"The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win."
-Roger Bannister
The National Anthem before the race
The quasi Olympic-distance race takes place at the beautiful Blue Heron Park, just off I-90 as it passes through Moses Lake. There was ample, convenient parking and I got a spot right up front. Packet pick-up was effortless as I had my Bib #, photo ID, and USAT card right at hand. After signing a quick waiver, I grabbed my bike and transition bag from the car and walked down to the transition zone.
Lying in the parking lot just above the boat-ramp-turned-Swim-Start, the transition zone was fenced in with orange, plastic safety fencing and had a spacious array of nice metal racks, 8 bikes to a rack. The excellent organization extended further with consecutive bib numbers assigned to specific racks. Being the first person into transition, I was hoping to have my choice of spots (right next to the bike out/in), but my capitalistic ways were denied me and I made my peace with the egalitarian arrangement by racking my bike at the first position on my assigned rack.
Other racers soon showed up to get their transition zone settled. As I told my wife later, races are basically a 'make new friends' convention for me, as I find good-natured people with the similar interests at each event. This was definitely the case and I enjoyed getting to know the racers around me as I got everything ready.
After warming-up on the bike trainer, I left my bike in a solid gear to get started and grabbed my wetsuit to warm up in the water. I brought vaseline to protect my neckline from friction against my wetsuit, but decided to use the small packet of Udderly Smooth Udder Cream that was included in our pre-race packet. The thick white lotion performed it's job admirably and I would have no irritation develop during or after the event.
The water was measured to be an agreeable 65F. Though cold on the arms, I warmed up quickly as I felt the strange sensation of the chill from water seeping into my wetsuit. The shoreline was also pleasantly free of duckweed or other aquatic plants that have hindered other open water events that I've been to.
Goggles are never attractive and these AquaSphere ones are no exception, but they combine goggle-performance with mask visibility, making them an excellent choice for open water swimming. The tint helps with sighting in bright conditions.
The first wave was sent off, with a group of Women and Men 30-39 heading out to the first turn buoy. There was then a quick, 5-minute wait until my wave was sent off. I knew Josh Hadway, an up-and-coming young pro and all-around great guy, would tear up the race so I seeded myself next to him to try and keep him in sight or possibly draft during the swim.
Above is my elementary attempt to paint the swim course
I slapped my arms and wiggled them about to keep warm as I waited at the front of the field. This attractive sneer was caught just as the race was about to start.
As I waited for the start to be announced, I heard two guys next to me make some remarks about another swimmer:
"Geez, that guys shoulders are the size of my quads!"
"Yeah, that'd be a nice draft... bet he'll blitz the swim."
"Hah, but you'll see him again on the run."
I chuckled a bit inside and continued fiddling with my now-fogging goggles, to the lasting frustration of my wife-turned-gorgeous-personal--photographer, who was trying quite unsuccessfully to get a pre-race shot of my face.
Sorry, sweetie.
There was the countdown and bam-we-were-off. My goal of starting at the front to catch onto Josh had mixed results as people swam furiously alongside me at what was probably 300% faster than their race pace. I caught onto some bubbles and let them lead me to the first turn buoy, thrilled by both the tenacity of a triathlon swim start and the fact that I didn't get kicked in the face.
I'm not sighting, just simply trying to keep from getting kicked in the face.
Having caught them successfully, I head out towards clear water.
This swim leg would be an exercise in skills-retention as I've done a lot of open water swimming previously but I have been removed from it for two seasons, with the past year of school, time spent in Asia, and then previous winter precluding me from practice. I was extremely surprised very glad to find my sighting effortless and my swimming straight as I made my two clockwise laps around the buoys. With very limited swimming done throughout the last school year, I'd amplified my mileage during the past 6 weeks of freedom and had hoped that it would be enough to bring at least my technique back up to form. I focused on maintaining the best form I could for as long as I could, and surprisingly found myself swimming the strongest as I rounded the second turn-buoy for the second time and made straight towards the exit ramp.
You can see by the proximity of the reeds that I really tried to cut it as tight as possible.
Coming out of the water, I didn't know what time or placing to expect. I mentioned above that this race is quasi Olympic Distance, in that the swim is slightly long at 1mi (as opposed to 0.9mi or 1500m) and the bike is short, at 22mi (instead of the standard 24.8mi). I came out of the water in 19:39 and was, according to my cheering wife, one of the first blue caps out of the water (the first wave men had white caps). I sprinted up the short and somewhat steep boat ramp to reach the transition zone.
