If you are not one of the two or three people worldwide that have ever visited my blog, or follow my tweets, you probably aren’t aware that I raced this past weekend in Macon, Georgia. I will try and fill you in, although I am probably squashing all of the building anticipation prematurely by admitting right here that it was another mediocre performance.
The Swim
The 1.2 mile swim was a one loop affair in Lake Tobesofkee, one big rectangle in the bath-like 86⁰ water. I had managed to get myself in the Open/Elite starting wave, which was first to go off on Saturday morning. There were nine of us in the Open, and my tactical plan for the swim was to swim a controlled first 100m and hopefully find myself in 3rd or 4th position coming around the first turn. In a nine man Open field in a regional race like this, I figured there would be at least one unreachable uber swimmer off the front, and a couple of guys getting dropped off the back pretty quickly. I guessed right, and 400m in, there were two dudes way off the front, five of us (me included) working hard but losing ground in the middle, and two more dudes way back. I fould Clermont, FL resident pro triathlete Simon Malo about 200m into the swim, and immediately latched onto his feet, where I stayed until the last 200-300m of the swim. Simon swam pretty consistent, and he took great lines to each bouy, and I thought I was sitting pretty. I came out of the water in 31:15, which I was kind of surprised- and disappointed with. Although that is my fastest non-wetsuit swim so far, I was expecting better, and my perceived effort level in the water told me I was going a little harder than 31:00. I guess next time I need to find a faster dude to draft off of!
The Bike
The Coliseum Rock n’ Rollman website describes the bike course as ‘rolling,’ and ‘not the most difficult course around, but certainly not the easiest.’ False advertising. Living in Birmingham for a few years, and now in Chapel Hill, will go along way to remove any fear of hills. Besides- just how mountainous could southeastern Georgia be? Well, I can say that this was the most challenging bike course I have raced on. Not really techincal in any way, just lots of long, gradual climbing. I worked hard and spent much more time grinding up out of the saddle than I thought would be needed. Coming out of the water in 7th position, I was alone for almost the entire ride. There were two or three age group guys that passed me early on, and I just let them go, with thoughts of catching lots of over extended bikers on the hot run. I tried to put together a consistent, hard effort, and I overtook one Open athlete late on the bike course. All in all though, it was an unremarkable 2:34 bike split.
The Run
This is where I was hoping my race would be defined. Coach Derick had advised me earlier in the week that hot races like this would be “races of attrition.” As I was coming out of T2, Leigh shouted that I was currently running in 9th position (she is incredible, sooo supportive). I was pretty confident that there were going to be some meltdowns on the steamy run course ahead of me, as some of the big riders found that they had to pay the piper for their fast bike splits. As it got close to 11am the temperature was climbing past 90⁰, and I went to work establishing a steady pace to try and reel in some racers. The majority of my previous experiences racing the 70.3 distance have ended with me fading hard on hot run courses, so avoiding my own meltdown was front and center in my mind. I clicked off the first four miles in 29:00, taking in fluids trying to settle into a rhythm. It was pretty strung out at the front of the race, and I found myself alone for most of 13.1 miles. I was able to catch three guys in the second half of the run, but these were all due to other athletes losing their battles with the course and the heat, and certainly not due to the pace I was setting. I ended up running 1:38, and after discussing the run with Coach D, (and some post race self reflection) I ultimately was too conservative out on the run course. I was running scared- waiting for the meltdown that I never came on Saturday. Had I just put it all out there, could I have run into the top 5? Perhaps, but 11th overall was where I ended up after all the dust had settled, 5th out of 9 guys in the Open/Elite division.
Congratulations to all 200 or so athletes who competed- it was a very challenging day in steamy Macon, Georgia. A big THANK YOU to my family- my wonderful wife Leigh and my parents, the best support team I could ask for. Thanks also to Coach Derick of DURATA TRAINING, for helping me disect this race and giving me the tools to fair better at the next one. Lastly, thanks to Brooks Running for putting me in those sweet orange and blue ST 5 Racers….Go Gators!
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