I packed my transition bag and got my bike ready to go on Saturday night. I had a load of laundry in the dryer which included my race socks. And in the course of getting everything ready I somehow neglected to get my socks out of the laundry and pack them in my bag...big mistake.
The early morning drive was quick. I was happy to see that the temperature was in the low 70s. We've had weeks of 90+ temperatures with very high humidity, but the forecast for Sunday was overcast with cooler temps...good race conditions.
I arrived, checked in, and got to transition in just a few minutes. Set-up was fast thanks to the numbered racks.
I got to the swim start, watched the first wave go off, and waited for my wave to start. The swim was decent. Lake temperature was 85 and the water felt good. I sighted every few strokes to make sure I was swimming straight for each buoy. This was very helpful and I avoided zigzagging as I've done in longer open water swims in the past. For the first third of the swim I relaxed and went at a moderate pace to let myself get loose. In the middle third I started swimming harder, and when I made the last turn to head back to shore I was swimming strong. During the swim portion of the race the heavily overcast sky transformed and bright sunshine began to heat up the morning air. So much for comfortable racing conditions...
I came out of the water, looked at my watch and saw 28-something minutes for the .9 miles. I'm not a fast swimmer and I was happy with the result. I also felt like I had plenty of energy for the rest of the race. My swim split was officially 29:24 - including the run up to T1.
T1 was quick. I was on my bike in just over a minute. (1:06)
My approach to the bike portion of the race was to push hard, but not my hardest. I'm usually tempted to ride too hard and my run suffers. I felt good heading out onto the course.
The first few miles ticked by and except for my AeroDrink bottle rattling out of its holder on a bumpy section, I got into a nice cadence and held my speed around 20mph. The longest sections of the bike course were U-shaped with a tailwind out and headwind back. I made sure to get as much free speed from the tailwind sections as possible to counter the challenge of the headwinds.About halfway through the bike section I Schlecked my chain off the big ring and had to stop and put it back on...I probably lost a minute slowing, stopping, fixing, and getting back up to speed. I came into T2 after and hour and fifteen minutes, right at my goal.
T2 was decent. One minute twelve seconds to rack the bike, drop the helmet, race belt, hat, swap shoes, and I was running (minus my socks). I've run a race once before without socks and my feet were not happy about it...that day it was a split-second, but calculated decision. This day it was an oversight.
I exited T2 hoping to hold a steady and "comfortable" pace. In past races this has been right around 8:30/mi. But in past races I had better run fitness coming in. My running has suffered lately as I prepare to move overseas. I have mostly been doing 4 mile runs a couple times a week...basically maintenance - if that. I hit mile 1 in 8:40 and was content with that pace. Miles 2 and 3 were the same pace and I was hoping just to hold on through the second half of the run.
As the run continued the heat became more and more of an issue. Fortunately there were plenty of water stations placed throughout the run. I would take water at each one, walk and drink half the cup and pour the other half over my head or down my back.
At water stop/mile marker 4 I started to really notice the pain from my shoe rubbing on my left achilles. As I walked through the water stop I reached down to run my finger between my shoe and my foot where it was rubbing. As I picked my foot up off the ground my hamstring clenched into a massive cramp. I quickly straightened my leg out to try and stop the cramp, but it persisted. I would straighten, stretch, and as soon as I relaxed it would seize up again. I spent a solid three minutes trying to work that cramp out. Finally it stopped and I walked down the road and around the last turnaround cone to finish the last 2.2 miles of the run.
On mile 5 of the run I split running and walking more evenly. I was hot and tired with a painful blister and a sore hamstring. I knew I was approaching the final mile of the run and I decided to run the whole thing. Strangely, the blister was more painful walking than running. I crossed the finish line at 2:47:35, about 9 minutes slower than I had hoped for.
My shoe post-race:
I already have a permanent pair of socks in my Triathlon bag, just in case.Photos courtesy of HardyBreed
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