Harvest Moon Race Report

A little behind on posting--the race was Saturday, September 12.

After weeks upon weeks of beautiful summer weather, the cold and wet arrived about 12 hours before the race. I awoke to temps in the mid ‘40s with a projected high of 58 degrees. This race has a long history of wild (mostly cold) weather but I was still a bit bummed about raceday being the one cold day surrounded by perfect days. Nothing to do about it—everyone had the same disadvantage.

Woke up early and went through the usual race morning ritual. Big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and then out the door in the dark for the hour drive. As has been the case all season, I had no nerves about the day—just confidence and eager anticipation. Met Whitney at the park & ride and we loaded her up in the truck and made the drive, arriving about 45 minutes before the start. I quickly set up transition, picked up my chip, got bodymarked, made a successful stop at the porta potty, and headed to the beach. It wasn’t as cold as a few years ago, but it was definitely uncomfortable. I had set up my transition area with some cold-weather bike gear and decided to decide on the fly as to whether to pull it on or just ride in my trisuit.

The start was about 15 minutes late—luckily, I didn’t get into the water until the first wave went off (or I would have been freezing). I was in the 5^th wave, 20 minutes after the first. I went through a little extra warmup in the water so I’d be ready to go from the gun if that’s what was required. I surveyed my wave at the line and didn’t see anyone I knew I could draft off. I took a position toward the inside and waited for the start.

Once we were off, I immediately started looking for feet. My plan was to get behind someone and save energy—even if it meant giving up a little time. It was quickly clear who was the fastest swimmer and I raced successfully to get onto his feet but the dude was a disastrous navigator. After a few minutes, he was headed hopelessly off course and moving faster than I felt I could comfortably maintain so I gave up the ride and realigned myself for the buoy. At this point, I’d been pulled out pretty far ahead of the field and there was only one other guy out there, swimming about even off to my left. I made a move for his feet as he made a move for mine—I lost (by ending up ahead of him) and I ended up pulling him out to the turnaround. He tapped my feet several times but I maintained my pace, hoping he’d go around and let me draft. Just after the turnaround, he came past me and I hopped on but he was really moving and I wasn’t willing to put in the energy to go with him. I could see him all the way back—and checking the results, he was Gordo Byrn (former pro). He put just under 30 seconds on me and I had to work alone on the way back, but I think it was a good call. (Gordo finished 5^th overall in the race and won the age group—it’s not like I ever had a shot at beating him.) I completely lost sight of the first guy but it turns out he wasn’t in my age group—I have no idea whether or not I beat him out of the water. Dude was a fast swimmer who needs a serious lesson in navigation—last I saw of him before the turnaround, he was a solid 40 meters off course. The swim was a bit short—my time was 24:38 (17^th best split of the day).

As I came into T1, I looked at how other racers were dressed for the cool weather. It was all over the board, but it seemed like most weren’t pulling on cold weather gear. Good enough for me. I hopped on the bike and hoped for the best. It was cold right away, but not debilitatingly so. I was having a hard time feeling my legs so I just started out at a pace that seemed right but when I was able to get a glimpse of my powermeter, I saw really big numbers. I quickly realized that I hadn’t zeroed out the torque and once I found a spot to coast for a few seconds, I made the reset and immediately saw numbers I could live with. This course is hilly, windy, and back-end loaded. For the most part, the wind is at your back or crossing for the first 40 miles. From there back in, it’s right in your face and the rollers are pretty big. I knew to be patient for the first 40—my goal was to ride even watts on the day. I felt like I did what I set out to do and had a great ride in 2:33:30 (21.9mph – 25^th best split of the day). With some help from coach Mike analyzing my data after the race, I now realize that I didn’t go out quite as easy as I should have, resulting in a small but important dropoff in power at the end—I was fatigued. It was close, but not quite what I needed to do and I probably gave up a little time off my run as a result.

