RMC Sprint Triathlon - Race Report

Why this Race

When I was structuring my 2014 race season, I wanted to get in one final tune-up race before the National Championships on August 10th.  Luckily I was off from work this past weekend which allowed me to sign up for the Ripon Medical Center Triathlon.  This race could have been placed in the category of "races I have always seen, but never thought of doing."  Ripon is about an hour southwest of our home in Kaukauna.  An hour drive is definitely a doable drive on race morning.  The only hitch in my usual preferred prerace night was we had Sarah's cousin's wedding in Appleton on Saturday.  Sarah agreed to allow me to drive a separate car to the reception and said it was OK for me to leave earlier to get to bed.

Training for this Race

My training has continued to be focused in on my "A" race which is two weeks after the RMC Triathlon.  The week of the RMC Triathlon was one of my last big hard weeks.  On the Sunday following the final night of Rock USA, I had one of my last long hard workout.  The workout was a long bike ride consisting of a 15 minute warm up, then 2 sets of 30:00 of race intensity intervals with 10:00 recovery.  Immediately after the workout I laced up my shoes for a 10k run which was broken down as follows: 5k easy, 3.5k race intensity, 1.5k easy.  The workout took about 2:20 start to finish.  I then had a swim day and then right back into the hard training.  I had an 8 mile run with three 1 mile interval repeats.  The next day I had a bike interval workout in the morning followed up with an afternoon 5 mile run with hill sprints in the middle.  I took Saturday off for recovery, which I definitely needed.  I was pretty sore and tired on Saturday, so I was glad to see a recovery/rest day on my training plan the day before my race.  

Prerace

As I mentioned above, Saturday was not only a rest/recovery day, but it was also my wife's cousin's wedding day.  In the morning we were up early and went to the Farmer's Market with Sarah's sister.  After the market, we came home to get the kid's ready for the wedding service at church.  Later that night we went to the reception which was in Appleton.  The entire wedding was very nice.  The food was really good and the cake was exceptional.  Maybe a little too good.  I was able to not drink any alcohol which was no biggie, but I still haven't figured out how to build my self control to resist my urges for food.  As soon as we got to the reception they had appetizers out which I of course ate.  For dinner I ordered the fish and rice, which was really good.  Then they came out with the cake.  Delaney didn't want her cake, so I jumped right on it.  I left the wedding after the first few dances of the night.  I left stuffed and regretting my choices and worried how it will impact my race. 

I ended up getting to bed around 10pm and set my alarm for 4am to leave before 4:30am.  I was on the road shortly after 4:30am.  The drive wasn't bad and I got to the race site right as the sun was coming up over the waters of Green Lake.  It was beautiful, like something off a postcard.  There were a few sailboats on the water, which was as calm as glass.  After snapping a quick photo of the sunrise, I picked up my race packet and proceeded to get my transition area set up.  There was no specific assigned bike racking for athletes.  They did have bike racks assigned depending on what event you were racing in and your sex.  So I was assigned to the "Short Course Men" bike racks.  I was able to nab up one of the spots on the end with how early I was to the race.

Nutrition Plan

With the distances of this race being short and my hope was to finish shortly after an hour, I opted to not take any fuel or water with me during the race.  At 6:45am I took my usual doses of of Anti-Fatigue Caps (2), Race Caps Supreme (2), and Mito Caps(2).  I also set up my bike to carry a couple Energy Surge on a piece of electrical tape on my top bar.  My plan was to take the first Energy Surge shortly after getting out on the bike course and then take the second serving right before dismounting and heading out on the run.

Gear/Equipment

Blue Seventy Reaction wetsuit from www.TheTriShop.com
Custom TYR Special Ops 2.0
Look 556
Giro Aero Helmet
Rydon Rudy Project Sunglasses
Louis Garneau Carbon Tri HRS Shoes
Zoot Kiawe 2.0 Shoes

500m Swim (7:45)

A big debate for me lately was whether or not to wear my wetsuit, not only for this race, but at Nationals in Milwaukee.  Rumor has it, the water temperatures for Lake Michigan near Milwaukee are darn cold this year.  On the other hand, you can save a lot of time not wearing a wetsuit.  I opted to wear a wetsuit for this race to allow some extra practice taking the suit off coming out of the water in the event that I end up wearing it in Milwaukee.  The race started promptly at 7:30am with the Olympic Distance races.  The first wave was for men and the second was for the women.  They then took a 10 minute break between the Olympic and Sprint distance starts to allow the Olympic races to spread out a bit and be off of the sprint swim course.  The Sprint race started right around 7:45am.  It worked out well for Sarah and I, because Sarah arrived to the start of the swim right during the break.  It was great to see me kids before the start of the race as I don't often get to do that.  So I took advantage of them being there before the start of the race.

