Spring Festival Triathlon

The Spring Festival Triathlon was a huge success and a really fun trip! I knew I was going to have a great day, I was finally feeling a little fitness and I was ready to play in the “hurt locker.” My main concern was not if I was going to have a fun day or finish well, I was more concerned with what the heck I was going to do about the battle wound from the last race…

How am I supposed to work with this? It probably doesn’t help that I have a matching one for the other foot.

Corrie and I arrived early to the race, met up with Kevin, checked out the lake, picked up packets, and put the “Murder Machine” into transition. The race site was beautiful; I did the normal pre race setup, number belt, shoes, helmet, sunglasses, tires, and wetsuit, before slipping over to the water’s edge for a pre race meeting and swim warmup.

I over heard a person say, “the water is so cold, it’s only 60 degrees!” I told Kevin 60 is a nice spring swim in Montana. My advantage.

The swim start was crowded and murky. Some person, who obviously lacks a master’s degree, thought it would be a great idea to have the swim start and finish at the exact same location. This is fine except that this was a three-wave, quarter mile swim. The leaders, from the previous wave, were on top of the awaiting swimmers within minutes.

It was no surprise that the swim got ugly. I actually don’t mind a rough and tough swim, I spent 10+ years wrestling and grappling, I think it is kind of fun to combine swimming and wrestling. When the gun went off, the lead pack converged onto one another making a straight line for the first buoy. Within the first 100 meters I was hit with an elbow, knocking my goggles sideways, bumped a handful of times in a fight for the draft, all while swimming through a washing machine of arms and legs.

I felt great in the swim, I rounded the first of two buoys in 6th or 7th. I made up a few spots before the second buoy, exiting the water and heading into T1 in 3rd. I ran into T1 with my eyes searching for motion, motion that could be used to calculate my position. T1 was buzzing with the masters heat that had a 5 minute head start, thwarting my calculation plan.

I had an awesome T1, easily beating the field with a 31 second transition, leaving first in my wave. I had to weave through a few of the masters while getting to the mount line. I calculated my sprint speed so that by the time my flying leap landed aboard the P3, and my feet found my shoe tops, I wasn’t at a total stop due to the big hill near the bike mount. Perfect, I found the shoes and hit the cranks before running out of forward motion.

I immediately went full power for the first mile that it took to get onto the relatively flat bike sections. I felt great on the ride, I was quickly catching the masters racers that started in the previous wave. At mile 3, two guys went by riding a tandem, followed by a 39 year old that was powering. That put me in 3rd, although I don’t count the tandem team…they should never be included in the individual categories, they can haul with two riders and half the aero drag.

I hit the turnaround with the tandem, the 39 year old, and 4 previous wave masters ahead. I continued to ride hard, I caught the masters racers and held my position. At mile 8, a guy riding super smooth went by on his P3. I closed the gap to him going into T2. I had had a so-so T2, ditching my pre conceived sock plan.

I left T2 with legs that finally, after two races of fatigue, felt ready to run. Early in the run, two guys running sub 5:30 pace passed me. The other P3 rider re-passed me a half mile later, I was now in 6th (5th when you take out the tandem team). I stuck with P3 man for a mile and a half running hip to hip and shoulder to shoulder. He was a little faster on the flats but I felt stronger on the hills of the course. I knew it was going to be a dog fight for the place. I was willing to enter the “hurt locker,” if he wanted the place he was going to have to suffer to get it.

My chance came on a large hill at mile 2. I hit the base of the hill still hip to hip with P3 man. I disguised my move by only shifting up the pace ever so slightly. The guy dropped slightly behind into my slip stream. I continued to gradually lift my pace and subsequent heart rate, my legs almost protested but I held the tempo high. I kept telling myself “don’t look back, don’t look back.” At the top of the climb I heard only my footsteps and my breathing. The gap was opened and I was deep in the “hurt locker.”

I willed myself to keep the pace high for the final straight stretch before a steep downhill to the finish. I made the downhill and put in my best effort at a sprint finish, I ran through the finish line at full speed almost taking out the lady taking pictures and handing out medals. “Watch out!”

The Face of the Hurt Locker

I ended up 4th overall and winning my age division, not including the tandem team that murdered the field. My swim was great and my 20:40 5K was a sign of life in my racing. After the race Corrie brought me some good Hammer Recovery items and helped me take off my race wheels. Plus, if it were not for her, I would have no pictures to post in my write ups, she is awesome!

Overall it was a great day of racing and traveling, I finally felt somewhat ready to race, and finally looked forward to the suffering of racing hard. Every day and every race is getting better. Here is to more training for me.