Somewhere throughout my restless Saturday night, I came to the conclusion that I was going to race Sunday’s half-ironman on my road bike. The reasons for this were threefold. First, it would allow me to change geometry and stress different pressure points (on the saddle) and provide more hand positions. Second, I climb and descent better on my road bike because I’m more familiar with aggressively descending and like the braking system better on the road bike. Finally, I figured riding the road bike (equivalent to bringing a knife to a gun fight) would limit my urges to put in extra exertion to keep pace with the other racers on the flats (i.e. I wouldn’t burn more matches than I had to. So, come Sunday morning I arrived to the race sight, switched my bento to the roadie and got a new number tag before moving into transition.
Sunday morning of the Triple-T is a strange atmosphere. It’s pretty much identical to the pre-race activity of any other tri I’ve experienced, just without the enthusiasm. As we were summoned (after some coaxing by the race directors) to the beach, we lined up in our usual fashion for another time-trial swim start. The countdown was made and the final race had begun. I was started not much later and waded out toward the first buoy for the 2 loop swim. Since I hadn’t done any warm up, I was stiff in the first 500m or so, but wasn’t too worried about it since my only goal at this point was to finish the swim. Despite only being a couple hundred meters longer for each loop than the Olympic races, the loops seemed substantially longer. This was probably due to my less than impressive pace…although judging by the other swimmers in my area I was not alone in my slow progress through the water. Once I got into a groove on the second loop, though the swim progressed smoothly from there and I got out of the water feeling pretty optimistic about the day. I took my time in T1 and headed out to the bike hoping to cover as much ground as possible before the sun really started baking.
Almost immediately, I was pleased with my road bike decision. I was much more comfortable and mentally prepared to treat the bike segment like a nice long training ride. The course was a 2 loop course, but unique from the two previous Olympic courses. There is a lot of good riding to be had in the Shawnee State Forest. Some of the course was on narrow country roads with winding climbs and descents. Thankfully, much of the course was on shaded roads as well, so sun exposure was limited. I turned my attention to a solid nutrition/hydration strategy and just ticked away the miles at a pace that felt comfortable. At the midway stop near transition, I reloaded on water, had a cookie, and took off for round 2…so far so good. I was on pace for a sub 3:30 bike, which I’d have been ecstatic with considering the course and the accumulated fatigue. On the second loop, while my climbing pace dropped a bit, my descending was faster since I was familiar with the descents and how to take better lines to keep my speed up. With about 10 miles to go I was rounding a corner on a descent when I detected a slight slip in my back tire…uh-oh. I stopped and checked to see if I was flat and found a slow leak. I had lost maybe half my PSI. There was only about 10 miles remaining and the last 4 are on the newly paved main road and are non-technical. I figured if I could get to 125 without too much more air loss, I could make it in on my semi-flat tire. Unfortunately I made it to 125, but not much further before deciding it wasn’t worth the risk of descending on a semi-flat tire so I stopped to blast it with CO2...only to find my cartridge empty. Luckily another competitor was kind enough to let me use his CO2 and I put in enough air to get me back to transition safely. I lost about 10 minutes throughout the slower riding with the partial flat and the refilling, but I wasn’t real concerned about time anyways so couldn’t be too upset. I was not overly excited about getting out on the run course, but it was either that or stand in the sun in transition, so I didn’t need much motivation to get moving onto the run.
Leaving T2, I ran the first half mile + to the trail and got a gauge on how my legs were going into the run. They actually felt pretty decent. My motivation seemed to be my biggest limiter. I very early decided to settle into a run/walk strategy with walking much of the uphills, especially where they were steep or exposed. Although my legs were sore, my quads and knees were holding up well enough I knew I could still run the downhill sections at a respectable pace. Using this general strategy along with stops at every aid station I ticked off the miles. I distracted myself by looking out for other e2 members (many of whom I had just met Friday) and offering/receiving some encouragement in passing. Before long I was nearing the peak on the second loop and began to sense the end was near. I ran most of the return downhill in the last 2.5 miles and finished with my Garmin reading a pace of under 10:00 per mile, which was much better than I had anticipated considering my mood Saturday night. At the finish, I grabbed a mountain dew, waddled over to the creek to drink it while sitting in the cold water, then got my stuff ready to go. I would have liked to stay and soak in the finish line longer and welcome in other competitors, but my desire for a shower, real food, and to get home to Cincy won out.
A Victory Pose – This is actually what you look like after finishing
Overall, the Triple-T was a great experience…totally unique and I’m glad I did it. As with any of these endurance events there were plenty of physical and mental ups and downs, but I feel accomplished at having come through. Thanks to everyone who supported the course, the event, and me at various times throughout the weekend. Now, with the less stable home situation of the move west and what goes along with it, I think it’s time to prematurely head into the off-season, at least as far as serious racing goes.
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