Griskus Olympic Race Report

Saturday I competed in the Griskus Olympic Tri. For the last two years this race has been kicking my butt and this year was no different. I was hoping for to better my time this year since I've consistently finished in the 2:30s but this year was no different. There were some positives though.

Swim:

With my new suit this year I had hoped it would make a difference in my swim times. Apparently it's not the suit but the swimmer. The mile long swim was long, or at least it felt that way. I never really got comfortable and felt like I was treading water the whole damn swim. My warmup felt good and out to the first buoy I was strong. Then I started to increase my arm stroke since people were coming up on all sides. I never was in the lane and always out on my own. I tried to hold feet, but as soon as I tried to hang I got dusted. Bubbles just kept getting farther and farther away. I came out of the water and heard the guy say 35 minutes running time and I was pissed. In addition to that my legs cramped as soon as I stood up to run. So much so that I was laboring to the transition. Took me forever to shed my suit and I was already overheating. Got on the bike and hoped for a better result. Last year I came out in 31 minutes and that's including the transition. Swim sucked big time!

Bike:

I hydrated immediately and almost killed a full bottle I was so thirsty. Got going and starting flying down the first six miles of downhill. I had some lingering cramps when I got to the flats and tried to shake them by just bearing down. When I got to the hills I started moving past a ton of people, people that smoked me in the swim. I just put my head down and hammered. Finally got up with a solid pack and we cruised for a good 10 miles up hills and downhills. Took a gel before we hit a good climb and overtook the group and I was on my own. Legs felt great and my HR was in the 150s. I was on my own and catching solid riders in the older age groups since they all smoked me on the swim. Over the last hills I pushed and cruised into transition for a time of 1:16. Last year was 1:19 but this year felt much more comfortable and with way more power. Mentally I was still thinking about the bad swim and hoping I could make up time on the run.

Run:

The run is a two loop 10k with a good hill on each turn. I took a gel while sliding out my shoes and transitioned perfectly. Headed out really strong and wanted to lay down a solid run. Last two years I've put down 45s and 46s which is a typical 10k time for me. After this bike course it usually takes a while to get the legs going but not today. I let it go on the downhill and quickly passed groups of people. Midway in I saw the leaders coming in for what I think was their final lap. I put my head down and pushed harder. I hit the turnaround and pushed harder thinking about my swim. Flew up the hill past another group and wasn't sure I'd be able to hold this pace for another loop. My time at the first loop was 21 minutes and my HR was 167. Made the turn and did it all over again. I caught guys that were a half mile ahead and who I had targeted to get ahead of. My legs didn't even feel like I had biked 25 hard. Flew down the downhill and paced out with Rob Duguay for a while but then pulled ahead of him at the first turn around and started pushing harder. I muscled up the hill and almost went dark at the top. As soon as I hit the flat and last half mile I started moving. My HR was at 170 and I sprinted through the finish. Total run time was 40:54. That's 5 minutes faster than last year and my best 10k yet. I ran a faster second lap and I'm really impressed with this run.

Summary:

I'm pissed at my swim time. I can crush 2500 in the pool but can't get this open water swimming thing down yet. It's only my second open water swim of the year but it seriously is affecting my overall time. I'm going to get back in the pool a little more and maybe work in some open water swims. This needs to improve.

My bike time wasn't that great but on tired legs I shaved nearly 5 minutes from last year's time and felt awesome the whole way. A couple Heat guys even commented how amazed they were that I ripped by them on a hill. I still would've like a 1:10 or 1:12 but considering that I haven't been tapering for races I'm very pleased.

My run time is the good takeaway. My run has never been so strong and I'm hoping it sticks. I put in a heavy week of weights, runs and bricks and my legs still responded with 6:35s over six miles. I've never been able to lay down 6 minute miles unless it's a stand alone 5k or 10k. In my last two races I've done this. Things are looking good here.

Overall I improved from last year. I shaved 3+ minutes and moved up 30+ spots for 52 overall.

Lastly, it was good to see my good friend Matt who made the trip up for this race lay down an impressive time in his first ever Olympic. We both got stung on the swim but he should be real pleased with pulling out a solid time in this very tough Oly race.

Results here