Raced the Horsetooth 10k open water swim this morning. What can I say? That's a long way to swim.
When I registered in January, I had visions of training for this the right way. Didn't quite make it, but put in more pool and reservoir miles this summer than I probably have in the past couple of years combined. Despite coming in undertrained (my longest swim was 5k), I was relaxed and confident.
Race plan was simple: push the first k (to the point where I'd meet up with my paddlers, cruise to the halfway mark, build the next 3 k's and then ride the adrenaline home for the last 2 k's.
Pretty much stuck to plan. Paddler rendezvous was closer to the start this year than in the past. I set a nice, sustainable pace and the first hour simply flew by. Very comfortable. I picked it up at the halfway point and started reeling folks in. Aside from the obvious "just finish" goal for my first race at this distance, I had a little side bet with my friend Alison (who is generally a little faster than I am). I knew she'd start faster but I planned to let her go and then try to bring her back in the second half. By 8k, I was could see her and was closing.
Then, I hit the wall. I guess it's like mile 20 of a marathon. I went from pushing hard and feeling good to extreme discomfort in a matter of seconds. I lost all my power, my back ached, it was hard to kick. I focused on keeping my stroke long and tried to relax but the last 2 k's were the swimming equivalent of a death march. I passed a few other folks but really couldn't even sprint in the last few yards. Was happy just to cross the line.
In hindsight, my plan was probably a little to aggressive given my swim training and the fact that it was my first time at this distance. Still, a swim to be proud of and a baseline for the next one...
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Won a tri last weekend
Not so great with the blogging stuff--is 5 months too long to wait between posts?
Horsetooth is two weeks away and my swim training is going well, though I'm putting in lower volume than I had planned. I expect I'll be able to finish with only moderate discomfort, but not sure how much of a "race" it will be. Excited about it for sure.
Last weekend, I raced a sprint that was just a few miles from the house. A buddy is the race director and he offered me a free entry after Bill and I put on a beginner clinic to help support the race. It fit into my schedule (in that I wasn't already racing) so I went for it. I'd call this a "C" race--lowest priority, trained right through.
I knew that most of the participants would be beginners and first-timers but figured there'd be a few folks really competing. I approached it as a hard hour of training and only grabbed my aerohelmet at the last second as I was leaving the house.
Pool swim--525 yards. After a briefly delayed start, I swam strong. At this point in my training, I'm generally not getting into a rhythm until 500 yards. I went out moderately hard and built from there. Lapped my lane mates twice and was into transition in under 7 minutes.
I was told there was one person already out on the road. The start was staggered so there was no way of knowing exactly where I stood--there was about a minute between the start of the first swimmer and the last swimmer in the wave. I made a slow T1 (getting a race top on when you're already wet is a challenge) and confidently headed out on the bike. I knew the swim, normally where I put time on the field, was too short to be a real advantage. The bike would have to be the place to push since I didn't expect to be able to do much on the run.
I rode hard and used my knowledge of the course to my advantage--pushing the uphills and resting on the downhills. I passed the guy who was ahead of me (my friend, Dick) on the first climb and powered around the two-lap, 11.7 mile course. I was back into transition well in the lead in just under 31 minutes.
Crazy fast T2 (34 seconds) and I was out on the run as a couple of guys were coming up the hill on their bikes into transition. I knew I'd be lucky to run 21 minutes for the 5k and I was probably about 90 seconds ahead. If either of those guys were really strong runners, I'd be sunk. I pushed hard early on the downhill portion of the course. After about a half mile, it was uphill for over a mile. I settled into a pace that I knew wasn't fast enough but would give me the ability to finish strong.
My timing chip was cutting into my heel and I stopped twice to adjust it, costing me a little time. At the two mile mark, I was probably leading by only 30 seconds. With mostly downhill to go, I tried to push it but the last quarter mile is uphill to the finish and I needed to save a little. I knew second place was getting closer but I held my pace to save something for the finish if it came down to a sprint. Up the hill toward the finish--as I turned the last corner, I peeked back and saw him coming. I turned on my sprint a little early and cruised across the line about 10 seconds ahead. 22 minutes for the 5k. Terrible, but it ended up being enough.
Third place was too far back to be in the mix, but with such small time between first and second, it would come down to when we started the swim. Turns out, he had gone before me by about 20 seconds so I got the win by 30 seconds.
Pretty exciting morning, although I am maintaining my perspective--this was a community race full of beginners. 200 people raced, but probably fewer than 10 had any thoughts of winning. Still, as I like to say, hardware is hardware. Not too many folks can say they won a tri. Happy to be one of the folks who can.
Horsetooth is two weeks away and my swim training is going well, though I'm putting in lower volume than I had planned. I expect I'll be able to finish with only moderate discomfort, but not sure how much of a "race" it will be. Excited about it for sure.
Last weekend, I raced a sprint that was just a few miles from the house. A buddy is the race director and he offered me a free entry after Bill and I put on a beginner clinic to help support the race. It fit into my schedule (in that I wasn't already racing) so I went for it. I'd call this a "C" race--lowest priority, trained right through.
I knew that most of the participants would be beginners and first-timers but figured there'd be a few folks really competing. I approached it as a hard hour of training and only grabbed my aerohelmet at the last second as I was leaving the house.
Pool swim--525 yards. After a briefly delayed start, I swam strong. At this point in my training, I'm generally not getting into a rhythm until 500 yards. I went out moderately hard and built from there. Lapped my lane mates twice and was into transition in under 7 minutes.
I was told there was one person already out on the road. The start was staggered so there was no way of knowing exactly where I stood--there was about a minute between the start of the first swimmer and the last swimmer in the wave. I made a slow T1 (getting a race top on when you're already wet is a challenge) and confidently headed out on the bike. I knew the swim, normally where I put time on the field, was too short to be a real advantage. The bike would have to be the place to push since I didn't expect to be able to do much on the run.
I rode hard and used my knowledge of the course to my advantage--pushing the uphills and resting on the downhills. I passed the guy who was ahead of me (my friend, Dick) on the first climb and powered around the two-lap, 11.7 mile course. I was back into transition well in the lead in just under 31 minutes.
Crazy fast T2 (34 seconds) and I was out on the run as a couple of guys were coming up the hill on their bikes into transition. I knew I'd be lucky to run 21 minutes for the 5k and I was probably about 90 seconds ahead. If either of those guys were really strong runners, I'd be sunk. I pushed hard early on the downhill portion of the course. After about a half mile, it was uphill for over a mile. I settled into a pace that I knew wasn't fast enough but would give me the ability to finish strong.
My timing chip was cutting into my heel and I stopped twice to adjust it, costing me a little time. At the two mile mark, I was probably leading by only 30 seconds. With mostly downhill to go, I tried to push it but the last quarter mile is uphill to the finish and I needed to save a little. I knew second place was getting closer but I held my pace to save something for the finish if it came down to a sprint. Up the hill toward the finish--as I turned the last corner, I peeked back and saw him coming. I turned on my sprint a little early and cruised across the line about 10 seconds ahead. 22 minutes for the 5k. Terrible, but it ended up being enough.
Third place was too far back to be in the mix, but with such small time between first and second, it would come down to when we started the swim. Turns out, he had gone before me by about 20 seconds so I got the win by 30 seconds.
Pretty exciting morning, although I am maintaining my perspective--this was a community race full of beginners. 200 people raced, but probably fewer than 10 had any thoughts of winning. Still, as I like to say, hardware is hardware. Not too many folks can say they won a tri. Happy to be one of the folks who can.
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