Notes
What a great race for me. I am not quite in the same shape as I was last year at this time...But one thing is for sure I would race a smarter race then 2 weeks ago. And that is exactly what occurred. Firstly, the weather was cooler this year and dry. Last year it rained and then was very humid. It rained on the bike course and was very humid on the run. This year everyone only had to contend with the wind. And the wind slowed my bike a bit. Last year it was a wetsuit legal event. This year bc of the heat it was not a wetsuit legal event. I wore my speedsuit. Still not convinced that the speesuit makes any difference. But I should consider wearing the suit on olympic or longer events. Not sprints. Too much time lost in T1 in my opinion.
I began the swim hard but not so hard that I popped. Established the best postion I could find. Then quickly settled into a race pace effort. I felt strong and comfortable. I didnt know where I was in my wave. But I felt like I was doing pretty well. I swam with an athlete in my AG most of the swim. Had to swim around several slower swimmers from earlier waves which broke my rythm a bit. But never panicked. I exited the water with the same guy I had been swimming with as well as one other guy in my AG. I dropped one of those guys runing into and out of t1. And quickly began to ride with this other guy. I came into a corner and layed my bike down. I was going slow. Very weird. Thought I was being conservative and still went down. After that I was never able to make contact with that rider. He would go on to win over all male masters.
I rode hard. I carried one water bottle and one gel. I also had one gel 15-20 minutes before the event. I passed one or two other guys in my AG. I felt as good as I was riding that the only guy in front of me in my AG must have been that one rider. As I took the exit for T2 I had between .5-.25 miles before T2. I stopped powering on the pedals and began spinning but still moving rather fast. But I needed to get my HR down if even for a moment so I would be able to run.. That’s all it takes. If I go into T2 as I did last week I would not be able to run. At the same time I began getting out of my shoes and preparing for my dismount. Pretty landing as I jumped off my bike. And my HR had dropped just enough to help me begin a successful run.
When I came into t2 I took a quick glance at the racks for the 40-44 Age groupers and noticed that there was only one bike from my AG in and I was #2. I was ready for a good run…I wasn’t sure if I could catch him. But you never know. He might not be as good a runner as he is cyclist. He might have over cooked it on the bike as I did 2 weeks ago. Anything could happen. So I had to run my run not only in hopes of catching the lead guy in my AG but to ensure no one caught me from my AG.
I had executed my race plan perfectly. The next part to implement was to ensure I did start my run off too hard. Run comfortably hard. The first splits were about 7:10, 7:05, 7:06. I felt good and I knew I would run a negative split. Next 5k 7:05, 6:54, 6:25. Gave it everything I had left on the final mile.
Afterwards felt good about my effort and how smart I executed my race plan…Finished 2:18, 6mins slower than last year. But a solid effort. And although I didn’t catch the guy for overall masters I still finished 1st in my AG.
Revised stats. My T1 and bike split times were combined. Therefore, my bike split avg was 23.0. T1 was 2:30. I had the fastest bike split in my AG. I also had the fastest T2 in my AG. 6th fasest T1. 4th fastest run in AG. Very pleased about. 39th male out of 710 and 44 overall out of 1023.