I am severely late in writing and
posting this race report. I would like to attribute my tardiness to the fact
that I’ve been sooo busy that I couldn’t put the ink to paper (or would it be
fingers to the keyboard). But truth-be-told I’ve had a difficult time dialing
in exactly what to say and how to say it. In the writing world they refer to
this as Writers Block. According to Wikipedia... Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in
which an author loses the ability to produce new work or experiences a creative
slowdown. Hmm..slowdown…how about a friggin shutdown? Well, it’s not like I’m
Stephen King writing the next Misery or The Shining; however as a journalism major
I can recall this happening in college. You’re never really sure when or how a
breakthrough might happen but for me I was watching ESPN’s C’Mon Man segment
and I thought, seriously…it’s just a race summary from an event that lasted
2:20, so C’Mon Man! And the writing began.
The USAT Age-Group Olympic-Distance National
Championship race features the best triathletes in the country who qualified at
a previous race at the Olympic distance to earn an invitation to compete at the
championship. Simply stated…it’s the best of the best. Fortunately, I was
blessed to qualify at every Olympic race I competed at during the 2014-15
season…but qualifying is one thing and competing at Nationals is an entirely
different experience. This will be my 3rd time competing at Nationals. The first was in 2010 in Tuscaloosa, AL, again in Milwaukee in 2013
and again this year at the same race venue as 2013 in Milwaukee. The USAT (USA
Triathlon) Association moves the race around every 2-3 years to allow new host
cities and provide a change of scenery. This will be the third year for Milwaukee
which has been a great venue. The race takes place downtown at Discovery Park
on Lake Michigan. The swim is in the protected harbor, the bike along the
waterfront and an out and back over the Lincoln Memorial Bridge through a residential
neighborhood and the run through Discovery Park and the waterfront ending with
a beautiful finish in the park. It’s no wonder the race was extended for a
third year at this venue.
Not only is the competition stout – but
the energy is uberlike! Nearly over the top for me. Imagine for a moment 3,000
type-A athlete personalities all converging on the same race because they were
invited to compete by USAT? It sets the tone for a triathlon battle-royale. But
just like in 2010 and 2013 my race face is on and I’m ready for the challenge.
Battling an unknown leg injury in my lower right leg that appeared with sudden
onset just 10-days prior, leaving me barely able to walk and a
trip to urgent care, I’ve recovered to a place that will allow me to race, but
I’m not entirely sure what to expect come race day. Shall we say I’m cautiously
optimistic?
My age-group started in Wave-6 which is
great -- relatively early considering there is 17-waves total. The earlier the
better is my philosophy, especially at a large venue like this where the longer
you wait forces you to spend too much time in your own head. Lake Michigan is
a brisk 62-63 degrees -- much colder than 2-years ago when it was 69-70-deg. Clearly
a pre-race buzz topic the day before at the practice swim.
The swim is an in-water start, clinging
to a dock, waiting for directions from the race starter and the horn…and off we
go. Despite the cooler water temps I’m happy with my decision to still wear my sleeveless
wetsuit and although a bit chilly for the first 400-500 meters my core
temperature rose to a comfortable level. With over 170 guys starting in my AG it’s
crowded and body contact is unavoidable but by the time I warmed up I also
found open water. Many successful Olympic distance triathletes have a strong
swimming background which draws them into the sport where their bike and run
skills are not as prominent. Some develop the bike and run while others
already possess the full package as my coach Chris describes it. Regardless, they can swim. There are many
with the full package racing today. That
said, I am glad to simply hold my own amongst this fast swim field and come out
of the water with enough poise to bike and run down as many of the “swimmers”
as I can. I completed the 1.5K swim in 27:22, over a minute faster than 2-yrs
ago, but still only 94/168 in my AG.
After a fast and incident free
transition to the bike I am on my way. My race plan calls for a conservative
start keeping power in the 75% power range of FTP (functional threshold pace)
and then building to 90% FTP. Sometimes it’s difficult to race your own race as the
“hammerheads” push the pace early…like offering candy to a kid...hard to resist. But I stayed in my range, raising my power and building a sustainable pace to
finish much stronger than I started. The strategy is smart, sound and effective but I
felt I lacked the sense of urgency I’d had at Alcatraz and NYC. Perhaps my leg
injury was affecting me or I was just having a bit of an off day? I was getting
passed but knew I had some fast age groups behind me so I focused on managing my own race effort. Past the half-way point and turn-around I locked onto two
other riders to elevate and sustain my pace and completed the 40K
bike leg in 1:05:23 -- 3-minutes slower than my 2013 bike split, and 56/168 in
my AG.
In and out of transition quickly I knew
I had to try and settle into a fast – sustainable run pace as quickly as
possible. I felt strong enough to push early and began to make up some ground
passing several guys in my AG, some who passed me on the bike and others who were
fading on the run. Question was….how many could I catch? With only 10K to work I
would begin to run out of real estate and tried to stay focused. I kept my eye
on a guy in my AG who came out of transition just in front of me who I was
playing cat and mouse with on the bike. My intent is to pass him within the
final 1-2K but no such luck. We were running just sub-7 and he had a nice kick
at the finish and I couldn’t run him down. I managed a 10K race split of 43:35,
45/168 in my AG.
I can possibly attribute my Writer’s
Block condition to a subconscious way of not recognizing an off day compared to
other races this season which have been really pretty great. It’s been an
amazing year. Yes, not every race can be an “A” race, but each race is an
opportunity to shine and if there was ever a time to want to shine brightly
it’s racing against the best of the best at a championship venue. My goal was
to finish in the top 25 with a shot to make Team USA and compete at ITU Worlds
next year. I finished in a time of 2:20, and 49th in my AG
(out of 168 finishers). I’m pleased to finish in the top 29% of my AG on a day
like this amongst this competitive field, and in the words of the Great-One
Wayne Gretzky, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. Like most races, I
learned a lot racing here and the best take-away is I will
have many more shots to take...starting with IM 70.3 Los Cabos the end of
October with my eye on a personal record and a spot on the podium.
Much thanks to my coach Chris Bagg, the
Timex Factory Team, and team sponsors Scratch Labs, Blue Seventy, SKINS, Castelli
and Bonk Breakers.
Thanks for reading.
