I was originally planning on doing the half-Iron distance Morseman Triathlon in Noblesville, IN, on September 30. But due to a conflicting event--a friend of mine is getting inducted into the Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame--I decided to pass and do a different event.
So I signed up for the Louisville Landsharks Triathlon (LLT), which was scheduled for September 17. (This made for a much better race than last year, when they had it in the dead of July.) Originally, I planned on doing the Olympic distance, as that is the distance I did last year at the LLT. But my church was having a special training event, and I didn't want to miss the start of it.
So I opted for the Sprint distance.
The LLT, held at Taylorsville Lake, offers a very challenging course.
The swim is fairly smooth and straightforward: there is very little current. The Sprint distance is basically a loop along the shoreline. (The Olympic distance does two loops.) The hardest part of the swim is the enrance and exit--it's easy to slip on the boat ramp. And the trek to transition (T1) is uphill.
The bike features a nasty climbout in the first half-mile, followed by mostly rolling hills--two significant climbs and descents, one going out and one coming back--before going down that steep climb on the way to transition (T2). The Olympic distance goes out for six and a half more miles of rolling hills before the turnaround.
The run features that same nasty climbout, followed by rolling hills, with a nice downhill finish on that steep climbout. The Olympic distance is the same, only it goes out farther.
The worst things about the run, other than the steep climbout: there is virtually no shade. On a sunny day, you're going to feel the heat.
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My goal for this race was simple: good execution. I was in shape for this race; truth be told, I was in plenty good shape for the Olympic distance. While I had no expectations of an elite time, my goal was to swim, bike, and run at the levels I had achieved in practice. I knew that, with the swim, I should easily be able to get it inside 25 minutes, preferably around 22 or better. I knew that I was capable of at least a 15 mph pace on the hilly course. I also knew that, aside from the climbout, I should be able to get close to a 12-minute pace on the run. Even with a back brace, that should be doable.
While I tend to be methodical in transitions, I also aimed to keep my total transition time inside 10 minutes.
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I had considered ditching the wetsuit for this swim, given that the water temperature was 74F. But I thought better of it; I had always done my open-water swims with wetsuits, so I would keep it for this one.
That turned out to be a wise move, as it helped me acclimate to the water much better.
The swim was very smooth and uneventful. The water was comfortable, and I felt like I could swim all day. I almost threw in a second loop for the heck of it, but--no, stupid, this is a RACE!
According to the Garmin, I finished the swim in 22:40. pretty much nailed my target.
Coming out of the swim, they had wetsuit strippers--this helped greatly. After getting the wetsuit off, I put on my flip-flops and jogged to T1. I filled up my Speedfil bottle, took a swig of Gatorade, got my jersey, bike shoes, and helmet on--I made a tactical move to go sockless--and went out.
T1 time was 5:13.
The half-mile climbout was as tough as I remembered from last year, but--surprisingly--my legs recovered quickly and I was going full aero. While I geared down on some of the longer hills, I made it a point to attack more on the rollers. That turned out to be a good move.
On the bike, only one person passed me, and I would pass several athletes.
According to the Garmin, I finished the bike in 48:43.
Going into T2, I felt really good. I dismounted, strapped on my back brace, put on my Hokas--remaining sockless--and headed out. I decided that, because they were serving water on the run course, that I would leave my water bottles.
That climbout, on the run, kicked my butt. I walked up that hill. But after that, I ran the rest of the way, even on the uphills. I was repeatedly passed by this one gal who was running a wise strategy. She was clearly a better runner, although I beat her on the swim-bike split. But I held my own with her until the end. I started developing a blister on my left foot--probably for going sockless and not using Body Glide--or I probably would have raced her at the end. But I still had a good clip going in my own right.
I finished the run in 34:42, an 11:21 pace. Not bad for running with a back brace on a very hilly course.
Overall, I finished in 1:54:13. Not an elite time, but definitely very respectable given my health issues and the course difficulty. It gives me a glimpse of what is possible and provides a good measure of where I stand in terms of my fitness.
On the positives:
(1) That was near-perfect execution. I hit every one of my goals for this race. I swam, biked, and ran what I was capable of running. That was a tough course, but I showed up to execute and get it done.
(2) My bike-run bricks and hill work is paying off. On the bike, I came just short of a 16 mph pace. I would not have been able to do that last year on that course.
(3) My swim is improving. This is a pleasant surprise, as I have not swam as much this year as I did last year. However, I HAVE made the most of my open-water swim opportunities, and that is paying off.
Where I need to improve:
(1) Power. I'm not there yet, but there are signs of good change. The last couple years, I've been all endurance but no power. But I've been experimenting with High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) as a means to get power to go with my endurance. Today, I got some payoff from that.
(2) Power-to-weight ratio. The last couple years, I've been about 10 pounds above ideal. If I can drop those ten pounds, that will get me up those hills more efficiently and help me on the margins.
(3) Swimming. I lack coordination on my left side, and if I can get to where I can breathe bilaterally, that may give me the marginal speed I need on the swim.
But today was a very good day.
Here is the Garmin output.
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