With spring break and most of my midterms completed, it was time to have some fun. And by fun I mean racing. Racing fast. Last year, Havasu was probably my best race of the season and I was looking forward to making this the best race of my season (so far, bigger goals in April). As our conference (mountain college triathlon conference) championships, it was our last chance to measure our racing fitness before Nationals at the end of April. Just a week removed from some high altitude training in Flagstaff, AZ for spring break, I was ready to fire up my engines and race hard. Without taking much time off the week of the race to rest, it was time to go, whether I was ready or not. The ream drove up Friday morning and once at the race site on Friday afternoon, a quick dip in the lake (to test the water) was followed by a quick preview of part of the bike course. Last year, it was extremely hot, but this year had cooler temperatures, most likely from the wind blowing out of SSE. This wind meant a tailwind on the slight uphill ride out and a mean headwind on the return. Nonetheless, the race plan never changed and it was time to get after it.
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| hi Zach |
Race morning was cool, with temperatures in the mid-50s and the water in the mid-60s. With the collegiate race starting at 7:50AM, the sun was up for well over an hour, allowing the temperature to start to warm up. After setting up transition, warming up with a jog to and up the stairs at the foot of the London Bridge, and my pre-race ritual, I got my legs into my wetsuit and threw on my final game face. The swim this year was different than last, longer, thankfully. This year we started in the channel, and then swam out into the lake as we did last year. With it being about 800meters until the first turn, but only about 100meters until the end of the channel, sighting was extremely important. The race director instructed us that our first turn was at the green buoy, and while there were a yellow and orange buoy between the start and the green, they were slightly off line and certainly not the fastest way. Immediately when the gun went off, I made sure to stay very close to the front without burning too many matches. By the time we got into the open water of the lake, another athlete from CU and I (he came out of the water 12 seconds ahead of me at Pumpkinman), we're out ahead of the rest of the pack. Sighting only on the green buoy, I tried to stay on the most direct path, but the wind was causing some small swells in the lake, causing some unwanted side-to-side swimming. Once we finally made it to the first turn, we were separated from the rest of the group and it was time to push the pace a bit. It was a straight shot to the next green buoy, and given it was a short distance to it, I put in a small surge to see if he would come with me. As I began to push the pace, he followed and we both realized that we could come out with a large gap. Once we arrived at the last buoy and made a very sharp, almost 180 degree turn, it was a straight line to get back to shore, if you did not use the other buoys to sight. Again, the yellow and orange buoys were for sighting purposes, but were off a direct line to the swim exit. Once I was finally able to find the swim exit by the flags on shore after picking my head up and practically stopping (looking directly into the sun), I put my head back down and charged towards the exit. Near the end of the swim, he put in a small surge ahead of me, and I followed but had no reason to challenge as we exited the water.
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| unknowingly had over a minute gap |
After stripping my wetsuit and clipping my helmet, I unracked my bike and began to run out of transition, immediately following the other athlete. My mount was routine, I got my feet in my shoes, tightened them and was on my way!
