Mountain Lakes Triathlon 2013

Aug 5 - Aug 11
S:  11,460 yds - 2hr 45min
B:  100.96 mi - 5hr 20min
R:  17.44 mi - 2hr 20min
Total:  10hr 15min

It's early August and that can only mean it's time for MLT.  In the wee hours of Saturday morning (4am to be exact) Lori and I headed up towards Guntersville, AL to race the Mountain Lakes Triathlon.  Firstly, I just have to say that I LOVE this race course, mainly the bike and the run.  For a sprint, the bike course is slightly longer than "normal" at 16 miles which certainly suits my strengths.  The clock-wise loop around the lake has all right-hand turns and is mostly flat with a few slight rollers that you can easily power over in your big ring, so speeds are always fast.  The run is a scenic 3 mile out-and-back on a paved running trail right along the lake.  The swim is just average though, and is advertised as 600 yards although it seems like it's always either much higher or lower than that.  The only thing I really don't like about this race is the same thing I don't like about almost every other race in the southeast; it's a time trial start.

I've done this race the last 6 years and there has defintely been a progression to faster times, as one might expect.  This is, of course, a good thing.

Year     Swim    Bike      Run       Total      Place
2008     9:18     41:32     20:31     1:13:44     52
2009     9:44     39:23     19:38     1:11:00     24
2010     7:11     40:18     19:43     1:09:03     19
2011     8:51     37:43     18:49     1:07:28       3
2012   10:22     37:47     18:09     1:08:22       5
2013     8:56     37:10     18:49     1:06:45       3

The swims are all over the board, mainly because the swim is different every year.  If I were RD I would actually measure the swim.  How hard could it be?  Not very.  2008 through 2010 were my learning years, and then all of the sudden 3 full years of consistent training started paying off and my times started dropping.  One other interesting note is the bike splits.  2011 and 2012 showed practically the exact same splits, which makes sense because my average power was pretty much exactly the same in both races.  This summer I've done some work on my position and even made a trip to the soon-to-be-blogged about A2 Wind Tunnel.  The conclusion of the trip was that my helmet sucked pretty bad and I made a few other changes to optimize my position.  The result...drum rolllll...is what you see in the chart below for the years of 2010-2013 at the Mountain Lakes Triathlon bike course. 

That's 26.15 mph off of 273 watts compared to about 25.7 mph off of 289 watts the previous 2 years.  So basically I went 0.42 mph faster off of 16 less watts...got to love free speed!  To give another idea on how huge this is and how much physiological difference 16 watts makes when you are near threshold, so far throughout all of my rides in 2013 my duration for a mean maximal power of 289 watts is about 63 minutes and my duration for a mean maximal power of 273 watts is 93 minutes.  So as power increases by just 5% from 273 to 289, the duration that I can maintain said power decreases by 32%. 

Anyways...going faster off of less is always a good thing.  Now enough with the analysis...I just got excited for a little bit.  Here's how the race played out.   

Swim - 8:56 (13th)
I was the 9th racer to start in time trail fashion.  Andrew Hodges was the first racer to start and I knew he would be tough to beat...it would basically take the bike of all bikes to overcome the swimming and running deficit that he would put into me.  I was also surrounded by a bunch of kids from the Southeast Junior team...most of them are pretty good swimmer/runners so you can't take them all for granted.  As I went off I tried to find some feet to catch and just swam as hard as I could.  I exited the water right with Lori who started 30 seconds behind me so I felt pretty good about that.

T1 - 1:15 (30th)
Ok, I'm just going to say it...this was terrible.  I think it's because the straps on my new helmet have smaller buckles or something because I fumbled around for what seemed like 15 seconds with it.  Crap!  In a sprint race this can easily be the difference between winning and losing so I was not happy about that.  I finally got it buckled and was off to catch some bikers.

Bike - 37:10 (1st)
I knew I had my work cut out for me here, figuring there were 5-10 people out on the course in front of me.  Trying to settle into a sprint distance bike is tough because you don't want to blow up in the first 10 minutes but you don't want to leave anything on the table either.  After a few minutes I found my sweet spot and just tried to keep the power output steady from there.  From there I passed 6 or 7 people in the first 5 or 6 miles before the roads became empty.  At this point I thought that Andrew was the only one in front of me.  Somewhere around mile 10 or so I came upon a rider who I knew wasn't Andrew and it turned out to be a relay racer, but with a few miles to go I finally caught sight of him up the road.  With about a half mile or so to go I made the pass, thinking that I was first in off the bike and sitting in the virtual lead of the race.  However, after rolling into transition I noticed that there was one bike on the rack, so one of the kids must have been having a good race. 

