The long story....
This past Sunday was my last triathlon of the season - The Toyota Challenge at Deer Creek (originally listed as Pineman - they went big time and picked up Toyota as a sponsor). This race is another HFP Racing production - the same folks that put on Triple T and Spirit of Racine. As such it was well organized and run - these guys really do a great job. The venue was Deer Creek State Park about 30 miles south of Columbus. I headed out Saturday morning recalling directions to Columbus from my college days - south until you smell it. east until you step in it. Guess where I went to college?
Pre-Race
Up at 7 AM. 7 AM? For a triathlon? This was sleeping in compared to my normal routine. My wave didn't start until around 9 so I have scads of time. After a full cup of espresso and couple of breakfast cookies I checked out of my room and headed for the park which was 10 minutes away.
The evening before the weather channel was predicting rain. Fortunately a cold front blew through taking the rain with it. Unfortunately the cold front ushered in strong 20 MPH winds that came blasting in. The transition area was somewhat sheltered from the wind by trees so I didn't really notice it until I was down by the lake. The wind was blowing from the other side of the lake which whipped it into a choppy, wavy mess. A few folks who didn't bring wetsuits stood with arms crossed and teeth chattering. The water temperature was around 70 degrees. This was going to be a fun swim...
The Swim - 34:13
The swim course was a rectangular two loop course. I was in the third wave. We all waded into the water and waited for the starting horn. I lined up in the back to the outside to avoid the thrashing that would occur on the first turn - the "entry" point to the rectangle was about 25 yds out - a 90 degree right turn around a buoy and then you were in the loop. The horn sounded and we launched.
Things went well until the second turn. This was the turn that put us into the wind. As I raised my head to sight I was promptly punched in the face. Stunned I looked around underwater to see what had hit me. Nothing. The next time I sighted I was punched again. What the heck? Finally figured out that it was the chop. Wonderful. For the next 400 yds I felt like a boxer on the wrong side of a punch each time I lifted to sight. Fortunately I'm a fairly straight swimmer so I didn't have to sight too often. I also had to adjust my head angle when breathing. Normally I look a little forward when I breathe. Instead I had to look backwards to avoid breathing in mouthfuls of water.
On the downwind leg I thought things would be easier. Only partly true. No chop to contend with but the shallow, rolling waves (I'm sure there's a technical term for this) kicked up by the wind resulted in going between feeling like I was body surfing to feeling like someone was grabbing my ankles and pulling me backwards.
All in all though despite the conditions I had a very good swim. My body position felt high and stable and I had really good reach and rotation. I felt strong and comfortable throughout the swim despite getting hammered on the up wind runs.
T1 - 2:09
After exiting the water I slogged my way up the hill to T1. Why do so many Triathlons put T1 on top of hills? Got out of the wetsuit without a hitch, got on my bike gear and ran towards the exit. Oh. Wait a minute. For the next leg I'll need my bike. I burst out laughing as I went back to get my bike. Holy cow I'm an idiot sometimes.
The Bike - 2:48
The bike leg was a three loop mostly flat course. Once outside of the state park it was all farmland. Guess what goes with flat farmland? Well yeah, cow manure - ok, but what else? Yeah, lots and lots of wind. The wind was feeding the storms pounding northern Ohio and southern Michigan. It was an angry wind that on more than one occasion blew me to a standstill. I've climbed 10% grades friendlier than that wind.
I had heard the course was fast and flat so I went ahead and brought the tri bike which turned out to be a good choice for the conditions. I crawled along the upwind sections in the low teens and flew on the downwind sections in the high twenties. My legs felt strong throughout (helped along by a steady dose of Perpeteum) but my upper body felt a bit scrunched in - still haven't been able to make time for a fitting.
Once again though despite the conditions I managed to pull off a respectable bike split and I cruised into T2 happy to be done with the bike.
T2 - 1:53
This T2 was much better than my T2 at Steelhead - didn't have to go back three times to get stuff I needed. After watching the pro's on television I noticed that they typically get on their shoes, grab their stuff and take off - packing their nutrition and other items away as they run. Of course, they don't typically drop their glasses while putting on their hats, nor do they have to stop and squint at their watch as they switch it from bike to run mode. Guess that's why I'm not a pro. Ok, well that and I'm too slow. Geez.
The Run - 1:46
The run was a flat three mile out and back done twice. At about the 1.5 mile mark you cross over the top of a dam with great views of the lake to one side and a valley carved out by a small river on the other side. Very nice. The remainder of the run was down a country road to the state park entrance and then into the park for about a mile to the turnaround. All in all a very pleasant course.
During the bike I made a bit of a mistake with my nutrition. I didn't thinking I was taking enough in (it was tough to go for the bottles in the windy conditions) so with about 10 miles to go I downed the remaining 1/2 bottle of Perpeteum. This went unnoticed until it was time to run.
Coming out of T2 onto the run my stomach felt like it wanted to explode. This wonderful feeling remained for the first two miles before my stomach finally got around to processing the 1/2 bottle of Perpeteum I'd chugged. By mile five I was feeling hungry again so I started doing Accel gels before the aid stations. My legs were feeling very good so I pushed them. All the marathon training definitely paid off as I posted my fastest 13.1 split in a half ironman.
The Aftermath
All things considered I was very satisfied with the results. It was good to end the tri season on a solid note - I felt strong throughout the entire race which shows that my training is spot on. Had the conditions been a bit better I would have had another PR for sure. Of course, the conditions could have been a heck of a lot worse - just ask anyone who did Ironman Wisconsin this year.
Workout Summary (Thursday - 9/21)
Workout Summary (Today)
Included stats from my workout last Thursday since I've been swamped at work and home and didn't have time to post.
Went LSD on all workouts today and dropped the weights down during circuit since I'm still pretty smoked from the weekend. I forgot to pack Endurox for recovery after the race so my legs are still sore today. You'd think I'd have learned by now....
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