FireAnt 5K run & 45 mile bike race 10/9/10

Last Saturday in Marshall I competed in the FireAnt Festival's 5K and 45 mile bike race.

The run was at 8 AM and I made the decision to do it that morning after having an upset stomach the evening before and even slightly that morning. I did a real easy warmup of about 8 minutes thinking I'd just take the race easy and probably not have much competition. This year one of the ETBU cross-country runners definately gave me a run for the money. I had had about 2 off weeks mentally and slacked on my swim and bike training because of it. I knew I'd regret not doing it if I saw some super slow time won it, which was the same reason I decided the monring of to go out and do the AlleyFest 5K ultimately setting the current course record, and drove over from Longview. Anyhow, the ETBU runner and I changed leads about every half mile and I was starting to feel even worse the last mile and a half. There was one long, gradual uphill before the last turn and straightaway to the finish. He was attacking all of the hills and did the same on this one. I let him trail off, but knew I would need to pick it up to catch him before the finish if I even had it in my legs at that point. I almost mentally started to settle for a second, flipped a little internal switch, and then flew past him. I was worried he might kick it in and pass me right at the finish since I started a little earlier than I should have, but he didn't give much of a fight and I beat him by 4 seconds. I ran a 17:25.

I went out with the 100K group because last year everyone started together and I wore myself out catching up to the lead group after starting slowly. I had never done this, or any bike race/tour, before so I took it easy and then once out on the highway saw the lead group and wasted a lot of energy to catch up and get in with them. Today I went out still a little more reserved than I should have. I made it up to the second bigger group, but their pace was pretty slow and then I moved up to 3 guys behind the fast group (excluding the guy on a front and rear disc who apparently won the Hotter than Hell 100 this year by 2 minutes averaging 27+). These guys were still just a hair slow, but I didn’t have the legs after the run to catch the lead group over half a mile ahead. One of the middle-aged guys in our group of four I know from Longview and the two other guys just dropped back after a little while. Mike and I stuck with our pace and planned to work towards the lead group. We turned off and headed north on a super rough, asphalt road and about 1 mile into it my water bottle vibrated up and out of the cage (not the aero bottle from Take on the Heat either). Mike reiterated what I was thinking and I would definitely need that bottle for later (it had my Cytomax/Gatorade in it and just water in the AeroDrink between the handlebars). By that time the second big group was gaining ground on us and by the time I grabbed it up off the ground they passed me and I quickly caught up to them. We rode about 3 miles together and I was in the front pulling when we made a turn onto the next highway. I waited for people to catch up, got aero/comfortable, and got into my rhythm. I didn’t think I was pushing hard, but looked back to see I had dropped nearly the whole group except for 2 guys, who I let catch up. I figured we’d just pull away and I looked back again seeing they weren’t staying on my wheel. At that point I just figured I’d go solo, got down aero, and took off easily averaging about 23.3 at this point. I felt great and at this point is where the hills started to gradually get bigger and bigger. I pulled away from the group about 11 miles into the race. At one point there was a rest stop with 2 teenage girls there and I couldn’t remember from last year the turnoff. I asked them and they just shrugged so I took it anyways since I had been looking down slightly and didn’t notice any signs. This road was super rough and I slowed down as I thought it was the wrong road, looked back and saw the group pass, and then turned around. I nearly caught up to them by the real turnoff and just one guy from their group went my way for the 45 route instead of 100K. This side road had lots of potholes and was super rough so I again put my bottle into my back pocket of my tri suit until the next main road west that was much smoother. I didn’t try to catch up to him on the rough road so I didn’t risk hitting any of the many potholes and such. Once I did catch him on the smoother road I could tell he was a bit gassed and slowed slightly to pull for him, but once I started to let him lead for just a bit he said he didn’t have anything left, I bid him farewell, and went ahead on my way. This stretch of road to the loop had 4 or 5 big hills on it, of which two I used my small chain ring for and was in the lowest gearing possible. I stayed down in the aero position except for the hills when I dipped below 18 mph other than a couple of instances on flat ground when the seat was starting to be uncomfortable, but even then it was only for a few seconds upright. Once on the loop it had a few very long, gradual hills on it, but I knew how much distance was left and tried picking the pace up a bit. With 5 miles left to go my legs were burning and I downed the last of my water with the one Gu I had brought. There were 2 aid stations on the loop, but I didn’t need anything other than the finish. Taking the last turn off of the loop left me with about 1.5 miles to go and I tried to get down and hammer it, but this road had a lot of rough spots/potholes/bumps/manholes and a couple of train track intersections which limited my speed and even getting down aero in case I had to bunny hop up over a bad area. I crossed the finish right at 2:15 averaging just a tick over 21 mph for the 48 miles on my computer. Then I waited around for the awards ceremony, talked with my sister and some other Longview cyclists I know, had tons of Gatorade, water, and some pizza.

