Bath County Triathlon: Knowing Myself

My first triathlon on the East coast would be the Bath Country Triathlon. It was a sprint distance which I hadn’t done since 2011 so the idea of such a short burst of high intensity was going to be something unfamiliar to me. It was a four hour drive to the course which was seriously in the middle of nowhere. I lost cell service two hours out and the navigation to the course took us down a gravel road. My thought process at one point had me question whether there actually WAS a race or not. It turned out that there was and the location was very secluded and scenic race.

The drives to races don't just have cornfields to look at.  On the drive home I was at one point averaging 59.1 mpg (I may have been going down a mountain for a few miles).

I ended up staying in one of the sketchiest hotels the night before the race a few towns over because the only thing offered in the nearby towns was bed and breakfast places. At first I was hesitant on this but tell myself that the strangest races always create the best stories. The hotel company was pretty much a bunch of middle aged men sitting in the parking lot on their trucks drinking beer the night before. My room hardly fit myself and my bike it was so small. I actually had to take note because one of the guests had brought his own grill and was in the parking lot using it cooking in swim trunks. I’m not in Iowa anymore.

Race morning came and I was the first person into transition. I got warmed up on both the run and the bike and headed down to the swim quite early which turned out to be a good thing. Nobody had any idea of the swim course. The website said we would be starting against a boat dock and swimming counter clockwise in the water but everybody was convinced we would be swimming clockwise. As the first wave got set to start we were still confused on whether we were starting on the boat ramp or in the water. One of the fellow racers said he heard the race director say we were starting behind the first buoy so about half of us headed 25 yards out for an in water start.

So it seems this will likely be a trend: pre-race selfies

As we got close to race start I moved to the shortest distance from the start line to the first turn buoy and noticed that there wasn’t anybody within about 10 yards of me. I was hugging the start buoy but everybody else was a little ways away. The horn went off and I did my thing to get going right away. As I looked over I kept an eye out to see if there were any feet pulling ahead to grab onto but there was nobody. I’m not sure how this happened but I was the first swimmer to the turn buoy and was leading the swim.

Now I know myself; I’m a good swimmer but I am not one to set the pace for the swim and have the fastest swim split. For the first third of the swim I was setting the pace and was getting myself in a confident mindset. If I can be near the front on the swim then I can easily be up front on the bike and the run. Sure enough though, a swimmer passed me at the second turn as we made our way to the back half.

I got comfortable knowing how close I was to the front and that the lead swimmer couldn’t sight. He continually was swimming side to side while I was able to take the shortest distance to the next buoy and keep up with him. As we neared the final turn buoy another swimmer past me and I got on his feet. The three of us came into the finish together and I got excited that I was the lead swim group for once!
As we exited the water I quickly made my way past the 2nd place swimmer and into transition. With the race being short transitions would play a bigger factor than usual. While taking my bike off the rack I

looked over to realize that I was the first guy leaving transition and now held the lead! My heart rate was spiked and I got everything off and onto the bike still a little dizzy.

I drove out on the course the day before for the bike so I knew what to expect. There was a hill right at the start and then it was pretty flat the rest of the way with a few rollers. I told myself to stay out of the little ring and just power through this bike course. Coming out of transition I looked back to see I had one rider about ten seconds behind me and that was it. I got going and hoped my breathing would catch up with me as I took on the first hill including a pretty big exhale of noises (I seemed to make some sort of heavy noise when I start working hard). As I got to the other side of the hill I looked back and saw nobody. I put the power on and started trying to make as big of a gap as I could on everyone.

Now I know myself; my bike has greatly improved in the past few years and now I can easily post one of the fastest bike splits in most races. As I made my way out on the bike I just couldn’t seem to get any power in my legs. My usual gear seemed heavy and I found myself having to continually shift into a smaller gear. Panic started to build inside me. Maybe I didn’t rest up right and was coming up flat on the bike? Maybe I was riding on a flat tire? Maybe one of my brakes was rubbing? No matter what the reason, I could not for the life of me push any speed on the bike.

I took a look back and saw something I didn’t want to see: a rider was catching me. I started to consider what to do. After a few miles of frustration I pulled my bike to the side of the road and stopped. While I checked to make sure everything was functioning properly on my bike the other rider road past me. There was nothing wrong with the bike; it was working perfectly fine. Apparently, I just suck at biking. This decision to pull over cost me the lead.

When I finally hit the turnaround of the bike I was still holding on to second place. I can’t begin to explain the frustration that hit me when I turned around. My bike started rolling and rolling easily. There wasn’t another rider in sight. The whole entire first half of the bike was UPHILL!!!! I had been tricked by a false flat and completely lost my confidence in myself because of it. This lack of awareness made me lose the lead and burn up my legs trying to push too big of a gear. While riding back I was so frustrated with myself because it was more than a false flat; I was actually riding uphill and going back down made me question how I didn’t realize it. The second half of the bike was quite hazy. My built up frustration had me completely redlining and I could hardly see more than a few feet in front of me. The fact that I didn’t crash is quite a miracle.

