Peavine Falls Race Report

July 1 - July 7
S:  15,680 yd - 3hr 40min
B:  194.18 mi - 11hr 26min
R:  45.15 mi - 5hr 56min
Total:  21hr 2min

Two records this week...biggest weekly hours and longest bike ride!  Having a holiday weekend with nothing to do but drink coffee/beer, watch the Tour, eat, nap, and sleep 10 hrs/night does wonders for recovery.  And on top of that I managed to get a race in too.  The Peavine Falls Run is held every 4th of July in Birmingham at Oak Mountain State Park.  It's a tough 8.2 mile course, climbing 3.5 miles to the top of Peavine Falls at ~1100 ft before turning around and descending back to the start line...finishing up with ~1.2 miles on some nice single track trail.  Having never done this race before I felt obligated to throw my name in the hat.  The main goal was to get a top 10 finish.  Race conditions were actually quite nice.  As it is usually 100 degrees this time of year, 75 degrees and pouring rain was kind of nice, although it would make for an interesting end to the race on the trail.

The race started off like all races do; everyone tries to see how they can manage to blow themselves up in the first 2 minutes of the race.  As Brian says, "proper pacing is proper racing".  I ran the first mile in 6:28 and I swear there were at least 25 people in front of me.  By mile 1.5 I watched about 10-15 spectacular blow-ups and had moved myself up to around 10th or 11th place.  I found myself in a group of 4 for the remainder of the climb before gapping them slightly just before the top.  At the turnaround I could see that I was in 7th place.

The descent back down the mountain was FUN!  I was afraid to look behind me because I knew I had a few guys on my heels so I just tried to push it as hard as I could.  Near the end of the descent I was passed by 2 guys right before hopping on the single track trail section.  The trail section was sketch.  I got gapped a little bit and was hurting bad...the trail was slick, muddy, rocky, and rooty, and it was all I could do to just stay upright.  I was now sitting in 10th place and also had Elena Linn right on my heels.  Great, now I might have to sprint for the finish line to a) not get chicked and b) attain a top 10 finish.  Luckily, I moved away somewhere near the end of the trail and crossed the line in 53:23, good for a 10th place finish, whew!  Despite the rainy conditions, it was a record turnout.  Thanks to all the RD for organizing this awesome race and thanks to all the volunteers for standing out in the rain all morning!

overall results

  

1609m

Jun 10 - Jun 30
S:  38,772 yd - 8hr 57min
B:  367.45 mi - 21hr 16min
R: 95.05 mi - 12hr 21min
Total:  42hr 34min

As long as I have been seriously training, I've always thought about running one mile, full gas, on a track, for time.  These thoughts have never been put into action, until now.  As an at-large board member of the local triathlon club (Vulcan Triathletes), I came up with the idea of doing a bike and run time trial series this summer.  The series consists of 2 bikes and 2 run; and yes, to satisfy my own selfish desires, one of these runs was a 1 mile track race!  This may sound pretty boring, but I was pumped.  My training and racing this year suggested I MIGHT be able to crack the 5 minute barrier, but predictions and actuality are two completely different things.  Nonetheless, I was going to give it my best shot.

For those that don't know, and I'm always surprised at how true this is, a mile is 1609 meters (not 1600).  So, 4 laps around a 400 meter track + an extra 9 meters.  My normal track does not have the 1 mile line marked so we just stood 1 meter in front of the 110 meter line, which is 10 meters behind the start/finish line.

And now, for the shortest ever "race report".  There were only 4 of us participating.  Jeremy Clark was a collegiate runner and said he would do his best to keep me on track for a sub 5.  We took off and before I knew it we had blown through the first quarter (plus the extra 9 meters) in 73 seconds.  On lap 2 I was feeling good but things were starting to hurt.  I glanced down at the halfway point and saw 2:26; still on track.  The third lap was tough; my arms were getting tight and my legs were burning...but it passed by still on track.  At this point I knew I had it but this didn't make the last lap any less excruciating.  With a final "sprint" I crossed the line in 4:58.2...success!!

