Sunday, November 10, 2013

HITS Lake Havasu Olympic RR

Hey blog world. Buckle up. Race report time.

Race: Lake Havasu HITS Olympic distance

Start time: 0800 on my Sister's birthday

Swim: Got off to an amazing start with some dolphin diving and fleetingly thought I would lead the whole swim. Marc Rinzler came around me and promptly ended that delusion as he proceeded to embarrass me. I swam strong and long through the two loop course with heaps of dolphin diving that helped break up the monotony. Overall felt good but the time was shit. 23:19 or thereabouts which is not up to snuff. Marc was well up the road and I was sitting in second.

Bike: Got down to business quickly and once my glutes had settled down, I was motoring. The road was absolute crap. Loads of cracks, sand, and chip seal. Lots of hairpin turns that I tried to take at speed, channeling my inner Tony Martin. Sadly the speed was hard to come by. I also have a confession... I drafted a jeep for about a mile. I couldn't come around and didn't want to hit the breaks... so I just sat there at 37 mph shamelessly drafting. Nothing really to say but sorry. Once the jeep left, I settled into a rhythm trying to pull back time on Marc. I saw him at the half and he was 3/4mile up the road. I took 2 minutes out of him but to get within a minute. 59:30... 2nd bike course record in as many races. To be fair, only two races on this course but I'm claiming it as Paul Amey raced here last year. Looks like he soft pedaled but I don't care.

Run: No run training had me nervous for this. I got into it and tried to find a nice stride. It wasn't pretty but I was moving alright. Still couldn't see Marc as I desperately tried to turn it over. The cadence is pretty bogged down right now. Coming out to the turnaround I spotted him not too far up. We both started doing the math and the numbers weren't looking good for me but maybe. I put in a huge surge through mile 4 to see if I could close but it wasn't to be. I dug but the effort caused me to pop. My pace slowed as my hair started standing on end- not a good sign. I headed around the course and gritted it to the line. 37:47 I think.

Overall time: 2:02:4x for 2nd overall

Post-race: Overall pretty satisfied. Very unhappy with the swim time. I guess it's time to address that in training. The bike was very good compared to the field but the road and course made it slower than I was looking for. Either way, the bike is right on the money now. The run was a surprise. I would have thought something around 39 but to duck under 38 was nice given my run mileage is probably less than 30 miles for the last two months just due to niggles. My weight is low though so it's allowing me to fake it a bit. Anyways- onwards and upwards. HITS also put on a good show. Great transition areas, low key feel, excellent prizes (I got a bunch of swag including 2 pairs of sunglasses) and a solid venue. Loved it.

Next up- HITS palm springs olympic distance