I ran to my bright-pink, polka-dotted transition towel (read: easy to spot. And stylish) with my cap and goggles off and my wetsuit around my waist. The plan was to speedily strip off the remainder ITU-style, but the Fog of War, that dazed, disorentied feeling you have returning to land after the swim, left my world spinning and I resorted to using the transition rack to keep me upright as I stripped the suit off my feet. I elected to put my shoes on in transition, as I hadn't practiced rubber bands enough recently to make it an efficient (and safe) tactic. This was just as well given how dazed I was. I took off out of T1 after 1min, 12 seconds.
Notice the Mount Bike sign. Apparently a lot of my competition didn't. As reported by my wife, many mounted early and dismounted late. This included the bike leader who scooted all of the way up to transition. If he happens to be reading, I ride with a great Optometrist in Spokane, maybe he can hook you up with some sport-specific glasses.
I headed out of transition right alongside a guy on a very nice Trek Speed Concept. Speed Concept shot off but I kept him in sight through the opening miles as we made a few turns then headed out on the straight, out-and-back course over rolling hills parallel to I-90. The 'hills' were mostly quite gentle inclines and declines that fluctuated in a gentle sin wave that would continue through most of the course, with a few solid flat sections interspersed. As Speed Concept slowly inched his way closer towards the horizon, I focused on setting a good rhythm and keeping my pace fast but reigned in for the following run. I had a single bottle filled with HEED on my seat-tube and would take big sips once about every ten minutes during the bike. I elected for positioning the bottle here as my aerobars are spread enough that it wouldn't be concealed by my hands and I could still grab the bottle from the seat-tube and drink while maintaining the aero position.
I caught my first guy fairly early, then my second about a mile later. Each pass was great motivation to press forward, as was my shadow cast in front of me by the now risen sun behind us. I love the bike leg and am thrilled to be riding my new machine- I wanted to put it to good use against my fast-looking and well-equipped competition. The one hill of consequence slowed me down a bit, but I stayed in the aero position mostly for appearances sake as I caught another competitor who was sitting up on the bullhorns for the climb.
Riding without a bike computer, I had no objective sense of distance or pace as the race progressed. I would catch another 4 riders on the remaining out section. Heading into the turnaround, I counted riders heading back the other direction. The bike leader had a fast position and was riding angry, with lots of open real-estate behind his P3C.
The road surface of the course would best be described as rough chip-seal. I was riding Bontrager tires, a RaceLite in the front and RaceXLite in the back. As my dedicated race tires, they were both in excellent shape but it didn't keep me from intermittently praying, "Please don't flat, Please don't flat," as I rode the course. Despite the rough surface, the road was in good shape, with my only objection coming from a section covered in small gravel that the RD had at attempted unsuccessfully to get swept. I rode in the section of the road that was made smooth by the right tires of car traffic and this really mitigated the vibration. The high pressure in my tires probably didn't help. Police guarded all of the intersections, and I thanked them each time I shot through. I also did my best to shout an encouraging 'Good job!' to the athletes who were heading out on the bike as I was coming back in.
There was a great view of the remainder of the bike course as I crested the one real hill and shot down the back side. It was steep enough that even pedaling in my 53x11 was relatively ineffectual, but that didn't stop a guy on a Cannondale Slice from shooting by me. I kept him at least 7 bike lengths in front of me (I had zero interest in drafting or in giving any race officials any room for interpretation) and then he pulled away a bit as we made out way back into T2.
I was surprised to find my legs tightening up a little bit in the final 2 miles of the ride so I backed off the pace slightly. I also stretched and shook my legs out a little bit. Making the turn back into Blue Heron Park, I unclipped from my shoes and rode on each as a platform. Coming down the decline into transition, I swung my right leg over the bike and coasted in standing on the left shoe, ready to glide in and make a smooth run through transition and out onto the run course.
I elected to run in socks as I ended up with both shoes bloody when I didn't in my previous race. I had them rolled up ready to go and quickly slipped them on, slid into my pre-tied race shoes (no need for elastic laces), then grabbed my race number belt and knee strap as I took off onto the course. My T2 time was 35.6sec.
I was happy to see lots of empty racks in transition as I focused on trying to catch the athletes ahead of me on the run, not typically my strongsuit.