"the proof"

   

Buster Britton Triathlon Race Report

June 3 - June 9
S:  9,250 yds - 2hr 9min
B:  57.20 mi - 3hr 8min
R:  22.06mi - 2hr 49min
Total:  8hr 5min

I've raced the Buster Britton Triathlon every year since 2008, and this year was no different.  Oak Mountain State Park is about 15-20 minutes from my house, so it really is hard to turn down a sprint race in my own backyard, allowing me to sleep in my own bed the night before!  Local races are also cool because everyone usually does them, so it's great to see tons of friends at the race site!

Anyone from Birmingham knows that Oak Mountain is pretty hilly.  The 13 mile bike course is either uphill or downhill, with essentially no flat sections.  Almost 800 ft of climbing in 13 miles may not seem like much, but there are several steeper sections (by triathlon race standards) that can really slow you down.  The 3 mile run course is also pretty brutal, climbing 300 ft over the distance.

Now, let's look back at my history at Buster Britton.  The last 6 years of this race have brought plenty of memories, both good and bad.  2008 - 2010 were my "learning years".  I made some big time gains from 2008 to 2009.  I can remember 2010 being one of the most awful races ever.  2010 was a brutal hot summer in Alabama, and I had just been sick the week before the race so I absolutely blew it.  Learning years = high variability in execution.

Buster 2011 was my first ever overall win in a triathlon, barely edging local stud David Meadows by 7 seconds for the victory.  I'll never forget that day.  Buster 2012 was one of those bad memories.  Going head to head with Aaron Ainsworth always brings out the best in you.  I had a great race and unoffficially took 2nd place until I found out at the awards ceremony that I had been hit with a 2 minute position penalty on the bike.  I was at the front of the race during the bike but was told that I got a position foul for not staying in the right hand 1/3 of the lane.  I still disagree with this call.  To add on to the bad news from this race, I had already found out that one of my best friends, who was participating in the race, lost control on a 40mph descent and slid into an oncoming car.  He suffered some serious injuries but has since recovered.  Still, note the steady improvement of times over the years with the exception of 2010 and the penalty in 2012.  Consistency, time, steady, plan, improvement, and process are all words that come to mind here.

Year      Place     Time
2008     61           1:12:20
2009     23           1:03:21
2010     24           1:07:22
2011     1                59:45
2012     9             1:01:29 (59:29 for 2nd , then got a 2:00 penalty)
2013     4                58:11

And now, for 2013.  After checking the participant list early in the week, I was pretty sure the race would come down to 5 people (Seth, Hunter, Jeffrey, Ben, and I).  I figured that Seth Rider and Hunter Honeycutt (SE Junior Team) would be tough to beat.  I raced against Seth twice at Memphis in May this year and he tore it up.  For a 16 year old the dude is quick, going 1:59:06 for 2nd overall in the olympic distance there.  Hunter Honeycutt (from my memory) would probably lay down a 16min 5k.  Both of these guys are stud swimmers as well.  I've raced and trained with Jeffrey Shelley enough over the last 3 years to respect his talent.  It's rare that we race each other with a margin of more than 30 seconds.  Ben Reynolds barely edged me this past April by a mere 10 seconds over a 2hr race, so I knew he would be bringing his A game.  On race morning I ran into Bruce Gennari in the parking lot...I had not seen his name on the participant list.  Anyone that races tri in the southeast knows Bruce, and you can obviously never take him for granted.  All that being said, I knew that this race would allow for zero mistakes.  The high school kids would likely put time on me in the swim, so I figured my best chance was to bike hard and hold on for dear life. 

Swim - 5:55 (22nd)
The swim was advertised as 400 yd but was probably closer to 450.  I was the 15th racer to go off in the time trail start.  The USAT Southeast Junior High Performance Team was in full force at this race and I was stuck in the middle of them.  Most of these kids swim year round and could probably swim circles around me so my plan was to just try and grab as many feet as possible.  The swim went well and a hair under 6 minutes later I was running up to transition.

T1 - 1:29 (18th)
Smooth and quick, no mistakes here.  Every second counts.

Bike - 32:40 (4th)
The bike is where I knew this race had to be won, so my plan was to be aggressive.  The first mile of the race is flat/downhill before turning on the main road so I used that section to let my heart settle down a little bit.  After hitting the main road I started to hammer.  By the halfway point I had passed a handful of the junior guys and saw that only Bruce, Seth, and Hunter were in front of me.  I could see Seth off the front with a decent gap.  On the return trip I focused on maintaining power and reeling in Bruce and Hunter.  I passed Bruce with mile to go and then passed Hunter about a quarter mile from transition.

first race on the new machine!

T2 - 0:22 (6th)
No mistakes here either...just a quick in and out.

Run - 17:47 (10th)
The first quarter mile of the run is uphill, which really sucks.  It makes it even harder to find your rhythm and get your leg turnover up.  Hunter quickly passed me and went on to run 16:14.  I struggled up the hill and was worried that I might have blown myself up.  But as we crested the hill and turned downhill, I found my legs.  Mile 1 went by and I was hurting bad but still maintaining pace pretty well.  Mile 2 was more of the same and I saw that my gap on Jeffrey Shelley was less than desirable.  He started 11 numbers behind me (30-40 sec) and was too close for comfort.  The last mile gives you a nice little downhill and I sprinted it in, knowing that the time gaps would be close.

Total - 58:11 (4th overall)
After they posted results I saw that Jeffrey edged me by 23 seconds, with Seth and Hunter taking the top 2 spots.  It always stings a little bit to narrowly miss the overall podium, but I was 100% sure that I went as hard as I could and left it all out on the course.  Some days you just have to tip your hat to the better athlete, and this was one of those days.  But today had plenty of positives; it was my fastest run and fastest time ever at Buster Britton, and I did get a pretty nice swag bag for 1st in the age group.  Buster Britton is always a fun race, no matter what!

post race Vulcan Tri club group photo!

Memphis in May Triathlon Weekend - Race Reports

May 13 - May 19
S:  8,538 yds - 2hr 3min
B:  84.27 mi - 3hr 4min
R:  18.47 mi - 2hr 11min
Total:  8hr 33min

May 20 - May 26
S:  11,044 yds - 2hr 43min
B:  79.89 mi - 4hr 23min
R:  36.95 mi - 4hr 40min
Total:  11hr 46min

May 27 - June 2
S:  14,280 yds - 3hr 18min
B:  165.58 mi - 9hr 39min
R:  30.50 mi - 3hr 57min
Total:  16hr 54min

After a couple busy weeks, I'm finally getting around to the Memphis in May race report!  7 days fresh off of a half ironman race down at the beach, Lori and I headed to Tunica, MS for the Memphis in May Triathlon weekend.  The schedule was a sprint triathlon on Saturday and an olympic triathlon on Sunday.  Just like the past 2 years, I was planning on doing both races as part of the Amateur Challenge.  With a $5,000 prize purse paying out to 15 spots, it's a no-brainer.   Basically, you do both races and you get ranked by your total combined time.  There's no reason not to do it, right??  Here's how the races went down: 

Part I: Sprint Triathlon
Swim - 7:38 (17th)
T1 - 0:46 (5th)
Bike - 30:12 (3rd)
T2 - 0:52 (31st)
Run - 17:41 (5th)
Total - 57:08.9 (5th overall)

pre-race free advertising for Accelerate 3

Our age group started at the back of a 800 person field, and it was complete and utter chaos.  I felt like my swim was ok but spent pretty much the whole time swimming over and around people.  It was not ideal at all.  As soon as I got on the bike I saw Kendrick about 10-15 seconds up the road.  Kendrick and I are very similar in abilities, and I knew that we would be pretty dead even in the Amateur Challenge.  Careful not to overdo it, I smashed it pretty hard for the first 10-15 minutes because I wanted to go ahead and pass him and we were also riding into a pretty stiff headwind.  Bike watts were very good and I was surprised with how good it felt. 

too fast for the camera

Coming off the bike I was hurting but felt strong enough to really dig deep.  Mile splits were 6:06, 5:54, and 5:43; a negative split and to my knowledge the fastest I've run off the bike for this distance.  Small victories like this tell you that you're on the right track. 

sprinting to the line

I knew I had Kendrick beat but I had to wait a little while to find out that I got 5th overall.  I was hoping for a little better but can't complain because I knew I went full gas the entire way.

getting my award...more free advertising for Accelerate 3

Part II: Olympic Triathlon
Swim - 22:48 (23rd)
T1 - 0:54 (9th)
Bike - 58:23 (4th)
T2 - 0:52 (21st)
Run - 39:30 (7th)
Total - 2:02:26.9 (6th overall)

discussing race strategy

Firstly, smashing last years time of 2:04:18 by almost 2 minutes is another sign that things are on the right track!  As was the case with the sprint race, our age group started at the back of a close to 1,000 person field.  Somehow (same as the sprint) Kendrick was starting within 2 numbers of me so we would practically be going head to head on the course.  This is good because we both knew that we would be racing for some cash, likely a $75 swing either way. 

deep in thought, probably thinking about watts

 

K starting 2 numbers behind me

and I'm off!

The wetsuit swim was rather uneventful.  It was rather hard to see the small orange buoys because everyone was wearing pink swim caps, but I think I did a good job at sighting.

exited the swim with Sara!  too bad she started behind me :/

Onto the bike and I felt ready to crush it.  As was the case with the day before, my legs felt great.  We had a stiff headwind on the way out so I hit it a little harder than normal knowing that I could cruise in with the tailwind.  I passed Kendrick at mile 18 and really tried to motor from there in order to drop him out of sight.

finishing the bike

Coming out of T2 I could see him wheeling his bike in so I knew I had my work cut out for me.  He made the catch a little after mile 1.  I was running 6:20's and he was running 6:00's but I said "what the heck" and shoved my chips in.  I thought that I *might* be able to hang with him but figured even if I had to drop back it would still help me out some.  Mile 1 was a 6:28 solo and then miles 2-4 were 6:04, 5:59, and 6:15 on his heels.  I finally dropped (almost dropped too late and blew myself up) and ran a 6:41 mile 5 before recovering some for a 6:31 final mile and final sprint into the finish line.  As it turned out Kendrick beat me by less than a minute, so I was able to edge him by about 15 seconds total for 5th overall in the amateur challenge for a nice pay day of $250!

cash for Chad, K, and S!

thanks to Lori for playing race sherpa :)

great friends, great racing!

gas station stop on the way home...do you approve Brian?

  

Gulf Coast Triathlon Race Report

May 6 - May 12
S:  12,353 yds - 2hr 55min

B:  96.57 mi - 4hr 40min

R:  30.65 mi - 3hr 52min

Total:  11hr 27min 

Since racing at the beach is pretty much the best thing ever, I decided to put the Gulf Coast Triathlon on my schedule for 2013.  This half iron distance race is well known around the area and has been held annually for the past 31 years.  It also has the reputation for being the “Gulf Roast Triathlon”, as the second weekend in May is often scorching and athletes have not had a chance to acclimate to the hot weather yet.  Nonetheless, I decided to give it my best shot.  Fellow Accelerate 3 athlete Chris Borden would be in attendance, so I was looking forward to meeting and racing against him, as we are very similar in abilities.

our pad for the weekend

On Friday morning, Charles Brammer and I packed up his Excursion and headed down to Panama City.  The day was pretty jam packed, and left a little less time than desired/expected to relax and get ready for the race.  But at least we made it down with a bowl full of goodness!
 

freshly picked strawberries from Dothan, AL

 
We both anticipated getting to bed at a slightly more decent hour than 11 pm, but oh well.  The race started on Saturday at 6:15 am and transition closed at 6:00 am, so we wanted to be there by 5:15 am.  This meant leaving the condo at 4:45 am to allow for drive/park time.  Needless to say, my 3:45 am alarm came quite early.  After some aero pressed coffee, a half serving of Ultragen, and a bowl of Koala Crisp cereal with peanut butter, a banana, honey, and almond milk, we headed to the race site.  After setting up transition I met up with Chris Borden and we chatted for a little while.  It was good to hear about his training and the success that he’s having so far with Brian.  Soon after we headed down to the beach to get ready for the start.

perfect conditions for LC racing!

