White lake sprint Race Report

oh so close to the perfect race for me. It's been a long time since I've had a race where the swim/bike/run have all come together and just been perfect. If not for the Swim, this would have been it. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Morning started off ok with breakfast and gatorade, was ready to go and was just watching tv. We headed out around 6:15 to get there nice and early to get setup, warmed up and ready. Felt good on the bike ride over to the race site, it was about 2 miles so I used it as my bike warmup with the first mile easy, then picked up the pace to race pace for the last bit. Racked the bike setup a little before going to get the chip and body marking. Found out that the swim was not going to be wetsuit legal as the water temp was 79 degrees. With a bike ride over I didn't have shoes to walk around in so I was barefooting it and normally that doesn't bother me, more on this later. After getting all organized, went for a quick mile warmup, legs were feeling good, not great, but good and it was still early so my hopes were up. After warmup and final check of transition I still had 30 minutes to wait, but I couldn't take the transition area anymore so I headed to the lake. With about 15 minutes to start I got in for a quick swim warmup. After warmup I was standing around in the water and my left foot cramped up. I walked it out and was thinking this is good because now it won't happen on the swim.

Swim: 18:26, started off great, had a good line and was out in front. Was just starting to settle in when my right foot started to cramp up. normally it will work itself out, but it just kept getting worse and worse until I had to stop and massage it out. I thought this was a bad omen, but once it was gone, I started back up and tried to stay on line and just go at a good pace. Got out of the water in 17:30 and crossed the timing mat in 18:26.

T1: 2:18 took a little too much time here, but was still sulking about my foot cramp.

Bike: 40:14, Ended up getting 2nd in my division on the bike, didn't think it was that great, but it was windy and it must have affected everyone the same as I was really pushing the bike, the first lap and the second even more. Can't wait to see the pics as my face was just in pain the whole way. The only time I wasn't pushing hard was the last 200 yards when I pulled my feet out of the shoes to get ready to transition. I was also happy to see that there wasn't a lot of drafting out there.

T2: 1:42 Was not expecting much on the run after that hard ass bike but still I didn't dawdle here, got my socks and shoes on, took off the helmet, got my race number and hat and jogged out.

26:10 Started running and I was like wow, my legs feel good, what's up with that. I figured it wouldn't last, but still I wanted to keep a 9 min pace and try to settle in and get right around 27. I just kept going and my legs kept getting better and better. Got to the turn around in 13:36. last year it was 14:11. half way there and I just needed a 13:24 to break 27 on the way back. When I hit the water stop I grabbed some to splash on my head, took a quick swallow and picked up the pace one more time for the last 1. I was averaging 8:40 at this time and new I still had some left. Made the final left onto the main road and turned it up again. I did not want to get passed on the final stretch. But as fate would have it I was passed by one guy in my division. He flew by me and I knew I wouldn't be able to keep pace. 3 seconds later another guy went by me. But he as going just a bit faster, so I slid in behind him and tried to get ready for the final kick. We hit the final straight away and I tried to go around him, we ran neck and neck for the last 30 yards, but my legs just wouldn't go any faster and he got me on the line.

Total time 1:28:48 good for 5th in Master Clydesdale's but without that foot cramp would have gotten third. I'm over it now, but it took a while. Very happy about my bike and run, not so about the swim which is usually my strong suit. I've got woodlake coming up on the 23rd. That was my best race last year so got to be ready