracks in my door made sure I didn't fall back asleep. The forecast had called for rain overnight so I was a little concerned about the road conditions. I threw on some clothes and went for a 20 minute jog to get a sense of the weather and wake my legs up. The air temp was high 40's, there was a decent wind with strong gusts, and puddles/gravel blanketed the roads: damn.
I showed up at the Cain Center at 6:45, took my bike in to get inspected, and got body marked. Go #44!
The transition area was a parking lot, and though the ground was damp, I was thankful it wasn't soaking. Had the transition area been in a grass field, it would've just been a huge mud pit. Point, race organizers!
As the racks filled with bikes I started talking with neighboring athletes. For the most part, those competing in this sprint event were somewhere on the "first time" to "completed a Half Ironman" end of the spectrum, but I did spy a couple M-dot calf tattoos.
At the pre-race meeting, the race directors were incredibly thorough going over key points for each leg of the event. The swim was a time trial start where we would go off in 10 second intervals and were seeded by our race number (my 5:00 estimate for 300 yds ranked me 44th out of 250). But they were quick to remind everyone "that meant there would be some people flying by you when it got to the bike leg, so please stay to the right. Also, the pool is 78 degrees. The outside air temperature is 48 degrees. A wet body on a bike in 25+ mph wind gusts would freeze. Check your ego and dress warm."
I didn't get in the pool to warm up, because I didn't want to stand around freezing for 7:20 before my start. Once I jumped in I fell into an easy groove and started snaking through the pool. I ended up catching the guy in front of my by the first 75 and passed a total of 5 guys before finishing the 300yd in 5:10. I didn't push hard at any part of this swim thinking I'd save my energy for my weakest leg - the bike.
Running out of the indoor pool area to transition was ok and it wasn't quite as cold outside as I expected. I made it past the uneven brick path without stubbing a toe and the parking lot was mostly rock/pebble-free. Remembering what the race director said about staying warm, I quickly toweled off my legs, put on my running jacket, grabbed the rest of my bike stuff and walked 20 yds to the bike mount. No way was I going to slip in my cleats on the wet parking lot. 3:35...whoops!
The hilly bike leg had its ups and downs. No pun intended. We started going south on 19 with the wind at our back, but for some reason I didn't think what that meant for the ride back. Turning onto Loop 7 the fun begins. Enter the 25+mph gusting crosswinds. Trying to stay aero on the shoulder of the road in gusty conditions made for tough handling, but I just focused on keeping the legs going. The "long" hill after the turnaround that I was worried about wasn't so bad because the wind at my back basically pushed me all the way up. Use it if you've got it. Enter the crosswinds again after a sweeping turn and then headwinds to finish. Ended up holding 17.4mph and was mildly happy considering the limited time I've spent on the bike.
T2 was nondescript. In, switch out the bike stuff for run stuff, out.
I couldn't really feel my feet for the first mile of the 5K. Later, I learned I wasn't alone. The winds took a lot out of a lot of people on the bike. My heart rate was up and I was tired, but I tried to keep pushing. A guy in my age group passed me at mile 2 and I tried to keep up, but he had a good kick at the end. I was hoping to keep my pace from the 10K last week, but I ended up running a 7:52 pace and finished in 24:33.
Because of the time trial start, I didn't know how my 1:21:54 time would hold up, so I enjoyed some pizza and Gatorade and talked to a couple other guys about their upcoming races. When the final results were posted, I finished 5th in my age group (would've finished 2nd in Clydes). Looking closer, I missed out on 4th by :04 and 3rd by 1:14. I think actually racing on the swim next time might help as would training time on the bike. The minute I gave up to the 3rd place guy in T1 sure didn't help either. Ahhh...things you learn.
