Got a nice week of training in. My legs were pretty dead from the 10k on 4/20 and racing the previous two weekends. So I started the week out pretty easy and picked it up Thurs, Sat & Sunday with Friday completely off from training.
Key workouts over the weekend were:
Sat- 12mi run on Leif Errickson Trail (1mi easy, 1mi @ 6:00 pace, repeat repeat repeat etc), then 2000meters ez in the pool working on drills
Sun- Quick 2400 yards with Sue 1:25 pace ladder (4x100, 2x200,1x400, 2x200, 4x100). Was suprised I could swim that fast the whole time. But it definitely helped having Sue in front the whole time. The workout was optional for me, so I made her stay in front the whole time :-) then I was a gentleman on the last 100 and let her draft off me.
Capped off sunday with a 73mi ride with the team. I was tired and complaining after 60miles!
Totals for week: (17 hours)
Swim- 13,992 yards
Bike- 155.5 miles
Run- 31.7 miles
Also, happy year anniversary to one of my favorite blogs. You can learn a lot from this blog, so be sure to check it out weekly http://scienceofsport.blogspot.com/
This week will be an unloading week as I drive down to Napa with the team on Thursday. The half-Iron race is on Saturday. Cant wait!!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Bridge2Bridge 10k
Ran a 10k on Sunday. It was my secret race! I didnt tell anyone about it and had a free entry to the race since I paid for my entry last year but could not compete due to IT Band injury. It was the Bridge2Bride....to Brews 10k. We had about 800 total in our race and another 800 I believe signed up for the 8k. This race is one of my favorites because you get to run over the Freemont Bridge. It is the only race in portland where you get to do that. I always feel bad for first timers because everyone anticipates running over the upper deck (but that is too windy) so we have to stick with the lower deck which is still really cool. The thing is when you are running at a sub 6minute pace, you dont really have time to appreciate the view.
I had 15miles scheduled to run on my training schedule. Sooooo......when I met up with my rival Eric, we went for a 4mile ez warm up and ran over the bridge a half hour before the race. That was my chance to enjoy the scenery.
At shortly after 9am we took off. I was right up front from the start, as usual. The first 1.5miles is all uphill as we climb from the Widemere brewery up to the Fremont bridge onramp and then up to the crest of the bridge. Mile 1 was at 5:43...a little slow as expected...but that is a fast uphill mile. Eric broke away off my shoulder after Mile 1 and I knew I didnt have it in my legs to try and go with him (actually I tried and that is how I knew). i just focused on keeping him in sight as he was in second place and my buddy Jay Cech (lightning fast) was in first. At mile 3 I saw fourth place creeping up on me. he was really what kept me going fast and hard. Since Saturday I had rode 2.5hrs and ran 3 off the bike (plus this being my 3rd weekend in a row I was in a race) I found myself tempted multiple times to just ease up and run in easy. But I wanted my podium spot and I was almost there! Fourth place would get right up on my heels anytime there was a downhill or we were on a flat straight. Anytime there was uphill I would gap him by 15 yards. Luckily there was a hill right before the finish and I gapped him again......then there was another downhill and he finished right behind me after I kicked hard to the finish line.
Finished in 34:42, a new 10k pr by almost a minute! And 3rd place......or so I thought.......
Turns out that Darren started 1 second behind me. And his chip time ended up reading .25 seconds faster than mine (even though i out-kicked him to the finish). Oh well, I'll just make sure I beat anyone in future Chip timed events by more than 3 seconds just to give me a cushion.
i'll take my 4th place and new PR and be happy with it since I was running on tired, worn out legs.
i'm actually happy that he was right there because if not for him I would not have been motivated to race that hard. Congrats to Jay Cech for first place in 33:57, and Eric Dolezal for 2nd place in 34:19!!
PS: Got 5 mile cool down in after race with Eric....so even though I didnt completely stick to my training plan, I still got the planned Mileage in on Sunday!
I had 15miles scheduled to run on my training schedule. Sooooo......when I met up with my rival Eric, we went for a 4mile ez warm up and ran over the bridge a half hour before the race. That was my chance to enjoy the scenery.
