After a tough day in New Orleans, I decided within that week upon coming home I would return to Racine for its excellent half-distance triathlon. I first raced in Racine in 2005 (wicked hot) and returned for a nice day in 2006. This time I was going for broke, with a goal of a sub five hour day. I had it all figured out: 0:25/2:45/1:45 with 5 min of transitions is exactly five hours. With a current aided swim course and perfect conditions, I realized that goal in a major way.
At WIBA, my front derailleur hanger broke from the BMC frame. I got very little support from BMC and was left on my own to fix it. Based on some good advice, I got some epoxy and "glued" the hanger back to the frame. It held up during a couple of test rides, so I hoped for the best. I also jumped on to the Infinit bandwagon and developed my own mix, "RobbyB's Excellence" based on my answers to the questionnaire. Since the BMC has one bottle holder on-board and me without a way to add more, I tested (with success) the use of a CamelBak. So I filled 50 or so ounces of RobbyB's Excellence in the bladder and chilled it over night.
The morning dawned mostly cloudy, with a slight chill. The water temperature was announced to be at 64 degrees. No rain in the forecast, and it looked liked the clouds were going to hang around. Perfect.
SWIM
Walking the beach to the swim start, I noticed that the swim buoys were set close to the shore. So close that you could walk the entire course without even taking a stroke. Rather than a rectangular course of years past, the new course followed the curve of the shoreline. We were told to stay within 20m of the buoys or incur a penalty.
My wave took off third, and without even trying, I was out in front, even before I took a stroke. By the time I started actually swimming, I took two strokes and made the first turn to move parallel with the shore. I had clear water the entire way, just a few walkers and swimmers from the previous wave. Made the last turn and made the long haul up the beach to transition. I knew I had a fast time, but it wasn't until I checked afterward that my 21:56 would end up being the 10th fastest of the day.
T1
After a long haul up the beach, my transition took a little extra time to get the CamelBak on, but it would end up being worth it.
BIKE
The course changed since I was last there, but the feeling of having a target on my back hasn't. It stings a little bit after a great swim, seeing all the bikes pass you. But then you see the packs of drafters, bending the rules as they get to feed from each others draft and you know you're doing it the right way. Then you see a race official on a motorcycle slow at the group and dish out some justice.
I kept to my own pace, occasionally glancing down to make sure I was between 200 & 220 watts. I averaged 194 at New Orleans, so on the flatter, less windy course, I figured I could push it but still have something for the run. That kept me above 20mph, which would keep me below the 2:45 goal. Every minute under the goal meant one more minute that I could add to my run split in case I needed it.
I concentrated on pulling in enough fluid from the CamelBak and taking sips from my water bottle. On a whim, I threw in some gels and a pack of Clif Bloks in the pocket of the CamelBak. It was a good thing, too, because around mile 20, I got really bored. Bored of biking and bored of my liquid only diet. That's when I remembered the Bloks and challenged myself to open them while maintaining a solid pace. (I should really write a note to Clif and ask them to design an easy-open package.) After four tries, I got the pack open and took in three blocks. They tasted really good. About an hour later, I took the last three and probably could have used more.
Apart from one section of really poor roads that nearly sucked my soul out of my sit bones, the course was fast. There were many locals sitting at the end of their driveways, just clapping and smiling for everyone. I waved and gave a thumbs up as often as I could. Coming home, maintaining my pace meant a little extra effort on the second half. It paid off as I started pulling back some folks that passed me earlier. I rolled into town with a smile on my face. So far it was a great day.
T2
Right at the dismount line, it was so quiet, and even though it was crowded with people, you could hear a pin drop. I egged the crowd for something and got a great response. Dropped the bike off, changed shoes, grabbed the gels, and something still didn't feel quite right. Ah, yes, take the helmet off and put the hat on. The best part about this transition was the overwhelming urgent need to pee. For the first time in any race like this, I had to pee off the bike. The CamelBak did me good.
