Elephant Man Triathlon

Like always I have lots to talk about but not a whole great deal of time to do it. So by the time you read this I may have already been working on it for a couple of days or even weeks, but I hope it doesn't get that bad. But anyway, I was just going to share a little bit about how the Elephant Man Triathlon went this past weekend.

The swim started off pretty easy. I did not put a big surge in right away to get away from everyone but rather, I just sat in the group for a little bit. I was not planning on having a fast fantastic swim (due to not swimming much since the broken rib) so I was for the most part, just biding my time. Someone started swimming on my legs and back after a little while and I'm like, "Dude! you have the whole lake here, please back off." I did a little zig-zag to get him off of me but he was still hitting me. Then I decided to give him the old motor boat routine by kicking really hard making a lot of bubbles and splashing to hopefully ditch the little limpet. It worked and I was finally able to swim in peace.

We turned the first buoy and began swimming directly into the worst chop I have ever swam in. A couple of times while breathing I inhaled a ton of water and had to resort to the breast stroke for a little while to avoid a total panic. If I was really struggling to swim without freaking out, what must the less experienced swimmers be feeling? Finally, after what felt like an eternity, we rounded the final buoy and swam for shore. At least now the waves were at our side.

Arriving in transition one I did my best at wresting off my wetsuit and putting on my biking gear. I have yet to master the flying mount with my shoes attached to the pedals but right now, at my level, I don't really think it matters. As I started pedaling my knees kept hitting my GU packets taped to my top tube so I ripped them off and stuffed them in my pocket. I biked behind a fellow biker for a while trying to catch my breath and then, once I did, it was time to go.

I tried to stick to my pre race plan which involved staying conservative the first few miles of the bike ride. Staying conservative for me, and probably everyone else, was hard and the miles went by very slowly. I struggled to get out of my little chain ring and I was not making up very much ground on anyone. Then I remembered the choppy swim and looked around and saw the culprit whistling through the bent over trees and grasses. The wind was right in our faces and it was a pretty substantial one. I thought, "Ah! no wonder this is so hard." So it was now, I realized, this would be the time to really open it up and see what time I could take out. But when I asked my legs for more power they didn't respond. They didn't feel bad but not good either. They just felt tired and a little unmotivated. Again and again I kept backing the effort off in an attempt to get them firing on all cylinders when I stepped back on the gas. But the results were always the same, nothing.

A few miles into the bike course, long time triathlon veteran (and one hell of a cyclist) Hector Tovar comes up behind me and moves into the lead. Before the race I knew it was possible for me to have the best bike split of the day so Hector's pass did not put me into the best mood. However, I had a lot of confidence in my run and as long as I didn't let Hector get too far ahead (better yet, as long as Hector didn't bike too much farther ahead) I should be able to pull him back on the run.

Hector hit transition two about two minutes ahead of me I figured, maybe a little more. Immediately I started doing some calculations in my head and was trying to figure out just when I would catch him. If the best run split last year was 37 minutes and most everyone was 38 minutes, I would probably need a 36 something to pull back Hector.

I asked myself, "Was it doable?

Yes of course!" I answered (I really do have conversations like this in my head during races.) and I actually had a goal of running faster than what I needed to probably pull back Hector.

Once on the run I was having the same feelings I did on the bike. I did not feel bad bit I didn't feel good either. I made the mistake of forgetting socks so by mile 2 I was already feeling blisters to form. I never run without socks and now I remember why. Each time there was a long strait away I could see Hector ahead of me. I was luckily making up ground but it was slow. Despite making up ground my feelings were starting to head south while heading out to the turn around around mile 3. I was thinking how this would be my last serious race for a long time and mentally I think I was already done. I had surrendered to Hector before the race was even over.

I saw Hector at the turn around and probably still had a minute to make up on him. I was tired but still kept on trucking. I poured water all over my head and just tried to keep my legs ticking over. Still as tired and as mentally unmotivated as I was I still seemed to be making up ground with every stride. With a mile to go Hector was less than a minute ahead of me and I fought hard to find that extra little bit I knew I had. I however, never found that extra little bit and Hector crossed the line just 28 seconds in front of me. Clay Moseley (a former gold medalist in the individual time trial) beat us both so I was third. It was an improvement over last year but for whatever reason to me, it felt anti-climactic.

Looking back on this race I think it is clear that I need another break. Not so much physical but mental. It is time to get back in touch with my roots. I need to find out why I love this sport so much. I honestly just long for those long social Saturday morning bike rides, those crisp steamy morning swims, and those solitary trail runs. I need to recharge and answer some personal questions.