At shortly after 9am we took off. I was right up front from the start, as usual. The first 1.5miles is all uphill as we climb from the Widemere brewery up to the Fremont bridge onramp and then up to the crest of the bridge. Mile 1 was at 5:43...a little slow as expected...but that is a fast uphill mile. Eric broke away off my shoulder after Mile 1 and I knew I didnt have it in my legs to try and go with him (actually I tried and that is how I knew). i just focused on keeping him in sight as he was in second place and my buddy Jay Cech (lightning fast) was in first. At mile 3 I saw fourth place creeping up on me. he was really what kept me going fast and hard. Since Saturday I had rode 2.5hrs and ran 3 off the bike (plus this being my 3rd weekend in a row I was in a race) I found myself tempted multiple times to just ease up and run in easy. But I wanted my podium spot and I was almost there! Fourth place would get right up on my heels anytime there was a downhill or we were on a flat straight. Anytime there was uphill I would gap him by 15 yards. Luckily there was a hill right before the finish and I gapped him again......then there was another downhill and he finished right behind me after I kicked hard to the finish line.
Finished in 34:42, a new 10k pr by almost a minute! And 3rd place......or so I thought.......
Turns out that Darren started 1 second behind me. And his chip time ended up reading .25 seconds faster than mine (even though i out-kicked him to the finish). Oh well, I'll just make sure I beat anyone in future Chip timed events by more than 3 seconds just to give me a cushion.
i'll take my 4th place and new PR and be happy with it since I was running on tired, worn out legs.
i'm actually happy that he was right there because if not for him I would not have been motivated to race that hard. Congrats to Jay Cech for first place in 33:57, and Eric Dolezal for 2nd place in 34:19!!
PS: Got 5 mile cool down in after race with Eric....so even though I didnt completely stick to my training plan, I still got the planned Mileage in on Sunday!
Monday, April 14, 2008
SPRING CLASSIC DUATHLON Race Report
Race #2 of the season! I originally signed up for this race because I was told that the Beaver Freezer was filled and I could not get in. I was so excited about starting the season off in April (vs. May or June in the last two years), that I signed up for this race right away. I then found out I could race in the Beaver Freezer, so much to my excitement I would start the race season off with back-to-back race weekends.
The Spring Classic Duathlon is a 5krun-15mile bike-5k run event. About 300 athletes showed up to compete on a beautiful day (not a cloud in the sky, 60-70degree weather, perfect!)! I knew there would be some fast guys out here (especially on the bike), so my goal was to go out pretty fast on the first run and try to start the bike off with a lead.... ialso had my Dad, Mom, uncle Scott, aunt Jeannette, cousin April and teammate Andy taking pics on the course, so I wanted to impress impress impress!
Run#1- 16:54 (5:26 pace, fastest of the field) - As planned I took the lead from the get-go. One guy from Eugene (jeremy tolman) came with me and we ran side by side introducing ourselves as we set the pace. A guy on a bike rolled by and told us that we were stretching out our lead......good! After the turnaround I picked up the pace a little and ran the third mile in 5:17. That gave me about a 10 second lead over Jeremy and 40+ seconds on the rest of the field. (i dont run a lot of open 5k races anymore, incidently this first 5k was a new PR for me at the distance, by about 35 seconds)
t1- :52 (fastest of the field)- I was excited to enter the transition area with the lead and hear my family cheering me on. Everything went smoothly except for mounting my bike. Leaving transition was a little bit of a hill so I was a little wobbly jumping on the bike with my shoes clipped in, but made it on and took off
bike- 37:24 (24mph, 5th fastest)- This was the fun part. I knew i had anywhere from a 30 seconds to 1minute on 2nd and 3rd place. But I also knew there were some strong riders (especially the Ironheads) that could lay down the hammer on the bike. I was out on my Fuji CF1 time trial bike, tucked into the aero position, cranking away as hard as I could. It was fun having the lead motorcycle in front of me (sometimes she would drop back and ride behind me). I really felt like an "elite" for the first time. There were two turnarounds on the Course which all took place along marine drive. Oddly there were sections of headwinds and then tailwinds in both directions (oddly to most people, but not to anyone used to racing or biking on that road along the Columbia river). Since I was by myself I was setting my own pace hoping i was riding fast enough. I looked back probably 10 times on the 15mile bike and each time was suprised to see nobody back there.
t2- :56 (2nd fastes)- I was so stoked to come into the second transition with everyone cheering me on and knowing that I held everyone off the entire ride. I could hear the announcer on the speaker telling the spectators that I was the first rider coming in....(2nd time I really felt like an "elite") The dismount was coming down a hill, so I was extra careful but smooth. Racked my bike, got the helmet off (no frozen hands this time!) and threw on my shoes and was off!
run#2- 18:07 (5:50 pace, fastest of the field)- Took off running pretty sure that I had this one in the bag. About 200meters into the run both calves wanted to cramp up on me. I pleaded with them to be good and just took it kind of easy that first mile. Right when my calves were not complaining anymore a stiff headwind hit me. It was a little tough to keep my pace and the second mile was 6:05. After the turnaround I saw my buddy Matt Wolpert was a minute or so behind me. Slapped some skin with him as we ran by eachother. I knew I had the race won now and the final mile was just all the adrenaline and telling other racers "good job" as they headed the other way. A lot of athletes gave me props and commented that nobody was in sight. I saw a few of my teammates Tobin, Rob, bob & Karen. And as I came to the final turn before the finish line I high fived my family members.
