Gary Lewis' Tempe Oly Race Report
Starting out I really had 2 goals. My main goal was to complete the run without walking. My secondary goal was to complete the entire race in about 3:10.
I have been trying to absorb as much info from EN to help me execute like the more experienced ninjas.
This was my first race with my new Quarq crankset. I've had them for about 2 weeks. I decided I was going to ride the bike a little easier than I did in NYC. I'd try to keep my power at about 160-165 so that I could complete the run without walking. That part worked out pretty good, but like most others, I know I could have ridden much harder, just not sure how much more of a toll, if any, that would have taken on my run. Still need more help/experience deciphering all of the bike data to help make better decisions in the future.
I had planned on trying to keep a run pace of about 11:45, since this is my between my LRP and MP. If I felt good on the second lap, I could always dial it up some. What I did learn from my last race, is that perceived race pace and real race pace after the bike are completely different. You feel like you are barely moving, but you are running much faster than you should. This happened this time also, but because I was aware of it (Thanks EN) I slowed it down to conserve my energy that I would need later.
My back was really hurting during the run and my body kept telling my brain to walk. Then I would take one step to walk and my brain would tell my body that if I started walking, I would never start running again. This battle when on for most of the run.
In my training I focused a lot more on run fitness over the last month or so and didn’t really practice any swimming. I think that hurt me some. This is the first race where I didn’t pass anyone on the swim.
Overall, I am pretty pleased with the outcome, but still have a lot to learn and much more fitness that need to be gained. My body is sore today, especially my shoulders, which seems weird.
Finished in 3:18
Official times 37:42/1:38/1:15/2:09/1:22