T2 - 0:37 (26th)
No mistakes here, just a quick in and out.

Run - 18:49 (11th)
As I started the run Andrew couldn't have been more than 10-20 seconds behind me, if that.  Sure enough he came flying by me a minute or two in and there was nothing I can do.  It was hot but more than that it was super humid, and I was struggling with 6 to 6:30 pace.  From what I could tell there was no one close behind but I knew that Jeffrey Shelley had started a good bit behind and we would be close.  At the turnaround I could see the leader (some 15 year old kid) and Andrew not far behind him.  The rest of the run I just tried to focus on not blowing up and staying strong.  It was nice to see familiar faces on the way back in, and with a slight negative grade on the return trip it made it that much better.

Total - 1:06:45 (3rd overall)
I knew I was 3rd across the line but only time would tell if that would hold up.  As it turns out, Jeffrey finished a mere 5 seconds behind me so I was able to secure 3rd overall.  He later got hit with a bogus 2 minute drafting penalty that was likely some sort of mix-up.  I think that makes me 2-2 against him this year...it's always a hard fought battle.  At the end of the day I was pleased with the race although I know I can still run faster.  It's just hard to execute everything perfectly in this Alabama heat and humidity!  Also...huge props to Lori for winning the overall female race by a good 2 minutes...in only her 4th triathlon ever! 

overall podium, Lori got the win!

River Cities Triathlon 2013

July 22 - July 28
S:  12,101 yds - 2hr 48min
B:  197.03 mi - 9hr 27min
R:  28.57 mi - 3hr 37min
Total: 15hr 52min

July 29 - Aug 4
S:  11,827 yds - 2hr 52min
B:  95.50 mi - 4hr 59min
R:  27.04 mi - 3hr 29min
Total: 11hr 20min

It's really hard to not do all the local races around and near Alabama every year, but sometimes that gets old.  When Lori mentioned traveling to Shreveport, LA to do the River Cities Triathlon and to visit her Alma mater (Centenary College of Louisiana), I was pumped!  We headed out on Saturday morning to start the 7 hour trek over to Shreveport.  Local triathlete Jennifer Christy grew up in Shreveport and her parents graciously put 7 of us up in their house.  Jennifer's husband Micah made the trip as well; props to him for snapping a handful of superb pictures during the race.

The next morning we awoke early for our breakfast routine and then made the 40 minute drive to the race site, which was based in some sort of a park.  With the race being a sprint (0.5 mile, 18 mile, 5k), I wanted to make sure I was nice and warmed up.  Lori and I went for a 2 mile run with some striders and it was at that point that I knew it was going to be a brutal day.  It was already getting kind of hot and the humidity was BRUTAL.  Usually this would be no problem, but summer in Alabama has been somewhat mild this year so this was a complete shock to the body.  Anyways, here's how the race went.

Swim - 12:52 (7th)
I lined up with 21 other guys in the elite/invitational wave.  The swim course was a 0.5 mile clockwise triangle so I positioned myself on the right hand side on the 2nd row.  As the gun sounded, we-took off.  The pace was high for the first 100 meters but I found myself still in the pack.  At this point things spread out and I could see 1 guy out front and handful of others in front of me, but it was hard to tell how many.  Everyone else was behind so I just focused on swimming hard and swimming straight.  The rest of the swim was uneventful and I thought it went pretty well, although I didn't have much clue on my position.

swim exit...hurting pretty good

T1 - 1:19 (13th)
T1 went smoothly.  My new helmet takes slightly longer to put on (it's a snug fit) but probably only by 5 seconds or so...nothing substantial.  13th sounds terrible but most of us were in the 1:10 to 1:20 range.

