Elkhart Lake USAT Midwest Regional Championships
Going into this race I had 3 goals
1. Have FUN
2. Learn How to Race a triathlon
3. Not have the cramps in the legs like past three races
I raced this race last year and was really excited to give it a try again, placed 3rd last year and goal was to win this year. They have a good amount of prize money for top 5 places, which brought me back. Drove up to the beautiful summer getaway Friday afternoon to cold, rain and wind. Checked into the race; number 66 and then went out to dinner with a couple friends followed by a movie which lead to a late bedtime. Sodium loading the night before and morning of the race was one change in race plans to help correct the muscle cramping.
Race morning came and of course it was cold and raining. Eat my normal pre race breakfast and drove to the race. Arriving at the race course right off the bat I saw 3 other P4’s, which was shocking. Got transition set up and rolled around on the bike checking up on everything. Was happy to see my family, girlfriend and coach before the start, which always brings up the moral.
Finally the gun went off and off we go dolphin diving into the crystal clear water. My goal was to come out of the water with the swim premium. Found the lead swimmers feet and stuck on them for as long as I could. But then he started to swerve around “Think he saw me getting a free ride and did not like that.” I lost a bit of distance by the turn around and that one body length would NEVER shorten up for the rest of the swim. I realized after that the swim must have been long because I was swimming a lot faster but ended up having a slower time. I looked at a few other people who raced at Elkhart and all the times were a bit slower. Kind of sucked because I was excited to see the result from all my hard work in the pool.
Into T1 I was pretty tired, of course I had an extremely slow T1 like normal. When I finally got onto my bike I could not see the lead guy for the life of me. “Really need to work on my transitions” Was focused on the task ahead, get within sight of the lead, get over the many hills, not exert to much effort and enjoy the new bike.
I started cruising and focused on what the goal for the race was “Learn how to race and win.” At the start of the start of the ride I had to keep on reminding myself that I did not have to come off the bike in first. Being within sight of the leader would be good enough for me, and then I knew I could show off my hard run work I have been putting in. So slowly but surely I started seeing glimpse of the leader. That glimpse started turning into a figure, that figure started turning into a silhouette, that silhouette turned into a person until I was finally right behind him. Up to that point I was focusing on not working to hard. I was watching the rider and realized that every up hill I would gain some good distance and on the flats I would stay the same. So finally around mile 12 I put in a little extra effort around and took the lead. I worked the next couple hills until I could not see him any more and then backed the effort level down again. Finished up the bike un eventful other then cheering on the other age groupers going the other way which is always nice getting a couple smiles out. Came rolling into T2 and saw my whole cheering section “Very supportive family, friends and girlfriend.” Also had the surprise to see my coach Mike P from yourtrainningzone. For the first ride on the P4 I was really happy, comfortable and fast. Not sure what I could have done if was putting down a hard effort but was happy that I saved enough for the run because that is one part of my racing that I need to work on. “Not biking to hard so run falls apart”
Sad to say but my T2 was probably slower then what my grandma could do. I even sat down to get my socks on; my hands were so cold that I could not tie my shoes or feel my toes haha. “I think I may be a wimp” Task ahead with my trusty Newton shoes under me, stay in the lead and have fun! Also make it to the finish of the hard hilly run course.
The fans were awesome running out of T2; I could not wipe the smile off my face the whole time. Even though I knew I hopefully had a good amount of time on second place I put the legs into high gear. First mile split came in and I was shocked, heart rate was also haha. Next couple miles where un eventful being out of the main cheering section so just focused on fast running and being smart. At the turn around I was able to see all the chasers and dam did they look like they were running fast. This freaked me out, still new to this running in the lead and all the competitors looked like they would catch me in no time. With that panic I decided I should stop fooling around and try to put some more time in between them and me. I was doing the worst thing a racer could do, kept on looking back to see if I could see any one. I felt like the deer being chased by the hunters. Finally around mile 3 or so, a spectator saw me looking back so often and he said a few amazing words. “Dude your in the clear, don’t worry about them, enjoy yourself.” At that moment my mind switched like a light switch, from going ahhh they are coming for me to, ahhh this if fun lets just enjoy the last couple miles and not hurt myself pushing to hard when I don’t need to. Couple more hard hills went by and the finishing crowd finally came into sight. Was so happy to see the crowd, family, and friends. Gave some high fives, smiled and ran through the finish. I was so happy, finally 3 races latter I was able to put together a race without a breakdown. After smiling so much the whole race I thought that I would get a break from that but of course I did not. The smiles went on for the rest of the day.
After a nice talk with my coach who I thank so much for the result, I got to be embraced by my family, congratulate the other competitors and talk to the press a bit. For the rest of my time at Elkhart I simply enjoyed the amazing company and the beautiful area. Before I finish up this long blog post I would like to thank Endurance House for helping me so much, Peak Performance Massage for keeping my body going, Yourtrainningzone for helping me train to my full potential and of course the Lord for everything he does GTGTG. Hope you all enjoyed the post.
