Niantic Sprint

Swim: 13:27

Lots of people in the first wave. I took my usual position in the second line. Dove in on the go and pushed pretty hard until I swam right up the back of two guys. Tried to split up and ended up having to go around. Lots of contact out to the first buoy and then I freed myself up. Stroke felt good and I was catching people at the midpoint. I held my line really well which hasn't been usual for me. Drafted off a few feet towards the end and avoided a whole lot of jelly fish but did get stung in the face towards the end. I felt comfortable and strong throughout the swim but really didn't start pushing until the midpoint. Need to focus more on hitting it hard in the beginning. I was happy with my time, but could have possibly shaved a minute if I pushed from the start.

Bike: 32:01

The bike is where I expected to have issues but surprisingly I had good legs the first two miles. Hit the first hill and got out of the pedals and my legs reminded me of yesterday's work. I passed quite a few people the first five miles and only got passed by one guy who was in the third wave. My average HR for the whole ride was 162. I kept an eye on the HR and worked hard to keep it above 160. I took the hills with little problem and that's where I passed most of the people. My legs really came around as soon as we hit the main roads where I tore back at third wave stud and caught and passed just before heading to transition.


Run: 20:46

Not sure if this run was longer than 3.1 but it felt like it to me. I got out quick and cruised the first downhill and shaked off the bike about a mile in. I registered a 6:30 the first mile and then I started to feel it. My HR was in the 170s and I was telling my legs to pick it up but they were heavy as hell. On the few small hills is where I really felt it in the quads and lost a little pacing. At this point I was just looking for the finish line. Peering around corners, asking a guy I passed. As soon as I did see it is when my legs got under me. With about a mile to go I loosened up enough to really let loose and catch a guy that had a good lead on me but passed him with 300 yards to the finish. I thought I put down a 19:40 but I guess I was off by a minute.

Total time: 1:09, 16th overall, 2nd in age group

Results here

Summary:

First, I was dreading today after yesterday's workout. It took a lot to get up at 4:30 and driving down I was just hoping to put down a good respectable time. I'm pleased with this race. I did this race two years ago and put down a 1:16. Today I put down a 1:09. I got my third AG win of the year and didn't have any lingering pain after the race. I'm sure it will come tomorrow. I put in one of my hardest workouts of the year the day before this race, one where I was border line bonking. I've said it before, but I'm still amazed at the times I'm putting down on tired legs. I was shot this week. Almost depressed like because of feeling so damn tired all the time. This race bounced me back and was a good ending to a really tough couple of weeks. I'd hoped for a better run. There were quite a few really good tri guys at this race and I just hoped to have a respectable finish especially since Max was racing. I joked about being within 6 minutes of his finishing time before the race which would mean success for me and I was. Six minutes is still a very long time. Also I paid closer attention to my HR and raced myself instead of trying to catch who was ahead of me.