As soon as the race started my plan was to really push hard for the first 100 meters or so to hopefully break away towards the front.  After the first 100 meters I was in third place and I just tucked in behind another guy who was right ahead of me for a draft.  I stuck right onto his feet right up to the turn around point at 250 meters.  After we hit the turn around I moved to the inside (left) and picked up my stroke cadence and slowly passed him.  I came out of the water second about 10 seconds behind the guy ahead of me.  The swim course was well marked and the water was near perfect temperatures.  The water was crystal clear and you could see the bottom.  My one complaint was all the weeds, but they really didn't effect the swim at all, they were just there and occasionally you would have a piece of seaweed on you.

15 Mile Bike (41:58)

After going into transition, I really wanted to be the first out of transition.  I had one of my smoothest transitions I can recall.  It paid off, because I was the first out of transition and the first out on the bike course.  The bike course started straight up hill as you exit the conference center that hosted the race.  Here I was hoping that would be the only major climbing that I would be doing during this race.  My hopes were quickly crushed....over....and over......and over again.  The bike course was one of the hardest bike courses I have ever done.  Take the distance out of the equation, I would even consider this was just as hard, if not harder that IM Wisconsin.  According to my Garmin, I had a total elevation gain of 751' over 15.42 miles (43.11 ratio of gain to miles).  At IM Wisconsin I had a total gain of 3114' over 111.58 miles (27.90 ratio of gain to miles).  That's nearly twice as much climbing, relatively speaking.  Like I said, the total distance on an IM bike course undoubtedly makes it significantly tougher.  But, good lord, it felt like the hills were never ending on this course.  Either way, the course was tough, not impossible, not frustrating, just tough.  Throughout the entire bike course I was anticipating to be passed, but no one ever came.  In fact I took a couple peeks behind me when I could and never saw another racer.  I kept worrying that I missed a turn or took a wrong turn.  There were a couple sections of the course that were on straightaways with no volunteers, no intersections, no signs, no markings, no nothing.  That was the one point where I thought I was lost.  It's a position I have never been in before, the lead on the bike course.  I was not only worried about getting lost, but I was constantly questioning my race effort (intensity).  I would sit there and have mental debates of if I was going too hard to avoid the possibility of being passed.  Then I would think am I not going hard enough, as though I was getting too comfortable being in the lead.

5k Run (20:08)

I went into transition without being passed on the bike at all and without even seeing another racer behind me  I once again had one of my smoothest bike-to-run transition I can recall.  After leaving transition, I continued to wonder if this would be the time I would be passed.  In my head I kept telling myself that it was coming, I was going to be passed.  And if I wasn't passed, I would miss a turn and end up off course.  The first half mile or so of the run was straight up hill.  I thought, are you f--king kidding me?  There weren't enough hills on the bike course?!?  I quickly threw that thought out of my head knowing that it would do me no good.  I just tried to stay strong, mentally and physically.  While I was running up the first hill, a guy on a gator offered to lead the way to the turn around point, as the run was a simple out and back route.  I thought, hell yea, now I don't need to sit and worry about getting lost.  I just followed the gator and smiled as this was one perk I never get to take advantage of.   With the run course being an out and back, I would get the opportunity to finally see where the hell everyone else was.  I hit the turn around point and started making my way back.  I didn't see anyone after turning around.  I immediately looked at my Garmin to make sure I was at 1.55 miles to double check that I didn't cut any corners or anything, it read 1.56, right on the mark.  Huh, maybe this was just going to be one of those days were everything goes right!  I finally saw the second place guy at the 1 and 2 mile mark, I was a full mile ahead of him!  Crazy!  That really motivated me to push harder during the last mile, which was all downhill.  As I was getting back to the finish line I started to see a lot more people who were just starting their run, they all gave great words of encouragement which also really motivated me to keep pushing.  I ended up finishing in 1:11:14 with the second place racer finishing in 1:17:11, about 6 minutes behind me!

Post Race

After the race I got a big kiss from Sarah and high fives from the girls.  Sarah was honestly, about as happy as I was.  I couldn't believe I just won my first triathlon ever.  I put together a great race from start to finish.  After finishing, we stayed around the area to watch other racers finish and let the kids play on the park which was right by the transition area.  Sarah and I chatted about the race and just enjoyed the morning.  The race itself was exceptionally well run.  There were a ton of volunteers, nearly all of them were full of energy and cheering on the racers and helping out when needed.  The courses were well marked, even if I was a little paranoid of getting lost.  

After letting some time pass, the awards ceremony started.  I didn't know what to expect for my first ever overall win.  When it was my turn for my award, I found out that I had won a hand blown glass vase from Savoie Glass of Ripon along with a $100 gift card to Festival Foods.  The vase is absolutely gorgeous and pretty sweet looking!  Plus a gift card to the best grocery store in the valley.  I was thrilled!  So was Sarah!

What's on Tap

I now have two weeks of training before the USA Triathlon Sprint Age Group National Championships.  This next week will be slightly less volume from previous weeks as my taper is just getting started this week.  In the second week, I will be in full fledged taper mode.  It works out perfect as we will be on vacation with the Nissen's in Rhinelander the entire week leading up to Nationals.