2012 Age Group Nationals - Burlington Vermont

Pre-Race and Background Info.

This was my “A” race for 2012. My goal for that last eight months was get to Vermont healthy and leave as the national M55-59 age group champion.

Some say that all you can really control is your effort and preparation. To focus on a result is probably not real smart. There are too many variables that are out of your control that can affect the outcome of a race… and all that’s true. But….I really, really wanted to win the age group.  As I was explaining this to Dottie on the way to the race, she reminded me that I can’t control who shows up to race and that I could race the perfect race and still not win.  Of course, she was right (as she is about 99% of the time) but I wasn’t having it.  I was focused on the result. If I raced the perfect race and still lost, I’d be disappointed and consider the effort a failure. If I had crappy race and won, the weekend would be considered a success.

Dot and I left our vacation spot at the Birches Resort in Springstead Wisconsin on Wednesday and made the 23 hour drive to Burlington non-stop. I didn’t sleep at all on Wednesday night. The trip went as well as could be expected and we pulled into Burlington at about 1:30 Thursday afternoon. We took care of the packet pick-up and made our way to Lake Champlain for an open water swim. That didn’t go very well. With no sleep, I was totally discombulated and could never really find my stroke. I was still glad I made the effort to get in the water, but as I look back, the feeling I had while swimming was a harbinger of things to come. We collapsed at our hotel about 8:00 pm and were asleep by 8:30. I was dead to the world for the next 11 hours.

Friday was spent setting up my bike, doing a shake-out ride and run an then doing touristy things highlighted by a Ben and Jerrys factory tour and dinner in downtown Burlington. My legs felt rested but not “magical” during the shake-out effort. I went to bed Friday night confident that I would have a good race on Saturday.

Swim

27:03

21^st out of 90 age group ranking.

Saturday dawned clear and crisp. The swim was wetsuit legal. Barely.  As we arrived on site, I didn’t notice any wind or chop on Lake Champlain.  I made a concerted effort to get things in order and not be rushed prior to lining up for the swim. My age group was the third age group off.

At some point prior to putting on my wetsuit, I noticed that the wind had picked up and there was a serious chop on the lake. The swim was behind a break-water so it wasn’t as bad as out in the lake, but it was definitely going to be a challenging swim. Dot and I made our way to a restaurant that was on the water and had a birds eye view of the course. From there you could see the flags whipping and the waves really starting to pick up. My brain went into “freak” mode. Dot brought that to my attention gently (“Dude, your freaking out. Settle down.”). It took me a few minutes to realize it but I eventually settled down. The rest of the swim pre-race was normal and in control.

The race began with a deep water start and as I was treading water, the only thoughts I had were to get off the line fast and execute a good race. I wasn’t thinking about the swim conditions. I was ready.

As the gun went off, I started hard but immediately noticed that guys were flying by me. I focused on trying to find a good line to the first turn buoy thinking that I’d eventually find my spot in the race…probably about 10 guys back. By the time I got to the first buoy, it became apparent that more than ten guys were ahead of me. I looked over to my right and noticed a guy with a terrible stroke passing me….WTF. I was swimming hard but not going anywhere. Within the first 500 yards of the race, I thought my race was finished. I knew I wasn’t going to come out of the water with my goal placing of the first ten guys. I distinctly remember the moment I thought that. My next thought was to just keep working as hard as I could and not give up.

The waves were brutal. I could never find a rhythm or work hard enough to get my heart rate up. I was bobbing up and down, swallowing one mouthful of water after another. I just kept swimming. As we turned back to the swim exit, we swam directly into the sun. I was completely blinded. I couldn’t find a buoy to swim at. I stopped twice and tried to sight something…nothing. I put my head down and kept swimming eventually ending up about 50 yards off course before I was able to figure out where I was at. At this point, it was almost laughable. I was swimming slow and off course. Not a good combination at your biggest race of the year.