 
Swim - 30:21 (26th)
My wave (M25-29) was to go off at 6:40 am.  This is an important piece of information.  At 6:20 am I finished zipping up my wetsuit and started wandering around to waste a few more minutes before starting a warm-up.  At 6:28 am, I headed in the ocean to get a quick swim in to loosen up the arms.  The plan was to splash around for 5-7 minutes or so, which would give me 5-7 minutes to line up and get a good position within my wave.  After warming up a little bit I started to walk up the beach.  I was still on the shore line when I noticed a bunch of purple swim caps huddled around the start area.  What!!??  About that time, the announcer said “male 25-29 yr olds, go!”  What the heck??  I was very confused and it all happened very quickly, but my wave was starting (I think)!  Still only 90% sure that my wave was starting (maybe I misheard the announcer and there were other waves with purple caps) I jumped in with my wave near the back in horrible position and spent the next couple of minutes swimming over and around people.  After finding some open water I started to settle down and process what just happened.  At this point I remembered that the announcer had mentioned that athletes needed to enter the back of the starting line chute, which I obviously didn’t do.  Was there a timing mat in the chute that we had to cross?  Was my chip time even started?  It was pretty much the worst feeling ever.  I’m embarking on a 4.5 hour race and I don’t even know if my chip time has been started.  Motivation was way down, and I really let it get to me.  I admittedly didn’t swim as hard as I should have, and I later kicked myself for doing so.  It still felt like a good swim though, which made me even more mad because I realized I probably could have swim 29 low or so.  I later found out from Chris Borden and his wife that all the waves were started early.  I guess I should have been ready for that but in my opinion that is extremely poor form.  With 800 racers and their families on the beach, it was hard to see or hear what was going on so changing the schedule was a pretty terrible decision.  Oh well, it is what it is. 

T1 - 2:00 (4th) 

Still unsure of if my chip was even started, I made a plan to grab an event staff worker as soon as I exited the swim to get it worked out.  Luckily there was one standing at the swim exit timing mat.  I quickly told him that I did not enter the back of the starting line chute and he quickly answered that it didn’t matter and that I was good to go.  Whew…disaster averted!  Stopping to talk to him cost me about 5 seconds so it was no big deal.  My mood and attitude quickly shot way up, and after a super quick transition I was ready to crush the bike.

what my T1 looks like

Bike - 2:21:16 (21st) 
The bike plan was pretty simple: hold watts, change watts slightly depending on wind, adjust downwards if necessary, and take in calories/fluids.  The first hour of the bike was fast and with a tailwind.  I believe I hit the 40k in slightly over 60 minutes.  This only means one thing…the last half of the bike would be into a headwind.  This turned out to be true although it wasn’t too bad.  In general everything went smoothly here.  Watts were slightly higher than plan but it felt good.  Since my wave was one of the first to go off, I was completely all alone out there, as opposed to the 30-40 year olds who had the  slight advantage of being able to get some legal slingshot drafts.  All in all I was pleased with the effort, and a 2:21 is huge half iron bike PB for me.

T2 - 1:20 (38th) 
Nothing going on here, just put my socks and shoes on and I was off.

Run - 1:36:16 (24th) 
Nothing like a half ironman with a 13.5 mile run!  It may not seem like much, but when you've been racing for 4.5 hours an extra 3 minutes feels like an eternity!  Coming off the bike there was no one in front of me, but I knew that there were some 30-39 year olds that started 10 minutes behind me that would be right with me in terms of cumulative time.  I had passed local Birmingham stud Deanna Newman at mile 54 so I came out of T2 a little bit ahead of her.  Part of me was hoping that she would speed up and catch me so that we could run together.  I raced a 5k with Deanna earlier this spring and she threw down a 17:39 (only 9 seconds behind me) so I knew she would be a good person to run with.  My legs felt good starting the run but I really had to pee!  After jumping in a port-o-potty at mile 1 for about 15 seconds, I came out right in front of Deanna...perfect!  We proceeded to run the rest of the race together.  Miles 2-10 were around a 6:55 to 7:00 avg pace, some slightly slower and some slightly faster.  The last 5k was pretty brutal.  My stomach was not fully cooperating so I just focused on staying with Deanna.  At mile 12 my stomach really started to bother me so I let Deanna go and cruised in solo.  The last 5k was around a 7:20 to 7:25 avg pace so I somehow managed not to tank too terribly bad.