Bike - 43:12 (7th)
The bike was interesting.  This was my first ride with a new helmet that has less venting.  This was also the 2nd ride on my new bike setup, which basically has me in a praying mantis position with extensions rotated up 25 degrees.  It still feels somewhat awkward but I'm getting used to it.  That being said, the first thing that I noticed out on the bike was that it was very hot and my heart rate was very high (and not coming down as quick as I wanted).  As I spent the first few minutes settling into the effort, it became apparent that my wattage was going to be lower than normal.  Oh well, some days are like that.  I managed to pass 1 guy within the first few minutes and 2 others at about the halfway point.  From there on I was completely solo for this 18 mile clockwise loop course so I just focused on a high and steady effort.  I came off the bike in 4th place, but keep in mind that I had absolutely no clue what position I was in.  This would have been nice to know!

new helmet, new setup

finishing the bike

T2 - 1:20 (15th)
I spent about 5-10 seconds fumbling with a shoe but other than that, no issues here.  We had to run a loop in transition before getting out on the course.

Run - 20:07 (7th)
This is where it gets even more interesting.  The run was a semi out-and-back, but on the return trip the course took several "diversions".  This would prove to make it very difficult to gauge what position I was in.  Post-race analysis told me I started the run in 4th but I had no clue and throughout the race I did not see a single person on the return trip.  At that point it was so hot that I was in survival mode anyways, so it probably would not have mattered.  As soon as I came out of T2 I knew it was going to be a suffer fest.  My head was on fire and my ears were slightly "stopped up", which seems to happen to me when I start to overheat.  A couple minutes into the run, two guys came by me running substantially faster than myself.  I was struggling with 6:30 pace and they flew by me.  Crap.  Mile 1 was a 6:30...not going to cut it but it was the best I could do.  I told myself to suck it up and I cranked up the pace a little bit.  Two other guys passed me but I passed two more so I'm sitting in 6th.  Mile 2 was a 6:13 and I was overheating bad!  At about the 14 minute mark, my whole stomach started to cramp up...it was weird...almost like a side stitch...but my whole stomach.  I tried to carry on but the pain was unbearable to I started to walk.  This was such a terrible feeling, especially when I got passed by another guy, moving me into 7th.  After about 30 seconds of walking I gradually started running again and was able to pick the pace up a little bit and finish at a decent clip.

rounding the corner to the finish...

...ready for this thing to be over!

let's play "where did Chad start walking?"

Total: 1:18:52.6 (7th overall)
In the end I didn't have a bad race, but I didn't have a good race either.  I thought I swam well but my bike and run left a little bit to be desired.  Bike watts were at least 30-35 watts lower than normal for a sprint, and my 5k was at least 1.5-2 minutes slower than what I've done earlier this year.  If you shaved 2 to 2.5 minutes off my time I would have been right when 2nd and 3rd place.  It's crazy what a big difference a minute or two can make, it certainly emphasizes the importance of execution on race day!  The big question is how much of this was due to the heat?  All of it?  It was hot, and by hot I mean way hotter and more humid than it's ever been in Alabama this year.  You certainly can't discount that.  At the end of the day, however, I'm happy because I know I went as hard as I could and could not have gone any faster.  It's unexplainable, but some days you have it and some days you don't...and today I did not quite have the top end speed.  Many thanks to Jennifer Christy for putting us up in her parents house.  Jennifer had a solid race herself, finishing 2nd place in the female masters category.  And of course, congrats to Lori who finished 3rd overall female in her 3rd triathlon ever!  What a stud!

post race, Lori got 3rd overall!

Chattanooga Waterfront Duathlon Race Report

July 8 - July 14
S:  15,791 yds - 3hr 39min
B:  124.89 mi - 6hr 44min
R:  28.38 mi - 3hr 33min
Total:  13hr 57min

July 15 - July 21
S:  10,134 yds - 2hr 32min
B:  154.21 mi - 9hr 2min
R:  18.38 mi - 2hr 30min
Total:  14hr 5min

I've come to realize that I have a love/hate relationship with the Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon.  This race usually falls around mid-July, and anyone that lives in the southeastern United States knows that July is about as miserably hot as it can get.  The Chattanooga course is wide open on the bike, so if it's hot then you absolutely cook.  The run is somewhat shaded but is right on the water so the humidity seems to really skyrocket on the course.  Add in a decent hill at the start/end of the run and it's a recipe for suffering.  This would be my 6th year in a row to do this race, and it's pretty much 50/50 as to whether I'll have a decent race or not.  I usually pride myself in being able to execute most races pretty well, but this course has historically been the exception.  I even vowed last year to never do this race again!  Ha!  But Chattanooga is just an awesome city, so it's really hard to turn down this quick 2.5 hour drive for some good racing and good competition.