Coming out of transition, we would run a 10km out-and-back course that follows the lakeshore along a bike path and through a lakeside neighborhood. The first and last 150yrds or so are on grass within the park, and I quickly caught and passed the Slice cyclist as I made my way out at a pace that was fast for me but hopefully sustainable. Right away I was able to mark another runner about 60 yrds ahead and just focused on pulling him in. "Pump your arms, Pump your arms," I repeated to myself, in the hope that driving my elbows back would increase my leg turnover and make my stride more efficient. My high-school cross-country coach, an Olympic caliber runner in her past, attributed a 10sec/mi bonus in pace to this technique. A couple squads of cheerleaders took up residence on a few of the turns and at aid stations- great job ladies (!), thanks for the support.
Despite the warm temps, clear skies, and shadeless course, I didn't feel warm as I made my way through the first mile aid station. I doused my hair with water to cool myself down. I don't tolerate drinking on the run well in races so I focus on getting most all of my nutrition in on the bike and so far the bottle of HEED was doing quite well. Even though I felt alright, it was slightly ominous how quickly the water evaporated within a quarter-mile of the aid station. It was a warning to keep from blowing myself up during the run.
"He looks like a gazelle!" I disparagingly observed about the runner that I was slowly reeling in. Despite the guy's strong stride, I soon had him within 10 yards and then made a concerted push to try and drive by him and 'snap the elastic.' About this time I saw Josh Hadway leading the race in and managed a, "Great job Josh!" to which he replied very enthusiastically in turn. Apparently he wasn't winded by the 34:06 10km he was putting in.
Coming along the straightaway to the turnaround, I caught a string of 3 runners and put in a surge after the 180 degree turnaround. The runner that I'd tracked down was still with me, and despite the few surges I put in as he ran alongside, he was able to break free. He did serve as a great pacer, though, and helped bring me in towards the final section of bike path. The long straightaways on concrete were warm but also fast, and I did my best to push hard as another runner was maintaining a position close behind me.
With about a half-mile left, the runner behind me put in a hard effort on a short, steep downhill and broke past me then caught my impromptu pacer. The quote from Roger Bannister at the very top of this page kept running through my mind and I did my best to put myself in pain. I wasn't able to reel them in, unfortunately, but I did learn after the race that I held off some runners behind that were pushing hard to try and pull me in. Making it to the final 150 yard sprint to the finish, I did my best to run hard over the soft grass surface and soon threw myself across the line to finish the 10km run leg in 42:01 / 6:47 min per mile, and cap my race off in 2:04:28.
You can tell from my expression that I am a very special kind of tired here at the end of the race.
The focus on the park background demonstrates that this is a very attractive venue for the race.
Subtracting 5min from the overall time due to my delayed 2nd wave start left me with a 2:04:28 finish.
Having to put in a final hard effort over the soft grass was rough, and I walked off the exertion. I headed over to a group of three guys, including the two who finished just ahead of me, and we talked about the race. I love the race atmosphere and the ability to spend time with so many like-minded people. We talked about our race and what races we have planned next, with a couple guys slated to race Ironman Couer d'Alene in just two weeks time. Wandering over to the awesome post-race spread, I made an open-faced turkey sandwich and snagged a couple 1/4ths of some Costco Muffins to keep it company (you can't beat the Apple Cinnamon). There was also some excellent fare from race sponsor Sara Lee.
I would hang around and receive my award for 3rd place in my age group. The design had bike chain wrapped around the edge which I thought was clever. My wife also admired the hand made ceramic finisher's medal complete with twine. I was also happy to see that I qualified for the USAT Age-Group National Championships to take place this next August in Burlington, Virginia. While I'm not sure I'll be competing, it's always nice to say that I qualified.
About to leave the race, we were able to get a very nice gentleman to snap our picture. I'm wearing the race t-shirt and, at the request of our volunteer photographer, am holding out the two muffin wedges that I took to go. Not the best post-race nutrition (they're practically cake), but they tasted great.
After some more friendly conversation, cleaning up my transition zone, and a final muffin wedge, my wife and I were back on the road and off to Spokane for some well-deserved rest. A big kudos to everyone who raced, especially those who first tried their hand at triathlon in the short Family Event. This race had a great freshwater swim venue with clean water and perfect temperature, a fast but fair bike course of rolling hills, and a fast run course. While the scenery on the bike and run wasn't particularly inspiring, the event had great management, an excellent venue for the registration/transition area, and a delicious post-race spread.
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