As I came into transition there was no sight of the leader and no sight of anybody behind me. I got on my run shoes and planned to see how my legs felt once I got out on the course.

I had the opportunity to see the run course a few times before the race. There was a hill coming directly out of transition followed by a smaller hill near the turnaround but overall it was downhill out and uphill back. The hills weren’t too daunting as long as I took them smart and kept my feet moving.
Coming out on the run was a completely different feeling trying to go up the hills. My legs were tired and my heart rate hadn’t dropped any bit. As I began the hill I heard spectators cheering as the next racer made it into transition and I told myself to hopefully just hold on to second place. When I made my

way to the top of the hill I saw the lead runner up ahead by about a minute. At this point in the race with less than three miles to run a one minute lead is pretty significant in the top few racers. Most people near the front are pretty solid in all three sports so you can count on them to have a run to hold off a 60 second lead. I did notice however that I was gaining on him just a little.

At this point I started doing some math because I really like math. I needed to cut his lead down significantly in the next few miles because if I can’t pass him until the home stretch then I can guarantee he isn’t going to go down easy. It was going to take a tremendous effort to close the gap and I needed to move. Unfortunately, the next mile I was only able to get about 10 seconds closer as we continued to go downhill.

When I made it to the turnaround things started to look up. I still was in second but there was a much bigger gap behind me than in front of me. My target was first place and I kept my eyes on him. I watched the way he ran; analyzed everything about him. He looked to be pounding on his feet. His cadence was slower than mine and he struggled on the uphill portions. The next mile I really dug down and with about one mile left in the race, I came alongside the lead.

There wasn’t much distance left in the race and the competitors heading out knew it. People were yelling for us, knowing it was going to be a tight finish. I was only able to hold the lead by a yard as he got back up to my speed. It seemed to everybody that this was going to be a good finish. Everybody but me.

Now I know myself; I am a runner. What everybody else didn’t realize is that I had slowed up just a tab when I made the pass. I knew the course ahead and had visualized how to finish the race if it came down to just myself and another racer. My strategy was already set and I was both looking forward to it and not so much.

We had one hill left and then it was all downhill. Every time that we came across a hill on the run I had been able to move a little closer. My plan was to make my move on the hill. My mindset was, “These next two minutes are going to suck, a lot, but in about six minutes it will all be worth it.” When we got to the bottom of the hill I barreled into the thing. I picked up my knees and climbed. As I started the hill I could hear people yelling, “Go runners!” to the both of us and as I crested the top they were instead yelling, “Go runner!” There was no longer another runner beside me. With less than a half mile to go I had pulled away.

The finish line area.  You can briefly see some of the scenery off to the left above the trees.

Coming down the hill was pretty easy. I let the downhill speed me up and started smiling. There was a huge effort that I had to put in on the run and it really paid off. I looked back as I took the final turn and could no longer see second place. I came across the line and had to wait 30 seconds for him to finish. Later he told me that had he been able to make it to the top of the hill alongside me he would have sprinted to the finish; it’s a good thing I went when I did. He had started the run nearly 1:30 ahead of me and I was able to catch him and take another :30 up to take the win.

Overall podium.  I got a lunch bag and a container of HEED so now I have two containers to use up.

Sadly, this is where the high moment ends. The men were separated into two different waves. Another racer from wave two was able to take the victory by over a minute. My stop on the bike slowed me by

about 30 seconds and there was a lot of confidence drained on that first half. I was able to have a top ten split in all three sports and transitions thought. Even with stopping on the bike I posted the 7th fastest time of anybody.

Coming in 2nd was a tough pill to swallow after my effort on the run but I know myself and I know that I will take that 1st place spot soon. For now it is back to the training and making sure this wasn’t a one and done effort out here. 

Kristine finally able to use both her race wheels and look destructive.

Air Force Association Cycling Classic: Getting Back to Business

So for the last month my training has been extremely sub-par.  I got injured mid-April so I completely stopped riding to allow myself to recover, I graduated college, and I moved 1,000 miles across the country to Virginia.  I try to stay positive and think that although most athletes do not enjoy injuries, mine tend to come at times that I can take a break.  It took some effort to get back to training and I have been hesitant to try to ride.  It started with not being able to bend my knee, then I had to teach a spin class one legged (yes it was entertaining to watch), and then finally I have slowly worked myself up from being able to ride for about 20 minutes pain free to an hour without any pain.  Once I got to an hour I decided I would give a race a try to see whether I was ready to start doing what I’ve always done.

The Air Force Association Cycling Classic Challenge Ride is a really cool event. It basically is a big loop around the Pentagon and surrounding areas.  All the roads are closed from traffic so the cyclists have a lot of room to ride.  There was about 2,000 riders so there was a great chance to work with other riders at my level and test my leg.  For any cyclists reading this, the event is REALLY cool and I encourage you to try it out.  The challenge was to see how many loops you could do within three hours.

