Mt. Lakes Race Report

This race rocked. As usual, Team-Magic put on one heck of an event. It ran smoothly and the swag was top notch (who doesn’t love a tie-dyed t-shirt?). I felt great this entire race. My knee held up and HR & breathing was pretty much under control the entire race. I headed up to Guntersville Friday night to pick-up my packet. I got checked in and took a few minutes to check all of my gear and spin the bike in the parking lot for a few minutes to make sure it faired the drive ok. Then I took it easy for the rest of the night.

Pre-Race
Woke up around 5:00 and turned on the coffee pot. I hit up the continental breakfast and had a waffle for breakfast. I showered, got dressed, loaded up my bike and headed up the road to the rec center. Once there, I headed to transition to set up my area. I walked around a bit sipping on some Gatorade. I ran into a bunch of folks that I swim with and my coach. John and I talked for a bit about strategy. We both had the same idea that I was going to go moderately hard on the bike and then build to the turnaround on the run and kill it for the last 1.5 miles. I headed down to the water to get a warm-up swim in. The water was extremely warm. Luckily we swam in a hot @ss pool for a few weeks so all of us from the Mt. Brook Y were ready for it. The water was pretty merky, you’d get a handful or facefull of weeds every now and then. The swim area is very shallow too. You could stand up halfway out and be just over waist deep. As time ticked on by, everyone started to make their way to the water. The race director started getting everyone lined up. The “elder” triathletes were first into the water. I hope that I’m that able when I’m their age. The first 200 people were in the water and I started getting in my spot.

The Swim
241...go. I hit the timing mat and started running into the water. People were walking way too long. You can swim in the water so much faster. Once it was mid-thigh, I dove on in. I managed to stay on course this race. I had to look ahead and sight a bit more than I initially wanted, but hey, it’s better than having to get chased down by one of the kayakers. I felt pretty good in the water. I was passing a few people and managed to not get run over by anybody. I felt like I still had a little bit more in me so at the turn, I started digging harder. My breathing stayed under control as I passed a few more people. Once I was about 10 yds form shore, I stood up and ran it on in. I checked my watch as I crossed the timing mat and saw 9:37. All I could think was that this was going to be a great race. Time- 9:37 Rank 19/31

T1
The run to transition is short. I grabbed a cup of water from the volunteers as I entered transition. I slipped on my helmet, shoes, and race belt. Put on my glasses and jogged my bike out of transition. I hit the mount line…got on…and started hammering on out for a 16.4 mile ride. My T1 time was 2:12 which was about the norm for my division. I’d still love to be able to keep my shoes on my bike and do the awesome flying mounts and dismounts.

The Bike
The bike course is super flat. There are a couple of rollers, but nothing major. I started passing a good bit of people. The course was pretty crowded for the first 5-6 miles. The marshalls were out in full force dishing out penalties for “drafting.” The rules say you have to keep 3 bike lengths between you and the bike in front of you. It’s pretty ahrd to do that when you’re going 3 and 4 wide like at Talladega trying to pass people. Some people are so obivious when cheating. They get in a single file line not a foot off each other and start flying by everyone. If you can live with yourself have at it. I felt pretty good on the bike. I tried not to go too hard, but some of those straight-aways just asked to be hammered out. Around mile 13.5 you take a right and start riding on the causeway. The wind was pretty strong, but I still managed to hold a good cadence and speed. I made the last turn towards the rec center, slipped my feet out of my shoes, and spun to the dismount line. I crossed the timing mat and headed to my rack in transition. Time 47:17, Rank 13/31, AvgRate 20.6mph

T2
As I crossed the mat, I had to run around a few folks that were walking around in no hurry whatsoever. I tossed my bike on the rack, slipped on socks and shoes, swapped my helmet for my hat and took off. No T2 time posted.

The Run
So I hit the running trail and tried to take it easy for a little bit. Like I mentioned earlier, my plan was to start off easy and build to a good pace so at the turnaround I could kill it back to the finish. It started out ok. I walked once on the way out but that was mainly to get some water. I felt like I was keeping good form. I hit the turnaround and started running a little harder. Once again, I let doubt enter my head and started to slow down. I almost started walking but kept going. I looked at my watch and saw that I had a slight chance to hit my mark of sub 1:30. I picked up the pace. Everything felt great for a change. I heard John holler from the road to finish strong. I dug a little deeper and the last half mile I was going at a pretty good clip. I checked my watch again and saw it tick past 1:30…dangit. Oh well, I was still determined to not lose to myself by much. I bared down and crossed the finish line. Time 32:07 Rank 23/31 AvgRate 10:32 min/mi. Total time was 1:31:12.

Post-Race
I hit up the food line and tried to cool off in the pool for a little bit while we waited on results to be posted. Once I saw I wasn’t placing (I always have high hopes) I got my bike and headed to the car to start my journey home.

This was a great race. I felt great the entire time. I was curious how this year compared to last year. Last year, this was my final race, but I didn’t train much for it after competing at Chattanooga. So let’s see the rundown…

2009 2010
Swim 16:39 9:37
T1 4:15 2:12
Bike 55:46 (17.2mph) 47:17 (20.6mph)
Run 42:07 (14:03 min/mi) 32:07 (10:32 min/mi)
Total 2:00:55 1:31:12

So I feel like I’ve come a long way in the past year. I manage to shave off almost 30mins. Each repeat race I’ve done this year I have managed to post a much better time. But, with just 2 races left before D-Day on Nov 6th, I still have a good ways to go to be ready for 140.6 miles.

Click HERE to see the pics

Erics’ Quote of the Day: “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up” ~Thomas Edison