Litchfield Hills Triathlon

Swim - 1 mile: 22:43
Ok so maybe the swim was a little short, 5 mins short, but I'm not complaining. I'm confident I would have come in under 30 had it been a true mile. My swim was really comfortable and strong and this was probably the biggest upside of the entire day. I've been working on it more ever since my dismal swim at Griskus and it's now paying off. Today I got out quick and found some fast feet and worked my ass off to hang on. In previous attempts to draft I crashed and burned. Today I held feet for 3/4 of the swim. Most importantly I was comfortable from start to finish.

T1: 3:00 long run up to the bikes

Bike - 23.8 miles - 1:09
The bike is mostly down hill for the first half and then it goes up for the second. I got out quick and took over two riders on the first fast downhill. I hit a small bump and launched my bottle behind my seat, and immediately thought I'd be screwed because of the heat and humidity. I had to make the one bottle work for the full 24 miles. I recovered good after the swim and took a gel right away on the bike. I decided to push the bike from the beginning. I tried to get my HR into the 160s and I was around 157 but really working hard. I took over two more riders and was on my own. About 12 miles in I dropped my chain on a small uphill and had to stop for two minutes to fix. Got passed by one rider, but quickly caught him when we started going up and got past him. Hit the hills and my HR finally got up into the 160s. Instead of sitting back and spinning as I had last year I pushed all the hills and flats. I was impressed how quickly I recovered from the climbs. On the last two steep hills I took over two more riders. Cruised a quick downhill and hammered another hill in the big ring to get to transition.

Run - 10k - 46:32
Only saw about nine or so bikes when I came into transition which was comforting. The run on this course is hard. At the last Olympic I put down my fastest 10k ever but today as soon as I got out on the run course I knew I was it going to even come close to that number again. I did the first mile in 7:15. The first mile is steady and then it goes downhill for a mile and then it goes up and up. After a short climb at the start I let it go on the downhills. My HR monitor was spiking at 240 as it usually does on the run, because it sucks! I would say it was easily in the high 160s the whole way through. I caught and passed one runner on the downhill and then eyed another going uphill. It took me two hills to get him but I got him. I had a little bit of cramping in my legs occasionally on the run probably from not taking in enough water on the bike. They worked themselves out and didn't slow me. At every aid station I took two waters one for the head and another to consume. Each time I got a little kick. Miles 3-5 had little shade and were torture. As soon as I hit mile 5 I started pushing, pushed up the hill, up another around the bend and to the finish.

Time: 2:23:22 - 13th overall - 3rd in AG (not sure this is right since the overall says 4TH but AG results says 3RD)

Summary:
I came away from this race feeling confident. I needed this race after dumping on myself the last couple weeks after my showing at Griskus. The conditions were miserable and I put in a really hard week of training including a 3 hour ride in the humidity and hills the day before. I think that's what impresses me the most. I hear others talking about resting up for this race and others I've been to while I'm training right up to the day before the race and still getting solid results. I'm most pleased with my swim. I've had a bit of a mental block but now I feel I'm moving in the right direction. My bike was four minutes faster than last year and that's on heavy legs. I pushed the bike harder than last year and didn't leave much out there. The run was almost three minutes faster than last year and I was really strong. Last year, I was a dead fish gasping for air and I even rested three days before. What I'm getting at is that I am starting to feel incredible improvements in my fitness levels. My mind is not playing as many mental games and I'm nearly to the point where I can sustain I push for an entire discipline. Ok, I'm done over thinking this race. Moving on.