Pelican Fest Race Report--Age Group Victory!

(Saturday 5/23/09)

After being cancelled by the tornado last year, the Pelican Fest sprint came back this year on a new course with new race directors.  I picked this race just because of the date—I really knew nothing about it.  It’s 3 weeks until Alcatraz now and I wanted a tune-up opportunity.  The original training plan was to finish a long build with the race but by last weekend, I just wasn’t responding to the intensity of training I had scheduled for myself.  I took Sunday off and then went hard again Monday through Wednesday but it was clear that I needed to cut the build a little short.  So I took Thursday off and ran easy on Friday.  I came into the race not exactly tapered but a little rested.

My primary goals were just to experience race pace for the first time this year and get practice making fast transitions.  I was hopeful that I’d be fast, but didn’t expect great results.  On race morning, I made the hour drive and arrived a few minutes early so I decided to drive the bike course.  Good call.  The course is a short box—10 miles total.  The first 3 miles were uphill into a headwind.  Not too steep but definitely not flat.  At the top of the box, there was a short no-passing zone and then downhill with a tailwind to complete the third side. The last side of the box was partially on a bike path so I didn’t get a look at that.  It seemed clear to me that I’d have to come out hard on the uphill section to the no-passing zone to differentiate myself on the bike.  Once we hit the downhill section, it seemed likely that everyone would be spun out so not much opportunity to make up time.

I parked, checked in, set up my transition area, and got in a short warmup—a little too short for a sprint—turns out, I hadn’t arrived that early afterall.  The swim start was a short walk from transition (point to point swim).  Jogged over with Coach Mike, said hello to the family, and swam a little warmup.  Water was cold—they said 63—but not too bad.  I was in the second wave.  Got to the start line on the beach a few seconds too late and didn’t feel like I could muscle up to the front row so I took my position in the second row on the inside.  

At the horn, I sprinted around the guy in front of me and started swimming hard, looking to see if there’d be anyone to follow.  After just a few meters, I felt like I’d be able to go it alone and sprinted out in front.  Made the turn (at about 100m) alone and tried to keep pouring it on to open the gap.  From here, the swim was a straight shot to transition and I was quickly into the back of the first wave.  I shifted back into cruise mode and picked my way through the red caps in front of me.  I checked back once or twice to see where the nearest blue cap was (my wave) but never spotted anyone near me.  Came out of the water in 12 minutes (swim was supposed to be a half mile, but I suspect it was a little long).

It was a pass-through transition, maybe .1-.2 mile long—kinda funky.  I was fast through T1.  Decided to leave my shoes clipped into my pedals and run barefoot through transition.  I don’t usually do this, but given the length of the run in cleats I would have had to make, this seemed like the best option.  I reached the mount line, and started riding—slipped into my shoes quickly and didn’t lose much time doing so.  Then I hit the gas and started catching folks from the first wave.  I didn’t really have a lot of strategy at this point—just to ride as fast as I could.  I got a little break in the no passing zone when I got stuck behind a slower rider but we were moving okay and I just relaxed and caught my breath for a few seconds.  On the downhill/tailwind section, I was in my 53-11 most of the way, but never spun it out.  Coming back to transition along the bike path, there were a few curves that were tight enough that I had to coast through but otherwise, I worked the full 10 miles pretty well, passed several people, and didn’t get passed by anyone. 

I had a great T2 and was out on the run quickly.  It was at this point that the reality hit me that I was definitely leading the age group and that there would be some fast runners behind me trying to close the gap.  I had no idea what my lead was but didn’t guess it to be very big.  Could I possibly win the race leading wire to wire?  It would have seemed unlikely before the race, but here I was, still out front.  Considering that I’m not a great runner (by front range standards), I just focused on running hard and keeping the negative thought of getting caught out of my head.  I didn’t wear a heart rate monitor, just a watch, so I ran by feel (and it didn’t feel that good).  I started getting passed by other runners almost immediately, but I was watching calves for age group numbers and didn’t see anyone over 35 (so all from the wave ahead of me).  When I reached the turnaround at about a mile into the run, I took a glance at my watch so I might be able to calculate what was left of my lead as I passed people going the other way.

