This past Sunday AM, I raced a last minute sprint tri, as did my wife. We were actually planning on her racing and me supporting, but she decided she’d rather me race as well and I’m not one to argue with that. Although it was a sprint tri while I’m focusing on 70.3’s this season, it fell at a perfect time to be able to fit into the schedule. This race, the Tri-for-Sight, in Lexington, KY is 2 weeks prior to Augusta 70.3 (my next A race). I am doing a 1.5 week taper, so some threshold work (the race itself) along with a long bike the day before this weekend’s race provided a solid last build weekend pre-taper. Oh yeah, and racing is fun.
A little background on the event...The Tri-for-Sight is a sprint tri with an 800m pool swim in Univ. of Kentucky’s natatorium, an 18.6 mile rolling hill bike ride through city and horse farms, and a 4 mile run near the football stadium (including 2 miles in the arboretum). This is probably my favorite sprint tri I’ve done for a variety of reasons. For one, it’s nearby to Louisville and Cincinnati so has always been easy to get to. Second, it’s the first tri I ever did 6 years ago (and this year was the 5th time I’ve been back). Third, other than the swim…the course is top notch as far as scenery and providing some challenging terrain, but well kept roads. Finally, the post race food selection and door prizes are usually awesome and this year was no exception.
With the races continued success, they have grown increasing the field size to near 400 tri competitors (including relay teams) and adding a duathlon. Unfortunately, the logistics of increasing the field in a pool swim race led to some serious congestion this year, but we’ll get to that.
Race Morning: Up at 5, at the course by 6, ready to go by 6:45…all pretty smooth. My wife and I set up our areas, then inspected each others to provide some piece of mind, then went out to talk with my parents before heading to the pool. I also downed my espresso GU about 30 minutes before starting.
Swim: I lined up to swim based on my number (numbers were given based on projected swim time, fastest to slowest)…I was 173, so stepped in line between 172 and…473? Obviously, this 473 fellow was in the wrong place, right…wrong. Apparently 473 was actually supposed to be 173, but since we had similar names I received his registration info. I was actually supposed to be in the 220s, which makes more sense with my lack of swimming skills. Luckily the RD had fixed the mistake already and I just waited and started in the place where I was seeded to. The pool was a war zone! They started swimmers every 10 seconds, instead of 15 as in years past. By the end of the first lane I was stuck in a pack of 4 swimmers and basically was in a similar situation the rest of the swim. In some of the fray of attempted passing, I had my watch ripped off my wrist, but didn’t find out until I exited the pool…I wouldn’t have wanted to see the swim time anyways. 800m in 16:36 (23/30 in AG)…ouch, but 20s faster than last year.
T1: There is a long run from pool to transition…then I stumbled a bit in transition, so not my best…3:47
Bike: I’ve gotten so much stronger on the bike this year and I know this course pretty well…so felt pretty good going into this leg. I just ticked off the miles, pushing pretty hard especially on the hills, and watched the time on my PC. I alternated water and my custom Infinit blend every 7.5-8minutes as was convenient. Only one racer passed me, on a roadie with clip-ons. He was a machine, so I just let him go. Before I knew it, I was in sight of the football stadium and transition, so started spinning and preparing for the run. 18.6miles in 49:44 (22.3mph avg, 5/30 in AG)
T2: Quick and gone…1:19…need to get quicker though
Run: Within the first quarter mile, I was surprised how strong I felt…let’s call it cautious optimism. I pushed the pace harder than I have in years passed, and my legs felt a little heavy, but cardio-wise I wasn’t hurting at all. I carried my nutrition with me (1 amphipod bottle each of Infinit and water) and alternated every few minutes. Without a watch, I really couldn’t tell how fast I was going, but it felt quick. In the last mile, I was pretty certain I had put a good race together. I approached the line, but didn’t feel the need to kick it in, so just coasted across with energy to spare…probably should have pushed it harder earlier. 4miles in 25:55 (6:29/mile, 6/30 in AG)
Total time: 1:37:22 (22/305 OA, 12/30 in AG, 4+min PR)
Can’t do anything about being in a stacked AG for this one, but was very pleased with the performance. More importantly, I was pleased I was able to push hard and still have plenty of energy at the end…good sign for the 70.3.
As for my wife’s race, this was her 2nd year consecutive in this event, so she had a time to race against. She’s been working hard this season on properly biking hills and her running speed…it paid off. Even with less swim training than normal, she managed to drop her times in every leg and PR by nearly 10 minutes. A very solid time and great motivation to see the gains she’s made this year. I was very proud of her.
My taper starts officially mid-week this week…the money is in the bank at this point, so now I’m just anxious to get to Augusta and see what I can do.
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