Another good day in St. George
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On race day I was up by 3:45am. For breakfast I had a bowl of oatmeal and a Ucan chocolate shake. I took a banana, a Gu gel and a bottle of Skratch labs to have before the race. We left at 4:15am to catch the shuttle and drop off our run bags. Even though we were in a later wave we wanted to make sure we weren’t rushed and would be able to get our tires pumped before transition closed at 6:30am. They wanted a clean transition so we needed to keep everything in our bike bag. My wave didn’t go off until 7:48am so we found some friends and hung out until it was time to get ready to line up for our wave.
The swim felt like it took forever and it was slower than I would have liked. I swam by myself the majority of the time and could never get into a good rhythm. Instead of swimming on the buoy line like normal, I swam wide to avoid the crowd and so I didn’t have to pass as many people. Now I know how Bart feels when he is the last wave to start. I wasn’t last wave but I was near the end. Coming out of the water people were just walking up the ramp so I had to maneuver around them. I was so excited to have wetsuit strippers. Transition was just over 2 min. I came out ahead of my Kompetitive Edge teammate, Michelle Ford by a few seconds. This meant that I needed to have a good bike if I wanted to have a chance of beating her.
Bike - 2:4:48
The bike course was crowded but I tried to ride a clean race. Michelle caught me around mile 10. I tried to stay with her or at least keep her in my sights There is a long hill around mile 20 when I passed her. She passed me again right before we got back into town. I tried to keep up with her but eventually had to let her go. I rode steady up Snow Canyon but on the descent I rode hard. The descent was fun. I maxed out at 44.97 mph. On the run I got a nice complement from one of the guys that I had passed on the descent who said, good job descending.
T2 - 2:14
I took my feet out of my shoes before coming into T2 so I could leave my shoes on my bike. Racked my bike, put on socks and shoes then grabbed my baggie with watch & Gu and my visor. Stopped to get some sunscreen and then it was time to chase Michelle down.
Run - 1:52:08
No pain in my left foot but my legs were heavy and my inner thigh above my knee was in a knot on both legs. It hurt with each step. Oh crap! This is not good. At least it wasn’t a cramp. Ran a quarter mile before stopping and doing a squat to see if that would help stretch it out some. No such luck. Oh well, time to suck it up and just dealt with it. Walking was not an option at this point. By the end of the first mile a girl passed me and she was running a little faster than me so I started running right behind her and just focused on her shoes. She pulled me up the hill and got me to mile 3 before she started slowing down. By this time I saw Michelle up ahead of me so I just focused on her. Within a half mile, I was passing her. She caught me on the downhill right before the turn around and we ran together until I passed her on the uphill. I stayed ahead of her until right after mile 8. We were on an uphill but I just had no energy and started slowing down. I quickly had 2 Gu gels. Unfortunately neither had caffeine but we were coming up on an aid station. I walked thru the aid station and took perform, coke and ice. I had to make myself start running again. In this short time Michelle had but a little time on me, but she was still within my sight. I wasn’t quite back up to speed again but at least I was running. Didn’t have much further before I reached the top of the hill and then it was downhill again. That half mile killed me, time wise. Around mile 9 you start descending but then you have this out and back with an evil hill around mile 11. This gave me a chance to see how far ahead Michelle was from me. She wasn’t too far, but she had been running the downhills faster than me. I gave it everything I had those last 2 miles but came up a little short at the end.
5:20:49
Overall I am happy with how I raced. I didn’t give up despite hurting a lot of the run. I haven’t felt this sore after a race in awhile. I know that I didn’t race like this in the 3 full IM’s I did last year. It’s about learning to be comfortable being uncomfortable. Nutrition is never ending struggle for me and one of these days I will get it right. I would have liked an AG win but 2nd isn’t half bad and I got my Vegas slot. I am halfway to accomplishing my goals for the year. Now it’s time to rest up and get back to work.
Comments
And OMGosh... what is it about the wetsuit strippers that is SO awesome? I love that!