After the Rockcliff triathlon I wasn’t overly confident in my ability to complete an Olympic distance, namely regarding the run. While I am nowhere near comfortable with my swim, and with the Spudman being twice the distance of a Sprint swim (1500 meters vs. 750 meters), the benefit of this swim was that it is current-assisted. So I wasn’t overly concerned about the swim; I figured worst case, I would just float down to T1. I felt good about the bike, again this would be twice the distance (26 miles vs. 13 miles), yet the bike is my strongest discipline. The run however was different - in all my previous races I had struggled in the swim and pushed as hard as I could on the bike, which didn’t ever leave much for the run. The concern was this was going to be a 10k (6.4 miles) in the heat of southern Idaho farm country. Overall, I felt good and was looking forward to the race.
Considering this was a destination race for us, it added an element of planning and coordination that I haven’t had to deal with previously. We had to find a tent, an air mattress (both compliments of good friends), as well as needing to plan our food needs, our pre-race needs; everything I normally have the comfort of home to deal with. Now all this wasn’t nearly as challenging for us as it was for my sister-in-law, Carey Laney, who travel from south Jersey with her husband, Bob, to compete in her first triathlon. We did have lots of support: Stacy’s dad and sister, Jeff and Jody, came up to help, not mention how helpful Bob was in setting up our camp - we don’t ever want to camp without him.
We camped in the same spot Stacy and the others camped last year, right along the Snake River at the marina. It is right across the street from T1, however it was a decent hike to the start/finish. It had a flush toilet and sink facility (a major plus in our book) so it was worth the added distance. One of the big concerns was the weather; thunderstorms were forecasted for Friday afternoon and evening. Having grown up in southern Idaho, I can appreciate how strong a thunderstorm can be. We got lucky - we were hit with only one serious storm cell, but it was significant. We had secured our tents fairly well, but the tent next to us went flying towards the river complete with all of the occupants camping gear. Thanks to Bob and Doozzie, it was saved.
Most of us went to the carb-load dinner and reserved up our T2 area. Stacy however chose to pass on the meal, considering she lost hers last year at 3am. It was an interesting meal: spaghetti, baked potato, green beans, and a roll. I may pass on next year’s. As for T2, my previous race experience really helped me know how to handle transition and to maximize on T1 and T2.
We had two first timers in camp, Carey and Dannielle Iorg. It was great to hang out, talk, and laugh with Stacy and her sisters, her dad, with Dannielle and her husband Danny, as well as Doozzie - good times that made everything worth the trip and effort. We all called it a night around 10ish when got dark. Sleeping was difficult, if not non-existent; I was up almost every hour due to the effects of trying to hydrate for the next day.
I wasn’t prepared for race morning, dealing with breaking down camp, stocking T2 with water and getting to the start line. It didn’t go well, everyone was up by 5:30ish and the race started at 7, with our waves beginning at 7:30 and 7:40. After two trips to T2, breaking down camp, getting in our wetsuits and heading to the start, we were late. In fact, we were still in the car trying to get to the start line at 7:10. It was a mad dash to the start line for everyone. Stacy and the girls had about 5 minutes before their race stated once they got there. Not fun feeling that kind of pressure, with no time to relax, warm-up or mentally prepare. But we made it.
The race organizers had said that the current was swiftest towards the far side of the course. I had planned on taking full advantage of the current and getting out of the water as soon as possible. The reality was something different. My lack of swim technique and endurance was evident. I never did find the “fast” current, but I endured. It wasn’t fast and it wasn’t pretty, but little by little I made it to the end and didn’t require assistance. I got out in 30:32. Again, the swim gives me hope for the future in the fact with a little training I have a lot of room for improvement. Now I just need to put in the time at the pool. T1 was good, 04:05, other than totally racking myself getting on my bike, I was feeling good.
The bike course was nice: flat, very few false flats and no hills of any significance, just a few rollers. I love riding the bike, and of the three disciplines I am most confident on the bike. I look forward to the day when I get a TT bike and can really maximize my strength on the bike. The organizers had reversed the starting orders and the younger athletes started towards the end, that means I was passed as if I was standing still by some of the other “in it to win it” athletes that started after me. I was able to hold by own against other road bikes and I passed every mountain bike I could find, but the TT bikes were unbelievable. I did mention to a fellow rider as we road and passed another mountain bike, that I didn’t care who beat me as long as I wasn’t passed by a mountain bike. I did have one guy comment on my bike as he passed me, which made me laugh. Total bike time was 1:17:29, which felt pretty good, but with room for improvement. My apologize to my cheering section for not being more excited as I came through T2, but all I could focus on was getting to T2 and getting out of the run. Next time, I will try and be more responsive to those who are there supporting me. Total T2 was 02:47, which I was pleased with considering someone had taken over my spot at the rack and I had to crawl under the bikes to get to my shoes.
As with every other race, I pretty much left everything out on the bike course and didn’t have a lot left for the run. Beginning the run out of T2, there is a fairly significant uphill into someone’s backyard. It was a little disconcerting to see the overall winner along the side of the course cheering people on, which meant that BJ Christiansen had not only ran the entire course in 1:47:10, recovered, refueled and made his way onto the run course as a spectator in the time it had take me to do the swim and bike alone, almost to the second.. I just reminded myself that he had a 40 minute head start. I did the best I could to get a run pace up, but it was a struggle. I was happy to find Stacy along the course and I had the pleasure of running most of the course with her. We did a number of walk-run intervals; we would pick landmarks, run to them, and then walk. It was a little embarrassing as we headed towards mile 5 and saw Courtney and Carey running the course backwards to find us. However, it was awesome that we were all together for the last mile or so of the race. Carey was a champ and was setting a strong pace; she was so impressive in her first event. As we all came down the hill together towards the finish line, everyone was together and running hard. After coming out of the trees, we all spread out and ran the finishing shoot shoulder to shoulder - that was great. Total run time was 1:24:29 for a total race time of 3:19:24, next year’s goal, sub-three hours.
The spectators and volunteers were so supportive to all the racers: we had numerous water stations, sprinklers and fire trucks keeping the racers cool. All things considered it was a GREAT day.
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