Timberman Sprint Race Report

Timberman Sprint
Gilford, NH

Race Overview:
1/3 mile swim
15 mile bike
3 mile run

Results
Swim - 6:40
T1 - 1:44
Bike - 41:01 (21.9 mph)
T2 - 1:22
Run - 17:53 (5:57/mi)
OVERALL TIME- 1:08:40
OVERALL PLACE - 10th
AGE GROUP PLACE - 1st

Swim
What a mess. I was in wave 1, scheduled to start at 7am. They allow us to the water's edge at about 6:55 and start with the Canadian and US national anthems - by the time they're finished it's about 6:59. It's an in water start, about 50 or so yards from shore. After getting the green light to get to the start line, we all wandered toward the buoy. Then, as we are about 25 yards from it we hear "10 seconds". Everyone at the front looked at each other as to say "are you kidding, they aren't going to wait until we get there". All the polite conversation stopped and the dolphin dives started. As far as we were concerned, the race had begun. I did hear the gun go off, but we were still not to the actual start. There was a bit more kicking, grabbing, pulling, etc. because everyone was obviously on edge given the start we'd gotten off to. This wave contained all the contenders for the overall title and guys were putting in serious efforts to get to the front, including me. I settled in about 4th, 10 yards back or so. By the turn for shore I'd been overtaken by 2 guys - but kind of on purpose. If they can go my speed then they can lead and I'll catch the draft. Just pulled aside and waited for them to come alongside then tucked in and got out of the water in 6th - just seconds behind the first pack and right with the guys I'd spent the whole swim with.

The run to transition takes awhile. There are, after all, racks for 2200 or so people set up and it takes time to get through all of them. Eventually got to my rack on the front row to find that my nicely organized spot had been flooded with other people's stuff. Nothing too bad, but enough that I had to waste time kicking things out of the way in order to get my bike off the rack. That added a few seconds, but I had a rather miserable transition anyway. I lost about 25 seconds to the top guys here and that's something I'm not okay with. If someone can swim, bike and run faster than me, that's ok. But the way I see it, there's no reason to lose time to someone in transition when you're really racing. I'd say I lost 10 seconds just being too slow today - the other 15 were because I had been crowded out and couldn't get to my bike. I've cut myself some slack as my transitions have been very good sofar this year, but it's "mistake" - meaning the time I lost myself for just being slow - that I don't plan on making again.

Bike
Knowing that things should have been a bit speedier I started flying out the park entrance chasing the group ahead of me. I was still in 6th place, which was okay, but I wanted to make a move on the first hill so I could keep in contact with the 3 guys ahead of me. Problem, after the flying mount, I look down and see that my strap has somehow been twisted around - It wasn't like that when I left for the swim and I was the first one back to my rack out of the water, so I have to believe it happened as others were setting up. By this point I was a quarter mile up the road and starting the first climb. It took a second but I was able to get things tight enough to start climbing aggressively without fear of my foot coming out of the shoe. By the top I'd gotten into contact with the riders I'd been chasing. Just then we started a long downhill and I was able to sit a few bike lengths back and really get my shoe figured out without losing any time. For the next 5 or so miles we just sort of rode in a line - legally, of course. Every now and then someone would come from the back and pass a few guys, but nobody ever got away. Most times people weren't able to complete passes in the right amount of time, would tuck back in and fall back a few bike lengths. While this was going on, the guys that had just been passed would come through and repass. Eventually we all split up as the stronger cyclists were able to make a break about 2-3 miles before the turnaround. I ended up where I'd been all along in 6th place. When the separation was made, I just didn't have the power in my legs to go. Though I was Feeling okay, I knew that it was a pretty hilly route and that we still had a run ahead of us. I needed to stop messing around too much because that was just going to lead to a blow up on the run. So I settled in and rode my own race for the remainder of the bike. I could see 5th place the entire way back to transition, but beyond that everyone had gone clear (and even 5th was far enough ahead that he wasn't going to be caught).

As I got back to my rack in transition I was feeling very strong. I'd ended up riding right around 22 mph. I thought I might be able to go a minute or so faster, and I could have if I wanted a fast bike split but not a great overall time. So while it wasn't my best bike effort, it was pretty smart. I had a lot left for the run and that's the area I've spent so much time and energy focusing on this year. Things were looking good....then I saw my transition spot (read: I got to my rack and COULDN'T SEE MY TRANSITION SPOT). I understand that things can get a little messy in transition, but this wasn't okay. Once again, I had to clear a path to rack my bike and then move everyone's stuff off my run shoes in order to even begin the process of transitioning. The first time I'd just kind of rolled my eyes - stuff happens, whatever. But for this to happen in both transitions isn't okay with me. I just don't understand how people fail to keep there stuff confined to their area. Granted it's not much space, but most people are able to do it reasonably well. I guess I just got all the guys that either had no clue what they were doing or didn't care. Honestly, I'd love to see an ITU sort of system at EVERY race where you either get your stuff in a bucket or you get a penalty. I know that's not really practical, but as it is now the only one's getting penalized are the one's who have to dig out before heading out for every leg of the race. Okay, sorry, rant over!

Run
I took off out of transition like I had something to prove. And to myself, I did. I haven't been running as well as I know I can this year and I've been waiting for a breakout race where I can gain some confidence in my run. As I neared the turnaround I got a good picture of the front of the race. Looked interesting, but it also looked like I was stuck in 6th place. Nobody catchable ahead of me, but nobody within a few minutes behind either. That was fine, though, I was running well and that's really all I wanted to do. At the 2nd mile marker I looked at my watch and saw that I was running just under 6 minute miles. Wow. Normally I'm in the 6:20-6:35 range so I was pretty happy. Then I started thinking to myself, "you may just run your fastest ever 5k today - including road races". Now I don't know how long the course is exactly. It's marketed as a 3 mile course and I've seen maps everywhere from 3 to 3.12 miles. Whatever, I was running fast and that's all that counted. I didn't look at my watch again the rest of the race. I was feeling great (in a this is really starting to hurt but I haven't slowed yet kind of way). Minutes later I mad the final turn back into the park and cruised down the finishing chute. The entire run was just strange to me - it was effortless in that I could run hard and fast with ease. Like I said, it hurt toward the end, but not in the way runs typically hurt at the end of a race. It was actually quite painful for the last 1/2 mile or so, but my body never attempted to shut things down and go easy. After crossing the line and stumbling around for a minute trying not to fall over, I looked down and saw that I'd run under 18 minutes (17:53). Again, WOW! I know that's not all that fast compared to some of the guys I am competing with now / intending to really compete with in the years to come, but it was a great split for me whether it's measured as a 3 mile time or a 5k time.

Post-race
Hung around in the finishing chute for about 5 minutes talking to a few of the guys I know or see regularly at races. Then wandered over to the massage tent to aid my recovery. Checked out the results, though that was pointless because they seemed to post the gun time results and not the actual results with start times taken into consideration. Though I was listed as 6th, I'd actually been beaten by a few guys in later waves and landed in 10th. Not as good as 6th, but still a very solid result.

Next race: West Kennebunk Fire Triathlon (Sprint). Should be a good field as Vortex (one of the better Junior Elite team's in the country) will be there as they cap of the USAT Northeast Junior series.