Make It 3

    My week between XTERRA Scales Lake and XTERRA Lock 4 Blast was a hot one filled with lots of dirt. Well, the dirt was mostly dust. It's been very hot here, with temps well above normal. We've rocked the triple-digit temps for the past three weeks and have had no rain, which has led to very dry conditions on the trails.

      We took advantage of an afternoon off work to go pre-ride the courses at Lock 4. Shannon and I did a full lap on the trails. Then I did some race-simulation work, hammering out 2 laps on the 6-mile bike course and then going for a lap on the 2.1-mile run course. I had maybe the best run I have ever had, running under a 7:30 mile for my run. That's fast for me on a trail. I usually run in the 8:30-9:00 range.

    I hit my backyard trail a few days too. They were short rides just to keep the legs going and to fine-tune the bike. We have a bunch of blackberries growing in the creek so I've been picking them as they ripen to keep the freezer full. Most of the bushes along the road have dried up with the drought. Yes, I know I'm a berry freak.

     I was excited on race day. This was the first week in quite a while where I had no aches or pains. I finally didn't feel like an old man! We had another early rise. That seems to be a common thing with triathlons. The transition area was crowded this week and I barely got a spot. The temperature has stayed up at night lately so we haven't had much relief at all from the heat. The forecast was for 104 degrees. I was glad to be starting at 8am! It was a humid morning which makes getting changed a challenge. It's amazing how hard it is to put on a skinsuit when you are already sweating.

Parking lot early before the race

     The swim was 1/2 mile long in Old Hickory Lake. We started in the water just off the tip of the peninsula. All racers started in one big wave this week. I started at the front, but again had difficulty the first few minutes. I started faster than last week, but everyone merged over into my lane. They told us that fast swimmers were to line up on the left and slower swimmers to the right. Nobody changed sides after that announcement. I was in the middle and got run over as everybody from the right side tried to move left after the start. I think I dog-paddled more than swam the first 5 minutes as there were just too many bodies ahead of me. I finally got into a clear lane just before the first buoy. I started picking off swimmers in the second half. There's always a few guys that know me from mountain biking and they like to pick at me about being a slower swimmer. It was awesome to beat all except one of them out of the water. I slowed some at the end of the swim in hopes of hitting the bike with less fatigue than last week. That slowed down my swim time to just over a minute slower than last week at Scales Lake. I think that was mostly due to the crazy start though, rather than my backing off at the end. I clocked at 17:44, coming into the transition area around 25th place.

Start of the race in Old Hickory Lake

Out of the water and running to the transition area

    I fumbled around in transition, losing my balance while putting on my socks, causing me to step onto the edge of my helmet. That catapulted my GPS and gel flask into the air. I also stepped on my shoes and pulled both the velcro straps totally out of the loops. I had to kneel down and re-thread the straps, then find my GPS and flask on the ground. Most triathletes will go without socks, but I can't stand riding and running without socks. Besides, my shoes are a tad too big so I need socks to take up the extra space. I did try something new for this race. I went without gloves. Again, most triathletes will do this. I have no problem with that on the road, but mountain biking is a lot tougher on the hands. You put much more pressure on the grips which can lead to blisters. And there's a lot of trees flying by your knuckles throughout the race. But I thought I'd give it a shot anyway.

In transition

Leaving transition to begin lap 1 of 2 on the bike

     It was nice being farther up in the group. I've always been outside the top 50 when starting the bike. Traffic was still a problem, but the riders were much more spread out. Most of them let me by as soon as I caught them, but I did have a little trouble with a few. My first lap was like last week. Despite backing off at the end of the swim, my legs were flat and my upper body was tired. I was hoping to run 28-29 minute laps, but came it well outside 30 minutes on lap 1. I did however, move up to 6th overall by this point.

GPS map of the bike course

     Lap 2 went better. My legs really came around by halfway through this lap. I moved up to 5th overall and ended the lap with a dead sprint for the last 2 miles. The sprinting caused me not to notice my GPS flying off my wrist. Apparently, you can sprint hard enough to cause the plastic mount on your wrist to flex and allow the GPS unit to pop off. I came through the finish and reached for my lap button only to find an empty wrist. Those things are way too expensive to just lose on the trail. My second lap was a tad faster than lap one. Still, my time was outside 1 hour and a good 3 minutes off the best bike time. I seem to be swimming better, but it's effecting me more once I get onto the bike. I did not like going gloveless. The water left from the swim, combined with a lot of sweating in the heat, made for a slippery grip. I had my hand nearly slip off twice on rough descents. My hands were sore afterwards from having the death grip on the handlebars. Definitely don't want to have a hand fly off on a fast downhill. That would not end well.

Rider coming over the jump

Me keeping it low and fast over the jump

    I had 4th place in sight as we began the run. I did my best to hang with him the first mile. It's a tough start to the run with an immediate climb on the road out in the hot sun. I did ok on the road, but I was way winded when we entered the woods and I started dropping time. I tried to yell at Shannon too, to led her know that I had lost my GPS in case she heard of someone finding it. I am used to judging my run pace by the numbers on the GPS. With no gauge I just ran as hard as I could. I didn't try to pace myself at all.

     I hurt bad the first lap, but then got settled in. I had lost sight of 4th, but I was holding onto 5th still. I got caught halfway through the second lap and lost one spot. The guy came by fast and I had no chance of hanging on. I was getting tired in the last mile, but I could hear footsteps. I knew I couldn't back off. Mike Edens was the guy behind me. I had passed him near the end of the bike. He's a good rider and I was surprised to get away from him like I did. He's been training hard for this event and was running a bit faster than me. He caught me as we exited the woods. I hung on to his pace up the last hill and waited for a sprint. We were in different classes, but I still wanted to beat him for overall placing. I started the sprint early, hoping the element of surprise may give me the edge. He was ready and we went toe to toe all the way to the line. I gave it all I had, but he beat me by a foot. It was such a fun way to end the race! I was pleased to have enough left in the tank to sprint like that. And sprinting a friend is always fun. So I finished 7th overall with a time of 1:58:22.

Me about to enter the woods on the first lap of the run

     I had no idea where I finished in my class. I immediately headed in for another lap on the bike with Shannon to look for my GPS. We rode over an hour looking with no luck. Then we went back to check results just in time for the podiums. I rolled up the hill to see Daryl Glascock waving at me with my GPS and to hear my name being announced as winner of the 25-29 class. That makes three wins in my class in three years at Lock 4 and should seal the deal for me going to Nationals.

I look very out of place on top of the Men's 25-29 podium

Video clips from the race shot on the GoPro

    I am pleased with my first win of the year, but I know I have a lot of work to do to be ready for Nationals. It was stupid hot when we finished at Lock 4. We stopped for some frozen yogurt on the way home and then hit my parents' pool for some swimming. Actually, it was more floating than swimming. I had enough swimming in the race! Thanks go out to Shannon, Amber and my Mom for the pictures and videos. They also helped keep me motivated during the race and let me know which place I was in.