Charles let me use his compression boots post-race

Total - 4:31:10 (13th)
All in all I was please with the race.  Besides the hiccup on the swim and having to slow down a little bit during the last 5k of the run, the race went well.  Every time I race one of these half ironman events I'm reminded of how hard they are to get right.  I'm really looking forward to knocking out a few more of them this year and really dialing in my efforts.  Big congrats to Chris who dropped a 4:27:48 for 9th overall.  I'll be seeing him again later this year, hopefully the outcome will be different!

how it feels to leave the beach :(

Insert Creative-non-race-update Title Here

Apr 29 - May 5
S:  13,710 yds - 3hr 23min

B:  179.22 mi - 9hr 56min

R:  29.02 mi - 3hr 42min

Total:  17hr 1min 

Finally, a somewhat "normal" and rather solid week in the bag, culminating with a ridiculous but very rewarding bike set!  After racing last weekend I had one more week of solid training to get in before getting back into the half ironman distance at Gulf Coast Triathon.  You just can't beat racing at the beach!  If history repeats itself the Gulf of Mexico swim will likely be super choppy, the bike will be super windy but still fast, and the run will be super hot but awesome.  Seeing as how it's been so cold around here lately, temperatures might be pretty ideal for this race, which is typically pretty toasty.   I'm also looking forward to going head-to-head with fellow Alabamian Chris Borden.  After chatting with Chris late last year, he soon signed on with Brian at Accelerate3 and has subsequently starting crushing it...should be a good race!  Also, the next few weeks will bring a change in how I spend about half of my training time...here's a hint:

clue #1

Capital of Dreams Triathlon Race Report

Apr 22 - Apr 28
S:  12,423 yds - 3hr 6min

B:  68.51 mi - 3hr 28min

R:  25.10 mi - 3hr 6min

Total:  9hr 40min 

The first race of tri season is always an interesting one.  You never know what to expect.  I mean, you kind of do but at the same time you don’t.  I knew my winter training was on target.  Running is at an all-time fastest level, bike power is where it needs to be, and swim fitness is as good as it has ever been thanks to some increased yardage so far in 2013.  BUT, how all of these plays together in the context of a race is a different story.  On paper I should be faster than last year, but it seems like there’s always some season opener rust to knock off while racing the intermediate distance (1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run).  All that being said, Lori and I traveled 90 miles south of Birmingham to Montgomery, AL for the Capital of Dreams Triathlon.  This would be the inaugural race, so I was excited to see if a race this close to home would be any good.  Rumor had it that the bike course would be fast...awesome!  The goal for this race was to win.  I knew that Birmingham local and a training partner of mine Jeffrey Shelley would provide some stiff competition, but I thought I might have the slight nod.  I recognized a few others on the list but no one who I thought could run away with it.  However, you never know what kind of no-name hot shot might show up on race day.  All that being said, I was feeling confident and ready to race fast!  Here’s how it went:

Swim - 20:57 (6th) 
The swim was a point-to-point 1500 meter course in the Alabama River.  One hour prior to race time, all the racers loaded up onto a tugboat for the ride up to the swim start (pretty cool, actually).  After stopping at the 400 meter mark to let all the sprint racers start, we made our way to the 1500 meter point.  On the way to the start line I chatted with a guy (Ben Reynolds) who had just moved to Birmingham from Montgomery.  He had a swimming background and looked pretty fit so I figured this guy would be in the mix for sure.  The start was of the time trial format (so dumb) and I was the 5th person to start, with Ben 3 slots in front of me.  The water was pretty chilly (~68 deg) but felt really good after a minute or two.  With no chance for a warm up I tried to avoid sprinting straight from the start.  After a minute or so I seemed to find a good rhythm and the rest of the swim was pretty boring.  I remember being passed by a guy and hopped on his feet for awhile but then he started swimming zig-zags all over the place so I gave up.  He was swimming faster than me but never really gained any distance because of his bad line.

