When putting together a race plan for the triathlon, I made some very simple goals. This would be my first triathlon since IM Wisconsin and there is a huge difference is race strategy when racing a long distance race opposed to a sprint distance race. My ultimate goal for my 2014 race season is to qualify for Team USA at the Age Group National Sprint Championships in August and race for Team USA at the World Championships in 2015. With that lofty goal, I was using the HC Sprint Triathlon as a training race to work on specific things opposed to a specific time goal or placing goal. The HC Sprint race is actually a bit longer then the standard USA Triathlon standard for a sprint distance race. HC is a 450m swim, 22 mile bike, and a 3.1 mile run, while the standard is 750m swim, 20k bike (12.4 miles), and a 5k (3.1 miles). I last raced the sprint distance here in 2011 and finished in 1:28:11, so a simple time goal was to just beat that time. My second goal was to have smooth transitions. Number 3 was to have a strong bike leg and average at least 23mph. The forecast going into the weekend was near perfect, mid-to-upper 70's with mostly sunny skies. The water temperatures approaching the weekend was 67 degrees.
Training Plan
As I just said, this race was by no means my "A" race for the year. And as I mentioned in my last post, "The Start of Summer," I talked about the triathlon training plan I am following. The plan is a generic plan created by an author for the European version of Triathlete Magazine. I adjusted the plan slightly to fit my personal schedule and then input all my schedule races. I did very little adjusting for the HC Triathlon, especially since it was my first triathlon of the season. The week leading up to the race, I made a couple last minute changes. The first change I made was an ambitious change that I was happy to do at first, but later worried that I made a mistake. On Tuesday I was originally scheduled for an hour long interval bike session consisting of 4x5:00 max effort, followed with 5:00 recovery. I was in the mood to get on the track and do some sprint intervals and thought it would be beneficial, both, physically and mentally to get some top end running speed work. After my bike intervals, I biked over to the local high school track and ran a total of 3 miles consisting of 6x400m sprints with a 400m recovery jog. During the track session I could definitely feel the fatigue I was carrying over from the bike intervals. I was spent afterward. The entire day after, I debated whether or not it was truly beneficial or not. I was a little worried about reinjuring my calf as well. The very next day was a 10 mile recovery run. In an attempt to insure I didn't go to hard, I watched my heart rate like a hawk and never let it go over 145 bpm. On Thursday, I was scheduled to ride 30 miles with some longer race pace intervals, but in attempt to simply allow my legs to fully recovery decided to just ride 20 mile at an easy intensity. On Friday, I went to the pool for some light work followed with 3 miles on a treadmill where I gradually increased the pace each mile. In the end, my week of training leading up to the HC Triathlon left me feeling fresh and ready to race. It turns out the added track session on Tuesday didn't leave me fatigued or sore going into the race on Saturday morning.Day/Night Before
Other then my time at the YMCA for my swim and run, Friday was spent packing up the camper and Jeep to have the family ready to leave for camping when Sarah came home from work. After getting the kids fed breakfast, we went right to the YMCA for my workout. By the time I was finished and showered it was shortly after noon and Sarah called saying that she was going to be getting out of work early. We both had some stuff to get done around the house prior to leaving, so our hope was to be on the road before 5pm. This would give us more than enough time to stop at the race expo and pick up my race bib, check in, and get set up for the weekend. After getting home from the Y, Delaney started complaining of a headache and asked to lay down for a nap. I checked her temperature and she was right around 101, which isn't good, but still better then what she was on Thursday, when she was in the 103 range. I gave her some Tylenol and she had asked to lay down for a nap. As 4:15 was rolling around, both Sarah and I had only a few more minutes of work to finish up before we could get on the road. Just then, Laney woke up crying - she had peed the bed....grreeat! This sparked a total meltdown between Delaney, Sarah, and I. Sarah wanted to stay and wash the comforter, sheets, and mattress, while I just wanted to get going. After some brief arguing, we worked it out that I would just leave with the camper, gear, and Maya and Delaney, while Sarah would stick around home with Harper and the dog, until the bed is back in order. It worked out perfect, I was able to get my race packet and get our campsite all set up right as Sarah and Harper arrived at our site. After getting set up, we walked over to my sister-in-law's campsite to relax for the evening by the fire and have dinner. My dinner was a couple fillets of ocean perch, salad, and a sweet potato. By 9pm I was all tucked in to my sleeping bag listening to some relaxing music with a 4:45am alarm set.
Getting to the Start Line
If you recall last year, I nearly overslept by not waking up until Sarah's alarm went off, which left me little to no time to get to the race. Ironically the same thing occurred this year. I even remember shutting off BOTH of my preset alarms and never even thought twice. Sarah's alarms went off at 5:45am, an hour after mine. She woke up and said the same thing as last year, "Matt! You're going miss your race!" I shot out of bed quickly got dressed and was at the transition area within 20 minutes of waking up. I guess that's one huge advantage to staying right at the race site! I actually even had extra time to spare after getting my area all set up for the race. That morning the race director come on the loud speaker and announced the water temperature for the race was a warm 70 degrees, while the air was a chilly 49 degrees. Needless to say, I was freezing cold. I made the decision to wear my wetsuit for the race, which was something I was hoping not to do. I chose to do this more as a way to stay warm while I waited for my wave to go off, then to stay warm in the water. I was able to do some light swimming before the start of the race as a way to acclimate to the water temps and a way to be a warm up for the race. I was in the first wave of the sprint race, wave 7, which left about 20 minutes after the first half iron racers started.
