September 29, 2013
Its race day! I am up, but not quite awake, at about 4:30am. Race day always starts nice and early. In fact, it starts a couple of days prior when you carbo load. That would be Friday. I didn't really carbo load since it is a sprint, but I ate a few more carbs than normal. Then it continues on Saturday where you prepare all your stuff, check your bike (something I didn't get to do) and get to be early.
Looking back it appears that I didn't really do much that I was supposed to do. I spent all day Saturday at the car dealership (and I will be there again today) ignoring my bicycle. This comes back to haunt me during the race a little bit.
Anyway, I got to the race and I set up and I was all ready with plenty of time to spare. I ran a 10 minute warm up nice and easy and cleared out of the transition area at 7am as instructed. Unfortunately, my wave didn't start until about 7:45. So I had 45 minutes to cool down and think. The cooling down part is not a good thing. I probably won't have a chance to warm up in the water either, so I will be starting cold. At best I can do some arm swings and I can jump up and down and that will have to suffice. I probably won't drown.
Let's just get my total run numbers out of the way now before I continue:
Time: 34:37
Looking back it appears that I didn't really do much that I was supposed to do. I spent all day Saturday at the car dealership (and I will be there again today) ignoring my bicycle. This comes back to haunt me during the race a little bit.
Anyway, I got to the race and I set up and I was all ready with plenty of time to spare. I ran a 10 minute warm up nice and easy and cleared out of the transition area at 7am as instructed. Unfortunately, my wave didn't start until about 7:45. So I had 45 minutes to cool down and think. The cooling down part is not a good thing. I probably won't have a chance to warm up in the water either, so I will be starting cold. At best I can do some arm swings and I can jump up and down and that will have to suffice. I probably won't drown.
Let's just get my total run numbers out of the way now before I continue:
Time: 34:37
Distance: 4.17 miles
Pace: 8:18/m
Max Pace: 6:25/m
Calories: xxx
Avg HR: xxx
Max HR: xxx
This is the total of my warm up and my race, so ignore the pace. This is just for recording purposes!
The swim is pretty short...I believe just a quarter mile. The starting gun went off and I took off. My plan of attack was to swim easy and to think long. By long, I mean my body and my reach. When I bring my hand forward, I want to glide long and smooth. This is something you always want to do when you swim because the longer you are, the faster you are. You also want to have a nice turnover too, but I stayed away from that because I haven't swam in over a month and I didn't want to burn out. I knew I would be a little slower, but I figured I would have a decent swim.
I got out of the water with only a few bumps and bruises due to a kick in the face and a few elbows. The swim can be rough! I got to transition and had a little trouble with my helmet. I finally got it on and took off with the bike. I got into my aerobars and something felt wrong. I ignored it and got my feet in my shoes (the shoes stay attached to the bike so you can run). Then I shifted into a good gear and thought, fuck! My handlebars are crooked! What the hell!
I remembered that earlier in the week I had been changing the filter on my AC and I had moved my bike to lean on the garage. Honey locked me in the garage because the babies can open the door and when I knocked, she must not have heard me (or ignored me) so I opened the garage. BAM! The bike fell on the floor! I checked the bike and it looked fine. I didn't, however, get on and ride it (like I should have done on Saturday).
So, the alignment was off. I debated with myself whether I should just deal with it or get off the bike and fix it. In the end, I decided to stop and fix it. I hopped off, unclipped my shoes, and ran to the front of the bike and tried to straighten the wheel. I got back on the bike, clipped in, and rode. Crap! It was still crooked. I'm an idiot. I stopped again, but this time I stayed on the bike and tried to straighten it from that side. It was harder, but I had a better view and finally, I got it right.
In the meantime, a ton of people (who I beat on the swim) passed me. I always get passed on the bike though since I suck. I got back on and took off. I got to the first bridge and I killed it. I really rode it well. When I got off the bridge, though, my hips were burning. That's what happens when you don't ride for 5 weeks. I rode to the next bridge hard, but not super hard. I could only go so fast. I got to the last bridge and I rode that ok and I finally pulled into transition.