I finally found the exit ramp and made my way out of the water. As I ran past Dot, she told me I was 21^st and 6 minutes down on the leader. At that point I had already beat myself up enough in the water so I only kinda surprised and didn’t dwell on the actual standings. I just thought I had some work to do and maybe I could finish in the top five.

Bike

1:03:46/23.4 mph

1^st age group

Nutrition: ~24 oz of Gatorade

The run up from the swim was uneventful. I had chopped off the bottom eight inches of my wetsuit before the race so it came off quickly with no problems. My shoes were already clipped in and secured by rubber bands so I had a good run to the mount line. As I got on the bike, the first 100 yards were not real smooth. It was a narrow bike path with barriers on both sides. I abandoned any thoughts of slipping on my shoes and just started pedaling hard with my feet on top of my shoes. It took me about four blocks before I was able to get my shoes on and strapped.  At his point, I wasn’t focused on anything. I was still trying to work through what the heck was happening. As my head cleared and I mentally got back into the race I started to focus on pedaling hard and sizing up how it felt to pedal while holding 270 watts.. (about 10 over my goal). It didn’t feel too bad.  I thought that was a good sign. About that time I passed a couple of guys in my age group. That lifted my spirits a bit. For the next 15 miles, I was just trying to work hard, keep the watts up and stay aero. I can’t say I ever thought that the race was coming back to me.

The day before, while doing my normal bike course recon, I made a concentrated effort to memorize the course. I felt there was a chance of me coming out of the water high enough to put myself at the very pointy end of the bike field. As I look back, that’s really funny. It was so far from reality. I always had someone to follow and never had to think about where I was.

Before I knew it, I saw guys coming my way after they passed the only out and back. Normally, I try to see who’s up ahead of me and size them up. There was none of that today. I just kept riding.  My focus was to keep my watts under 325 ascending the many hills and work as hard as I could going down.  That was it. It would be a better story to write that I was pissed and hell bent on tearing through the course but I never felt that way. I just was focusing on working hard like I normally do during a race. As the ride went on, I was continually passing guys in my age group. I lost count after about the 8^th guy so wasn’t sure of where I was when I got off the bike. My overriding thought as I was coming into transition was that the ride went by fast and I had a decent ride behind me. Not a great ride, but good enough to partially dig myself out of the hole I made in the swim.

As it turns out, I averaged ~260 watts for the ride. That’s my best effort since the 2011 Memphis in May race. It was a good time for a good effort!

Run

38:55/6:16 mpm

1^st place divisional finish

Nutrition: a mouthful of water at each aid stations. Two Powergels – one at mile one, one at mile three.

As I finished up the ride, Dot yelled at me that there were four ahead me and I was four minutes out of first. Hey, I thought, that’s not too bad.

T2 was kind of a cluster as I’d thrown my wetsuit on top of my shoes. As I racked my bike, I didn’t see them and it took a few seconds to figure out where they were. I’m guessing I lost about 10-15 seconds digging under my wetsuit twice to pull out the shoes and then get the heck out of dodge. Immediately upon exit of transition, the run course went straight up a 500 yard hill. I had already decided that I wasn’t going to hit the gas going up the hill and that I was going to go up at a controlled pace and then let it go at the top. After hearing Dot say I was in fifth, the thought went through my head that maybe I should attack the hill. That thought was fleeting as I figured the risk of gaining the extra 10 or 15 seconds by working hard wasn’t worth the chance of blowing up in the first mile of the race. I cruised up the hill next to a 55 year old lady.

 

We were at the highest place on the run course as we crested the hill. It was all downhill from here.  It took me about 200 yards to start to get my legs under me but when they did, I knew immediately that I was going to have a special run. My cadence was quick and my breathing was under control. I didn’t have a watch so I had no idea how fast I was running but I knew I was running as good as I have ever run off the bike. That was all in the first half mile of the race.