My view to the start line.

Now I knew I was out of shape compared to what I know I am capable of.  I hadn’t really been on any group rides for nearly a year and my handling was going to be sub-par.  I calculated what speed I needed to average to reach the Gold Level which was the top level and figured I could do it. I got registered and lined up about 300 riders deep before the race start.

Waiting for the race to start I began chatting with the riders next to me.  I mentioned this was my first time and that I have just moved from Iowa. This is the conversation that followed:

Rider: Oh you’re from Iowa, are there even any hills there?

Alex: Ha ha, yes we do have hills but you typically have to go looking for them.

Rider: …….are they all man-made?

Alex: Well no, they are actually hills.

Rider: Well the loop only has one hill but it is a long and gradual one.  It isn’t too bad the first time, but it will wear you down.

This is my rant. He just said the wrong thing to the wrong person. I do NOT like people who doubt me without knowing me.  Does Iowa even have hills? For the record, one of my first  group rides I got dropped on every hill we went on and I made a point to always do hill work from then on so it would never happen again. If you ever are watching me race and want me to push myself harder, just doubt me. There is nothing that motivates me more than doubt. I was determined to show everyone what a rider from Iowa can do.

Time to put on my game face but first, let me take a selfie.

When the race started I was about 30 seconds back since we had to wait for everyone to roll out.  It was extremely congested but after a few sharp turns and weaving through people I got into a good group and we started working.  My knee was acting well and everything was going as expected.  We hit the first 180 degree turn and went into a quick uphill.  A lot of the group slowed so I pushed up with the lead of the pack I was in. We formed a smaller group and started working together as we neared the hill. Putting my Iowa pride on, I got into my hill climbing mindset and picked up the cadence.  I worked my way past the group and up to the top with ease.

As the group reformed at the bottom of the hill we were catching a larger group from ahead so I took the entry ramp onto the freeway as a way to power up and catch onto the back wheel of the next group. We made our loop past the Pentagon and finished lap one in about 25 minutes, done.

I did a little math and realized a few things.  First off, I was on pace to not only reaching the Gold level, but to get an extra lap in above what was needed. Secondly, my knee wasn’t having any problems and I seemed to have a lot more power in my legs than I thought. Lastly and the most worrisome, the longest ride I’ve done in the past two months is a little over an hour……and I have 2.5 more hours to go.

The next few laps continued to see the same results for me.  Each lap I would form up with a pretty decent sized group.  When we would hit any incline Mr. Iowa (that would be me, representing with pride, holla!) would drive up to the front of the group and form a smaller and stronger group.  Once we got to the hill I would then power myself to the top and not let a single rider pass me. As we worked our way back on the second half of the course I would use the triathlon race strategy and the expected flat road conditions I was supposedly used to riding on to take the smaller group I was riding with to close in on the next big group. Any time a few riders would try to ride past the group I was with I would hop on their wheel and move on up.

A small scare happened in lap three.  As I was making my way back from the first U-turn my front tire seemed to have caught something.  Another rider’s helmet sticker had come off and I rode right over top of it, grabbing it and attaching to my wheel.  This caused more noise than actual concern as it clicked rapidly as my wheel spun until magically it got caught up in something and just shot out to the side of my wheel.

When I began finishing up lap five a problem started to arise.  The pain in my knee was starting to creep itself into my mind.  To give you an idea of what this feels like, imagine having an open wound and then somebody takes a small needle and slowly just scrapes around inside the wound.  It isn’t a large single impact pain but the slow continuous pain can drive you crazy. Due to the mechanics of cycling this pain would come back every time my leg would come over the top of the pedal stroke which is about 80-100 times per minute. Of the last five rides I have done, three of them the pain got so bad I had to unclip my leg and pedal with only the other leg so as not to increase the pain.

I have no idea how this will turn out but some of the riders coming in after I finished.

The idea of getting in the seventh lap was a bad one.  This was only a test and there were bigger and better races ahead of me. With only one lap to go to get to the top level and having twice the time I needed left to do a lap I decided to take lap six casual.  I broke off from the group and started riding solo.  I was able to maintain the pain and still make decent time. With only one last go at the hill I picked my head up and kept my record: zero riders passed me on the hill. I would like to think that is pretty good for somebody whose home state apparently doesn’t have hills. I coasted for a few portions of the lap and still came in with about 20 minutes to spare.

Near the finish line with my medal with time to spare.

My main goal for this race was to convince myself I can push the bike. Being able to complete all the laps I needed really boosted my confidence in that. For not riding a lot and going from one hour to a little over 2.5 hours in one jump was a pretty big stretch but my body was able to handle it.  Also my knee previously acted up in less than an hour but during the race it took over two hours and a lot of strong efforts to really aggravate it in any way. I think it is about time I get out in the triathlon circuit and really show everybody what Kristine can do.