First win of the season and just one of hopefully a few others to come! I won by 1:41 to second place. Also, my Pops pointed out, my race # was 14 and my finish time was 1:14:14...LOL. AA Sports put on a great event as they always do. I saw my coach midway into the bike course. He had rode out there with Jerry and I think he was releiving himself when I saw him by the way he was hiding from me in the bushes (thanks for the chuckle and for showing up Coach!). I want to thank all my family for coming out to support me, you guys definitely give me that extra little bit to push myself to the limits when you show up to my races!
Next race- Napa Valley 1/2 Iron.................
The Spring Classic Duathlon is a 5krun-15mile bike-5k run event. About 300 athletes showed up to compete on a beautiful day (not a cloud in the sky, 60-70degree weather, perfect!)! I knew there would be some fast guys out here (especially on the bike), so my goal was to go out pretty fast on the first run and try to start the bike off with a lead.... ialso had my Dad, Mom, uncle Scott, aunt Jeannette, cousin April and teammate Andy taking pics on the course, so I wanted to impress impress impress!
Run#1- 16:54 (5:26 pace, fastest of the field) - As planned I took the lead from the get-go. One guy from Eugene (jeremy tolman) came with me and we ran side by side introducing ourselves as we set the pace. A guy on a bike rolled by and told us that we were stretching out our lead......good! After the turnaround I picked up the pace a little and ran the third mile in 5:17. That gave me about a 10 second lead over Jeremy and 40+ seconds on the rest of the field. (i dont run a lot of open 5k races anymore, incidently this first 5k was a new PR for me at the distance, by about 35 seconds)
t1- :52 (fastest of the field)- I was excited to enter the transition area with the lead and hear my family cheering me on. Everything went smoothly except for mounting my bike. Leaving transition was a little bit of a hill so I was a little wobbly jumping on the bike with my shoes clipped in, but made it on and took off
bike- 37:24 (24mph, 5th fastest)- This was the fun part. I knew i had anywhere from a 30 seconds to 1minute on 2nd and 3rd place. But I also knew there were some strong riders (especially the Ironheads) that could lay down the hammer on the bike. I was out on my Fuji CF1 time trial bike, tucked into the aero position, cranking away as hard as I could. It was fun having the lead motorcycle in front of me (sometimes she would drop back and ride behind me). I really felt like an "elite" for the first time. There were two turnarounds on the Course which all took place along marine drive. Oddly there were sections of headwinds and then tailwinds in both directions (oddly to most people, but not to anyone used to racing or biking on that road along the Columbia river). Since I was by myself I was setting my own pace hoping i was riding fast enough. I looked back probably 10 times on the 15mile bike and each time was suprised to see nobody back there.
t2- :56 (2nd fastes)- I was so stoked to come into the second transition with everyone cheering me on and knowing that I held everyone off the entire ride. I could hear the announcer on the speaker telling the spectators that I was the first rider coming in....(2nd time I really felt like an "elite") The dismount was coming down a hill, so I was extra careful but smooth. Racked my bike, got the helmet off (no frozen hands this time!) and threw on my shoes and was off!
run#2- 18:07 (5:50 pace, fastest of the field)- Took off running pretty sure that I had this one in the bag. About 200meters into the run both calves wanted to cramp up on me. I pleaded with them to be good and just took it kind of easy that first mile. Right when my calves were not complaining anymore a stiff headwind hit me. It was a little tough to keep my pace and the second mile was 6:05. After the turnaround I saw my buddy Matt Wolpert was a minute or so behind me. Slapped some skin with him as we ran by eachother. I knew I had the race won now and the final mile was just all the adrenaline and telling other racers "good job" as they headed the other way. A lot of athletes gave me props and commented that nobody was in sight. I saw a few of my teammates Tobin, Rob, bob & Karen. And as I came to the final turn before the finish line I high fived my family members.
