I shouldn't put this off because I forget the details. (And I know all my faithful readers want ALL the details...)
I raced the Loveland Lake to Lake Tri at the end of June. This is a very well-run, local event with a longer than usual, challenging bike course and a flat/fast run. I came into this race feeling pretty good about my training and somewhat, but not completely, rested. By my assessment, the race is all about what happens from the time you exit the water to T2. There's a long run to T1 and then the long and somewhat hilly bike. My plan was to push the bike harder than usual, but my bike fitness is not as strong this season as it has been in the past. This is an easy course to over-ride. Of course, the Ricci-rivalry was top of my mind. After a little bit of fun smacktalk in the week leading up to the race, on race morning, Mike mentioned to me that the best the loser of this one could do was tie our summer series. (We were 1-1 coming in, this was race 3, and the Peak is the last head-to-head meeting of the season.) Spoiler alert: I made Mike eat his words.
I got out to a nice start in the water, pulling a few guys out with me. As soon as I hit the back of the wave ahead of us, (only about 200 meters in), I put on a small gap and then pressed hard, weaving through the stragglers. I figured this was a good opportunity to ditch everyone behind me and it worked. Although I was working through traffic, gaps just seemed to open up and I was hauling. On the long straightaway to the swim exit, I was completely alone. For some reason, everyone was taking a wide line--the crowds were about 10 meters off to my right. I took a few extra long looks at the finish buoys to make sure I had it right and everyone else was off (what are the chances, right?) but that was exactly what had happened.
Out of the water over a minute ahead of the next closest guy in the wave and I was hauling butt on the long run to transition, knowing this is a place where Mike should have an advantage. Another solid transition (this has been a real strength for me this season--no time wasted). Out onto the bike course and feeling really good.
The first several miles are mostly downhill and I spent a fair amount of time checking in with the powermeter to be sure I wasn't riding too hard. I settled into an effort that felt about right and was passing everyone in sight. (We were the last wave to start.) Around 10 miles into the ride and we're heading up a long gradual grade moving toward the steeper climbing that's around the halfway point of the 30-mile ride. No one has passed me. My brain was having trouble comprehending why this would be the case--I knew I'd had a good swim and I was riding well, but didn't seem like it was that great. Finally got passed by a few guys in the age group on the climb at around mile 15 and then a few more came by on the rollers on the way back. I was able to hang in just behind the second group. A slight headwind makes this section challenging but I still felt strong. The ride was otherwise uneventful and after another fast transition, I exited T2 with the group.
They pretty much ran away from me right from the start. No worries, I had a decent pace going. My plan was to try to build effort through the run. Although the course is essentially "flat and fast," it always feels like there's more elevation loss on the way out. I was going to really start pushing at the turnaround (just before halfway) but I got passed at mile 2 by a guy I knew who is only a little faster runner than I am and I pushed to try to hang with him (which I did for a while). By the time I was coming back from the turnaround, I was already going about as hard as I could maintain so that was that.
Mike and I crossed and I estimated I had about a 90 second advantage. That math was good--he wasn't going to take 30 seconds per mile out of me back to the finish at my pace. But no relaxing either. The last mile was very painful and the course has a lot of turns through the park on the concrete path. I turned to look for Mike on more than one occasion as I came into the park but couldn't see him. I was starting to come apart and couldn't even lift my pace a little bit to try to kick at the finish--I had maxed out.
I set a big PR on the course overall, ran a PR split (43:45), and beat my boy Mike by 62 seconds. The first thing he said once he was able to talk after crossing the line was "Good news/bad news. You beat me at my best." I had a hard time figuring out the bad news part of this, but appreciated the compliment. So yet another close one and another race where the rivalry made me a better racer. Thanks Mike!
