Jeff Goudeau 2014 Augusta 70.3 race report
Augusta race report…HIM #9
I met the a local catholic priest in packet pick up who invited me to come to mass he was saying for the athletes at the church a few miles away. I went to 5pm mass and the priest gave us some good advice and blessings. I figure that can’t be a bad thing! His advice went along with one of the four keys (at least for me) which was to know what you are racing for (i.e. your one thing). He suggested racing for someone else…for me it my one thing…my family! He also gave us a short prayer to say for strength so I put this and my families initials on my top tube. His name was Father Richard Sutter and he completed the Augusta course in 5:07…pretty impressive.
I then started out the next morning by meeting teammate Don in transition. I wasn’t able to take part in the Team EN functions as I was traveling with others and at their mercy for a ride. It was good to meet a teammate first thing.
My goal in the swim was simple…swim steady and in control. Practice my technique for IMFL! Mission accomplished. I never got tired, practiced counting and focused on what I was doing to keep from zoning out. 29 minutes is not great at Augusta but it’s not horrible. I tend to go out to hard in the swim so wanted to use a race setting to get it right. I coulda gone a bit harder but this was what I needed to do!
On to T1, I had bought a new bento box at the expo and didn’t have my nutrition set up quite right and lost a few seconds stuffing honey stinger waffles into a wet tri top…lesson learned and will have a better handle on this next time.
The bike was uneventful. My goal was to get my heart rate down early and I used the downhills to accomplish that. I then proceeded to ride smart although my watts were a bit higher than they should have been…I blame the hills. (later research revealed I had a setting wrong on my Garmin…that was the point of this race…to learn!) I did hit my HIM nutrition perfectly so that was a blessing. This course is hilly but the rollers go by fast and you can turn in a good bike split. It was a bit windier than the previous year and I’ve been riding more IM miles so I was a bit slower.
T2 was good…got in got my socks and shoes and got to moving. I usually have good T2’s so I was please as I hadn’t raced in a year.
The Run…I turned in the near perfect run last year but missing a few weeks of running due to a sore rib after a crash would cost me some time I knew. I was a little fast in my first 3 miles and a little slower than I should have been in miles 3-10. I had a tough time staying in zone 3 but the good news is I felt stronger than I have since my crash. I started dropping the pace a bit at mile 10 and fell into a rhythm by mile 11. I grabbed a cookie at the mile 10 aid station and as I was getting a bit hungry it hit the spot. Finished strong and I was thankful for my day. Having a crash 4 weeks from the race and a two week recovery meant I had lost some fitness but I executed the race perfectly based on my current fitness. I stayed in my box and let the day come to me. I also had my one thing (make my family proud) in mind ALL day. Considering I didn’t know I could race a few weeks before I couldn’t be more pleased with the day. Bring on IMFL!
Comments
Given the crash and recovery, you did great. I look forward to tracking you for IMFL.