First win of the season and just one of hopefully a few others to come! I won by 1:41 to second place. Also, my Pops pointed out, my race # was 14 and my finish time was 1:14:14...LOL. AA Sports put on a great event as they always do. I saw my coach midway into the bike course. He had rode out there with Jerry and I think he was releiving himself when I saw him by the way he was hiding from me in the bushes (thanks for the chuckle and for showing up Coach!). I want to thank all my family for coming out to support me, you guys definitely give me that extra little bit to push myself to the limits when you show up to my races!
Next race- Napa Valley 1/2 Iron.................
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Beaver FREEZER Race Report!
Well tri season is officially underway for me. I am excited and pretty pleased with my performance yesterday. I also made two costly mistakes, but I have walked away from this "training" race having learned something, so not too upset about the mistakes. I also read on Tribabe.blogspot.com that the bike and run course were slightly longer than years prior that led to slightly slower times but a more accurate course. It was actually pretty cold (as the name of the race would indicate). Temp would be 43 degrees by the time I started on the bike with a wind chill factor of 39(but that is just standing in place). I'm sure it was 32degrees while going 20-29mph on the bike!
Pre-Race: woke up at 5:15am and the alarm had been going off for an hour straight without myself or kelsey or the dogs waking up! Oh well, I had plenty of time still, i just wanted to be up a little earlier to take my time and hopefully get a couple opportunities to sit on the can (race day ritual!).
I left the house at 6am, after eating a huge bowl of oatmeal and went to pick up Pops from his house. Picked up Pops and we made the 1hr 40min trip down to Corvallis talking about the race, work and about the ancient Poop that was found in an Oregon cave recently. The talk about poop had us both having to go so we stopped in Albany at a gas station to handle our business.
Got to the race site about 8:30am. My wave was heat # 1 (which is the last heat to go) and did not start until 10:15am so I had plenty of time to set up transition, warm up, chat, and cheer on some of the heats that were already underway.
Swim- The swim portion of this race is a 500yard pool swim. With 350 competitors, they seed you by your predicted 500yard swim time and assign you a lane (w/3 other athletes) and heat. I was in the fastest heat which would likely contain the guys going for the win so I wouldn't have to worry about waiting around to find out what place i was in at the end of the race. I was in lane #7 and given position #1 in the lane. This is where my swim plan kind of backfired on me. When I sent the race director my swim time I purposefully predicted a slightly faster time than what I thought i could swim because I figured I would be able to draft off of one or two of the faster swimmers in my lane. My predicted time was 6:55. Well I so happened to have the 25th fastest predicted swim time, which meant I was going to be the first in my lane to take off. I had figured I could probably really swim the 500yards in 7minutes flat so i wasn't too concerned. The race started and I went out flying! Sal who made the trip down to watch me (along with his wife, and Matt and Julie) said I went out at 1:10 for the first 100yards. I never knew i could swim that fast but i paid for it the next 200yards as I could feel serious fatigue setting in. at the end of 350 yards i felt what i thought was a tap on my foot. Well that means that i am going to slow and i need to wait at the wall so the guy behind me could pass me. when i stopped at the wall i realized that he had just been drafting me and the gal behind me was drafting him, so i lost about 15 seconds waiting for them (mistake #1) to flip turn off of the wall and i cruised the last 150 yards drafting them but lost time there. end swim time was 7:22 (including getting out of the pool and running to the exit door outside.)
T1- pretty fast 1:02 i think and the fastest of the field. Had shoes clipped into the pedals already and was able to hop on my bike while running pretty smoothly.
Bike- 31minutes i think. 23mph avg. I was about 15th place coming out of transition, passed up 12 of them in the first mile. Got into my aero bars and started hammering. It was Freezing cold as expected. I didnt put on any gloves, was just out there racing in my one-piece tri suit. The 12mile course has some slight grades, headwinds, two 180degree turnarounds and 10 90degree turns in total. I slowed a lot during the 90 degree turns as i didnt trust the roads (slightly wet and not completely free of gravel). There were 3 guys that I had picked out as favorites to win....#5, #7 and #11 (Nate Smith who races this year every year and either wins or takes second). I passed #7 about 4 miles into the ride. I saw #5 leading and Nate closely behind after the first turn-around. After the second turn around I could tell I was gaining on them and the last mile of the bike I had Nate in my sight about 40 seconds ahead. I really pushed it on the bike and felt really comfortable on the new ISM Adamo saddle and my new Fuji cf-1 TT bike. Coming off he bike and doing the flying dismount, #5 and Nate Smith were still in t2 putting on their shoes.
