Last weekend I traveled to Middlebury, Connecticut to have a crack at Rev3 Quassy. Everything about this 70.3 distance race is big. The race itself is big, with 1000+ racers. The pro field is stacked, with at least 10 top tier pros on each side, included the women's reigning IM World Champion. The professional prize purse is one of the biggest in the sport. The race course itself? Super duper big. More elevation change than I can fit in this blog post. Committing to race at Quassy was a bit of a big deal in itself. I wanted to put myself out there to try racing on more of a national level this year, and Quassy fit the bill based on the logistics and anticipated competition. I've always heard that Rev3 races are quality events that attract great competition- and I wasn't definitely wasn't disappointed on race day.
Everything went smoothly in the days leading up to the race. I redoubled my efforts to eat clean and get quality sleep. It seemed like every decision I made all week was weighed with its potential impact on race performance in mind. With Sunday being race day, we broke up the 10.5 hour drive over two days, stopping Friday night in Annapolis, MD for an overdue visit with good friends. Saturday we were up early and tackled a short but rather interesting drive through New Jersey/New York- Leigh's Honda Fit wasn't to keen on the NJ Turnpike potholes, but we survived. We pulled into the race venue at Lake Quassapaug a little before lunch, and bike check/packet pick up were a breeze.
Coach Dave had me type up a structured itinerary that started two days before the race and ended at the finish line. This wasn't something I'd done before, but it really helped me to envision the chronology of race weekend. I was thankful for his instruction as I clicked off the tasks leading up to the starter's signal on race morning. Saturday afternoon was an easy shake out jog with a few pick ups, and dinner with Leigh and my brother in law who drove down from Mass to check out the race.
Race Day
Other than 10-12 minutes in the water finding my stroke/getting the heart rate up, I don't warm up too much for a 70.3. On race morning you can always find age groupers running, sprinting, mashing around on their bikes, doing push ups, etc. It would be easy to get caught up in the nervous energy of the morning and overdo it, but I feel like age groupers like me have to take care to respect the race distance. The wetsuit legal swim was one big clockwise rectangle in cold, clear lake Quassapaug. The 30-34 males were the 6th wave to send off, and I positioned myself on the left side of the beach to hopefully avoid getting boxed in and avoid the scrum. Success! After a hard first 3-4 minutes I was slightly ahead of the pack with two others, and clean water in front of me. It didn't take long for those two fish from my wave to pull ahead, but I didn't mind all that much. There were several hundred athletes already in the water from earlier waves, and I was dialed in to picking good lines to each buoy and navigating around slower moving packs of racers. I'm feeling a little more confident about my swimming with each race, and with a controlled effort I came out of the water 4th (30-34 wave), which was good for 26th overall on the day.
I could probably write something that would rival the page count of Ulysses about this bike course. The scenery was incredible, when I allowed myself to take in the Connecticut countryside a few seconds at a time. With more climbs than I care to remember, and tight technical descents, this is one of the hardest bike courses in triathlon. I worked hard to press on with a consistent effort, keeping efficient form and cadence on the climbs, and tucking low to use the descents as much as possible. After not riding a very smart race last month at the Columbia Triathlon, I was encouraged by how many racers I was passing on the descents. I eventually gave up four spots on the bike- not ideal, but bike quality/volume are something that I'm working hard on this summer. My 2:37 bike split was good enough for 13th overall. Did I mention yet how crazy hard this bike course is?
I came off the bike feeling pretty good about my situation. I had ridden hard and made my way through most of the field that had started before me. I had also been disciplined about taking in calories throughout the bike leg, and I was feeling like I had quite a bit left for the run course. The first mile of the Quassy run course lulls you into a false sense of complacency with a few shade trees and a relatively flat pitch. After that, it doesn't take long to find the hills, and after that initial mile the rest of the run course is comprised of steady rollers. This didn't rattle me nearly as much as the several hors categorie climbs on bike course. In fact, the run course was not all that different from the daily runs I log in Chapel Hill, NC. Out on the run course I was becoming more aware of my position in the field, and I needed pretty badly to make up those 4 spots I gave up with the mediocre bike split. By mile two I had pulled back one spot from an uber biker with a couple of 6:30 miles, and I was feeling pretty confident. Right about then an age grouper overtook me running at a pretty good clip, and I glued myself to his right hip for the next three miles. I suffered to hold pace while silently cursing this dude who looked like he was cruising effortlessly on a Sunday jog. We pulled each other back and forth for 30 minutes until he slowed pretty significantly at an aid station, and I was able to make a move to get away. I ran pretty consistently, trying to put forth a controlled, steady effort on the varied terrain. Ultimately I pulled back three of the four spots I gave up to the bike animals, but then gave up two more spots to different run animals. I finished with a 1:30:15 half marathon. Not my best work, but DEFINITELY not my worst 70.3 run split (I've had some pretty sweet melt downs), putting me with the 10th overall run split.
In hindsight I wish I had pressed a little harder on the bike course, but my efforts set me up for a pretty decent run on a challenging course. It was definitely a new experience to feel like I was still racing ten miles into a 70.3 half marathon, and perhaps this means that I'm starting to figure out this distance to some degree? Well, maybe. My 4:40 finish would indicate otherwise, but that was good enough for 10th overall amateur on the day. Race results can be found HERE. Rev3 Quassy is an incredible race at a spectacular venue. I couldn't have asked for more from the cool New England weather or the dozens of super volunteers. A rightfully epic event.
Thanks to Coach Dave Williams of Triangle Multisport for the valuable insights and the big vote of confidence. Big thank yous to Inside Out Sports and Fleet Feet Sports Carrboro for the support- at least you guys help me to look fast, even if I can't necessarily back that up with fast performances! Lastly, a super big thank you to Leigh & Paul Naps for spending their Sunday watching me run around looking uncomfortable. The two of you made the whole weekend an enjoyable experience.
Photo credits to P Naps- iphone camera ninja!
No comments:
Post a Comment