Shelbyville Triathlon Race Report March 22, 2015

Race season is underway! Finally, after a few months of indoor training and a few teasers outside, I got to test the legs over the course of a weekend. First, on Saturday, I had the Rodes City Run 10k. My plan was to take at easy and save the legs for the Shelbyville Race the following morning. Headfirst Performance always puts on a great local race and I find them fun and its good to see friends who are racing. My goal was to race the Shelbyville Triathlon and simply run the Rodes City. I had a decent race at Rodes ending up with a 45:56 for the race and negative splitting the race. I didn't push too hard and felt strong at the end. It was a fun day out there!

 That's me around mile 5. I was pushing 6:45 pace here and felt great! @ Peter Reid

Sunday morning, I awoke to 45 degree weather and a forecast for partly sunny skies. Finally, a triathlon in the normal swim-bike-run format! This race was a 400 yard swim, 12 mile bike and a 5k out and back run. After running a solid 10k the day before, I was excited and a little nervous to see how the legs and engine would hold up. The swim was in the pool, eight laps, 16 lengths total in a serpentine fashion. The swim was self seeding so I seeded myself around 6th or 7th in line. I have been working hard on my swim with the help of my coach Kim Schwabenbauer at Fuel Your Passion so I was confident in my ability to be faster in this pool than previous races.

Each athlete went off at 10 second intervals and I seeded myself behind Luke Powell who is generally faster than me, especially in the pool. Soon, I was off and going! At the end of lap one, I was on Luke's feet, tapping his toes. I'm sure that's annoying and I finally made the pass in lap 3 or 4. It really is amazing what drafting does in the swim. I was barely working those first three laps. As I exited the pool, I looked at my watch- 6:00 flat! I crossed the timing mat at 6:03 taking a couple second to climb the pool steps- I was off to T1.

Swim 6:03 1st age group

My theory in racing- keep it simple stupid- the KISS method. I had a plan to wear two layers and put them on in T1 to stay warm on the bike. To say I had a wardrobe malfunction is an understatement. My jersey got tangled up in my singlet, zipper broke, and I wasted precious seconds in T1 bullshitting around with my jersey. I didn't lose the race here but...yeah- yeah I did. Luke was in and out of T1 in a minute- whatever I gained in the swim, I lost in transition. Lesson learned.

T1 2:54

On to the bike...

Headed out to the bike @Reggie Garcia

The bike course

It took a few minutes to warm up but once I got my legs, I felt good. First loop, I passed two athletes and was passed once. Felt good to be on the bike in a race. Second loop, started catching the late starting athletes. As you can see below, learning a good dismount can save you a few seconds and also save your cleats...

Bike 31:46 22.7 mph 3rd AG

Rolling into T2

Coming into T2, my goal was to see if I could catch Luke and possibly others. It is an out and back run where you can see your competition and guage time gained and lost. The run course is also rolling with a killer hill in the middle to keep everyone honest. The first 400 yards of the run I had major cramping in both calves and nearly dropped out. BUT, I kept going and they worked themselves out. The first mile was covered in about 8 minutes, not bad due to cramping. The last 2.1 were covered at a 6:40 pace- not too shabby since I ran a 10k the day before. Thanks to my sponsor Primal Sport Mud I was able to recover nicely to be ready for the Shelbyville race!

Run 22:15 3rd AG

Total 1:03:34

3rd Age Group, 10th overall. PR for this course by 5 minutes. 1st out of the water AG

Won a pair of Swiftwick Socks for my efforts! @ Greggory Garcia

I was pleased with my race and pleased with my fitness level for this time of year. Lots of hard work ahead in preparing for the Derby Half Marathon, Ironman Chattanooga 70.3 and ultimately Ironman Louisville. Good times are ahead!

Shelbyville Triathlon Series Race Report

Weather in Kentucky in January, February, and March is always dicey- you never know what you are going to get. With our winter being colder with more than normal snow, I had a feeling that the entire race or a portion of it would be canceled. Sure enough, we had some sleet and freezing rain from the day before.

As I pulled into Clear Creek Park for the race, I got out of my truck and the lot was slushy. I walked in and before I even picked up my race packet, Bill Stearman, a friend of mine, told me the bike portion was canceled. Secretly, as much as I love the bike portions of triathlon, I was glad!

The race now was a run-swim, with a short transition inside by the pool. In order for me to place in my age group, 35-39, I knew that a fast run was going to happen. Whether I could run fast, that was the question! My strategy was to pace my good friend, Luke Powell on the run and hope that my extra time in the pool would help me get close at the end.

Headfirst Performance always puts on a great race!

 The run pace was pretty fast as we started, three guys went off the front and stayed in the second pack with Luke and Scott Groan, another friend who raced Ironman Muncie 70.3 and Ironman Louisville. Another 300 yards in, two more guys went and they got ahead by a hundred yards or so. It was now or never for me and I increased my pace from a 6:12 to 5:50 for a short burst to bridge up. At the turn around point, I had a good gap to the group behind me and had two guys in front that I saw were slowing. With a quarter mile to go, i was safely in 4th, 12 seconds up on the next guy. The guys up front, including Lewis Jackson had a good lead entering the pool. They hammered the run, which was the play in this kind of short race where your heart rate is maxed from the start. I entered the water in 4th.

Run - 11:33 6:12/mile for 1.86 miles or 3k

Being the tactical racer I am (LOL) I put my swim cap under my beanie and wore my swim goggles around my neck for the run to make my transition a little faster in such a short race. As you can see below, I failed to take off my race belt and actually swam with it for 200 yards! It definitely slowed me down as I took it off half way through and lost a few seconds!

Transition :29 seconds

Me entering the water with race belt!

400 yard pool swim

Swim - 6:58 400 yard pool swim

Whether you swim in the pool or open water, part of the race is flying elbows, arms, and legs. I ran into a swimmer or two completing the 8 laps, which slowed me down somewhat. Also, with my heart rate through the roof, it was nearly impossible to complete a flip turn, so I resorted to pushing off the wall, which I know lost me a few seconds. At the end, I ended up 5th male over all and 2nd age group! Pretty good start to the 2015 season!

Total 19:01

I'm really looking forward to the 2015 season and what it has to bring. I want to improve and hit some benchmarks I have set, but also learn more about this sport. Thanks to my coach Kim Schwabenbauer and all my wonderful partners who help make the racing possible!

Pin Point Perks Louisville

Primal Sport Mud

Honey Stinger

Training Peaks

Infinit