This year's race brought some unexpected changes.  Chattanooga saw record rainfall the week before the race, so on Tuesday of race week we all received an e-mail informing us that the swim would likely be canceled.  Both the swim start and finish docks were completely underwater, so there was pretty much no other option.  The swim would be replaced by a 2 mile run and the rest of the race would proceed as normally planned.  So...on Saturday Lori and I drove up and headed straight to packet pick-up.  Lori was signed up for the aqua bike but with a swim cancellation she opted for a credit to another race.  Next, we headed to Lupi's with Hallie and Lee/Heather Simms for some pizza...probably my favorite pre-race meal.  Luckily we made it right before the crowd and were able to eat and get back to fix up our rides and get some sleep!

pre-race

Rain was in the forecast but luckily it stopped about an hour or two before the race.  We biked down to the race site from the hotel, as it was only about a mile away.  The day was shaping up nicely in terms of conditions...the rain was gone, the sky was cloudy, and temps were actually somewhat low (70-80's)...a recipe for a good race!  Here's how it went:

Run 1 (2mile): 11:48
Unfortunately, even after this race was turned into a duathlon it was still a time trial start.  I was the 21st racer off the line and quickly settled into a very comfortably hard pace.  I was thinking I'd probably settle in around 5:50 pace and that's exactly what happened.  Jeffrey Shelley started a couple numbers behind me and quickly bridged up to me, and then we stayed together for the rest of the run.  I knew we would be dead even for most of the race so staying with him was crucial.

Leading Jeffrey into T1

T1: 1:06
Usually T1 is pretty fast and uneventful, but I really screwed this one up.  I *thought* that we were supposed to run out the far back corner of transition but as it turns out, that was not the case.  Since transition was rather large (this race had close to 1,000 people in it) this cost me a decent chunk of time.  Jeffrey exited T1 23 seconds faster than me...crap!!  I saw him up the road and could just not believe how stupid of a mistake I had just made.  It really only cost me 1 position in the overall but it was still a huge screw-up.

Bike (42k): 1:04:09
The bike course was somewhat hilly so I had a plan of upping the watts slightly on the climbs and backing off slightly once up to speed on the descents.  I came out of transition close to Bruce Gennari  and we traded off back and forth for at least the first 10-15 miles.  It was good to have him near me for some motivation.  Watts felt good, and I found myself wanting to hover around the 270-280 mark with a slight increase/decrease on the climbs/descents.  I could see Jeffrey up in front of me at the turnaround and we were practically dead even.  I finally got away from Bruce and reeled in one other guy, who then passed me back as we rolled the last few miles.  Coming into T2, I knew I 'd have to lay down a good run to catch Jeffrey and the other guys up the road.

T2: 0:58
No mistakes here, thankfully.

Run 2 (10k): 38:39
The run starts off with a hill and after learning from my past mistakes I eased into the first mile.  After a slower mile 1, I clicked off a 6:13 and 6:16 before nearing the turnaround.  The leader was 5 minutes ahead and Jeffrey was a probably 1.5 minutes...probably too much to catch but I would certainly try.  Mile 4-5 were 6:14 and 6:18 before hitting the final mile and one last hill before the finishing sprint.  Alex Solomon came around me with 200 meters to go and we had a nice little sprint but he edged me at the line...not that it mattered because he started behind me anyways.

the final sprint

Total: 1:56:38 (9th overall, 3rd AG)
All in all, this was an excellent race.  Both runs were executed well, and considering I wanted to quit about 5k into the 2nd run I'm happy about that.  As it turned out, this was actually my fastest 10k run ever in a triathlon so that's certainly a good thing.  The bike was my fastest time at Chattanooga my about 1.5 minutes, which is massive!  The only mistake I made was in T1, which cost me an overall spot and an age group spot.  *But*...if I had not made this mistake I would have started the 10k run with Jeffrey and would have been in a head-to-head race with him to the line.  Oh well...you race, you learn...I just can't make that mistake again.

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?