T1 - 2:08 (2nd) 

T1 was an long run from the river to a cool little train station covering with multiple staircases and turns to navigate along the way.  I got my wetsuit down to my waist as I exited the dock and as soon as I did that I stopped, took off the wetsuit, and then starting running the rest of the way to transition.  Lori yelled at me that the leader (Ben) had about 3 minutes on me.  Crap!  After quickly grabbing my helmet, I was off to try and reel him in.

de-wetsuiting

Bike - 59:25 (2nd) 

Considering I was 3 minutes down, I decided that this was going to be an aggressive bike.  If you want to win you’ve got to give yourself a shot.  With 3 minutes to make up I knew I had to go hard.  After navigating out to the main road I put down my head and started to hammer.  Local Birmingham guy David Meadows had a superb swim and was out in front of me, as was one other guy about 20 seconds up the road.  After passing David I gradually started reeling in the other guy and passed him a few miles later.  At the first turnaround of this 2 loop 20k course, I could see that Ben was a strong biker and that catching him was going to be a tough task.  But I was feeling good and my watts were high, so I knew I wasn’t out of it.  The rest of the bike was uneventful.  I made up 2 minutes or so on Ben, but also knew that I had Jeffrey Shelley and one other guy right on my heels.  Coming to the end of the bike I was hurting but feeling like I could lay down a good run.  My nutrition was the normal 2 watered down gu roctanes, 3/4 of a bottle of water, and 3/4 of a bottle of EFS with a few extra salt tablets dumped in.

finishing the bike

T2 - 0:40 (2nd) 

T2 was smooth and fast.  No mistakes here and I was quickly on the run course. 

Run - 34:50 (3rd) 

I did my homework before the race.  The 10k run course was a 2 loop 5k.  Each 5k started out flat for a half mile, climbed for a mile, and then was flat/downhill for the rest.  I knew I could push it on the climb and then would still be able to maintain speed on the downhill while recovering a little bit.  For the first lap I was completely alone but settled right in and clicked off miles 1 and 2 in 6:29 and 6:21.  After finishing the first loop I noticed I was only at 2.85 miles…I knew the loop was supposed to be 5k because I had studied the course…did it change?  Did I cut the course?  It was pretty much the worst feeling ever, not knowing if I had cut the course or not.  I said screw it and kept running (nothing else to do).  Mile 3 was 6:07 and about that time I noticed a guy making up ground behind me.  Mile 4 was 6:28, and then I got caught as we were still on the climbing portion of the course.  The dude passed me hard and I went all in to stay on his feet.  Maybe I was slacking off earlier in the race or maybe I just needed some motivation, I don’t know.  On the dude’s heels we ran the next mile in 5:49 and then he really started to turn it up.  At this point I noticed that he had started about 30 seconds behind me, so I would need to gap him by 30 seconds in order to win.  Considering I was at my limit sitting on his heels, it was not going to happen.  Then he really started to open it up and we covered the last 7/10 of a mile in 5:18 pace.  As we neared the crowds and the finish I sprinted around him and crossed the line ahead, even though it was of no use since he would have had to lose 30 seconds on me.  As it turned out the run was 5.67 miles...about a half mile short of 10k.

on the podium

Total - 1:57:58 (3rd OA) 

I ended up 3rd overall, only 12 seconds behind Ben and 27 seconds behind the other guy.  Unfortunately, the run was a half mile short of 10k which could have easily changed the final podium (although we will never know).  Oh well, it is what it is.  I was pleased with my swim, although I still have some work to do in that area.  Bike watts were at the upper end of where I thought they would be so I can’t complain there.  Props to Jeffrey Shelley who out-split me on the bike by 12 seconds.  Transitions were smooth and flawless so no problems there.  The run went as well as expected.  I feel much stronger off the bike than last year, and I was able to really dig deep when I had to hop on feet.  Based on how the last 1.5 miles went, I might could be a little more aggressive early on.  All in all it was a great first race of the year, capped off with a stop at the Peach Park in Clanton, AL for some cobbler!


about to crush some cobbler!