About 50 seconds into the way back, I crossed with a guy who looked like he might be my age but when I turned to check his calf, all I could make out was the decade (4) but not the year.  So I had 1:40 on him with less than 2 miles to go and wasn’t sure if I was competing against him or not.  That lead probably wouldn’t be enough if he was a fast runner but I knew I didn’t have too long to go and just dug in and tried to pick up my pace.  I passed Coach Mike (still going out) about 2 minutes later and he gave me a high five and told me, ”you’ve got it.”  Mike knew the dude I was worried about was in the next age group (45-49) but I didn’t and wasn’t backing off anyhow.  I ran as hard as I could and with a little more than a half mile to go, I looked behind me for the first time in the run and didn’t see anyone within striking distance.  I didn’t let up much but took just a little bit off and cruised across the finish line in 1:00:19.  Would have been cool to crack an hour, but I have no complaints.

Results: 1^st place in my age-group (by about 5 minutes) out of 25 racers and 8^th overall (out of over 250).  There were two pros in the race (both beat me, of course) so top 6 among amateurs.  Had the 8th best swim of the day, the 8th best bike (averaged just under 24mph), and the 37th best run in 20:47 (6:43 pace).  So my run still needs a little work, but was good enough for the day and a pretty fast 5k for me.  Even though it wasn’t a major race and the field wasn’t too deep, a win is a win and I’m proud of my effort and result.  (Full results here.)

Feeling good about Alcatraz—just 3 weeks away!

One month to go

Alcatraz is one month from today--nearly to the minute, as I write. The good news is that I think I'll be ready. Training has been going very well overall and I'm seeing strength in areas that aren't normally that strong for me. Have picked up some very good race strategy tips from friends who have done this race in the past and feel confident that I'll have a workable plan on race day. Travel arrangements are made; my folks will come out to CO and hang with the kids while Teegan and I will have a little getaway weekend together. We'll get to see some family and friends while we're there. Bonus!

This race is a bit tricky to prepare for because of the unusual distances. The swim is a little long for an Oly but it doesn't worry me too much. Based on my training, I don't expect to swim great there, but should be closer to the front of the race than the back into T1. But swimming 1-2 hours a week is getting me the minimum I'll need to be competitive and has always been enough in the past.

The bike is short and pretty technical--lots of ups/downs/corners. I'm leaving my TT bike at home and bringing the road bike instead. Will slap on some shorty aerobars because there are a few sections to lay out and hammer, but with all the hills and turns, going with a full tri bike seems risky for my strengths and weaknesses as a rider. Data says my short power is there--we'll just have to see how it all feels on race day. I've also been trying to build some long distance cycling endurance to be ready for Cycle for Sight the week following Alcatraz. That also seems to be coming together but that event isn't a race so no big deal if I'm uncomfortable for a few days of riding there.

Running is really coming together for me this year. I'm logging more miles, smarter miles, faster miles this year over past years. I know the sand ladder will crush me and I'm prepared for that (at least mentally). I'm going to try to get there fast and then just survive the few miles to the finish afterwards. I don't know how to prepare for running 140 sand steps from the beach to the bluff but have been hitting plenty of stairs and doing interval work. My long run each week is generally around 2 hours--overkill for this race, but sets me up to do well in some of the longer stuff later in the season.

So I think it's all good. Have consistently been able to train hard and recover quickly. My weight is perfect for where I am in the training cycle right now--will be dropping another pound or two before race day. This is the lightest I've ever been as an adult and the strength/power is still there--a great sign for riding and running. Tune-up race in Windsor next weekend will give me some indication of whether everything is going as well as I think but I'll be hitting that on the last day of a build cycle so I'm not expecting great results. Still, will be awesome to run through all the race day stuff and make full speed transitions before Alcatraz. At this point, I'm just counting down the days.