Given we rode the first part of the course the day before, it was a good refresher as to what lay ahead. The slight uphill on the way out was essentially cancelled by the tailwind we had. After pre-race talks, it was decided to increase effort slightly in the two neighborhoods and keep the effort strong everywhere else. Arriving in the first neighborhood came with a small climb to begin, before turning and going up and down for a bit. Everything was status quo, and near the turn around point of this section, Ian and Shea (CSU athletes) rolled through and encouraged me to work with them, which I was all about. On the way out of the neighborhood, which was mostly downhill, I saw all my teammates begin to flood the course, and that encouraged me to continue to push the pace. After turning back onto the main road, the tailwind was back and my effort began to level out on the way to the turnaround. The turn around was not exactly halfway, since we rode through a different neighborhood on the way back and it was slightly shorter than the other. In the second neighborhood, which was in the shape of a lollipop, there were three short but very steep 'hills.' Getting over the first two went according to plan and on the backstretch I downed a gel (contrary to what I wanted to do) because I knew I was going to need some energy later in the race. Coming over the final hill and shooting down it, I was excited to be down with the hardest part of the bike. As I was exiting the neighborhood, I heard a pop and a loud, long hiss, Looking down I had to face the inevitable. A front flat, presumably from a bump, sidelined me briefly. Once stopping and dismounting, "F#$%!" was yelled and pretty sure a lot of people heard it, including the police officer who turned and said "so is someone coming to pick you up?," which struck me the wrong way. I did not reply to that and as I walked by him I held back some choice words as it would not change my situation. Leaving my shoes clipped into my bike, I took my helmet off and began to walk my bike back towards the main road. Knowing I could not ride back the 8 miles back to transition, I began to think of how long it would take me to walk back. Figuring it would be about 2 hours, I knew I could still finish the race. A resident passed me in his car and offered me a ride, and after kindly declining as the goal was to still finish, continued walking towards the main road. Near the main road, my main squeeze Conrad began to slow down and ask me what I needed, but told him to keep going and that I was going to get help (not knowing if I actually would), but I refused to let another teammate take time out of their race for me. After walking somewhere near a mile and coming to the main road, I was offered another ride by two CU parents who claimed they were going back in a few minutes. Again, I kindly declined and explained how I would still like to finish. And by the stoke of a miracle, they said they have tube(s) and a pump. Now realizing the potential of me still being able to race, I ripped off my tire and thew in that new tube, probably faster than I've ever changed a tube. As we pumped it up and began to put it back on my bike, POP. I pinched the tube when I put it back in. But, something was meant to be, because they had another tube and I repeated the whole process, this time, making sure to keep the tube INSIDE the tire. This time it worked, and I threw the wheel back on my bike, buckled my helmet, gave the kind souls some words of gratitude and exclaimed how they saved my life today and put my game face back on. Being all amped up now, the send became real as it was slightly downhill into a headwind all the way back to transition. The one positive thing about flatting was seeing all my teammates, who I was able to encourage as I saw them on the course. It took me a minute to start to think about the rest of the race, since I was still ready to make the most of what I had. After a very quick ride back, I set a goal for myself on the run to give the best effort I could, knowing that my time and placing was already out the window from being stopped for so long (strava here).
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| still aero |
After dismounting and racking my bike, I took a deep breath and got my shoes, glasses, and race belt on. Knowing I had absolutely nothing to lose on the run, I was ready to see what I could produce after being mentally taken out of the race once I flatted. Going up the stairs to the London Bridge two at a time, I got to the top and say Jimmy and Doug who said "we're happy to see you, Dean, get in a good run here." And believe me, I was happy to see them too, and I gave them a thumbs up on my way out onto to course. Settling into a fair pace, I wanted a strong, steady run as the race had felt like a hard workout at this point, since it was extremely difficult to be competitive being where I was in the race. Seeing my teammates coming back was extremely helpful, as they were all excited to see me still on the course. Some low-fives and words of encouragement were exchanged as we passed each other. Hitting the turn around came quicker than I expected as I was doing my best not to look at my watch and racing on how I felt. Turning around, I knew I was almost done and wanted to push a little bit harder. Over the course of the entire run, I did not take on any water or gels, since I was running on emotion, knowing I had put in too much work this year not to finish well, despite what had already happened in the race. Going back I saw more and more teammates, whom I all encouraged as went by. Getting back on London Bridge, Doug told me that I had a gap from whoever was behind me, but they were not allowed to pass me. Knowing I was around half a mile to the finish, I was definitely not going to let him down. The pace increased and after snaking towards the finish line and kicking for the show, I finished well and was utterly disappointed with what happened (strava here, results here).
Albeit I was highly disappointed with what had happened, there was really nothing to hang my head on. After a great swim, an exceptional bike (until the flat), and being able to string together a run that I would have been happy with regardless. But shit happens, and that day it did and there was nothing I could do about it. Thank you to my teammates for trying to keep me positive after my race and I love you all. And despite the result, it was time to move on and get ready for the big one (collegiate nationals) next month in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Until then, I'll be training hard because #RollTide.
Catch y'all on the flip!
