I got my 2009 Triathlon Season off to a fast start with the Issquah Sprint Triathlon. I always like to jump in a sprint race a couple weeks before my first big race of the season in this case that will be Boise 70.3 in two weeks.
I had registered to race in the elite wave given my previous performances in sprint races lately and was suprised and then ticked that there would be no elite wave due to the race now being sanctioned by the USAT and some new applicable rules, more on this later but basically given this course it doesn't make for a fair race for the overall placing.
I arrived about 6am at the race site after parking a mile away to see a line of cars trying to get into the park. I found my rack and quickly set up my transition area. It's pretty simple, shoes, number belt, sunglasses, and helmet. I spent some time chatting with some others I knew and helped a couple newbies and nervous racers with transitions suggestions and getting tires pumped appropriately. It was kind of funny there were a number of booms from exploding tires from over zealous tire inflators.
35 minutes before the start of my wave we had to be out of the transition zone and down for the mandatory meeting. I then watched several of the first waves go off. 5 minutes before my wave I got out in the water for a little warmup swim. I was feeling good and super fast in my new ZOOT Zeneith suit. I positioned myself in the first row and in the middle of the start line. At the horn I got out fast. There were three of us off the front quickly and I found the feet of the fastest guy and locked on, we were by ourselves after the first turn. I rode his feet all the way and came out of the water 1 second back in 5:11 for the 1/4 mile swim (although there were 2 in our AG in the final results that showed they were faster, I suspect they started in an earlier wave, because they sure as heck weren't in ours). It was 37th fastest swim split overall.
Moving into 1st in AG into T1 passing slower swimmers in earlier waves.
Heading out of T1 onto the bike
I ran out stripping off my suit and quickly passed the leader in my AG during transition. I was first out of T1 by 10 seconds. I had a quick running mount onto my bike and was quickly into my shoes. I quickly got up to speed and then I came to a screeching slowdown. There is nearly a mile at the beginning and end of the bike which is a "no pass" or restricted pass zone and this is where the no elite wave really hurt as I was stuck behind riders from the earlier waves who were slow. When I hit the pile up I was about 20 seconds up and then I was joined by a couple others in my AG as we slowing made out way through the limited pass zone. I traded the AG lead with fellow AG racer Tony Gerbino who I have raced a few times previously but have never beaten. We were quickly making our way through the maze of slower riders from the others in the earlier waves. I finished up the ride in 35:35 (25.29 mph avg.) the 11th fastest bike split overall. Many probably though a locomotive was coming as we were both riding with disc wheels and we were moving fast. We were slowed again as came back to the park. Tony and I had side by side high speed running dismounts and had to do some cyclocross style with our bikes to get around slower participants in transition.
I had a solid T2 but struggled with getting one of my shoes on. Quickly out and about 5 seconds down to Tony. I quickly got into my easy rhythm and was continuing to dodge slower runners on the tight twisty and uneven trail run. At about half way Tony made a move and with all the twists and turns I lost sight of him and he put a little time on me. It was tough but I continued to run strong and finished well finishing the run in 18:21 (6:07 mile pace) and the 17th fastest run split. Overall I fninshed up in 1:01:20, 2nd in my Age Group (and 2nd Male Master as well) and 10th Overall.
Finishing Strong with 100 yds to go.
This placing was both nice and a little disappointing. It was disappointing in the sense that if I hadn't been slowed by all the slower waves on the bike I very likely would have won my AG and may very well moved up several places in the overall. I don't think a race should be sanctioned by the USAT if it can't provide a "fair" opporunity to race and compete for all athletes and clearly those in the first couple of waves had an advantage.
After the race I watched a bit of the Kids triathlon which was really funny but great to see all these little kids out there giving it there all.
All in all it was a good day and I feel good heading into Boise 70.3 in two weeks. More to come in the two weeks from Boise!!
Finding my running legs after a few years off is an evolution not a revolution. Growing up as a runner I have a particular view in my mind of what fast is and this somethimes works against me.
