HarryMan Sprimpic Triathlon, DONE!

Triathlon #2 of the season is done and in the bag! Unofficial results have me at:

2:16:22
Overall, 54 or 56/200 or 300?
Swim: ??? maybe 15 or 16 mins? it didn't feel fast and the distance was WHO knows (explained later)
Bike: ~1:06:42 for 21 miles @ 18.83 mph avg (hilly f-ing course!)
Run: ~49:30 for 6.2 miles @ 7:59 pace (hilly f-ing course!)

This was a good training race. I felt like it belongs in the "complete" racing category as I felt like I paced the entire thing well.

The race almost wound up as a duathlon! There was a Half Ironman going on as well and they started @ 9, we were to start @ 10:30. Suddenly the race director says our swim is canceled while there are still half Ironman racers swimming! Uuuuuuhhhhh? Wha? His reason: not enough lifegaurds on boats to the number of racers in the Olympic distance (there were 2X more olympic racers than Half Ironman-ers). He changes the swim to a 1 mile run. Really? 1 mile run? Puuuhhhhllleeeease!?!?!?

Fortunately a smart person tells him, hey, shorten the swim to an out and back and you don't need the extra lifegaurds. Winner! (The course was a .6 mile triangle)

Meanwhile, I'm out warming up for the 1 mile run with 5 mins to spare when I return to transition and hear the news that its been changed BACK to a swim. The start was extended 30 mins to 11:00 AM. Phew! Crisis averted. I didn't really care about the even shorter swim. The distance of the entire race was bogus to begin with and all I wanted to do was swim in cold water to test out the neoprene cap in anticipation for Mooseman in 2 weeks.

Well the water wasn't all that cold, or the neoprene cap did its job. I'm going with the 80 degree weather from the past week warmed up the lake. Whatever the temp was, it was niiiiiiiice. After warming up I really didn't want to get out.

The swim itself was nondescript. You go out, turn around, and come back. Not too much contact and I felt fine from start to finish. The funny thing is that when we rounded the buoy, the water on the other side was FRIGID. Perhaps the amount of swimmers going through the water warmed up our path?

Transition from swim to bike was fuddled in terms of biking shoes. When they announced that the swim was going to be a run, I swapped out my tri shoes for my road shoes since I would just wear my socks from start to finish. My tri shoes are smaller since you don't need socks to ride in them, so when they announced the swim was back on, it was a little too late to reswap out the road shoes for tri shoes. No biggie, the road shoes just have a ratchet and 2 extra velcro straps. Still, takes time.

The bike was great. I hammered this course it felt GOOOOOOOOD. I was just happy to be finally racing and turning the speed back on and churning out some watts over 200. (My Half Ironman wattage range is lower @ 170-180). I averaged 209 for this one and kept a ~19 mph for a hilly course. Did I say I was happy? :) I freaking passed everyone. My favorite part!


Bike to Run transition was whatever. I just went as fast as I could to get my bike shoes off, socks and run shoes on. Threw on the visor and got my watch going. My legs felt funny coming out of transition, but I felt fast. Within the first mile the "switch" went on and it was go time for 6.2 miles.

Here is the kicker about this run. The terrain. It wasn't super hilly, it was just rolly enough to make going uphill a hurt-fest and running downhill absolute freedom. Very few flats. Either you were going up, or you were going down.

My aproximate splits:
Mile 1: 7:58
Mile 2: 7:28
Mile 3: 7:49
Mile 4: 9:22 (Yeesh! WTF?)
Mile 5: 7:35
Mile 6: 7:38

Sooooooooo, other than mile 4, it was a solid run. What happened on mile 4? Well, I went slower! haha! My only guess is that the rolly terrain in that section got me? But it was an out and back and the miles on either side were pretty fast. Who knows.

The biggest thing is that I feel ready for Mooseman. The point of today's race was to put everything together with some speed and see how A) The legs would react with some speed and B) How the recovery would go>>>>To be determined.

But! Regarding recovery, you know how you cross the finish line of a hard race and suddenly walking hurts and all you want to do is sit down and die? That didn't happen today. I was able to bend down, take off my own timing chip off of my ankle and give it to the guy with ease. Walking over to the pizza line was like normal walking. Uuuuhhhhhhhh???? I'll let you know tomorrow if anything changes when I am crying like a little baby! I am just weirded out cuz usually it HURTS when you finish! I am taking this as confidence of my conditioning for Mooseman in 2 weeks.

Of course in 2 weeks I WILL NOT go this hard. My pacing for today was appropriate for this distance. Unless you want to see a nuclear explosion, I'm gonna tone down the pacing for Mooseman.

Good race! The distance, water temp, terrain and timing in regards to Mooseman was PERFECT.