450m Swim (5:04 (1:10/100y))
The swim was super short, and...well....honestly really easy. The sprint course was shallow as usual. I was able to run or dolphin dive at least half of the course, which most likely led to the faster then usual swim time. But, everyone else had the same opportunity to take advantage of the shallow conditions, so it's not like I was given any advantage that no one else was. After exiting the water, comes the long run up hill to the transition area.
22.5 Mile Bike (0:55:13 (24.4 mph))
The bike course starts out with the daunting task of climbing the hill that gives the park it's name, High Cliff. The climb is roughly 3/4 mile long and is pretty challenging. For us Wisconsinites, it's one of the more challenging climbs north of the Madison area. After getting atop the hill, I settled into a nice cadence which I felt confident that I would be able to sustain for the 22.5 miles. Throughout the bike leg, I consumed about 20oz of water with about 200 calories of premixed Heed. After getting back to the transition area, I was anxious to try my new shoes without socks for the first time in a race setting. I have practiced putting them on at home in training, but it's tough to simulate the rush you have during a race to get in and get out ASAP. I covered the entry point of my shoes with Hammer's Cool Feet to help get the shoes on smoothly and keep my feet dry to avoid any hot spots or blisters.
3.1 Mile Run (19:53 (6:38/mile))
After leaving the transition, which went smoother then ever, I grabbed a premade flask with watered down Hammer Gel with a crushed Hammer Energy Surge we were tasked with the even more challenging task of running up the hill. I wanted to run conservatively up the hill with hopes of laying the hammer down for the remaining 2.5 miles. I also kept the fact that I would get to take advantage of running DOWN the hill at the end in the back of my mind. By the time I got to the hill, I just tried to run as fast as possible while staying in control down the hill. I came across the finish line with a final time of 1:22:14, just over 6 minutes faster then my previous attempt on the same course!
Post Race
After the race I met up with my support crew of Sarah's parents, my brother and sister-in-law, nephews, and of course Sarah and my daughters. Sarah and her dad counted approximately 8 or 9 finishers ahead of me, making me the 10th overall finisher. While we waited for the official results to be posted I took advantage of my favorite post race perk of the HC Triathlon, the free beer truck! Each year they serve two varieties of Point Brewery beer. After about 45 minutes or so, the results were posted and I placed 1st in my age group (30-34) and 10th overall. I was thrilled with my finish! We hung around for another half hour or so for the awards ceremony, which was located right on the hill leading down to the lake. The age group awards was a simple pint glass, with the HC Triathlon logo. It was a simple award, but probably the coolest and most practical award I have yet to receive. It definitely came in handy for the weekend of camping!
Other Notes
After getting back to our campsite, it was nice to just chill and hang out with the family right at the State Park for the remainder of the weekend. That afternoon, we took the kids on a 2 hour hike to the lookout tower and then cooked a huge dinner over the open fire of pork tenderloins and chicken legs. We then spent the night around the fire, spending time together and drinking beer after the kids went to bed. It was the perfect end to a great day.
Lessons for Future Events
I guess my biggest lesson is I can give so much more on the bike then I had previously thought with still having a decent run split after. So much of racing the Ironman distance races, is the strategy of conserving your energy for the marathon after the bike. In short course racing, I need to learn to just let go and really just hammer down on the bike leg. There is so much time to be saved on the bike course opposed to the 5k. The simple logic is, that if I am able to bike 4 minutes faster on the bike and it only costs me a minute longer on the run, I still come ahead 3 minutes faster overall. This is something I intend on playing around with in my training and my next two races leading up to the Age Group Nationals in August. Otherwise, I would like to save a little more time in transition and the only thing I can think of changing easily would be to have my bike shoes already clipped in prior to getting on my bike. This is something that takes some practice to master and I am not 100% sure it will ultimately save me time as it does take time to get your feet into the shoes while your riding. That might also be something I play around with in my training.
What's Next
My next race is already this upcoming weekend. It is also the longest race on my schedule. I will be racing the Pleasant Prairie International Distance Triathlon in Pleasant Prairie, WI on Sunday June 22nd. The distances of this race is a 1.5k swim, 40k bike (24.8 miles), and a 10k (6.2 mile run). I have only raced one other Olympic distance race before so it will be somewhat new to me. The nice thing with the HC Triathlon is the bike course was longer then usual and only 2 miles short then an Olympic course. My strategy is similar to the HC Triathlon and that is to swim even splits over the nearly mile long swim course, hammer down on the bike, and run even splits of under a 7:00/mile. I have no clue how I will place in this race or what the competition will be, so I am going in with the mentality of racing my own race and letting chips fall how the may. I am again treating this race as a long intense training day, so do not intend to peak or have my best race of the year this weekend. Either way, I am excited to go to a new city and race at an event I have never done before.
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