t2- the dismount off the bike was perfect. i racked my bike and then couldnt see my shoes and realized i had racked my bike in the wrong spot. No worries it was just about five feet down, re-racked my bike put on my racing flats and that is where mistake #2 came into play. I could not feel my hands, they were sooooooo numb! Since they were so numb i couldnt feel the release on my bike helmet. i struggled with it for a few seconds while i watched Nate smith take off. Pops was standing right there asking what was wrong, and i told him. I then tried to just slide the helmet strap up over my face thinking i could just take off the helmet without undoing it. That did not work, strap was too tight. I kept trying to get it off as the clock was just ticking and ticking. Finally I slid the strap up to my mouth where i could see the release on the helmet and was able to undo it, but by that time Nate was a minute down the road. T2 time 2:00.......
run- i was pissed but i took off determined to see what i could do. I knew Nate was about as fast if not faster than me on the run. About a quarter mile into the run I saw Sal and he yelled out that I was 1:20 down to the leader (Nate). Damn! This is only a 5k run! Shortly after I passed up #5, so I knew I was in second place. After the first lap Sal yelled out the split to Nate......still 1:20.....damn......I kept pushing. After the second lap Sal just yelled out "right on pace, good job buddy"....I knew then that Nate was still 1:20 or more ahead of me, so I just maintained my 5:45 pace and took it home.
Final time was 59:41(2nd place) i think (official results not posted online yet). I finished about 1:30 down to first place Nate Smith. I am really happy about my bike split which was the second fastest of the day. One other guy who was in swim heat #2 finished with the fastest bike split (about 20seconds faster than mine) and in third place overall 59:59. My run was fast, 2nd fastest to Nate Smith. But I am sure that if I did not have the helmet problem in t2, I would have had Nate in my sight and would have pushed a lot harder on the run. Next race I will be sure to loosen up my helmet strap before the race so it is not on so tight. I think its easier to undo a helmet when it is not putting an indent into your neck. I will also practice taking it off just to be sure i know where the release is in case i have the numb finger problem again!
I feel this is a good start to the season. I swam just fast enough (even with the mistake) to keep myself in contention. I have not had a lot of high quality work on the bike and my bike times tend to get better and better as the season progresses. So having a bike split like yesterday's, given the weather conditions and course difficulty (i suck at cornering!), I am looking forward to a big year!
Another surprise at the finish line was seeing my wife, kelsey, there. She surprised me by making the trip down on her own (she hates waking up early and waiting around before the races)! It was great having her there and my buddies Matt, Sal (their wives) and Pops there to cheer me on. The volunteers at OSU and the OSU tri club put on a great race and do a very efficient job at the timing given the fact that it is all manual timing with no chips.
Next race: Spring Classic Duathlon (5k run, 15mi bike, 5k run) this Saturday!
Pre-Race: woke up at 5:15am and the alarm had been going off for an hour straight without myself or kelsey or the dogs waking up! Oh well, I had plenty of time still, i just wanted to be up a little earlier to take my time and hopefully get a couple opportunities to sit on the can (race day ritual!).
I left the house at 6am, after eating a huge bowl of oatmeal and went to pick up Pops from his house. Picked up Pops and we made the 1hr 40min trip down to Corvallis talking about the race, work and about the ancient Poop that was found in an Oregon cave recently. The talk about poop had us both having to go so we stopped in Albany at a gas station to handle our business.
Got to the race site about 8:30am. My wave was heat # 1 (which is the last heat to go) and did not start until 10:15am so I had plenty of time to set up transition, warm up, chat, and cheer on some of the heats that were already underway.
Swim- The swim portion of this race is a 500yard pool swim. With 350 competitors, they seed you by your predicted 500yard swim time and assign you a lane (w/3 other athletes) and heat. I was in the fastest heat which would likely contain the guys going for the win so I wouldn't have to worry about waiting around to find out what place i was in at the end of the race. I was in lane #7 and given position #1 in the lane. This is where my swim plan kind of backfired on me. When I sent the race director my swim time I purposefully predicted a slightly faster time than what I thought i could swim because I figured I would be able to draft off of one or two of the faster swimmers in my lane. My predicted time was 6:55. Well I so happened to have the 25th fastest predicted swim time, which meant I was going to be the first in my lane to take off. I had figured I could probably really swim the 500yards in 7minutes flat so i wasn't too concerned. The race started and I went out flying! Sal who made the trip down to watch me (along with his wife, and Matt and Julie) said I went out at 1:10 for the first 100yards. I never knew i could swim that fast but i paid for it the next 200yards as I could feel serious fatigue setting in. at the end of 350 yards i felt what i thought was a tap on my foot. Well that means that i am going to slow and i need to wait at the wall so the guy behind me could pass me. when i stopped at the wall i realized that he had just been drafting me and the gal behind me was drafting him, so i lost about 15 seconds waiting for them (mistake #1) to flip turn off of the wall and i cruised the last 150 yards drafting them but lost time there. end swim time was 7:22 (including getting out of the pool and running to the exit door outside.)
