Tri RobbyB Tri :: June 2008

Whew! What a weekend. Everything was a blast! So many good times had by so many great people. Be sure to follow along Steve's and IronWil's accounts to learn more about all the shenanigans.

The weekend started off with a bang after learning about a sewage spillage early Friday, I scrambled to relocate the swim to a location upstream of Lake Monona. We settled on the Memorial Union Terrace and Lake Mendota. Friday continued with a great dinner at Gino's (on the IM WI run course!) and Training with Power education from Angie Sturtevant.

The swim went very well at the new location, despite some friskiness between Pharmie and Steve behind one of the moored sail "boots."

We then headed back to Olin Park to start the bike ride. About 30 of us rolled out and head to the driftless area and the famed Ironman Wisconsin hills. I lasted until Mt. Horeb, where I limped in from a mislocated cleat riding my borrowed BMC from Stu. There, I traded spots with Stu, and hopped in with IronWil's spectacularly awesome husband, James and drove around snapping pictures of everyone riding the course.

We were hanging out in Mt. Horeb when all of a sudden, the sky darkened, winds increased rapidly from 20 mph to 50 mph gusts, the temperature dropped, and a short burst of a thunderstorm rolled through. But after the clouds left, the sun came out and everyone rode on, enjoying the strong winds back to Madison.

Dinner went very well at The Great Dane. I always enjoy the Saturday dinner because you can sit back and just listen to everyone sharing stories about the day, laughing away. And the beer is good, too.

Sunday brought the final run, bike clinic and the run-strike analysis at Endurance House. I got some new shoes that will hopefully alleviate my blister issues I was having in the Gel Nimbus. I ended up with the award wining Etonic Kendari. Justin and I worked through about 4 different shoes, even though these were the first ones I tried on.

We're always looking for ways to improve WIBA, so please let us know what we can do to make things better for you.

Just a quick report on my second aquathon of the season.

There was a challenge issued among the local tri clubs to see who could get the most racers and the best times or something, so there were about 20 extra people there than normal. And it seemed they were all fast.

My main swim competitor, Brian, was there again. He and I led out the swim, but neither of us could hold a straight line. I tend to drop my head, and I think that pulls me off course. Halfway out the first leg of the 1000m triangle, I felt a surprise little tickle on my feet. "They'll drop away after the first turn," I thought. The turn came and went, and Brian and I are still side by side leading the race. There were still some tickles on my toes. Around the third buoy and headed for home, Brian and I zig-zag and occasionally run into each other. (I thought it was me, but after we confirmed it was the both of us.) Brian must've gotten caught in some waves, because I was able to open a small gap. Out of the water I crossed the timing mat first. As fun as it is to race the swim, I put forth a significant effort.

Brian passed me in transition. (I still have to mess with socks -- gotta break that habit.) I was out #2 and must've left the target on my back. I was passed up the first hill by the top female, and then by the next two guys down the hill. I kept running my race, got passed a few more times, but only once from the turn-around back in. I was actually able to hold off a group of four that were about 20 seconds behind me. (Small victories.) I need to learn how to run fast one of these years. The finish absolutely sucks on this course. You go up the hill, immediately down, and then turn to finish. There's no opportunity to recover after the hill (about the last half-mile.) I was actually yelling to myself to finish. My family scolded me for not acknowledging them down the finish chute, but I was too spent to do anything but make it across the line.

Official finish data:
overall place: 11 out of 92
time: 35:44
swim: 11:24
rate: 1:09/100m
trans: 0:38
run: 23:43
pace: 7:38/mi

I lead my age group for the overall series thus far.

The race was last weekend, but I haven't been able to get around to a real race report. Before I forget everything, I'd thought I'd share the day.

Quick facts:
Capitol View Triathlon (Inaugural race)
Gov. Nelson State Park, Waunakee, WI

Swim (400m): 5:57 - 1st OA
Bike (12 mi): 37:38 - 14th OA
Run (5K): 27:08 - 48th OA
Total: 1:12:56.7 17th OA, 1st AG (M30-34)

Swim
I warmed up with a few quick pick-ups in the water, saw some more friends and went to find my spot in the third wave. That's when I was pulled aside by a fellow competitor and convinced to be in the first, elite wave. There were less than 10 in the elites, and more than forty in the second wave and even more following that. Elite wave it is. On the horn, I took off sprinting. The water was shallow for a long time, prohibiting any good strokes. Once I could swim, I sprinted for a while to create a gap. I turned around the first buoy a little wide, lengthening the 400 meter course just a bit. I kept thinking I had some drafters, so I kicked hard every so often. Around the last buoy and headed for the beach, I made my way around the seawall to some nice cheers. I swam as long as I could, lifting my arms and pull as close to my body as possible. Once on the beach, I ran in first out of the water to a very nice applause.

