Bruce Thompson - Pleasant Prairie Oly, First Ever AG Win
On June 23 I raced the Pleasant Prairie Olympic in Wisconsin. I finished in 2:26, 68/689 OA and 1/25 in 55-59 AG. It was my first ever AG win in any triathlon.
I did this race last year, finishing 3rd in my AG. The bike course was about 3 miles short last year b/c of road construction so I can't compare my overall times. This year had a new loop on the first half of the bike course, so the day before the race I rode that new loop 3 times very easy to get familiar with it.
Weather - clear, dry and 84*F by the start of the run.
Swim - I seeded my self in the front row about 6 guys from the buoy line. Overall, it was an uneventful swim. I drafted a little the first 300 meters then settled in. I swam thru folks from 3 prior waves so I felt like I was having a good swim. My time 31:06, 6th out of the water in my AG. This time was 3 mins slower than last year, but numerous people, including much faster swimmers, were all slower than expected so we figured the course was long.
T1 - 1:34, 2nd fastest in AG. Passed 1 guy in T1.
Bike - my plan was to go really hard on the bike and see if I had a meltdown on the run. Was targeting 235 w. It really helped that I had ridden the new part of the course as I knew where I could push it. Time: 1:05:49, fastest bike split in AG by 4 minutes. Averaged 217 watts, 94 rpms, 22.3 mph, and 144 HR. The watts were a much lower than I was targeting but I had to be careful in numerous spots b/c of all the traffic I was passing and b/c it was beginning to get really hot. I drank 24 oz water and 24 oz of Infinit on the bike. Still, very pleased with my split. I passed 3 guys in my AG on the bike. I got passed by only one guy the entire bike split and I knew him and he is in 2 AGs younger than I.
T2- 1:03, fastest time in AG. Left T2 in 2nd place in AG, :32 behind my AG leader.
Run - My time 46:34, 2nd fastest run in AG (a guy who finished 6 minutes behind me ran :23 faster). Avg pace 7:29, avg HR154. I ran a negative split by :17. I passed the guy who left T2 in front of me after about 1 mile (later learned he finished 4th, 7 minutes behind me). It was getting very hot on the run so I carried a 20 oz water bottle with me. I drank most of it, poured some on my head and back, and got it refilled at the 2nd aid station. Only problem I had on the run was that miles 4.5-5.5 were on a gravel path and I wasn't wearing socks. I got a small pebble in my shoe but kept going. By the finish line I had a nice little blister from the pebble. Still, I ran the last mile in 7:15 which is faster than my Z4 pace.
So my little experiment of going hard on the bike seemed to pay off. No meltdown on the run even though it was hot and sunny. Work Works!!
Comments
@ Al & Tim - Thanks. Your comments mean a lot to me coming from racers with your wealth of experience.
@ Kim - give it a shot. You'll only know what happens if you push yourself. You may surprise yourself. I did. Besides, it's a sprint so you are suppose to go all out the entire way.
@ All - Thanks for the continuing encouragement. That's what I love about EN. We got our own 500 person cheering section.
Brandon - I pushed hard the almost the entire way (except for the first mile to get settled in). I did have to back off the watts & speed numerous times in the 2nd half of the bike course b/c the was a lot of traffic from prior waves (I started in wave 13) & b/c the racers doing the sprint distance only rode the 2nd part of the course. I figured it just wasn't worth risking a crash & ruining the day for myself & maybe others. Who knows - maybe these short "rests" helped me stay fresh for a good run?
Good luck in your next race. Go for it.