T1- pretty fast 1:02 i think and the fastest of the field. Had shoes clipped into the pedals already and was able to hop on my bike while running pretty smoothly.
Bike- 31minutes i think. 23mph avg. I was about 15th place coming out of transition, passed up 12 of them in the first mile. Got into my aero bars and started hammering. It was Freezing cold as expected. I didnt put on any gloves, was just out there racing in my one-piece tri suit. The 12mile course has some slight grades, headwinds, two 180degree turnarounds and 10 90degree turns in total. I slowed a lot during the 90 degree turns as i didnt trust the roads (slightly wet and not completely free of gravel). There were 3 guys that I had picked out as favorites to win....#5, #7 and #11 (Nate Smith who races this year every year and either wins or takes second). I passed #7 about 4 miles into the ride. I saw #5 leading and Nate closely behind after the first turn-around. After the second turn around I could tell I was gaining on them and the last mile of the bike I had Nate in my sight about 40 seconds ahead. I really pushed it on the bike and felt really comfortable on the new ISM Adamo saddle and my new Fuji cf-1 TT bike. Coming off he bike and doing the flying dismount, #5 and Nate Smith were still in t2 putting on their shoes.
t2- the dismount off the bike was perfect. i racked my bike and then couldnt see my shoes and realized i had racked my bike in the wrong spot. No worries it was just about five feet down, re-racked my bike put on my racing flats and that is where mistake #2 came into play. I could not feel my hands, they were sooooooo numb! Since they were so numb i couldnt feel the release on my bike helmet. i struggled with it for a few seconds while i watched Nate smith take off. Pops was standing right there asking what was wrong, and i told him. I then tried to just slide the helmet strap up over my face thinking i could just take off the helmet without undoing it. That did not work, strap was too tight. I kept trying to get it off as the clock was just ticking and ticking. Finally I slid the strap up to my mouth where i could see the release on the helmet and was able to undo it, but by that time Nate was a minute down the road. T2 time 2:00.......
run- i was pissed but i took off determined to see what i could do. I knew Nate was about as fast if not faster than me on the run. About a quarter mile into the run I saw Sal and he yelled out that I was 1:20 down to the leader (Nate). Damn! This is only a 5k run! Shortly after I passed up #5, so I knew I was in second place. After the first lap Sal yelled out the split to Nate......still 1:20.....damn......I kept pushing. After the second lap Sal just yelled out "right on pace, good job buddy"....I knew then that Nate was still 1:20 or more ahead of me, so I just maintained my 5:45 pace and took it home.
Final time was 59:41(2nd place) i think (official results not posted online yet). I finished about 1:30 down to first place Nate Smith. I am really happy about my bike split which was the second fastest of the day. One other guy who was in swim heat #2 finished with the fastest bike split (about 20seconds faster than mine) and in third place overall 59:59. My run was fast, 2nd fastest to Nate Smith. But I am sure that if I did not have the helmet problem in t2, I would have had Nate in my sight and would have pushed a lot harder on the run. Next race I will be sure to loosen up my helmet strap before the race so it is not on so tight. I think its easier to undo a helmet when it is not putting an indent into your neck. I will also practice taking it off just to be sure i know where the release is in case i have the numb finger problem again!
I feel this is a good start to the season. I swam just fast enough (even with the mistake) to keep myself in contention. I have not had a lot of high quality work on the bike and my bike times tend to get better and better as the season progresses. So having a bike split like yesterday's, given the weather conditions and course difficulty (i suck at cornering!), I am looking forward to a big year!
Another surprise at the finish line was seeing my wife, kelsey, there. She surprised me by making the trip down on her own (she hates waking up early and waiting around before the races)! It was great having her there and my buddies Matt, Sal (their wives) and Pops there to cheer me on. The volunteers at OSU and the OSU tri club put on a great race and do a very efficient job at the timing given the fact that it is all manual timing with no chips.
Next race: Spring Classic Duathlon (5k run, 15mi bike, 5k run) this Saturday!
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