RUN
I didn't bother tying my shoes since, for the first time ever, I had to stop at the porta-potty. Just as I got there another guy jumped in. So I tied my shoes while I waited and upon finishing, he jumped out. After brushing off some heckling from (not my) Coach Mike, I peed one of the most glorious pees. After a nice minute and half break before my run, I was off. Immediately, there's a long gradual climb out of the park. It sucks, but now that they finished the shoreline rehabilitation, they extended the path back down to the beach and back up. The only two hills on the entire course are in the first mile. Ouch. I was able to catch a 17:00 split at the second mile, meaning that I'd split an average of 7:45 for the first two miles after you take off my 1:30 shoe tying/peeing break. Fast! But was it too fast? I didn't think so and set out to average 7:50s or better the entire run.
At one of the first houses past the beach, the family was enjoying the suffering and eating breakfast at the same time. On my way out, I asked how breakfast was and we all agreed that bacon is a good thing. I said I'd be back to grab some.
And right about then I met Mr. Endure It. Representing his triathlon team in Illinois, we ran stride for stride for the first few miles. We even worked out the aid stations together. He'd grab an early drink and walk, and I'd run by to grab a later drink and then walk. He'd start running, and I would meet up as he came by. It was really slick and I was psyched to have this guy push me. I even dreamed that we could cross the line with our arms held high! But, we didn't say a thing to each other. (Men!) He called out to each of his teammates, "Go Endure It!" as they passed by. I only yelled out "Go" to the pros I recognized (winners Blake Becker and Lauren Jensen.) I did test the communication waters just once at the far turnaround point when we turned to go with the the wind and lost the cooling affects, but only got a grunt in reply. So that ended that. Our walk breaks got longer and I noticed our pace slowing. I was getting worried that our relationship was fading fast. (It's just so hard to communicate sometimes.) Just then, we got passed (Mr. Endure It did grunt "good work" to everyone that passed us, too.) and I took the opportunity to start a new relationship. Unfortunately, we didn't handle the aide stations as well, and were soon split. So I soldiered on by myself. But just then, I saw my teammate, Michelle, who yelled, most excitedly, "I got a flat!" I told here to not worry about it and keep running. I made the turn for the second half and hit the two hills again. (Later, I learned that although, she flatted, she changed it herself for the first time in a race.)
The walking at the aide stations on the second loop grew longer and longer, but I didn't mind. I was still having a great day. At the bacon house, I was this close to running up and stealing a piece for nutrition's sake. I was walking every aide station, slurping down two gulps of water at each one. I had three gels as I went. My legs were getting tired, but I relied on the strength I've built up at my weekly speed sessions on the track. My 7:50 miles grew to 8:00 and then 8:00+. At this point, even without knowing my swim split, I knew I had a sub-5 in the bag. The only thing now was to see by how much.
The nice part about the hill going up out of transition is that you get to go down it to the finish line. It didn't quite hit me that I was finishing, so I started my kick a little late, and got passed in the chute. That's when I hear (not my) Coach Mike yell out, "Aw Robby, don't let him do that to you!" And I turned on the jets to just nip him at the line. I staggered a bit, and then stopped my watch to see my run split.
POST RACE
My watch read out 1:44:53 for the run - don't forget that includes 1:30 for the shoe tying & peeing. If you take off the 1:30, the resulting split was my fastest 13.1 miles ever. That, and I remember my bike saying a 2:3x for a bike split. At worst, I could have split a 30 minute swim and my five minutes of transition and still be sub-5. I don't think I stopped smiling as I staggered around behind the finish to get some food and check the results. That's when I saw a 4:41:01. I was on cloud nine thousand. That held for the next day until I double checked the the official results. My time ended up being (But that was the guy that finished just in front of me. My actual time was 4:42:14, which I'll take, too.
Official Splits:
SWIM: 21:53 1st/10th AG/OA
BIKE: 2:31:58 38th/278th
RUN: 1:44:54 45th/292nd
TOTAL: 4:42:14 26th of 100/178th of 1181
Bike power data:
Run splits:
