Lowell, MA
1500m Swim
25 mile Bike
10k Run
Swim - 25:09, with a strong current - I'm really not that slow! (1st Olympic, 2nd including Aquabike)
T1 - 1:23 (4th)
Bike - 1:04:30 (7th / 23.5mph according to my GPS, 24.2 according to the results)
T2 - :37
Run - 41:32 (4th / 6:42/mi)
Overall - 2:13:09
Place - 3rd Overall
It's taken me four and a half days to write this report. Typically I finish a report the same evening as a race and publish my thoughts right away. Mill City, though, has required some cooling off time and I decided it was best not to put my original thoughts in writing for all of you to read. In the past five days I've spent some time putting the race into perspective and attempting to pull a few positives from the day. To be honest, I don't even want to write this. I was pretty disgusted with myself during and after the race and it's not something I care to relive. However, I'm always eager to share the details of my successes so it's only fair that I open up about the more difficult days.
This was a VERY small race. The smallest I've ever done by well over 200 people. Still, there were some decent athletes in attendance it's a relatively new distance to me. Having only raced Olympic distance races three times before this event (with only 2 finishes and 1 DNF due to a bike crash), it didn't matter how many people showed up. I knew I had a lot to learn about the distance and how to race it successfully.
Things got off to a great start in the waters of the Merrimack River. From the gun I took off and left everyone in my wake. I felt amazing in the water and really hammered the first 750 meters as the first leg of the out and back forced swimmers to swim against the current. Being one of the best swimmers (triathlete swimmers, that is...) in the region, I knew it was to my advantage to leave people behind early and force them to swim without the benefit of my draft as we made our way upstream. The current did cause times to be incredibly slow on race day. As a consistent sub 20 minute Olympic distance swimmer, I estimate this swim to be between five and six minutes long due to the currents. It didn't feel overly long, but battling the river during the first half really slowed things down.
After making the turn in the swim, I was back on shore in no time at all. I made my way speedily toward transition where I dropped the wetsuit and goggles and rocketed off on my bike. Knowing I was in the lead by a decent amount, I went out fairly hard on the bike. I knew the course was relatively easy and there weren't many opportunities to make up big time, so I did my best to ride within my limits and manage my gap to the rest of the field. Through the first lap I was very successful in doing this. From what I could tell, nobody was within a minute of me and I proceeded through the second lap exactly like I had on the first. In fact, my Garmin shows that I rode both loops evenly, holding somewhere around 23.5-24mph the entire way.
Coming off the bike, I felt great. I had done a better job than normal of getting fluids and a few gels down on the bike and thought I'd set myself up for a decent run. My somewhat secret goal this season was to run sub 37 minutes for 10k off the bike. This course was very flat and while I knew 37 wasn't possible, I was confident that I would run 38:30.
Let's pause there for a second to provide some context before I get all dark and disappointed....
Since returning from our honeymoon at the very end of June, Stephen has worked me hard. Going into this race I was pretty exhausted. I've been pushing things hard on the bike and run all month. Ultimately, this will all work out for my bigger and more important races in late August and early September, but it wasn't doing me many favors in Lowell. Still, running on tired legs is a good skill to have and there is no reason to let some fatigue blow up your race. Being tired slows you down, for sure, but it doesn't have to make you slow...
And, speaking of slow....
Let's fast forward to mile 3.1 of the run. I hit the turnaround at 19:45. A little slow, but on pace for a 39:30 run. That's not good, but I would have settled for that. What I saw at that turn was that I had one minute to second place and about 2.5 to third. So I plugged away and made it to mile 4. At that point I knew someone was closing in, but I kept putting one foot in front of the other at a reasonable pace. I was through that mile marker at about a 6:20/mile average. At 4.5 miles I was caught by the eventual winner of the race. He was running far faster than I could muster, so I simply watched him disappear into the distance. That's such a frustrating feeling. Then, at mile 5, I was passed again. By now I was out for a casual jog. I wasn't wearing a GPS enabled watch, but my guess is that the final mile of the race was on par with my normal easy runs. It was pathetic. And irritating. And not at all fun.
Fortunately for Eileen, she'd stayed home for this race. That meant it was just me and my thoughts in the car. There was nobody there to offend or bother with my negativity. And there was plenty of that. If you could see my first few texts from after the race there's quite a bit of profanity. And the phrase 'I suck' came up at least five times.
A stop at Dunkin Donuts temporarily dulled the disappointment. Only for a few minutes, though. For most of the hour long drive home I bounced back and forth between being super motivated to get stronger and completely down on myself. I spent about 15 minutes convinced that I was done with triathlon and switching back to golf. Then I stopped at Dairy Queen. Again, that numbed the bitterness for awhile. Eventually, by the time I made it home I'd settled down and realized that I'd just had a bad run. There had been a few solid parts to my race, but I'd simply collapsed at the end. I also realized that this is going to continue to happen as I push myself harder and attempt to take my racing to new levels. Not every day can be your best day. You can only peak a few times a year, and it's those races that really matter. The others are simply a means to an end. Fortunately, my end is still on the horizon this year.
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