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May 5, 2014

Trizou 2014

Trizou - 5/4/2014




The first triathlon of my season. I had an early start. I got up at 3:30AM to drive from STL to Columbia. It's what I'd been training so hard for all winter. However, I felt much less prepared than I thought I would. I knew all of my short comings in my training. The biggest of them all had to be the fact that I hadn't logged a single lap in the pool since the end of last season. I had no idea what was going to happen at the start of this race. To make matters worse, I had entered the "elite" division to be up against the best and they all showed up. I am pretty sure there were 19 men and 6 women. However, the standing only show 18 and 5. I'm wondering if there wasn't a DNF for each. Anyways, back to the race. With a pool wave start there was only room for 16 in the first wave (2 in each of the 8 lanes). I had been chosen along with my friend Dave Otto. Both us saw who was left out of heat 1, Victor Halamicek and knew that wasn't right. He had consistantly out performed us at races. We both offered up our spots and Victor and another were gracious to accept. If I had better swim training and confidence coming into the race, I might not have done that. Being the first race of the season, I really had no idea what I was going to be capable of. I was running and biking better than ever. I would be in the second heat with the women and 2 other elite men. Fine by me.

We watched the first heat do their swim and out of the pool. Our turn! Despite what it sounds like, I was pumped and ready to give it my all! I was not going to go away quietly. We got in the pool and without much waiting, we were off. I was quick to get after it. I even took the lead over Dave Otto who I was sharing a lane with. I figured I was probably going out too fast and he'd probably catch and pass me before the end. This was what happened. It didn't feel as bad as it should. With only a 400, it went by pretty quickly. Climbing out of the pool is a bit of an awkward climb. I got to my feet and was off and running. It was a decent run to our bikes and my pace was fast. I didn't feel like it took me too much time to get on my shoes and helmet, grab my bike, and run out of transition.

I jumped on the bike just past the mount line. Click, click. My shoes clipped in. Not normally an event to mention and be excited about. However, I was wearing these shoes for the first time and the cleats as well. I know the rule not to test new equipment on race day. I guess I'm just a risk taker despite having had that backfire on me at least at one race. There's some sharp turns to start the bike and I was playing it fairly safe. I'd seen someone go down on those turns two years ago and there was plenty of other time to make up any ground I lost. I pushed hard once on the main loop. I wasn't saving anything. I wanted to catch Dave Otto who wasn't extremely far ahead of me, especially since he's almost impossible to run down. Two big climbs on the loop that we do twice. The hills felt much better than they did previous years. My improved bike training, including hills, had paid off. I felt fast. I had passed some of the women who had gotten out of the pool ahead of me, but neither of the men. The second loop was filled with traffic from people starting their first loop. It wasn't the easiest to navigate, especially with some of the turns. Most of the way around the second loop, I'm getting passed! What!? Oh... nevermind. It's Kevin Nickel who has won this race the last three years. He was flying. I did what I could to keep up and finish up my bike.

Another pretty decent transition and headed off around the track to start the run. I was wearing new shoes for the first time yet again. I am pretty sure I lost some time going the longer way around. No time to fret over it though. I was running well and feeling pretty good. I had a decent pace going. There weren't mile markers out there to know exactly how far I was into the run. With such a short run of 3 miles, I guess it didn't really matter. It was just push hard the whole way around. The course loops around to go back on the walking bridge over the road. This is good news as the highest point of the course and a downhill the rest of the way to the finish. My new shoes were feeling fine. With no socks, it was probably a bigger risk than normal. There hasn't been anyone in sight ahead of me to run down which would have been nice to keep me motivated and my pace up. I finished will all I had and got some great cheers coming into the finish.

I had stopped my watch at 1:07:??. I had started it 10 seconds early and stopped it just past the line, so I was glad to see the final results putting me at 1:06:53 and my best finish time at this race (by 3 seconds! and my slowest time of 1:07:00 LOL!) This race keeps me pretty consistent. I was very happy with the result no matter what place it amounted to. I ended up 15th in the Elite Men and was only beat by one of the women, Holland Smith. I had also had 2 others within 30 seconds of my time that I wonder if I could have held off if I had stayed in that first heat and known how close it was. I'm excited for my next race. I won't have to wait long, just 2 weeks. I'll try not to use anything new for that race. Also, I've got an 8hr Adventure Race to get through first.

Important Links:
Trizou Website
Trizou Race results

2 comments:

  1. Nice race report. Great job on Sunday. I was hunting around the web trying to find what the actual run distance (2.8mi) was and found your blog. Kevin was flying. I had the insane notion of out biking him since I knew I can't out run him. I passed him on the long straight before the fast downhill sweeper. He rolled past up the 1st climb and slowly rolled away. My legs weren't there Sunday. Maybe it baited him into pushing it the rest of the way as I think that was a new bike course record.

    Good luck at your next race!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks. I kind of rushed my race report more than usual. I've got a busy four weeks of racing and figured I'd get behind if I didn't do something quick and simple.

      Kevin certainly was flying and I wouldn't doubt it if that were a bike course record. I bet you were close to catching me as well. I'd say your legs were plenty there with a 2nd place finish! Congrats! That is something to really be proud of.

      Good luck with the rest of your season!

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