Monster Tri 2013, Pulaski, TN. 200 yd pool swim, 16.3 mile bike and 2.9 mile
run. My last race report somehow had
numerous superhero references. Not to
continue that trend, but I must divulge a small token of my pre-race routine to
all aspiring triathletes out there. I
started off the pre-race mental prep by seeing Man of Steel at the Friday
afternoon matinee…coupled with the Ultimate Chicken Nachos to ensure a “balanced”
carb and protein loaded nutrition plan. No I did not race like Superman, but it’s the
thought that counts.
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| Triathlon-camping |
Race day started with
a 3:30 wake-up. Downed the standard
leaded coffee (it’s a treat on race day since I usually go decaf), peanut
butter toast, oatmeal and banana. On the
road at 4 am and arrived uneventfully in Pulaski at 5:00. Apparently, this is not early enough as
Carrie Wilson and Rick Greif were already there and staking out their tactical
spots in transition. However, I did get
there before the race staff had cordoned off the upper parking lot and got
“rock-star” parking right next to transition.
I chose to set-up nearest the bike in/out despite not getting the end
cap position. After this I joined Rick
and Carrie around the “campfire” as they enjoyed their hot coffee and waited
for the sun to rise. While admiring the
sunrise I pondered the irony in having the finish line right next to a
cemetery. Oh how mortal we are, despite
our perceived achievements in this sport where the crown jewel is called
IRONMAN.
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| View from the FINISH LINE |
Now back to reality, as there
was still pre-race paperwork to do… a new question came to mind, “Why does this
race not have a fleet of port-o-lets nearby transition?”. Race start time was 7 a.m. Good thing triathletes are type “A”. Some of those that thought the race started
at 8 a.m. still made it, albeit slightly rushed. The crowd moved into the pool area and I
noticed that some of the folks that had finished their warm up laps were now
shivering in the cool morning air. I
elected to forego the warmup since the swim was really short anyway, and spare
myself the enjoyment of shivering. I was
number 26 this time and felt that with the short pool swim that I could at
least stay ahead of Rick Greif (#91), even if he would probably beat my total
time. The swim went pretty smooth, I
stayed well ahead of #27 and closed the gap on the #25 swimmer ahead of me. Conclusion here was - I am not a big fan of
pool swims and would take the longer open-water swim any day. I had relatively fast transition (0:57) and
off on the bike.
This bike course was as advertised, with some nice rollers
and few good climbs (Please don’t laugh if you are part mountain-goat and enjoy
intense suffering and steep grades). The
good news is that [most of] what goes up must come down. This was evidenced by the Garmin recording a
47.9 MPH descent just past mile 6. Coming
in at mile 9 was a shallow curving ascent up a narrow road riddled with
potholes.
I couldn’t understand why I
was catching up to some of the stronger cyclists, but I passed them nonetheless
and enjoyed a fleeting moment of victory.
Shortly thereafter we made the turn out onto HWY 64 and the long, slow climb
began. Most if not all of the cyclists
that I had slipped by in that short climb promptly passed me again as my legs
were regretting the exertion from earlier.
The course was smooth most of the way in, and the only other excitement
came as I was nearing the end of the bike course. The quaint tree lined section off of Elkton
Pike towards the high school had a nice 5-6 inch drop off on the edge of the
pavement. Somehow I decided to bring a
little off-road triathlon into the mix and slipped off the side. Held this position for a 100 yards or so and
was able to hop it back onto the road at the next gravel driveway without
flatting or crashing. What is about the
edge of the road that just mesmerizes?
It’s like a shiny object you can’t help but be drawn to….
Interesting to note the slight uphill at the bike dismount
line -- I only mention this as my fear
of stupid human tricks is greatest here when weighed against saving precious
seconds by performing the Batman flying bike dismount. I
dutifully un-velcro’d my right foot approaching the finish line and attempted
to get the left foot clear but my legs were not cooperating. The slight up-hill approach to the dismount
line wasn’t helping either. I stopped at
the dismount line with my bare right foot and the left still strapped into my
shoe and clipped in. Took a few seconds
for my brain to get my leg to unclip and then off to transition. T2 was slower (1:00) than I would have liked
but the HWY 64 climb must of have done a number on my legs as they refused to
cooperate.
I was a bit worried that my run time was going to suffer due
to the lost training after Guntersville and the slow run performance at Mach
Tenn. I targeted an 8 min mile and
started off through the cemetery. I
suppose any cardiac events at this point in the race would be quite convenient
assuming there was an open plot nearby. The
run course had lots of turns but plenty of volunteers. Where was the water station coming out of
transition (whine)? At least the temperature and the clouds were helping. Kept the pace near 8 minutes and got a couple
of high fives on the run course from fellow Fleet Feet Triathlon teammates. I did let out a sigh of
relief that Rick’s bib number had given me the head start I needed. As we passed on the run, I only had about 1
mile remaining. He is still the master
and edged me by 55 seconds. My finish
time 1:22:32, 60th OA. Incredible
weather and great race day! Great podium representation by the Fleet Feet Triathlon Team and overall big turnout from the Huntsville/Madison triathlon community. The only downside was not getting my measly 1 point for
the Southeast Championship Triathlon Series…11th place in my AG is
worth zippo. Post race checkout revealed
the ample amount of Body Glide applied inside the heel of my running shoes took
care of any blistering in the Achilles area that I had from the last race.
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