Bluff Creek Round 5

Bluff Creek Triathlon has been a race I've looked forward to for a few years now.  I know the course and it always seems to be a battle of the elements.  Cold weather and windy days are always expected on the course.  This was to be my 2nd year racing the Olympic distance and I was the fastest returning racer.  I was excited to see what I could do on the course with the improvements I've made over the year.
I had some difficulty with registration before the race started.  Apparently, my name wasn't on the start list a few days out even though my check had been cashed.  I had to do some explaining at the packet pick-up and they cleared me up to go.

I was actually surprised at how late I got to sleep in on race day.  I basically woke up at my regular time of 5:00am and got ready to go.  It was a little chilly getting to the park.  My bike pump had a little difficulty pumping up my tire so I had to borrow somebody else's pump.  I got to transition and got one of the best spots in transition.  Warm-ups went smooth on the bike and run so I was excited to see what I could do.  My warm-up for the swim was to swim across to the beach.  I've never done this before but always wanted to so I felt pretty cool when I got to the beach.

77.8 degree water? Very questionable temperature.......

My wave was all the Olympic males.  I lined up next to Peder Skoog, the guy who I knew was going to be in contention for the win. When the gun went off we ran into the water for quite a ways.  Most of the racers weren't expecting to run in so far so somehow, within 25 yards of the race, I was in the lead!  I got excited and dove into a pile of algae.  For a little bit I struggled swimming through it all so I quickly jumped behind Peder as he cleared us a path.  Shortly after this, he was gone.

You can see me leading the race! This lasted only a little bit.

As we made our way on the swim there was about three of us battling for 2nd position swimming side by side.  I had no intentions of keeping the fight up so I instead took a quick break and hopped on the other swimmers feet.  The pace was controllable and I soon realized I was in the lead pack!  I was sitting in 4th place on the swim.  I did an amazing job of drafting for the first half of the swim until we made the turn at the furthest buoy.  When we hit the buoy, another swimmer came by and my pacer hopped on his feet which meant go time.  For the next 300-400 meters I was swimming pretty hard trying to stay on the feet.  As we made the final turn with about 200-300 meters to go I was in a world of hurt.  I wanted out of the water more than anything.  Luckily, I kept it together and came out of the water still on some feet as the 5th guy out of the water.  This is the first time I've ever been so close to the front out of the water!

Best swim position ever!

Running to transition was miserable.  I wanted to sit, I wanted to quit, I wanted everything but to get on the bike.  I knew my plan was to rip the bike and the run but right now I didn't want anything to happen.  I got through transition but dropped my bottle and had to grab it on the way out.  I got on the bike and got my shoes on pretty smooth.

Making my way out of the park I could see two riders up ahead.  I passed one pretty quick but the other guy was on a mission on the bike.  He pushed it hard and I was still recovering from the swim.  I wanted food and my legs were aching.  This turned out to be the story for a lot of the bike.  For some reason the gear I needed wasn't there.  I was struggling with hills and couldn't push the pace I knew I needed.  When we hit Twister Hill (because you know it's a bad hill when it has a name) I was happy to get some momentum.  Heading down I was zipping around cracks to not make the 40+ mph speed any more worrisome.  As I got to the climb I finally saw 3rd place up ahead.  Climbing got difficult as I got to the bottom gear and worked going uphill at 8mph; not as fun as the other way down.

As we approached the halfway point I was demoralized.  My bike effort was struggling.  Not having any riders to chase made the ride seem a lot tougher and slower.  I spotted Peder up in front and then the next two riders were still within striking distance.  I made the turn and the bottle feed station had waters with a screw top bottle.  Luckily my handling is good enough that I could ride hands free and open the bottle.  I quickly caught 3rd place and kept working forward.  On the way back tied my top speed of 48.5mph down Twister Hill and realized I had a good gap on 4th the rest of the way.

Coming into transition I was ready to run.  One of the volunteers called out, "You're eight minutes back!"  This is exactly what I didn't want to hear. How was I going to make up that time on the run? I knew if I just held it together on the run I would easily claim 3rd place.

As I made my way out on the run course I was not feeling hot.  My mom was alongside the road and yelled some encouragement while my dad asked where my visor was.  I haven't worn that for two years dad! T.J. Tollakson was also there and I recognized him right away.  He said, "You're running a lot faster than he is." which was EXACTLY what I needed to hear.  My legs got strong and my attitude changed: it was time to chase them down.

As I made my way out on the course I saw Peder had a huge lead.  Within 1.5 miles I caught sight of 2nd place and sure enough I was gaining.  When we hit the 2.5 mile mark he struggled up the hill and I made the pass.  We came back to the turn for the second loop and I knew I had it all locked in as long as nothing bad happened. 

My bodily expression pretty much sums up how I was feeling during the whole race: not good.

I kept a strong pace until mile 4 where I decided to start emptying the tank.  As I approached mile 5 something bad happened: my body started to get cold.  On a hot day I knew this meant I was bonking, my body was running out of calories and starting to shut down.  I had a mile left and I had to keep it together. My mind was focused on running the course and keep moving because I had enough of a gap I could easily take it no problem.  Doing the run course 4 times before makes it a little easier as well.

Holding everything together for the last few steps.

I came across the line and just fell down.  A volunteer came over me and I asked for water which she pointed out was 50 yards away at the food station.  I refused to get up so they sent somebody to go get it for me. Slowly, I got back on my feet and welcomed the other racers as they came in.

Didn't make it far from the finish line.

Here is a video of me finishing.  Three things to note: My mom correcting them where I'm from, the lyrics "if I just lay here" playing as I lay down, and my reaction when the volunteer points to where I have to go to get the water.

After the race I talked with a few other top finishers and we discussed the race.  Apparently I had come out of the water only two minutes behind Peder who beat me out of the water by five minutes last year.  This was a major accomplishment along with coming out of the water in the top 10.  The run and the bike were a little on the slow side as I just felt my gears were not there.  I have a week to prepare and figure out the problems there as I'll be racing back to back weeks!

Support team who comes to cheer me on no matter where I go!