I'd like to thank my parents for their continued support and encouragement of my triathlon endeavors as well as putting on the 5K, my sister who was in from Memphis to do the half marathon in Tyler the next day, all the great friends I have met through these sports and races, Paul Reynolds of East Texas Sports Center (go to him for your team sporting needs) in Marshall, and Brent Poulsen.

8AM 5K run - 1st overall (17:25, avg. HR 182, max HR 195)
9AM 45 mile bike race - 1st overall (2:15, avg. HR 161, max HR 181)

Red River Revel 15K Run 10/2/10

Last Saturday I ran the Red River Revel 15K (9.3 miles) in Shreveport. The weather was pretty nice by the start of the race, but half an hour before it was a bit nippy out during my short warmup. When the gun when off I jumped out in the lead expecting some of the 15K guys to pass me at least. If only I had done that instead I'd be one pair of New Balance shoes richer! Anyhow, my first mile came in 5:38 and based on last year's 6:04/mile pace I figured I'd shoot for about a 6 flat. I told myself I should probably ease up a bit and the second mile came in 11:26 followed up by the third in 17:23. The knee was acting up almost right away but wasn't getting any worse so I just pushed on at my pace and the legs felt great. I was looking forward to the halfway point to see where the competition was and with the route being straight out and back you get to see everyone in the race. Right before the turnaround I had already squeezed the GU out into my mouth ready to grab some water and wash it down. I guess the girl working the station didn't see me or just expected me to grab it myself so I eyed the last cup so as not to knock the whole row over and missed. I had to stop, take a few steps back, grabbed the water, and turned the corner as I downed it. The second and third guys were roughly 20"-30" behind me and I was feeling pretty confident. Mile five was 29:12. Little did I know until after the race that the second place guy at the time was negative splitting the whole race. About 1.5 miles left in the race I saw a shadow to my side and was wondering if someone out for a morning jog was running up behind me or what. Then he passed me and I tried to match his pace, but my legs by that point were getting really tight especially my calves. I guess that's what happens from not running except 2-3.1 miles on the weekends a week for six months. I did speed up slightly and then tried kicking it in at the finish, but didn't have enough to make up the 9 seconds the winner put on me. Overall though I can't complain at all. My legs felt strong and I beat my time from last year by 2 minutes. At this time I'm debating not doing the next couple of races due to this knee not getting any better and I want to get well soon so as to get my off-season started and some quality base training in. I'll keep you posted.

2009 - 56:23 (6:04/mile) and 3rd overall
2010 - 54:20 (5:50/mile) and 2nd overall

Meat Pie Tri Regional Ch'ship 9/26/10

Meat Pie Tri


Pre-Race

The Meat Pie Tri was the regional sprint championship for the four state region hosted in Nacitoches, LA. I wish I had had time to get around town some to take pictures and check out the local shops. Neat little town with a lot of history to it. Anyhow, we arrived the night before the race and got to hear 3-time Olympian Sheila Taormina tell of her experiences in both swimming, triathlon, and the modern day pentathalon as we ate dinner. I decided afterwards not to get a ride in with it being really dark and my knee bothering me a bit. That night I didn’t get a sound nights rest, but was ready to go once that alarm went off. This was a 7AM start and I arrived in transition to choose my spot at 5:30. As usual, I chose the spot on the very end by the aisle and laid out my gear. The numbering system started with the oldest males with #1 and on from there. I was #172. Starting this early posed a problem of not having any light before the race so I only ventured out for a couple of miles “warmup” on the bike and we weren’t allowed in the water until the sun was visible. I think I put in about 200 meters worth before being ushered out to start the race.