Bike
First out of the water, and first out of T1 means you get to follow a lead car. This one was a white mid-90s Corvette. I kept hoping it would slow down to allow some drafting, but they were too smart to allow that. As soon as I crested the first hill, I got passed by a speedster on a P3. I got my first "nice swim." He took the 'vette with him, too. It was fun while it lasted. Just one other pass, and I held my own on the bike. The wind kicked up on the way back in. Seeing the waves behind me appreciated the open road from the elite placement.

Run
My legs were really heavy out of T2. I just stuck with a shortened stride and kept the turnover high. I wanted to be as even as possible. However, this is the part of the race everyone left talking about. It was a cross country course, with the first half winding through the woods and the second half in the open field. Trouble was, every turn in the woods meant going up another hill. Also, communications were crossed on the course setup, so the mile markers didn't make the course. If you didn't catch the route maps ahead of time, having to run past the finish line was a cruel joke. The winding, hilly course threw off everyone's internal odometer, and were surprised to hear they had another 1.5 miles left as the past the line from the wrong side, many sprinting thinking that they were finishing. I just held my pace as long as possible, got passed by three more from the elite wave and finished slower that I hoped, but felt better knowing the overall leader didn't break an hour.

Final thoughts
Triathlons are getting fun to attend. I know more and more people, and old friends are now competing. I need to remember to get to transition earlier so I can talk longer with friends. I had relatively low expectations going into this race with very, very few rides and little run base as I work my way back from a sprained ankle. The first place age group finish was a big surprise. Winning it by 2+ minutes was an even bigger surprise. I got a really nice custom medal that made me smile.

I hesitated on which way to go home. Right meant going to the pool. Left meant going home and sulking on the couch.

Work ended rather poorly. I was busy all day and then I discovered a small goof with major implications. You know that part in Office Space when Michael Bolton ("Which song is your favorite?") realizes that he messed up on something small, like a decimal point or something, which causes a $300K glitch? Yeah, that's how I felt. Totally my fault. I'm just lucky someone else discovered it. I have to make some calls tomorrow to see what the impacts are on a multi-million dollar project. I already made a call on the other multi-million dollar project.

So I turned right. Perhaps I can pound out the issues in the water. I hop in and start out with 4x100, 4x200, 4x300, building each one so that the first 100 is the easiest and my last 300 is my best effort. Somewhere in the middle of the 200s, I randomly think of a kid swimming, and he visualizes that he is a car engine. (I have no idea how I got there) And as an engine, he finds another gear an surprises his coaches with his performance. Turns out, the thought carries through to my swimming, and I start concentrating on my form and start to churn out some swims.

I start out the 300s with a 4:21. Not too bad. I increase the effort for #2 and surprise myself with a 4:18. I continue building through #3, really thinking about long, smooth strokes, crisp catches and full pulls and post a 4:12. Now it's starting to get fun. The pool closes at 7:00. It's 6:55 when I start #4 and didn't realize that I'm the only one in the water. I push off and start to feel the fatigue building in my arms at the 150.

"Pain is good. Pain is weakness leaving the body. Concentrate on your form. Pull. Pull harder."

I flip at the 200 and notice I'm at 2:40. That leaves 1:20 to go 4 minutes even. I let everything go for the last two lengths and concentrate on my bestest form. At 10 meters to go, I look for the pace clock to gauge my finish time. I look and look. I expect to see 3:57...3:58...3:59, but there's nothing. It's blank. The lifeguards turned off the clock. I slam my last two strokes and finish. Exacerbated, I call out, "Where's the clock?! I was using the clock?" not expecting anyone to reply. I started to warm down, got whistled at by the lifeguard, and pleaded to finish one half length as a warm down. I climbed out of the pool just as the clock turned 7 PM. Fuck.

I was steamed. Knowing the time from that one swim really could've turned my day around. Instead, I came home and sulked on the couch. At least I got my workout in.