I got my shoes on, grabbed my hat, race belt and GPS, and took off. My legs were heavy and I was a bit burned out. I did my best on the run, but I started off a little bit more tired than I wanted. I cruised up the bridge at an 8:30 pace, which was nice, but by the time I was down the hill, I was sucking wind. I slowed down and I was a bit discouraged. Then I saw my friend Mike, who said to me, "Come on Steve, catch me!" So, I tried. He was way ahead and there was no way, but I put on some speed and did my best. I got to the top of the hill and I ran down the hill as hard as I could in my condition. I crossed the finish line and I didn't even notice my time.
I made my way over to the food tables and ate some donuts, cookies and a banana!
I ended up 34th place overall out of 203. Not bad. I also ended up 3rd in my age group. Yay! So I got a nice little trophy.
Here are the results:
Age Group
Overall
I did well within my division (there were only 12 of us). I was 2nd in the swim, 6th on the bike and 3rd on the run. So I did better than I expected, but, in every category except the 2nd transition, I did better last year.
This is the total of my warm up and my race, so ignore the pace. This is just for recording purposes!
The swim is pretty short...I believe just a quarter mile. The starting gun went off and I took off. My plan of attack was to swim easy and to think long. By long, I mean my body and my reach. When I bring my hand forward, I want to glide long and smooth. This is something you always want to do when you swim because the longer you are, the faster you are. You also want to have a nice turnover too, but I stayed away from that because I haven't swam in over a month and I didn't want to burn out. I knew I would be a little slower, but I figured I would have a decent swim.
I got out of the water with only a few bumps and bruises due to a kick in the face and a few elbows. The swim can be rough! I got to transition and had a little trouble with my helmet. I finally got it on and took off with the bike. I got into my aerobars and something felt wrong. I ignored it and got my feet in my shoes (the shoes stay attached to the bike so you can run). Then I shifted into a good gear and thought, fuck! My handlebars are crooked! What the hell!
I remembered that earlier in the week I had been changing the filter on my AC and I had moved my bike to lean on the garage. Honey locked me in the garage because the babies can open the door and when I knocked, she must not have heard me (or ignored me) so I opened the garage. BAM! The bike fell on the floor! I checked the bike and it looked fine. I didn't, however, get on and ride it (like I should have done on Saturday).
So, the alignment was off. I debated with myself whether I should just deal with it or get off the bike and fix it. In the end, I decided to stop and fix it. I hopped off, unclipped my shoes, and ran to the front of the bike and tried to straighten the wheel. I got back on the bike, clipped in, and rode. Crap! It was still crooked. I'm an idiot. I stopped again, but this time I stayed on the bike and tried to straighten it from that side. It was harder, but I had a better view and finally, I got it right.
In the meantime, a ton of people (who I beat on the swim) passed me. I always get passed on the bike though since I suck. I got back on and took off. I got to the first bridge and I killed it. I really rode it well. When I got off the bridge, though, my hips were burning. That's what happens when you don't ride for 5 weeks. I rode to the next bridge hard, but not super hard. I could only go so fast. I got to the last bridge and I rode that ok and I finally pulled into transition.
I got my shoes on, grabbed my hat, race belt and GPS, and took off. My legs were heavy and I was a bit burned out. I did my best on the run, but I started off a little bit more tired than I wanted. I cruised up the bridge at an 8:30 pace, which was nice, but by the time I was down the hill, I was sucking wind. I slowed down and I was a bit discouraged. Then I saw my friend Mike, who said to me, "Come on Steve, catch me!" So, I tried. He was way ahead and there was no way, but I put on some speed and did my best. I got to the top of the hill and I ran down the hill as hard as I could in my condition. I crossed the finish line and I didn't even notice my time.
I made my way over to the food tables and ate some donuts, cookies and a banana!
I ended up 34th place overall out of 203. Not bad. I also ended up 3rd in my age group. Yay! So I got a nice little trophy.
Here are the results:
Age Group
Overall
I did well within my division (there were only 12 of us). I was 2nd in the swim, 6th on the bike and 3rd on the run. So I did better than I expected, but, in every category except the 2nd transition, I did better last year.
Year Time Rank Swim Tran 1 Rank Bike Tran 2 Rank Run
2013 1:25:07 2 9:55 1:33 6 47:14:00 1:50 3 24:37:00
2012 1:22:32 2 8:41 1:28 4 46:02:00 1:53 4 24:29:00
Oh well. There is always next year. If I can spend some time on my bike and swim more than like 3 times in the year, I'll do better!
Run for Life!!
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