My idea of fast is the vision I have in my mind when I was in high school and college and running at an elite level. Training runs day after day at sub 6 minute mile pace and racing 10k's at 5 min pace and 10 milers in the low 5's.
So as I refocused on running in my early 30's I got a wake up call which I really never did get over at that time. Now in my 40's I going through a similar experience but this time it's different as I'm treating it as a process. I actually believe I can run fast again, no not 20 years old fast because lets face it I haven't kept the machine well oiled over all these years and well I'm older but I do believe I can be very competitve for my age and can get back closer to the speeds I was running in my early 20's than I did in my early 30's.
This weekend I took my stab at my annual early season half marathon test. Just to see where I'm at. I've done a half each year for the past couple of years a couple weeks before my first tri of the season and this year I was back at Capital City Half Marathon. Just a quick plug for this race. It's a great race. I've done the Marathon twice and the half twice it's a well organized moderate sized race which always draws some fast runners and I haven't had a really bad weather day yet. It's highly recommended.
Two years ago I did this race and finished in 1:27:51, last year I did the Kirkland Half Marathon and finished in 1:25:10 so this year the goal was to run 1:23-1:24 in keeping with the process and journey. My run training has been great I've been getting in a good diet of long aerobic runs as well as some moderate distance hard tempo (think 1/2 marathon race pace) and this year I'm back on the track with short speed work sessions (miles, 800m, 400m, 200m intervals) above all I've been healthy and injury free so I've been consistent in my training.
The race conditions were absolutely perfect sunny, no wind, and 50 degrees and warming for the 7:45am start. The start was very orderly in fact there wasn't any jostling to be up front which is unusual. At the gun we headed off and I just fell into a very easy feeling pace. My goal is always to just run like I'm jogging at the beginning of a half and that usually means I'm only going out a little faster than I should. Mile 1 split was a 6:12 which was a little faster than I had hoped but it felt effortless. I backed off a little and fell into a group for the next few miles. I could count my place at mile 3 I was in 20th but was already about 2 min off the leaders.
I continued to roll along until a little hill at mile 5 where I picked up a couple of places. I started to pick the pace up after mile 5 which was a little earlier than I planned but I felt great and the pace was still comfortable. I sucked down my Blueberry Pomogrante GU Roctane at 7 miles for that little boost in the second half this stuff rocks.
At mile 8 I focused on a significant pace pickup and picked out a couple of guys about 5 places ahead of me that I was going to try an catch by the finish they were about 300 yards ahead of me. The next mile was 5:53 with a slight downhill section then that was immediately followed by a 3/4 of a mile long hill and I cruised up the hill to finish the next mile in 6:29 during which I passed 3 of the guys I was trying to catch. The next couple miles were rolling and I just tried to close on the guy ahead of me. With a mile and half to go we made the final turn towards the finish and I started to push after the runner ahead of me. I caught and passed him with just under a mile to go. I backed off just a bit after passing him and he caught me again and pulled even but I could tell he was on the edge. As we came to another bend in the road I knew that would be 800 meters and I knew you could see the finish arch from there. As soon as I saw the arch I started my final kick and pulled away from the guy. I held the kick all the way to the finish and finished up the last 1.1 miles at sub 5:50 pace.
I was very happy with my race. Negative split in the second half by almost 2 minutes, no real blow up miles, a great race strategy and a final time of 1:22:46. I ended up 10th overall and 2nd in my age group. The only downside was some blisters. I was racing in some new racing flats which may be a little too big but they are comfortable overall and I'll say they I would recommend them, great cushioning, support and a nice snug racing flat fit. The new KSwiss K Ona. I think they run about 1 shoe size smaller than Asics (I wear 9.5 in Asics but probably need an 8.5 in the KSwiss but I was running in size 9's).
This race gives me a good boost of confidence going into the little Issaquah Sprint Tri in two weeks and Ironman 70.3 Boise in 4 weeks. I'm hoping to post a really solid even performance in Boise. S
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