I was quickly in and out of T2 and started the run at a strong but comfortable pace. The major theme of the run: poop. I skipped the porta-potty out of transition even though I needed to pee a little but the feeling went away after a mile or two and it felt like I was at the turnaround in no time. I was near the front of the race despite the +20 min wave start and had been watching calves the whole day—I was definitely in the top 5 AG at the turnaround. By mile 8, I started feeling like I needed to use the bathroom again but pushed on since I was still running strong. At mile 9, I could feel myself slowing down a little as my intestines began doing their thing. I was still running okay but I should have stopped for a quick #2 (but didn’t). From there, it became hard to find an available porta-potty on the course and the feeling was coming and going—I decided to stick it out. At mile 11, I didn’t want to lose my shot at going sub-5 in the bathroom so I asked a volunteer what time it was (I knew I had started at 800a). 1130a. This was very good news: 2.1 miles to go in 30 minutes to go sub-5 hours. But my tummy was definitely slowing me down and no bathroom was in sight. The next one I came to was at mile 12. Mile 12! I had to stop—no choice—my pace had slowed significantly. Got the job done (the one-piece tri suit is a bit of a bummer for on-course bathrooming) and ran a relief-filled last mile to a strong finish in 4:54:58. (47^th overall and 7^th in my AG). My 1:54:05 run was a bit disappointing (107^th overall) but if you take out the bathroom stop, it’s not too far off my best HIM run.

So even with the short swim, I’m calling it a legit sub-5 hour effort. A PR by 9 minutes at this distance and a 13 minute improvement over my previous best on this course back in 2005. (Well, the course is slightly modified now, but close enough for comparison.) Clearly a great day for me—super-exciting to nail it! And, I know that I left time out there by riding too hard and mismanaging my potty stop. I’ll have big goals at this distance next season for sure.

The day wasn’t over though. Race number two, a super-sprint in Boulder, was set to go off at 330p that afternoon. Look for the next post soon.

Ride like a young, fast man

In early 2005, I did a ton of research then bit the bullet and bought a custom tri bike. I was concerned with getting onto a bike that was both perfect for me at the time and something I could grow with. I decided on a Serotta and spent hours getting fit and selecting components. I wanted something great, but not too flashy. I wasn't that fast back then and didn't want to look the poser as all the fast dudes passed me. I couldn't have been happier than I was with my steel (yup!) and carbon CXII CS. Here's a pic just before the maiden voyage--I think this was February or March of 2005.

Over the years, I've tinkered with a few things: new seatpost and saddle, new training and race wheels, a new aerobar setup. But I've left the bones of the bike intact as my riding skills and flexibility have improved. Chris at Pro Peloton designed the bike to grow with me as a rider. Little by little, I've adjusted the front end downward to achieve a better and better aero position. Here's what the bike looks like now (the latest adjustment was made today)--this is about as low as the front end will go on this bike (with a HED Vantage 8 aerobar and a down 17 degree stem). It's a little tough to see in the first pic, but notice the difference between the pictures in the drop from the saddle to the arm rests on the bars--I haven't changed my seat height.

So this is about the limit of what this bike can do for me in terms of aero. I look at it and think, "This is a young, fast man's setup. I can't ride this." We'll see. I've been making baby steps, getting stronger and more flexible over the years. It's been a long road but I'm finally at the full potential of the bike.

So many folks set up their bikes the way they see in the glossy advertisements for the rider they wish they were. Someday, I'll likely join the masses of folks who own sexy new monocoque, carbon fiber, faired frame, shielded rear wheel, hidden brake, slammed front end aerobikes but this bike is the real deal and I've never felt behind in the equipment arms race. I'm passing a lot of those sexy new bikes on race day, by the way.

I've always felt that being comfortable is way more important than being slammed down aero anyhow. And that's my secret weapon--now I have both. And believe me, I've earned it though thousands of miles of training my position and technique on the bike.

All that's left is to ride like a young, fast man.