Swim

We started in the water every 3 seconds so it didn’t take too awfully long to get going. Once in I took off on a pretty fast pace and then settled in. I did much better sighting at this race, but after the halfway point I just slowed too much. I think it’s because I train in a pool where I’m turning and constantly reminding myself to speed up. The half mile swim took me a long 15:23, which put me at 79th place for that event.


T1

I slowly exited behind an older gentleman and then shot around him to my spot. I threw on the helmet, grabbed the bike, and then bolted to the mount line. T1 came and went in 0:31.8 giving me the fastest one of the day.


Bike

The first and last couple of miles (out and back course) had several really rough areas so I was very cautious at these sitting upright in case I had to bunny-hop over some potholes. The rest of the course was super smooth with several gradual hills. Luckily at this hour of the morning there aren’t many cars out although I did get stuck behind 2 vehicles briefly at two different times. At around mile 4 I thought I had gotten in with another guy to “legally draft” as I have just recently learned about from my friend William Ritter. After about 1.5 miles he said something about getting in trouble when I was passing him again and never saw him from then on. I slowed just a couple of minutes until rudely awakened by an LSU triathlete who blew past me. I got back after it from then and he didn’t put any distance on me. The 20 mile bike segment took me 52:48.3 averaging 22.7 mph (16th fastest).


T2

Upon hitting the dismount line I was off running quickly, but it didn’t feel so great on that asphalt having still soft/wet feet from the swim in my shoes. Once to my spot I tossed the tire in the slot (wooden bike boxes instead of poles) and monkeyed with my shoes a little longer than I should have. 0:43.5 seconds later I was out and headed up the flight of stairs that started the run course.


Run

Sheila was at the top of the small, long flight of steps warning of loose bricks, but I had already sighted those the day before when scouting out the course and turned the corner to cross over the bridge. I quickly caught the LSU guy before the first mile and blasted past a lot of other people. I felt really strong even though I could feel a tinge of pain in the knee. I kept pushing. The run was similar to the bike with it being out and back, although I thought that turnaround cone would never come. There was nobody around it and I almost kept running until I saw the little white arrow around the orange marker. Knowing exactly how far I had to go and seeing several people ahead of me kept me going at a fast pace. I was a little surprised at how good my legs felt considering I haven’t done any quality run training in 6 months. As we neared the bridge I saw one more guy ahead of me whom looked kind of younger and I just told myself he was in my age group so I’d have to run him down. After turning off of the bridge and seeing the finish in sight I switched modes to the old 110M hurdling days and took off at an all-out sprint shooting past the guy and finishing strong with an 18:18 5K run (5:54/mile and 7th fastest), including the stairs.


After

My finishing time of 1:27:47.5 put me in the 14th position out of 313 overall and 1st in my age group of 18. I was pretty happy with the bike and run, but not satisfied with the swim. In the off-season I need to head out to the lakes decked out with my wetsuit on to solve a few issues. My dad and I waited around as I received my trophy and then left town. Next up is the Red River Revel 15K run in Shreveport this coming Saturday morning.


Race Summary:

(Rankings include relays)
800M Swim - 15:25.3 (79th)
T1 - 0:31.8 (1st)
20 mile Bike - 52:48.3 (16th) 22.7 mph
T2 - 0:43.5 (19th)
5K Run - 18:18.3, 5:54/mile (7th)
Overall - 1:27:47.5 (14th/313 and 1st/18 AG)