I didn’t see anyone up immediately up ahead and it wasn’t till the first mile marker that I passed the next guy in my age group. It was at that point, I had my first thoughts about how high I might be able to place. It was at that point, that I thought I was back in the race. The first 2.5 miles went by in a flash. I had passed another guy. I was running well and at my limit. I lost count of the guys again and I couldn’t remember if Dot said I was in fourth or there were four guys ahead of me…about this time, I heard footsteps behind me and knew someone was coming. The guy behind me immediately said he wasn’t in my age group. For some reason, at that point my thoughts switched from trying to look ahead and pass guys in my own age group to helping to drag the guy behind me to win his age group. (M50-54). I have no idea why that crept into my head, but it gave me a sense of “responsibility” to help this guy. It was nice to have something else to focus on for a while.

At about mile 3, the course dropped back down to the lake. I still was running well. My legs weren’t going away. I passed another guy in my age group at about the four mile mark and thought I was in third place. It was also at this time that I lost the 50-54 guy going through a water stop. I actually thought about slowing down to let him catch up and hang. It dawned on me quickly that probably wasn’t a good idea so my thoughts turned to running harder, leaving nothing on the course and hoping I’d run my way into 2^nd place.  I saw the next guy just past the five mile marker. I thought he was second place. I made a decision to run up to his shoulder, match his pace and catch my breath. I announced my intentions to the guy as I ran up to him but misjudged the closing speed and ran into his shoulder. What a bush move. No one within 200 yards of each of us and I run into the guy. He was pissed. I didn’t blame him. That plan didn’t work out that well so I just moved by him and picked up the pace again. He couldn’t match it. I ran extremely hard for the last ¾’s of a mile to the finish… as hard as I’ve ever finished a race. I was totally out of it as I ran down the chute. Dot was along the finish and said she told me I was first and I that I looked at her… but I don’t remember it. I crossed the line thinking I was second. I remember thinking that I was OK with 2^nd after what happened in the swim.

After about three or four minutes Dot found me and told me she thought I was first. She was pretty confident.  I was still pretty shelled and it didn’t hit me right away. As time went on, it sunk in and I couldn’t believe it. I had won. I came from 21^st place after the swim and biked and ran my way into the lead…Holy shit, that is bad ass!

Post Race.

Within the first couple of minutes, the guy I had basically run over came up to me and was not happy. I was very apologetic and told him I was sorry about five times. I think he eventually realized I didn’t do it on purpose. . His name is Tom McGee. He’s a tremendous triathlete from Ontario Canada and a very understanding guy.

I’ve had time to absorb the race and I still can’t figure out what the heck happened on the swim. What would normally be a 24 minute swim turned into 27 minutes.  I just couldn’t swim fast and I’m not sure why. My last wetsuit swim was at Leon’s in June and I had a great split. The water temps at that race were in the 60’s. The water temperature at this race was in the mid to high 70’s. I may have been overheated in the wetsuit or I may just be a sucky swimmer in tough conditions.  I do know that the same feeling I had during my shake out swim on Thursday showed up again on Saturday morning. Weird. I’m hoping this is one off and we’ll give it another go soon and see what happens.  I’m not sure what I’d change except to not race in the wetsuit top and just use the bib johns.

I checked the race results and found only two other age group winners came out of the water farther back than I did. As I look back and remember my overriding thoughts after I got out the water, I was focused on just racing and to go as hard as I could at that moment. Even though I thought my goal of winning was out the window, I was never demoralized by it.  I’d be lying if I didn’t say that some negative thoughts crept in and I was tempted to just shut it down and cruise in, but I was able to quickly push those thoughts to the background and keep myself motivated.  I didn’t let myself get too low after the swim exit and I didn’t let myself get too high as I was passing guys. I guess the moral of the story is that you never really know and how the race will turn out and that it pays to have a “low arousal” frame of mind while competing…you need to be aware of your surroundings and the situation you’re in, but don’t let yourself get too high or too low.  Focus on the moment. If you’re lucky, as I definitely was, the results will take care of themselves.

 

I have two races left; Long Course Age Group Nationals in Oklahoma City and Hy-Vee 5150 Championships. I’m still motivated and if I'm as lucky as I was in Vermont, things will work out.