Race Report - JCC Independence Day Triathlon

Okay, first off - I know I still owe an IM Kansas 70.3 report. It wasn't quite what I had wished for, so I've put it off, and now I've gone and done another race. And this one I am excited about, so you get it first. :)

When coach told me the July 4 weekend would be a good one to find a race, I was excited to find out that not only was there a race in Columbus that day, it was right in our backyard! This was the inaugural year for this race, which always carries some risks, but the lure of a race that starts four miles from our house was plenty to get me to sign up. This would be the first sprint tri I'd done in two years, so I had a few nerves the night before. What if I don't remember how to push hard in a race? What if all I have in me is long slow distance?

On race morning, we were able to get up at a leisurely 5:45. (Though it ended up being 5:35 when Meredith asked if I had an alarm set. And then 5:40 when our dog started barking. Fine, I'm up.) I got my stuff gathered, ate a couple quick pieces of toast, and we were off for the LOOONG eight minute drive to transition. The race field was limited to 250 due to parking, so it was a fairly small transition area, and I lucked out with a rack near one of the exits. Since I decided I would swim in my tri jersey, there wasn't too much to set up. Helmet, glasses, shoes and socks, plus a hat for the run. There were no bibs, and I didn't need any nutrition other than my aerobottle. Kind of a far cry from the hyper-organization I'm used to lately on race day!

Once set up, we moseyed down to the pool to get in a little warm-up and test how the tri jersey felt in the water. I got in a quick 100 yards, felt good in the jersey, and so Meredith and I just grabbed a lounge chair, chilled out while everyone finished up in transition, and chatted with some other athletes. For one, this was his first triathlon! It was a nice race for a first timer, I think - pretty laid back vibe to the day. This race had a long run between the pool and T1 that crossed some questionable terrain, so I took a cue from what some others were doing and stashed a pair of shoes to grab on my way out of the pool.

While we lined up, I got to chat with Colleen and husband Tom, as well as new friend Rebecca. The swim was seeded by your own estimate of a 300y swim, and we all happened to be in the same range, so we just lined up together. Better to have a friend run into you in the pool than a stranger, right? :) While the seeding worked well for the most part, we did notice a pack of three swimmers who started among the first 20 athletes or so doing the breaststroke 100 yards in. Not sure what happened there? Regardless, it soon was my turn, and I took a running jump into my swim.

I realized before the swim that it would be difficult to pass people, since it was a serpentine swim with people going both directions in the same lane. So, I decided to swim at a comfortably snappy pace, but not to overdo it, since I would just get in a traffic jam. This worked really well - I caught the guy in front of me around 150 yards in, and drafted off him the rest of the way. We passed one guy standing at the wall, and near the end of the swim I turned on the afterburners briefly to pass another swimmer who got mixed in there somehow. I came out of the water with my watch at 5:07. That's a 1:51/100m pace, which is pretty slow for me over that distance, but with the format, I'm not sure I could have done much better. It also paid off because I came out of the water at a run, not feeling out of breath at all. Next year, maybe I'll seed myself a little higher. The mat wasn't until the entrance to T1, so the official swim time is a lot longer.

Swim: 6:41 (5:07 in water, 1:51/100m pace)

T1 was pretty efficient for me, and I got in and out in a hurry. I thought about going sockless to save a few more seconds, but ended up opting for the socks.

T1: 0:58

The bike course for this race was almost exclusively on roads we ride ALL.THE.TIME in training. For me, I took this as a benefit - I knew the gearing, I knew the corners, I knew which roads were false flats or slight descents. And I rode HARD! The ride started out down a gravel driveway. This was a little scary, with a lot of "Please don't flat!" and "Please don't wipe out!" thoughts going through my head. However, I made it through fine, and was soon out on the roads. The fact that I started fairly early in the time trial start made me a little resigned to getting passed by a ton of people on the bike, but other than jockeying back and forth with one other rider early, this really didn't happen. I started picking off some of the earlier swimmers, and every time I looked back at a corner, there wasn't anyone back there. This was very different for me! I kept the hammer down (at least as far as my hammer goes), and just rode. The inevitable pass from Tom happened about halfway through the course. (Seriously inevitable, he was on the team that won Race Across America, I'm just glad I could hold him off this long!) But that was the last time I'd get passed. Maybe the only time? I can't remember for sure. Part of that was the time trial format, of course, but it felt very different to be toward the front of a race for once. I could get used to that feeling... :) The only other blip in the bike race came when a car turned right in front of me, but he was also right in front of a policeman, who chewed him out pretty well as I rode on. One more safe trip across the gravel, and I was back into transition with what I knew was a speedy time. What I didn't realize at the time was that I broke a 20 mph average for the first time in a race, and that somehow I managed the third best bike split in my age group!

Bike: 33:59 (21.18 mph)

T2 was blazing fast - shoes off, helmet and glasses off, shoes and hat on, GO!

T2: 0:28

My stomach was bothering me a little on the bike, so I was nervous to see where it would go on the run. Didn't end up being an issue. My legs were also pretty tight as I started out on the run. After exiting the park, you go down maybe a quarter mile hill, and then immediately back up. I had to slow my pace a little bit here, as my legs really hadn't loosened up from the bike yet. Once up the hill, I tried to get into a good rhythm - never felt super fast, but just kept on trucking. I did get passed by a few runners, but they were going at speeds I couldn't possibly hang with at the time, so I stayed at my own pace. It was starting to get a little hot by this time, so at mile 2 I dumped some water over my head to cool off. (heard later that someone accidentally did the same with a glass of Heed, hehe!) As we got back toward the park, we had to do the hill one more time, but I think I came up with a little more speed this time, and then it was just a sprint down the entry road and into the finish line! I feel like I ran fairly well here - just on the edge of what I could do. There maaay have been one more gear that was left unused at the end, but I still give myself an A- on the run. This ended up being a PR for me in a 5K triathlon run by about 30 seconds.

Run: 25:56 (8:20/mile)

I was holding out a bit of hope that I might place in my age group here, but I ended up in 6th place out of 16. Speedy people in that 30-34 group! What I was excited about, though, was placing 23rd overall out of 241. Top 10% for the first time! I think I can take a lot of positives out of this race - I have more speed than ever before on the bike and run, I possibly ran my best race to date mentally, and just had a lot of fun doing it!

Now, the real push for Cedar Point begins! First iron distance swim is this week, as well as the first 6+ hour bike ride. Just over two months to go...yikes!