My first tri of 2016, because of scheduling conflicts, but it’s “only” an Olympic distance, and a smaller race on the same course as the Quassy 70.3 (Half Ironman distance) I did last year, so I expected the Pat Griskus Memorial Triathlon to be more of a laid back community race. Rather than book a hotel there, I went to bed at 9 and got up at 2:45 a.m. – I simply can’t manage to leave the house in less than an hour on race day – drove an hour, fifteen to Middlebury, Connecticut, and arrive just minutes after transition opened at 5 a.m.
It IS a smaller race, but OMG, there was nothing laid back about these racers. For example, the guy who parked next to me drove 8 hours from OTTAWA, with his wife and adult daughter. (Tom McGee ultimately came in 6/182 OA, and at 59 years old, 1st in his age group; finished in 2:14!).
With Tom McGee, post-race.
And the “local” guys literally live next to and train in the lake and the hilly roads. That’s a big home team advantage for some very strong athletes.. And my bib is number 100, which normally would thrill me, but I realize I’m going to need a lot more than luck today.
Small race = two waves for the men, under 45 and over 45. Honnnnnk! The swim started OK — beautiful clear, spring-fed lake water, 72 degrees so it was fine for the full sleeve wetsuit (though I started getting hot). I was on course sighting off the bright orange buoys, then the bigger yellow turn buoys. But I also realized that this is a pack of capital S Swimmers. I mean, I think I’m pretty good for a triathlete, but I am not a Swimmer (because those guys trained in high school or college and have a depth of muscle memory…), and suddenly this feels like the Age Group Nationals all over again: I am competing with monstrous triathletes, and I can hope to catch up on the bike and run, but that’s not very likely. Before the first orange buoy I start drafting behind someone whose feet I touched every other stroke, but it was so much easier, who could resist? (Warning! Warning!). And I round the first buoy, and I’m still hanging on to this guy, and checking now and then to confirm that he’s sighting well, but suddenly at the second buoy he veers off course and I’m on my own if I want to swim in a straight line, and I fall into a comfortable groove (a second warning of complacency), and I pass a couple of guys in white swim caps, from the prior wave, so I guess I’m doing okay (OR they more likely are really, really slow and this is a third warning that I am not working hard enough).
And I get to the finish line in 31:19, a good 5 minutes slower than my best time. Lesson learned: I swam at a pace that was comfortable, and I should have tried harder — this was Olympic distance, not a long race, and I don’t have to be so worried about being worn out in the first of three legs. On the other hand, this WAS my first tri of the season…
So, I strip off the top of my wetsuit as I run past the amusement park rides to T1, and I had practiced stripping in 24 seconds but reality slows me down and I have to dump my EEAA capsules from NUUN container into bento box on the bike and slap on my aero helmet and sunglasses over my eyeglasses and I start to RIDE. T1 in 3:15, a good 45 seconds slower than most everyone else, so THAT’s something to work on.
The bike ride is challenging, but not as bad as I’d expected. I mean, yes, there are four or more sets of long gradual hills and another one towards the end, but not as dramatic as suggested by the “silhouette” of elevation I reviewed before the race, and I tell you, our side of the county has much steeper terrrain. I’m trying to keep my heart rate within zone 2, and taking cue from an older racer to gear down to the small ring in order to keep up RPMs (darn, there are a LOT of guys in the next oldest age bracket who PASS me as if I’m standing still!) and I leap frog with a guy in my age group (Mr. White and Blue) and manage to pass two other guys in my age group, and I’m aero as hell going down hill (and there are a few glorious long stretches), but I really don’t know how many are ahead of me, because there were very few bikes near me when I had left the water…
Bottom line, 1:15:24 for 26 miles (what? I thought it was 24!), average pace of 20.7 mph. Which is among my best on an Oly. And I’m trying new nutrition: EEAAs at 15 minutes and 1 hour, salt capsules at 20 minutes and 1;05, I am admitting that I sweat like a chozzer even on a cool morning among beautiful shaded roads with dappled sunlight (my favorite riding!) and with extra salt I am not going to fall apart like the run on last year’s Ironman. Lessons learned. And, Lo,that was a fun ride!
T2 went better, I grab the race belt with a zip pocket to hold more capsules, which I eat on the second of the two loop run (I never do get to the extra saltstick tab, and end up dropping it when I forget to zip the pocket…) and miles 1 and 4 are down, down, down hill and that’s glorious, miles 2 and 5 are relatively flat but I can’t seem to stop slapping my feet (lighten up! Lighten up!) and miles 3 and 6 are up, up, up, and I see my pace range like a graph from a lie detector test. Tom McGee is running towards me as I start the run and I realize he’s literally a lap ahead, OMG this guy is fast, we high five each other as I start the second loop and he closes in on the finish, and I remember to enjoy the cool shady roads with the dappled sunlight (hey, this isn’t going as well as I’d like but it’s beautiful) and I manage to catch and pass the Blue and White guy from my age group and I think “if I pour it on in this last 1 1/2 miles up hill, maybe I’ll make the podium” and I manage to ratchet it up and actually feel the negative split (relative to the first lap’s uphill leg) and I am pouring on whatever is left in the tank, my heart rate is at 169 which is almost as high as finishing the NYC Tri when it was 90 degrees at the finish line and I cross the line and I am DONE. Run is finished in 43:37, but turns out it’s only a 5.9 mile course, so I averaged 7:23 min/mile – slightly slower than my average, but on a hilly course.
So I finish in 2:34:38, which is slower than other Oly’s I’ve done, which of course are not readily comparable (2 miles longer on the bike, I find out later that night!), but not surprisingly, I’m at the middle of the pack in results, though at the higher end: 6/22 AG, 50/182 OA. No podium today! And as it turns out, swimming 4 or 5 minutes faster wouldn’t have mattered, because 3rd place for my age group was 6 minutes faster than my time. A bit demoralizing; but you can’t control who shows up on race day.
So, OK, my three goals with every race are not getting hurt, having fun and getting faster. And I succeeded today with the first two, and they are the more important ones. And the beer on tap was excellent, and the plateful of pickles to accompany the veggie burger were oh so salty, and I met a lot of really stunning athletes. And Coach Debi gives me a pep talk when I call her during the drive home that this wasn’t my “A Race” and I’m not done with hitting more PRs.
The hell with whoever else shows up on race day. I showed up and worked hard. And the season is young!
